February 27th, 2013 
AstroNerdBoy ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 396
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Hina arrives at the cabin and is briefed on the doujinshi contest. She asks whom Hayate wants to win, but neither Nagi nor Ayumu know. However, they believe Hayate isn’t that interested in picking a winner. Hina figures Ruka will have realized that the winner has been already been decided.
At the Rainbow Village, Ruka goes orgasmic as Hayate gives her a foot massage. However, Hayate is not amused, so she stops. Hayate asks if there’s something else Ruka wants, so Ruka wants to see his underwear. However, he refuses to her annoyance. Ruka has a request and asks whom Hayate wants to win the doujinshi competition. Hayate says he hasn’t thought about that, leading Ruka to understand that even if she wins and pays off Hayate’s debt, he’s planning to remain as Nagi’s butler.
Ruka reminds Hayate of his promise to grant her a wish and asks if she can make that wish now. He agrees, so she asks him to marry her. He’s flustered by this request and asks for clarification, so she tells him he gets to marry a teenage idol and become one of life’s winners. When Hayate realizes she’s serious, he remembers Ruka’s telling him that she would wish for something crazy, no matter what. As such, Hayate vows to keep his promise to her, even at the cost of his own life.
Thoughts/Review:
Well now, well now. As expected, the story shifted to Ruka, who as usual, finds a way to up the ante.
When I read the chapter the first time, I just assumed that her condition for marrying her was if she won the competition. However, when I reread the chapter, I became unsure if this is how it would go. That’s because when read a certain way, Ruka’s statement came off as a pure marriage proposal since she was making a wish and Hayate said he’d grant it.
However, as part of Ruka’s attempt to prove she was serious, she tells him that his attitude on not caring who won made it seem like he felt the contest had nothing to do with him, thus there’s nothing on the line for him. From that standpoint, it would seem that Hayate would marry Ruka if she won the competition. This would make more sense as it would give Ruka fire to win while not having the marriage as a condition would mean an automatic win for Nagi, since it wouldn’t matter for Ruka.
On further reflection, I think that’s the only way this could go. After all, if Hayate is to marry Ruka regardless of the competition, then she’d be in violation of the terms of the bet with Nagi since a Nagi win means that Ruka has to give up on Hayate.
Still, Hayate hasn’t said whom he wants to win. I wonder if that’ll come up.
One final thought — I couldn’t help but be amused at how Ruka became like some little boy in wanting to see Hayate’s underwear.
So an interesting chapter here with the work on the two doujinshi getting going.
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Damn Ruka! You work fast! I swear, she gets more done in 20 chapters then all the characters got in 200.
*lol* That’s the power of an idol. ^_~
Is Hayate really going to marry Ruka?
If the anime “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” is any indication, the answer is “no.”
The ost of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is added in youtube if you type Hayate no Gotoku 2012 ost and I noticed two of the ost aren’t added. The ost when Isumi attacked Dolly and the ost when Nagi has her mother’s ring brought to Las Vegas. Could it be they forgot to add those two in the ost?
I couldn’t say as I don’t know. Sorry. ^_^;
I had the same assumption, but after rereading, you’re right – Ruka herself doesn’t really give the impression that her proposal is dependent on who wins the competition. The blurb on the right side of the last page infers very strongly that it’s dependent on it, though.
I’m with MCAL – too many characters in anime and manga dither about forever, barely making any progress and seemingly content to let their choices be made for them. In that context, Ruka’s proposal is a refreshing change of pace… even if it is a bit daffy. (^_^);
Yeah, Ruka is refreshing in that way. Hata-sensei’s own meandering pace fits the other characters though. ^_^;
Athena is much like Ruka in that regard as well.
I wonder what Hina meant by “The winner has already been decided.” Was she referring to Nagi or Ruka as the winner? I hope neither because I’ve always been a Hina fan. I hope she gets more time in the next chapter, but that seems unlikely until the doujinshi competition is over.
I believe that Hina was referring to Nagi winning in the end since even if Ruka won the competition, Hayate had no intention of leaving Nagi’s service.
I haven’t been keeping up with this manga lately, so i’m surprised that Ruka actually made such a big move by asking him to marry her. I doubt he would though. I still think he remain as Nagi’s butler. But would Ruka still have a chance?
Since he promised to marry her, if she wins, I think he’ll do that unless she decides to release him from that obligation.