Chapter 29

'''Hayate no Gotoku! Chapter 29:''' By the Time Ojo-sama Cries (お嬢さまのなく頃に)

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Nagi Sanzenin
 * 2) Wataru Tachibana
 * 3) Saki Kijima
 * 4) Hayate Ayasaki
 * 5) Isumi Saginomiya
 * 6) Isumi's butlers
 * 7) Maria
 * 8) Sanzenin SP
 * 9) Akane Himegami - mentioned
 * 10) Gilbert Kent

Summary
At Wataru's video store, Nagi is working at the counter. She critizes the video a customer was trying to rent, to his confusion. She then looks at his video history, and says that he has bad taste. Nagi goes into a rant reminding him that he has only so much time in the world to watch videos, and that he should make the most of it, and he says that he lacks Gundam. She recommends that he rents the entire Gundam series, for 40 thousand yen, and that he must watch them all with excessive devotation. Just then, Wataru shows up and kicks Nagi away from the counter. Wataru yells at Nagi, telling her not to just rent out his DVDs in such a manner, though she says that she's just picking the best things for him. Wataru asks her what's she's doing here in the first place, and Nagi reminds him that she ran away from home. Wataru reminds her that Hayate isn't at the mansion anymore. Nagi is about to become defensive, saying that Hayate would never leave her, until she realizes that she had sold Hayate, causing her to become slightly depressed. Saki then enters, telling Wataru to stop bullying Nagi, though Wataru says that he wasn't, and that he was just telling the truth. Saki reminds Wataru that if they do anything to Nagi, Saki will be the one who pays the price, and that his anger will probably make Isumi stop liking him, making him start to feel depressed also.

At Isumi's house, Hayate, with an incredibly blank stare, sits on the floor. Isumi asks him if he's alright. He lies, saying that he is fine, and he reveals that he's counting the parts of the tatami mats. Isumi thinks this is an amazing skill, though her other butlers realize that he's quite broken. As he sits there, counting while reflecting about his former life at the mansion, Isumi tries to get his attention, but he doesn't pay attention. Eventually, Isumi shoves him, knocking him forward. Hayate asks what that was for, and she apologizes for being so sudden, but she had intended to try to cheer him up. She reveals that she doesn't think things are right, but she doesn't know what to do. He laughs a bit, and says that he's feeling a little better. Realizing that he probably couldn't work at the mansion again, he decides to do his best at Isumi's house, and gets to counting all the tatami tiles in the house.

Back at the video store, Maria had arrived with the SP and was confronting Nagi about her actions. Nagi says that it couldn't be helped, and that these things just happened. Maria asks if she intends to lose everything in this manner. Nagi ignores the question and asks Maria how she knew where to go, since she ordered the SP not to tell Maria about this. Maria says the the SP told her, and Nagi reminds the SP that they said that they were on her side. The SP blatantly lie to Nagi, saying that they're still on her side. This attracts Maria's attention, who asks them if they're really on Nagi's side, with a subtle threatening tone. The SP instantly move back over to Maria's side. Nagi calls them traitors, but Maria reminds Nagi that selfishness isn't going to get anyone to follow someone. Saki watches on with Wataru, amazed how Maria is able to command the SP so effectively.

Maria then reminds everyone that Hayate is probably crying right now, since what Nagi did isn't very different than what Hayate's parent's had done on christmas eve. Saki adds that she always thought Hayate was respectable, and Maria says that he probably was always crying on the inside, while invariably putting on a smile. Wataru further adds that Nagi always yelling at him doesn't help anything. Nagi realizes that she had probably done something terrible to Hayate, though everyone else is surprised that it took her this long to realize this. Nagi starts to cry at this realization, though when they ask her why, she denies it entirely. However, she mentions that Hayate probably hates her now. Saki suggests that Wataru should do something, but they question what exactly he could do. He decides to head off with Maria, asking Saki to stay back at the shop with Nagi. The SP remind Saki once again of what would happen should something happen to Nagi, and then they leave. As they leave, it is revealed that someone was eavesdropping from outside.

As Wataru and Maria head over to Isumi's house, Wataru asks how they'll convince Hayate to come back. Maria says that Hayate probably thinks Nagi hates him, but she thinks that if she tells Hayate that Nagi was crying and wanting him to come back, it would convince him otherwise. Wataru wonders about the potential of Isumi actually liking Hayate, though Maria realizes that since this is a comedy, the chances of that are low. Just then, they overhear them talking, and Isumi is talking about someone she knew, who had died earlier, and that she hasn't forgotten about them since. She further adds that when she first saw Hayate, she thought he was a reincarnation of this person. She asks Hayate to stay by her side, since she doesn't want to go through those memories again. A surprised Wataru and Maria watch on, questioning what kind of manga they were in.

At the video shop, Nagi is confident that Maria and Wataru will be able to bring Hayate back, though she thinks that he definitely hates her. Just then, the person who was watching earlier is revealed to be Gilbert, who enters the store and recommends that they test Hayate for his true feelings.

Trivia

 * This chapter name is a parody to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.