Kurotsubaki

Kurotsubaki (黒椿（くろ つばき）), meaning Black Camellia is the legendary item and treasure of the Sanzenin Family. This item has a large role in both Hayate no Gotoku! CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU and Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties.

Appearance
In its original form the Kurotsubaki is a golden clock (similar to a pocket watch) with a golden chain attached. The dial of the clock displays the gears from the inside of it showing that one of the gears is frequently spinning.

In its other form, the Kurotsubaki is a black double edged sword that has a rapier-like handguard.

Abilities
The Kurotsubaki is a clock that gives misfortune to the holder. When both hands on the clock strike eight however, the holder will be blessed with miracles upon miracles. It has the ability to change it's shape to a sword though it's sword form cannot harm people. The true ability of the Kurotsubaki is granting eternal life by storing a soul and swaping it to a new body by stabbing it. And if the soul inside sings a song with all their heart while dressed like a girl, both hands on the clock strike eight and will grant a miracle.

Inside the Kurotsubaki, there is a dimension that the soul and a Tanuki reside within.

End of the World Arc
During Hayate's stay at the Royal Garden, Athena shows him the legendary sword of justice: the Shirosakura, and notes to him that it has the power to rival the Kurotsubaki.

Infiltration in the Sanzenin Treasure Vault
When Hayate infiltrated Mikado's palace to find his King's Jewel, he and Linn Regiostar found a glass display of the Kurotsubaki. Hayate took the Kurostsubaki as he didn't know what time it was and ended up getting injured while trying to escape the dungeon. After returning to Nagi, he asks her to return it to her grandfather.

History
Long ago, a nymph named Dolly who served a king whom she loved dearly, helped him gain immortality by constructing the Kurotsubaki. Over the years Dolly had used the Kurotsubaki's power to transfer the king's soul into a healthier younger body whenever the king was in need of one. However, after transferring the king's soul into the Kurotsubaki, Dolly inadvertently lost the Kurotsubaki. Eventually over the years, it ended up in the Sanzenin family's possession becoming the treasure of the Sanzenin family.

Years later, Dolly manipulated a young thief named Shin Hayek into locating and stealing the lost Kurotsubaki for her. However while making an attempt to steal the Kurotsubaki, Shin falls in love with the head of the Sanzenin family's daughter Yukariko Sanzenin and eventually marries her. Dolly eventually learns of the Kurotsubaki's whereabouts and sends her crow to steal Shin's wedding ring, before striking a deal with him to exchange the stolen ring for the Kurotsubaki. After traveling to Las Vegas, Shin drives to an undisclosed location to make the exchange. But he accidently activates the Kurotsubaki and is stabbed by it, swapping his soul with the king's as he gets caught in a car accident killing the king in the process. Afterwards Shin's belongings including the Kurotsubaki where taken by American authorities and placed within a vault in Las Vegas.

CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU
Thirteen years later, Dolly sends her adopted daughter Ruri to Japan to get the Kurotsubaki from the Sanzenin Mansion. However after befriending Nagi (whom had just been contacted by the American authorities and given one week to pick up her late fathers belongings that was indefinitely delayed due to various circumstances), Ruri learns of the Kurotsubaki's whereabouts and is later confronted by Shidou for not informing Dolly about it. After hearing him suggest that they should abduct Nagi to acquire it, Ruri tells him that she wants to handle it in a peaceful way. The following day, Ruri sends a fraudulent ransom note to Nagi informing her to meet at Las Vegas to exchange the Kurotsubaki for her safety.

After arriving at Las Vegas and then retrieving the Kurotsubaki from the vault, Nagi hands the Kurotsubaki over to Hayate and entrusts it to him. Later it is taken by Yukiji who then wins big at a local casino, but shortly afterwards her winnings, her car and the Kurotsubaki are stolen by a group of thieves. Later after receiving a phone call asking for help from Izumi who was hiding in the trunk of Yukiji's car, Hayate, Hinagiku and Yukiji rush to the thieves location and meet up with Ruri who learns from them that one of the thieves has the Kurotsubaki. She effortlessly takes out most of the thieves with her skills in systema before aiming to take out the thief who has the Kurotsubaki. Panicked the thief inadvertently activates the Kurotsubaki and nearly stabs Ruri with it until Hayate throws her out of the way and is impaled by the sword switching his soul with Shin's that was placed within it thirteen years ago. After grabbing his chance to escape with the other thieves, the thief discards the Kurotsubaki in the desert, which is later picked up by Ayumu in the aftermath.

After having been stabbed by the sword, Hayate finds himself within the Kurotsubaki where he meets the Tanuki who informs him that his soul is within the eternal circuit of the Kurotsubaki and that his soul will grieve within the Kurotsubaki giving the owner of the clock bad luck and will be forever trapped within the eternal circuit for all eternity. The only options open to him are that someone else is stabbed by the Kurotsubaki or that he chooses to give the owner of the Kurotsubaki good luck in exchange for Hayate's life by singing on the soul stage within the clock while dressed as a girl.

The following day after having the Kurotsubaki returned to her, Nagi pieces together the events that happened thirteen years ago and realizes that her father's soul was within Hayate's body and orchestrates an event to lure him out by having Ruka wear Yukariko's wedding ring during a TV interview while promoting her concert at the Starside Hotel for that night. Having executed her plan, Nagi meets her father Shin for the first time and reveals to him the truth of what happened with the Kurotsubaki thirteen years ago. After the both of them reminisce about Yukariko, Dolly appears and demands the return of the Kurotsubaki. Not wanting to give it up, Nagi and Shin reveal to Dolly that her beloved king died after his soul was placed within Shin's body during the car accident thirteen years ago. Not wanting to believe their words, Dolly transforms and destroys the upper floors of the Starside Hotel.

Upon seeing her take such drastic action Shidou urges for her to return to her sanctuary before her body gives out but Dolly throws him out of the way and takes Nagi hostage. Having been angered even further by Nagi's refusal to give her the Kurotsubaki and then being told that Hayate's soul is now within it, Dolly attempts to crush Nagi before Shin arrives suggesting a way to prove who is trapped in Kurotsubaki. Before activating it, Shin asks Nagi to find his lost wedding ring for him before stabbing himself with the sword switching his soul with Hayate's. Believing that her king had returned Dolly throws Nagi in the air and reaches out to Hayate but to her surprise, Hayate slashes her with the Kurotsubaki before going after Nagi. Confused that her beloved had not returned, she watches Hayate save Nagi as Dolly's body begins to crumble apart. After landing on one of Dolly's crumbling tree branches, Hayate reassures Nagi that the both of them would be fine before jumping off the high branch while showing her that the hands on the Kurotsubaki where pointing at eight revealing that Shin had choose to provide a miracle in order to save Hayate and Nagi's life.

After having landed safely on the ground (thanks to a bunch of balloons promoting Ruka's concert) Nagi finds Dolly dying on the ground. Holding her hand, Nagi tells her what her mother had told her about the king’s last words of gratitude towards Dolly before he died. Satisfied with what she heard, Dolly passes on, before Hayate notices that the Kurotsubaki was destroyed during their fall earlier. The following day, Ruri returns Shin's wedding ring to Nagi before parting ways with her. Hayate and Nagi then return to Shimoda, placing the broken Kurotsubaki and Shin's wedding ring on Yukariko's grave.

Cuties
Weeks later, Hayate is visited by the Tanuki and the Clock Man in his dream. There they give him an ominous warning that the "cries of the Kurotsubaki" would plunge him into the depths of misfortune and that he must kiss a girl by the stroke of midnight to cease the cries of the Kurotsubaki or he'll be separated from Nagi forever.

As the day went on Hayate struggled to find a girl who would allow him to kiss her. Isumi sensed that something was at peril and traveled to Shimoda with Sakuya to pick up the broken Kurotsubaki. After having returned to Japan, Isumi and Sakuya accompany Maria and Nagi to the park as Hinagiku, Ayumu, Alice, Chiharu, Kayura, Ruka and the Hakuo Three Amiga arrived to help Hayate in his final minutes. Isumi then shows the Tanuki and the Clock Man through the Kurotsubaki as Hayate kissed Nagi on her forehead before the stroke of midnight. Having saw that Nagi would be okay, Isumi asks the Tanuki and the Clock Man if they saw what they wanted to, revealing that both the Tanuki and the Clock Man were Yukariko and Shin respectively. They then depart to the afterlife knowing that their daughter Nagi was happy with her friends.

Trivia

 * The Kurotsubaki's clock form is based on the Marie-Antoinette watch by Breguet.