This is a fanfiction by Doughnut Gunso.
Nagi was still enjoying her complete victory at Mario Kart. If she won in the coming race, she would definitely be crowned champion of the tournament. In fact, she was leading the race so much that she had all the time bragging to the others.
“Weak! You are too weak, Kayura! Not even the Rocket Mode could help you!”
Kayura did not respond.
“Wataru! You never pay attention to the banana skins, do you? This is why you are trailing behind so much!”
“Oh, shit!!” swore Wataru, as he slipped over another banana skin.
“Chiharu! You said you like Randoll, but you are losing to me, so I must be Kazami! Wahahaha!!!”
“Watch this! MESSER WING!!!” Chiharu cried as she used a mushroom.
“Oh, yeah? LIFTING TURN!!!” cried Nagi, as she drifted around a corner.
The battle was so heated that they barely noticed that Hayate and the others had arrived.
“Milady!” called Hayate. Nagi did not respond.
“Milady!!” called Hayate again, this time a little louder.
“Oh, it’s you, Hayate,” said Nagi, not looking at him. “Watch me, Hayate. I am slaughtering them. I am the champion of the world!”
“I am sorry, milady. The game has to stop now.”
“What?” asked Nagi, but she was already too late. Hayate had cut off the power of the Wii.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HAYATE?” screamed Nagi, very furiously.
“I am very, very sorry, milady, but this is urgent.”
“WHAT’S SO URGENT?!!”
“This,” said Hayate as he showed the small package Hinagiku had given to him. “I have to show it right now, milady.”
Nagi glared at Hayate. She could see much determination in Hayate’s eyes, and she knew at once that he was being very serious about what he was asking. And in any case, her game was already cut off, so there was no use throwing tantrums at him.
“Fine,” she finally said, folding her arms in her chest. “Do whatever you want. I don’t bother!”
“Thank you, milady,” Hayate said with a bow.
The package turned out to be a DVD. Hayate put the DVD into the player, and began playing it. The light was out, and everybody was under the impression that they were watching a movie on a 100-inch television.
Hinagiku appeared on the screen, in her school uniform, sitting in front of a piano. Apparently she had just been practicing, because she was still staring at the score. There was a small whisper of “Hina!”, and Hinagiku looked up.
“What? We are on already? O – okay,” she said, apparently nervous.
She took a breath, and began to speak. “Emm… Well, you probably have already seen me before watching this video, but I have to congratulate you again. Happy birthday, Miki!” she clapped her hands. Hayate, sitting in front of the screen, followed, and slowly everybody clapped their hands as well.
“I know I have promised you to sing in the party, but unfortunately there is another appointment which is too important for me to miss, so I cannot sing to you in person.” She ran her fingers casually over the piano, playing a few notes. “I don’t know if this video would be good enough as a substitute, but I guess this is the only way I could fulfill my promise to you. I asked Ruka – the Suirenji Ruka (“Hina! Don’t make fun of me!” called Ruka from the background.) – for help, and she very kindly offered me a new song. She will include this song in her next album, but for now – for this once – this is my song.”
She took a deep breath. “Well, they say it is better for me to perform and sing this song all by myself. You know, it sounds stupid for me because I don’t really play the piano.” She laughed weakly. “However, this is a gift for you, Miki, so if they say it is better this way, then I will do it this way.”
Ruka ran towards the piano, and nodded to Hinagiku. “I have the most delightful pleasure to have Ruka as the backing vocalist,” said Hinagiku with a bright smile. “Well, it also means that I have to be the backing vocalist in her version. I am not really sure about it.”
“Come on, Hina! You can do it!” said Ruka brightly.
“Fine, Ruka, fine,” said Hinagiku, smiling. “So… shall we get started now?”
“Sure!”
“Okay. Well then, please enjoy this song, Miki. It is a very beautiful song titled Tiny Star.”
Hinagiku took another deep breath, started striking the opening chords, and began to sing:
きらきらと揺れる星 見つめていた
I see the stars shining and swinging
大好きなみんなの 笑顔みたい
They look like the smiling faces of all those I love
Heart to Heart
この街の中で
Right in this street
Smile to Smile
出逢うぬくもり
We meet each other warmly
ひとつひとつ私を やさしい光りで包み込む
I am surrounded by the gentle light from you
Thank you my friends
満天の夜空に心映す世界
Reflecting the world of our hearts all over the sky at night
迷いそうな時には 道しるべになってくれる
Being our signposts to the way home whenever we are lost
I wish for you
一番星よりもいつか まぶしくなれるよ
To become even brighter than the brightest star
ささやかでも 明日(あす)を描くTiny Star…
A small but sketching the future Tiny Star
校庭のすみにある 桜の木は
There is a cherry tree in the corner of the school campus
たくさんの想い出 知っている
It keeps a lot of our memories
Everyday
今日が過去になり
When today becomes yesterday
Everytime
季節はめぐる
When season changes
そして新しい日々が 違うきらめき連れてくる
And on a brand new day it brings to us new sparkles
Just feel the joy
夜更かしをしながら 話し合った未来
Staying up late to talk about our future
はげます役目なら いつも私だったけれど
I always take up the role to encourage you
Believe in dream
たいせつな誰かを強く照らしてみせるよ
To become strong for someone important, and to let her see you shine
ただ まっすぐ願い放つTiny Star…
Just shoot up straight with this wish, Tiny Star
恋のときめきや 友情の涙が
The heartbeat of love, and the tears of friendship
きっと本当の 輝きへと変わってゆく
Have always, really change the way it shines
To be shining
果てしない銀河で そっと生まれた星(ゆめ)
Stars which were born in this endless universe
それぞれに繋がる 目指した場所へ向かってく
Are linked together by the same goal they head to
Thank you my friends
満天の夜空に心映す世界
Reflecting the world of our hearts all over the sky at night
迷いそうな時には 道しるべになってくれる
Being our signposts to the way home whenever we are lost
I wish for you
一番星よりもいつか まぶしくなれるよ
To become even brighter than the brightest star
ささやかでも 明日(あす)を描くTiny Star…
A small but sketching the future Tiny Star
La la la la……
La la la la……
ありがとう
Thank you
“Thank you, my best friend,” whispered Hinagiku as the song came to an end. “I will never forget that you are my first and most precious friend. Have a very happy birthday, Miki.”
The video had ended. The lights were on again, but nobody said anything. They all had different feelings about the song: some were impressed by the performance of Hinagiku and Ruka, some were in awe of the beautiful song. They were all touched by the love Hinagiku had shown for Miki in this song, but they knew that their opinions didn’t matter. After all, Miki was the one to receive this birthday present. They all turned to Miki and found that she was crying again.
“Hina, you idiot…” she whispered as she sobbed. “You… you don’t have to give me such a big present, you idiot.”
“Hanabishi-san…” said Hayate as he stood up. Nagi tugged his shirt and gave him a “silence” sign.
“I am sorry, Hina,” continued Miki. “I never should have doubted you. I never knew that you value our friendship so much. I… I am… very happy.”
Everyone smiled at Miki. They knew that she was so overjoyed that she lost control of her emotions and cried, but she would be fine in a moment. They decided to leave her alone for a moment, as there was nothing to worry about her.
Hayate looked up at the sky. “Well done, Hinagiku-san,” he said in his mind. “Hanabishi-san likes your birthday present so much. The party is not over yet, so please come back quickly to celebrate with us. The party is not complete without you!”
*
The duel between Hinagiku and Kyosuke had begun. Their two shinai clashed over and over again, while each of them had yet to land a blow on either body. Kyosuke, having just been provoked by Hinagiku, was the more aggressive one, while Hinagiku was watching his every move with patience.
She soon realized that Kyosuke was really not as good as he could be. Admittedly, his skills and moves were better than they had been 7 years ago, but his progress was extremely slow. It seemed that he had not been practicing Kendo hard enough.
In merely a few minutes, Hinagiku had gained the upper-hand. Kyosuke found himself retreating to defense more and more often. He was panting and sweating, and his moves were in a complete mess. It looked like he could take a blow at any moment.
Hinagiku remained focused. She spotted weak spots in every move of Kyosuke, and she kept attacking them, so that as Kyosuke tried desperately to cover up his weak spots, he ended up exposing more and bigger ones. Hinagiku knew that she was coasting to victory, but she remained cautious. This was a victory she would not allow herself to throw away with stupid mistakes.
Kyosuke had no answer to Hinagiku’s attacks, and soon he found himself stepping backwards to dodge her strikes. He stepped back and back, and suddenly he tripped on his own feet. Kyosuke fell and lost his shinai.
Hinagiku pointed her shinai at Kyosuke. “This is over, Fukada-kun,” she said coldly. “It is my victory. I am leaving with my parents and the sword.”
Kyosuke tried to pull up a grin, but he found it very difficult. “You are good, Kazami,” he said finally, very weakly. “I never knew you have become so good.”
“Maybe you were not watching when I fought you men, one on four.”
“So you know that I was behind the attack on you,” said Kyosuke. “Mr. Sanzen’in had told me that it was a stupid plan, because you might not pull out the sword I want, and I might not be able to win it from you by force. He sent some of his men to attack Ayasaki, so to ensure that you would pull out Shirosakura, but I still failed to get it from you. Mr. Sanzen’in told us that he would give us another chance, but our reward would be cut by 50%.”
Hinagiku snorted at his suggestion of “reward”.
Kyosuke sighed. “I argued with him, and finally we agreed that, if I succeed this time, we would get 80% of the original deal. I was confident that I could get the sword from you, but looks like I have failed again.” He laughed weakly. “I am getting nothing, I guess.”
Hinagiku frowned. “Tell me, Fukada-kun, what do you want to get by doing all these?” she demanded. “You attacked us and hurt Hayate-kun. You use my parents as hostages to force me to give the sword to you. You want to get it from me even when you know I would die! Tell me, what for?” She was getting angrier by every word, and she ended up shouting her final question at Kyosuke.
Kyosuke smiled weakly again. “Money, of course,” he said. “You have no idea how much I would earn by finishing this job. Even 80% – no, 50% – of the original deal would be enough for you to live 10 lives.”
“W – what kind of nonsense is this?” demanded Hinagiku. “Money isn’t – ”
“Ah! Shut up!” demanded Kyosuke. “I don’t want a sermon from you, Kazami. I have lost everything already, so leave me alone and go! It is all over!”
“Humph!”
Hinagiku suddenly heard a loud snort. She turned around and saw that Mikado had stood up. He walked towards Kyosuke and looked at him from above.
“Well, this is not over yet, Fukada boy,” he said sweetly.
“Please don’t make fun of me, Mr. Sanzen’in,” said Kyosuke, who made no attempt to stand up even when he was talking to his employer. “I can’t beat her, and she has already secured her parents. I can do nothing about it any more.”
“Well, what if I give you the power to defeat this girl?”
“What?” asked Kyosuke, and he was so surprised that he sat up. “What do you mean?”
Mikado grinned. He held up his hand and summoned a sword. It looked very much alike Shirosakura, but it was black – thoroughly black. Black aura was coming out from the sword, and Hinagiku suddenly felt uncomfortable about the sword.
“I can lend you the Black Camellia, the sword of chaos,” he whispered. “Of course, it comes at a price.”
Hinagiku could almost have heard the Black Camellia roaring to engulf everything in sight.
Hayate Report 