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I'll have to wait for a full translation to see if Hayate said e still loves Athena or he used to love her. Either way it is a serious blow to Hina. I bet she thinks sort of like Magi on this point; Nagi believes that she couldn't win against Hina if she fell for Hayate and I bet Hina believes that she couldn't win against Athena. This could be possible since the relationships are parallel, with Nagi looking up to Hina and Hina looking up to Athena. In fact, it will probably be a plot point sooner or later, especially if Athena returns to Hakuou in later chapters.
I'm starting to develop a theory here so bear with me...
The stone given to Hayate will lead him down a dangerous path but if he can cross it without giving in to temptation (or something like that I forgot the exact phrasing) then he will find true love or great treasure (which will probably be love) or something like that. This entire plot seems to be a test for Hayate with several points where he's almost failed (or did fail but corrected himself).
1) The incident where Hayate was fired and bought by Isumi - he didn't pay attention to Nagi and got into a misunderstanding but corrected it by coming to her rescue even though he wasn't hired by her at the time
2) The incident on the bridge with Hina during the marathon - he was only thinking about the prize so that he could clear his debt, therefore he took a rash action and exploited Hina's fear of heights getting him fired (temporarily) and starting that whole 'ice age' Hina had towards him
3) I can't think of any more times where he screwed up and got a karmic bitch slap, because he seemed to have learned his lesson after the Butler Tiger Den thing but a lot of other events seem to conspire to bring him closer to different people.
I'm specifically thinking of the time Hayate had to stay at Hina's house because Nagi kicked him out (though it was largely her fault). This may even have been a 'reward' of sorts as it straightened out a lot of things that opened the way for a Hinagiku end. If he had stayed employed by Isumi he likely never would have gone to Hakuou (she wouldn't have ever thought about it probably) and he never would have met Hinagiku. If he had never corrected his mistake during the marathon then Hina would have hated him. It even seems to affect Hina, like during the clock tower scene where she just knew that if she didn't salvage the situation then she would 'lose' even thought she didn't know what it was she would lose.
Currently, I'm holding out hope that everything is just a crazy gambit that may hook Hayate and Hinagiku up so long as he doesn't screw up and ruin things. Athena could be a common obstacle for them from their past or she may be a temptress trying to lure Hayate from the proper path, who knows? But I think if there was some kind of guiding force in Hayate's life then it would explain a lot of things (such as why he is so unlucky).
As for the humor, don't worry. As soon as they go back to Japan things will get crazy and they will soon be distracted by insane antics at the school, lunatics looking to get the Sanzen'in inheritance, etc. And of course there will always be Kotetsu to lighten the mood with his widly over-the-top affection for poor Hayate. A part of me just can't help thinking that Kotetsu is there either to counter beliefs that Hayate is gay (because of the whole feminine running gag) or that Hayate just might turn gay by the end of the series (it's even been implied by Maria!). It's just that Hayate only ever acts that way around the love-struck butler that I can't help but feel he may just be tsundere for him.
Whew, that was a long post! Hope it gave you all something to think about. Can't wait for chapter 239 to see if I'm right!
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