The above picture is the cover of Vol. 29. It has nothing to do with Ch. 327 (No, this chapter is not in Vol. 29.), but as we don’t have a proper cover page for the chapter, I have decided to put this up.
This, along with Vol. 25, are the only two Tankobons so far featuring only one character. It is a very peaceful portrait of Hina and the Shirosakura. It also reminds us that Hina was the rightful owner of the (transparent) sword of justice, and I have a gut feeling that both Hina and her sword would come big in the future plot. I could only describe this picture with one word: awesome. It is easily the best Tankobon cover for me, and I regard it as the best gift from Hata after Hina won in the Third Character Poll.
Okay, enough of this. Let’s go back to Ch. 327.
18:05, so Luca was already working.
Finally, Luca knew the truth: Hayate was “a genuine boy”. It has been 32 chapters since she first met “Maid Star”, so it took her over half a year in our world to know that Hayate was not “Maid Star”, but – What? – “Butler Star”. It was obviously a huge shock for her, as she turned into cat form, and as she picked up the phone (from Atsumari), she spoke in a lifeless tone. As she left, even Risa the idiot could see that Luca was mad about Hayate. Things were not looking good for Hayate, and he decided to go and apologize.
Hayate tried to reach Luca on phone, but she did not answer it. Although he thought that it was because Luca was mad at him, it wasn’t necessarily so. After all, she was a professional idol, and professionalism dictates that when we are working, especially when outdoor, we switch our phones off.
Screwed up!
Yet, even the highly professional Suirenji Luca got distracted by her earlier encounter with Hayate. She recalled that she had been mistaking Hayate as a girl. She was carried by him, she hugged him, and he saw her naked… That was too much for her to take, and she screamed out very loudly, on the stage. That, of course, was a huge blooper for an idol on stage, and although Luca tried to make up for her mistake, the embarrassment was done.
Atsumari was clearly not impressed by Luca’s sudden loss of self-control, and scolded her when they were at the backstage. She did not know what happened to Luca, so she thought that her blank-out might come from complacency of being already very popular. She reminded Luca that if she did not keep working hard, sooner or later someone would replace her, and nobody would have remembered her once she lost her popularity. Cue Carlos Tevez at Manchester United. She also reminded Luca to think of her 150 million yen debt. If she fell out of popularity, she would not earn enough money to repay the debt, simple as that.
If you are not the windshield, you are the bug.
Yet, it was not the end of the day for Luca, as she had another job to do, one that she had to go on her own without being accompanied by Atsumari. But then, there is one question without a proper answer: How on earth would a manager not accompany her idol-in-care to her (proper) jobs at night?
If we want to accuse Atsumari of breaching her duty of care to Luca, her punishment almost came immediately, for Luca went into troubles twice on her way to… wherever. She went into gangsters, who were about to cause her troubles, and then she was almost hit by a truck. Seriously, if Luca was a good asset to her company, Atsumari should have taken better care of her.
The beginning of the days in debt.
As she walked, Luca’s mind was again preoccupied, this time by the flashback of the events ever since she knew that she had a huge debt. From her flashback, we come to know that she had a debt of 150,281,000 yen, similar to that of Hayate, which came from her parents. We do not know how well Luca got on with her parents, but it surely hurts when the people who gave birth to you betray you and run away. As a very tough girl, she was determined not to be shaken by the shock. Instead, she would repay the debt on her own. She had decided to shut the door of her heart, and not to trust anyone. On the day she took up the debt, Luca said goodbye to her happiness – the happiness in trusting people.
Two people then came and knocked the door to her heart. First, there was Chiharu, who gave compliment to her manga in a showdown where she only sold 2 copies of her doujinshi. They immediately became friends. Then, there was Hayate, who responded to her needs very successfully, and promised that she could trust him. Whether she was conscious about it, she began to trust people again, and very deeply.
I seriously want to throw up.
Just when Luca was thinking of Hayate, a truck came and almost hit her. Well, Luca was obviously using the zebra-crossing, and the truck was supposed to have stopped. That is to say, the truck was clearly violating traffic law.
Facing her mortal peril, Luca thought of Hayate. She firmly believed that he could help her on any matter, including saving her life from a truck. Of course, this was exactly Hayate’s speciality, and he saved her from the truck. For Luca, Hayate once again responded to her request, and she found the resons to trust him again.
90% at fault, 100% toyed.
Perhaps this is why Luca found herself not really mad at Hayate as he apologized, and she suggested that she contributed to the misunderstanding. Still, she thought she was only 10% responsible, as the other 90% was Hayate’s fault. He needed to compensate for what he had done (and had not done), and that he had to grant her one of her wishes someday.
Hayate agreed, and it was clear that he never thought that it could have been a very difficult wish. She could ask him anything, and he would have little room to reject her. In fact, she said it herself: It would be a very difficult wish, which made Hayate realize just how ridiculous it was for her to forgive him.
THE END
Still, Hayate promised that he would grant Luca her wish(es), even if this would cost his life. Luca was touched by his words, and said that she would believe him. Hayate understood that he was forgiven, and he was clearly happy about it. Under the moon, the Hayate-Luca bond was repaired, if not strengthened. Hayate could stop cross-dressing – that is, if Luca would not ask him to give inspiration to her by cross-dressing.
So, the “Hayate’s sex crisis” finally comes to an end. Nagi and Luca could now really begin to work on their doujinshi. It was, after all, not far from June 12 in the story, and both of them had to hurry up!
Hayate Report 