Misfortunes abound in the life of 16-year-old Hayate Ayasaki. Even though he is underage, he spends most of his time working part-time jobs to make money to support his extravagant parents. As if that wasn't hard enough, his parents disappear without a trace one day, leaving him behind with a debt of almost 150 million yen. As a result, he finds himself being chased by debt collectors. Running for his life, he stops in a park, believing that he is safe. Contemplating his jobless future, he decides to kidnap a wealthy child for ransom. And thus, when he sees a rich-looking blonde girl, he attempts to capture her. However, she too is kidnapped before Hayate can even try! Hayate then saves her, and as a reward, he requests a job, and the girl makes him her butler, revealing herself to be the daughter of a wealthy family. Even with a job, his misfortune remains; Hayate will have to go through many nasty predicaments, all the while burdened by his lousy luck. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hayate no Gotoku! has been published in English as Hayate the Combat Butler by VIZ Media under the Shonen Sunday imprint since November 14, 2006.