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Hayate moves with purpose. To the audience, this is obvious in the way she emphasizes each turn with a flourish of her hand, each pose carefully manipulated right down to the fingertips. Lithe despite the strength behind each movement, power behind each gentle motion.
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For Kokoa, it is seen when Hayate links their pinkies together when they go out on a date, careful not to push her boundaries too far as they visit various stores downtown, allowing Kokoa to make the first move towards linking hands. On rare occasions where they go through neverending crowds, Hayate circles her arm around Kokoa’s waist, pulling her close and guiding her through the sea of people in a gentle waltz.
To Kokoa, the purpose of Hayate’s movements seem to be reducing her lifespan, she feels her heart skipping beats, her mind becomes cloudy and her chest gets tight.
To Kokoa, the worst movements are the ones she can predict.
Like when Hayate lifts up her hand when they meet up for a date, soft lips landing against the back of her hand. In reality, she shouldn’t think too much of it, it is a simple greeting after all, a little over the top certainly, but a simple greeting nonetheless. It would be a simple greeting if the kiss didn’t come from her girlfriend who also continues it with another kiss to her wrist, while giving her the soft yet goofy grin that she slowly yet surely fell in love with.
In public, Kokoa is too embarrassed to reciprocate, settling with chiding Hayate once again on public displays of affection. Hayate always pouts, sliding her hand into Kokoa’s, intertwining their fingers together. She then plants a gentle, final peck on their intertwined hands as they head off towards whatever location they were headed to.
In private, Kokoa almost always pulls Hayate into a hug, arms wrapping around her back as Hayate reciprocates with arms around her waist. With a small but perfect height difference of six centimeters, Kokoa fits snugly into the crook of Hayate’s neck. It fills her heart with a sense of comfort and warmth, though it often results in them standing awkwardly in the doorway for several minutes.
Sometimes, when she gives in to the immeasurable joy she feels, Kokoa nuzzles against Hayate’s neck. This often results in Hayate letting her go, but the sense of loss doesn’t last long as Hayate loops an arm under her knees in swift motion, lifting her up in a princess carry. End result? A startled yelp, arms immediately rushing to tighten around her neck, a scolding that holds no animosity and of course, cuddles on the couch.
For Kokoa, each of Hayate’s movements shows her love, her passion and most of all, her emotions. Hayate herself is a poem that Kokoa has taught herself to read. All of Hayate’s poems are for her, including the poem woven by her movements.
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For Michiru, Hayate is one of the most impressive people she has met. With a pen in her hand, she writes poems that strike through the heart. With nothing but the music behind and within her, she dances in a way that captivates. She can match unorthodox timings, while at the same time come up with adlibs on the spur of the moment.
For Michiru, Hayate is one of the oddest people she has met, who else would jump up and down on an ultra-bouncy sofa without showing the slightest emotion? What a truly peculiar person Hayate-dono is.
In truth, Michiru is incredibly grateful towards Hayate. If it wasn’t for Hayate, Unichord would have never been formed, Kokoa would have never accepted her as a friend and she would have never gotten a second chance at understanding the true meaning of “Lonely Moon”. Was it all due to Hayate? Of course not. Hayate was a catalyst, but one cannot deny that without her interference, Kokoa would have never given her a second chance.
Metaphorically, Hayate’s push on her back was the best support she could have gotten. Even though by age Michiru is Hayate’s senior, it feels as though she is always getting support. From the way her direct criticisms help to shape the final remix, to the way she physically supports her when sometimes after an especially taxing gig.
It feels like both a blessing and a curse when Hayate physically piggybacks her back home, often falling asleep due to the smoothness of the ride. First Michiru gets chided by Kokoa, who always follows along when Hayate carries her, then when she arrives home, Haruki gives her a worried scolding. In exchange, she gets a nice nap and a free ride home. Occasionally, she vaguely makes out the banter between the Haya-coco duo, and sometimes, she jolts awake to a sudden motion and Kokoa’s tomato red face.
When she asks Master Lumina regarding what had occurred between Haya-coco, she always replies with a space metaphor that Michiru can’t grasp. When she asks Kokoa, she deflects it with questions on how Michiru is doing in school. When she asks Hayate, she receives a haiku with difficult words Michiru can’t comprehend. It really feels like she’s the only normal person in Unichord sometimes, as expected of her Master DJ self.
To Michiru, Hayate is a mystery, and at the same time, a pillar of support. From words written on paper, to dances performed on stage, Hayate is charming in a way difficult to put into words.
To Michiru, Hayate is irreplaceable to the formation of Unichord, which itself is her new home, her new beginning.
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For Lumina, Hayate is an anomaly. The way she tried to burn down the studio should be a red flag, but the way she went about it will definitely be stored in a SSD for further study.
It is truly curious the nonchalant way Hayate accepted her “cosmic truth” with little push back, only stating that as long as they could perform on the same wavelength, it would be okay. Did she make that decision in order to convince Kokoa to accept Lumina’s status? Was she thinking at all when she made that statement?
“Cosmic truth” and “Pandora’s box”. Kokoa’s brashness and Michiru’s naivety was one thing, but Hayate’s line of thought was hard to gauge even with her CPU running at full capacity. Even after thorough research into Hayate’s background, nothing of importance seemed to explain her unorthodox actions. Lumina would have to compile an essay’s worth of questions to properly gauge Hayate’s line of thought for future uses.
For now, she’ll have to settle for reminding Hayate that she can’t drink any refreshments provided even if she pours onto the monitor.
To Lumina, Hayate is a means to an end.
To Lumina, Hayate is the repairman that throws a wrench into all her plans while at the same time a catalyst that speeds up a process that may have taken ages.
Even through the screen, she can feel the warmth that radiates from the silver haired girl, even if she splashes water against the incredibly expensive screen in an attempt to get Lumina to drink water. There is no doubt she’ll be a useful ally on Lumina's journey to become the world’s greatest diva.