Chapter 397

'''Hayate no Gotoku! Chapter 397:''' Terrible Manga Dojo (Reverse Side)

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Ruka Suirenji - mentioned
 * 2) Nagi Sanzenin
 * 3) Hayate Ayasaki
 * 4) Ayumu Nishizawa
 * 5) Hinagiku Katsura
 * 6) Chiharu Harukaze
 * 7) Britney (Nagi's manga)
 * 8) Gouji Ashibashi

Summary
Nagi is shocked at the fact that Hayate has agreed to marry Ruka should she win the doujinshi competition. Hinagiku and Chiharu don't think Hayate realizes just how serious his promise is, though he tells all of them that he is entirely serious, and that he can't go back anymore. However, Hayate reminds them that if Nagi wins, everything will be alright. Nagi says that she will win, but these events cause her to take a serious look at her manga, and she realizes that it doesn't have much of a chance of competing with Ruka's more refined work. With the contest two weeks from that day, she's also pretty skeptical that she could even make anything reasonable within that timeframe. She realizes that she's in serious trouble, and she takes a quick trip to a bookstore.

Chiharu follows Nagi, reminding her that she doesn't have much time left. Nagi replies saying that she's here precisely because she has no time. Chiharu assumes that Nagi's just looking for inspiration, but she ends up grabbing a bunch of guides about quickly accomplishing goals. Chiharu bluntly tells her that she's not going to win, even if she reads through all the self-help books. This prompts Nagi to ask her how she could win, but Chiharu isn't sure. Nagi tells her to back off and she starts going through the books. She quickly realizes that none of them have any advice on creating manga.

Ayumu then asks Gouji what he thinks she could do. He says there is one surefire method for these situations, and he starts recounting a story of how he was riding his bike at three in the morning, and how he saw a strange man out on the streets. He rode past the man to see that he was wearing a giant talisman on his face, frightening him and causing him to quickly ride away. When they ask about the story, he states that taking an interesting real-life experience that one wants to share with others, and refining it further can help create an interesting story, as the story was interesting in the first place. Hearing all of this, Chiharu asks Nagi what kind of experience she could have in two weeks. She responds by deciding to go on a trip, where only unexpected things happen, much to Chiharu's confusion.