Hayate no Gotoku! Episode 12

'''Hayate no Gotoku! Episode 12, title name as In the Past, We were Taught that Youth Does Not Look Back at the Space Police (僕らは昔、宇宙の刑事に若さとは振り向かない事だと教わった) aired on June 17th 2007, the English Animax dub aired on June 26th 2009.

Synopsis
A flashback of a young Hayate giving a speech about his future dreams to his first grade class plays. As he stands up and begins reading, everyone looks at him, shocked and possibly depressed. He begins to happily talk about his irresponsible his parents are, since his father has no intention of getting a job, and his mother is only intent on trying to gamble. After a little bit, the flashback ends, and it is revealed to have been a dream Hayate was having. He sits up in bed, and wonders if the dream was because of what Mikado had said to him the previous day. He tries to pull himself together, as until he can figure out the meaning of his life, the only responsibility he has is to protect Nagi, and the title sequence begins.

Inside the mansion, Hayate asks Maria about her future dream, and she explains that she really only worries without any end about Nagi, and that she hopes she eventually grows up and becomes a responsible member of society, and she then asks Hayate why exactly he brought this up. Not wanting to mention his incident with Mikado the previous day, he explains that a dream is the driving force behind one's life. However, this makes Maria start to worry, since she doesn't really have any goals. He begins rattling off multiple quotes about the importance of having goals and dreams, but each one makes Maria feel slightly more depressed. Eventually, Hayate notices this and asks her if something is wrong. She admits that's she's feeling a bit depressed, but she then mentions that Hayate seems to be acting a little weird, and she asks if Mikado had said anything to him the previous day. He denies this, and declares that it's just important to remember one's enthusiasm, and that he just intends to work for Nagi as himself. In her room, Nagi lies on her bed, tired since she wasn't able to sleep, since she couldn't stop thinking about Hayate's promise to protect her. Eventually, she gets up and heads into the hallway, where she notices that everything is exceptionally clean. Maria says that this was all done by Hayate, and she mentions how he was talking about his future dreams. Nagi asks her to clarify what she means, and Maria explains that he's been acting as if he has just rediscovered life, and he's been working furiously as a result. Nagi wonders if all of this is simply in preparation for their future together. Nagi begins visibly fidgeting as she worries if this is too soon, prompting Maria to ask her what kind of dream she was currently imagining. Nagi simply says that it's normal for her to have dreams, triggering Maria's depression as she announces her plan to sell a trillion copies of her manga. Nagi then asks Maria what kind of dream Hayate has, but Maria says that she doesn't know, since he never actually said what it was. She assumes, however, that it's probably a big one because Hayate was stressing about it quite a lot. Maria, watching Nagi, realizes that Nagi's dream is probably entirely different from Hayate's, but she wonders what exactly Hayate's dream is.

Outside, Maria asks Hayate about his dream. He admits that since it's so large, it's a bit embarrassing to say, but Maria promises that she won't care if it's silly. With some hesitation, he finally admits that his dream is simply to own a 3LDK. Maria glances at him and asks him to clarify, and the flashback from before continues. At this point, everyone in the class was in tears as he talks about his desire to live in a 3LDK. The teacher asks for him to stop, but he ignores her and continues going on. Back in the present, Maria stares at him, her sense of respect shattered. Visibly dumbfounded and confused about his apparent dream, Hayate asks her if it's a bit too big. Not wanting to tell the truth, she admits that it's a fine dream, and that larger ones are more wonderful, making him smile. Maria then reminds Hayate about his cellphone, which had been broken a few days prior, and she asks him to buy a new one, since it's inconvenient not to have one. Hayate tells her that he'll go buy one, but Maria then adds that it's a good idea to rest every once in a while, and she asks him to spend some time around town afterwards.

He heads to a large store, where he picks up a cellphone, a fairly modern model with the capability of doing video calls, among other things. He then notices that the address book in the phone holds up to 1000 addresses, and he jokes that he would never actually use that many since he doesn't have that many friends. This causes him to wonder how his friends at his former high school are doing. While thinking about them, he realizes that there is nothing stopping him from going, since his tuition for that semester had been paid already and he hasn't withdrawn, and this makes him wonder if he's still actually interested in going to school. In the end, he decides to take a trip to the school. Once he gets there, he finds himself amazed that he had the courage to go, but he finds it a bit hard to actually enter the school, but he doubts it would be a problem, since he's still technically a student. Just then, someone approaches him, and he panics, wondering if they're going to treat him as an intruder, but it turns out that the person is one of his former classmates, Ayumu Nishizawa, who looked extremely concerned. She mentions that she hasn't seen him since Christmas had passed, and that everyone was worried about him, since he hadn't been showing up for school. Hayate tells her that a lot has happened, and he starts to tell the story of what happened to him. The story renders Ayumu speechless, and he concludes it by mentioning that he's now the butler at a certain mansion, leading Ayumu to ask him if he was joking. Ayumu then smiles and says that she's happy to have a chance to see him for the first time that year, though when she notices that this was surprising to him, she denies that it's anything actually deep. Just then, a few of his other friends show up, and they mention that they heard a rumor that he had quit school, though Hayate denies it. Souya teases Ayumu by saying that her prince had returned, angering her and making her knock him to the ground, saying that it's only normal to worry about a classmate. Souya points out that she was apparently about to cry when he mentioned the possibility of Hayate having quit school, though Hayate ignores them and thanks Ayumu for being worried.

Realizing how much Ayumu cares, Hayate says that he probably should be going to school, but then one of his former teachers comes along and tells him that he's now a dropout. Ayumu gets angry again and slaps the teacher for telling what she believed was a rumor, but he reassures her that it's true, telling that his parents had come to recover his tuition. Hayate becomes slightly depressed, realizing that he actually can't attend school. He begins wandering off, but Ayumu tries to get him to stop, not wanting him to vanish. She tells him that he could try to clear things with the board, but he knows that would only cause trouble for the teachers due to his parent's selfishness. Hayate tells Ayumu not to worry, and he says goodbye and starts walking off, but Ayumu chases him and tells him that she loves him. She doesn't want him to leave like this, so she asks him for a date. As Hayate thinks about what he just heard, an image of Nagi crying flashes in his mind. More than anything else, her sad expression catches his attention. Ayumu asks him again, and he tells Ayumu that he's sorry, but in order to hide his true emotions, he lies, saying that he's only interested in 2D girls, shocking everyone nearby. However, he quickly admits that he's lying, and that he can't go on a date because there's someone he can't leave alone. Ayumu becomes immensely frustrated with him, and ends up slapping him and storming off. The narrator explains that Hayate thought that rejecting her in a way that would make her mad was more manly, but as the character of a comedy anime, such a thing is impossible for him. That night, at the mansion, Nagi greets him and looks at his cellphone. She takes it and adds her as the first address in the address book, asking him to mail or call her whenever he desires. Meanwhile, Ayumu, standing near a street vendor, looks out over the city's skyline, having not lost interest in Hayate.

The next day, Ayumu is at Wataru's video store, returning a video she had rented. Wataru takes the videos and asks her what she thought about it. She gave the film 60 points, making Wataru remind her that was a film girls just don't understand. She explains that she was watching it because she was at an age where she wanted to try to understand boys deeper, but Wataru doubts this would be an effective method. Saki comes in and asks Ayumu about the person she had cared for had quit school, which she confirms. She then adds that his house had been emptied and there were no clues as to where he had gone. She mentions that she'd liked to have talked to him one more time, but Wataru jokes that she'll probably never see someone who's gone missing in this fashion again. Ayumu angrily asks Wataru why he'd ever mention something so depressing. Ayumu then goes over to Wataru's shelves, and asks him if the anime shows he has collected there are interesting, and he says that everything there are shows he found interesting, but Wataru isn't sure if she'd like them. Ayumu is surprised by this, but this prompts Wataru to remind her that whether or not something is interesting or not is entirely subjective, and he reminds her that she'll never be able to know if something is interesting or not unless she watches it. They start going through various titles, but a truck selling bamboo poles rides by, interrupting them as they were about to mention copyrighted titles. With that distraction, Ayumu blurts out that she remembers she has to do something, and she runs off. Inside, Wataru gets angry, since she had run away, but Saki asks him to value the customer more. He sits down, and asks Saki if there's any chance if someone missing like that could be found in such a large city, but Saki isn't sure, though she adds that whoever that person was, they were probably wonderful.

Just then, Hayate walks in to return a video, and Wataru asks him what he had thought of it. He says that he thought the life lessons presented in it were quite informative, but Nagi hadn't liked it herself. Out on the streets, Ayumu stormed along, however, she remembers that Kazuki had asked her to pick up a video for him, and she looks back at the video store, only to see Hayate leave it. Wondering if this sudden encounter means that they were destined to be together, Ayumu chases after him, calling out for him, but he doesn't hear her. She gets tired, being unable to keep up with his fast pace, but she sees him enter the mansion grounds, and she assumes that this is where he lives. However, she takes a look and realizes that the grounds are huge, and that it couldn't possibly be a normal house. She wonders what he could be doing there, prompting her to remember Hayate's story. However, she only remembers the detail about him being collateral for a debt, and she assumes that the mansion is controlled by the Yakuza, and that they're mistreating Hayate inside it. However, the SP quickly surround her. They take her and call Maria about this, wondering if she's possibly one of Nagi's friends. Ayumu, with her arms held by one of the members, assumes that these people are actually part of the Yakuza, and she's is terrified that they'll do indecent things for her. Seeing the bag from her high school, Maria assumes that the girl could be from Hayate's high school, and she orders them to let go of her. They let go of her, but she quickly darts off. Maria reminds the SP that she didn't ask them to let her go, and they quickly set off after her. Ayumu finds a perch overlooking the mansion, and she starts wondering were Hayate could be. As she wonders this, Tama approaches her from behind. She turns around and notices him, and she runs away, wondering what a tiger could be doing in a Japanese residence. Tama chases her, though he wonders why he's doing so in the first place, and he assumes it's just his hunting instinct, that he thought he had lost. She trips, and he jumps on her, and decides to lick her. Ayumu calls out for Hayate, and he swiftly kicks Tama out of the way. Tama rolls along and hits a tree, while he remarks that Tama's been causing more trouble again. Ayumu is glad to see Hayate, and she says that they should both escape, confusing Hayate. Just then, Nagi calls out for Hayate. She approaches him and asks him what he's been up to. Just then, Ayumu and Nagi notice each other, and they gasp, and Nagi asks Hayate who Ayumu is. He introduces her as a former classmate, and then Ayumu asks about Nagi. He explains that Nagi is the mansion's owner, and the two girls get angry at each other. Dark cloud cover forms, and they end up summoning spiritual beasts to represent them. Nagi is represented by a long dragon, but Ayumu is simply represented by a hamster. The hamster shivers in fear, and the dragon quickly eats it whole. Not capable of doing anything else, Ayumu runs off, promising that she'll come back later. As she runs off, Nagi, in tears, tells Hayate that he can't go somewhere else, and Hayate reassures her that the mansion is the only place he has to go. Later that night, as Maria was serving tea for Nagi, she begins to reflect on how helpful Hayate has been for her. Maria asks her what she was thinking about, and she gets up and declares that since Hayate has been so helpful, she'll make up for it, somehow. Later, back at the video shop, Ayumu rents out more videos, and eventually Hayate comes in later to rent the same ones, but he's surprised to see that they're gone.

In the butler report, Hayate explains that they'll be using Nagi's character song in the segment for a bit, and Nagi explains that it's important for a Sanzenin to be able to sing. Hayate says that the song accurately reflects how much of an unmanageable bundle of energy Nagi is, but Nagi can't tell if that was supposed to be a compliment or not, though Hayate confirms that it was intended to be a compliment.

Adapted From
Volume 2 Volume 4 Volume 5
 * Chapter 15: A Way to Lose the Golden Feather
 * Chapter 37: A Long Time Ago, We were Taught that being a Space Detective isn't all there is To youth !
 * Chapter 43: I'll never forget the voice actor from Ryuuko no Ken

Cultural References

 * The department store where Hayate buys his cell phone from is called Otakyu. This is a parody of the Odakyu Group.
 * After Hayate tells Ayumu that he's only interested in "2-D girls", characters resembling Haruhi Suzumiya and Yuki Nagato from the Haruhi Suzumiya series can be seen behind them.
 * After Ayumu had asked Wataru if his reserved anime DVDs where good, he tells her that she should watch them to see if they are interesting. During this scene, Koichiro "Coach" Ohta from Gunbuster appears behind Wataru.
 * Afterwards, Wataru suggests for her to rent Getsumen to Heiki Mina. This is a reference to the anime Getsumento Heiki Mina.
 * When Hayate kicked Tama, he yells Ina**ma kick. This is a reference to Super Inazuma kick used in the series Gunbuster.