[madmac]

My point is that I can't remember a SINGLE scene in which Hayate considers Nagi in a romantic context. However, there are multiple scenes showing that he does NOT consider her this way.

If Hayate ever did show a romantic interest in Nagi, it would be a huge shift in the story. That's not something I expect to happen lightly.

I can agree with that. But does this have any romantic significance?
If Nagi is to "win", it will have to be after a time jump.

I don't think a time jump is really necessary unless we are ending with a wedding, in which case we'll be getting a time jump regardless. Come December, they'll be 17/14, which is a lot more palatable then 16/13. It's at least enough that Hayate can start to show interest without looking like a pedo.

Hata is going to have to speed things up to advance the story another 6 months without taking 6 years to do it, but you know there's enough foreshadowing that we'll hit those dates eventually.

Athena already won the original "Royal Garden" story, from which Hayate no Gotoku was born. The remaining story will - in my opinion - be resolved either with the canonic Nagi ending after a time jump (possible, but so far not exactly a fan favorite), or with Hina. She has accumulated way too many fans and karma points to be ignored. She MUST be rewarded. The only question is "how".

Hata wasn't exactly shy about burning the Athena faction, although he did throw them a bone in 266. I don't think he's the type to bow much to fan pressure.

I'm sure Hina will get some kind of happy ending, but I'm very skeptical she'll end up with Hayate. Don't forget she had Yukiji show up a while back just to tell her to go ahead and hurt herself all she wants for now, and let big sis pick up the pieces later, along with some wink wink nudge nudge comments about "as long as you have someone." I really doubt that kind of foreshadowing won't end up meaning anything.