The Fascinating Silver Red – Chapter 3

This is a fanfiction by Doughnut Gunso.

The kidnappers were not moving as fast as they would have wanted. If there were anything wrong about their plans to kidnap Nagi, it was the timing: it was 5 pm, and adults started getting off from their work. Transports packed with people were flocking into the streets, slowly but surely causing a traffic jam. The kidnappers could not force their way through – the perception that kidnappers are expert drivers is simply wrong.

As they halted more and more frequently behind cars, the driver swore more and more furiously. They were not getting far away from the park. The 10-minute advantage they built by stunning Hayate was fading. If only he could locate their car…

Nagi wasn’t sure if she should count on Hayate to recover in time, or to count on Hinagiku to call the police. She couldn’t see if Hayate had already begun chasing after them, but she wasn’t sure if Hinagiku had noticed her “signal” either. Nagi wasn’t even sure if Hinagiku was reliable. Hinagiku, although in a better position to help her out of the trouble, was not Hayate after all.

The car wasn’t moving at all. The world has almost stopped. Nagi felt that she had been in the car for hours…

*

Hinagiku dashed into the nearby bushes. The circumstances did not allow her to take off her school uniform, so she simply put the Silver Red costume on top of her school uniform. It was a bit bulky and uncomfortable, but Hinagiku couldn’t get picky about it: the most important thing was to save Nagi.

In less than 30 seconds, Silver Red emerged from the bushes. She held out her right arm and yelled: “Come, Shirosakura!”

But there was no response. Silver Red then remembered: the legendary transparent sword had been destroyed in the last battle against Kurotsubaki. To be more specific, Shirosakura sacrificed itself to save the wielder of Kurotsubaki, a boy called Fukada Kyosuke.

Silver Red felt lost, but she also knew that there was no time to be sentimental. She quickly recovered and switched to Plan B: if she was not able to fly to save Nagi, at least she could run.

It wasn’t that she wanted to fly in the first place.

“Masamune!” she shouted, and the loyal wooden sword came into her hand immediately. Silver Red felt the energy flowing through her body, thanks to the enhancement given by the sword. She took a deep breath, and began to run as fast as she could. To the naked eye, she was running at lightening speed.

She did not take long to reach the main road, and once she was there she began looking for the car that kidnapped Nagi. Although she only had had a glance at the car, she remembered the car number and colour. And then she found it, stuck helplessly in a big crowd of cars. Silver Red grinned: it was an easy rescue mission.

*

The kidnappers were looking anxiously around as they wanted to be moving as soon as possible. Suddenly they heard a knocking noise at the left car door. “What the…” began one of the kidnappers, but he cut himself short. He was thoroughly shocked by the sight of a masked ranger.

Silver Red took advantage of the temporal inability of the kidnappers to act. She broke the window of the car door with Masamune, and dragged the closest kidnapper out of the car. The kidnapper on Nagi’s right intended to grab their hostage, but Silver Red moved quickly and hit his hand with a fist. The kidnapper yelped in pain and was forced back. This gave Silver Red the space and time to grab Nagi out of the car, shielding the girl behind her back.

The two remaining kidnappers got out of the car with their stun guns. It wasn’t wise to use firearms in front of so many people, but they had no time to worry about anything. If they could not get rid of this masked ranger and flee, they would get caught by the police anyway.

Silver Red seemed to know what was coming. “Get off the road and stay behind that tree!” she told Nagi, pointing at a tree on the pedestrian’s road. Nagi nodded and did what Silver Red told her. She peeked from behind the tree, eagerly witnessing her hero in action.

Silver Red turned to the two kidnappers, who were already pointing their stun guns at her. “Don’t shoot!” she shouted. “Not when there are so many people around!”

One of the kidnappers snorted and pulled the trigger. He really did not care about hurting innocent people. Silver Red reacted and dodged. She was too fast for the shot, which hit the car behind her instead. With a loud “crack”, the windshield of that poor car was reduced to tiny pieces. The driver held her head and screamed, although she did not get hurt.

“Hey!” cried Silver Red, but she did not have time to say anything else, as the other kidnapper took a shot at her as well. The shot missed her again and hit the side of another car.

As the two kidnappers fired shot after shot at Silver Red, she leaped over the top of a truck and stayed low. The poor driver was hit and passed out. As the truck was quite tall the kidnappers could not see her. They both stepped backward in order to seek Silver Red from a wider angle, but to their surprise she was nowhere to be seen. “Where is he?” they asked each other, but there was no answer.

“I am here!” a voice suddenly came from their back. The two kidnappers turned, but they were too late. In a split second, both kidnappers were disarmed, and were knocked to the ground. In front of them, there stood Silver Red, swinging Wooden Masamune casually.

“Who are you?” moaned one of the kidnappers, who could not believe they were so easily beaten by someone with only a wooden blade. Silver Red grabbed the sword tightly, pointing the end at the kidnappers. “I am Silver Red,” she said. “The guardian of this district!”

The kidnapper passed out in shock and anger. Of course, there was also the pain.

*

“Milady!”

Hayate was finally able to move, and he went looking for Nagi immediately. He soon arrived at the main road, and he was shocked to see the broken cars and injured people. “Oh no!” he thought and panicked. “Milady! Where are you?” he shouted in desperation.

“I am here, Hayate!” shouted Nagi, as she emerged from behind, holding the hand of Silver Red. Not only she was fine, but she looked excited with a slightly blushing face and sparkling eyes.

“Milady, sorry for keeping you waiting!” exclaimed Hayate as Nagi ran towards her. “Are you hurt?”

“Hayate, Silver Red was just so amazing!” said Nagi. She might not have answered Hayate’s question, but the butler could tell from her expression and voice that she was perfectly fine – or more than that. “He defeated every one of the kidnappers with ease! You know, he might just be as strong as you!”

Hayate beamed – he was not interested in comparing himself with Silver Red, but he did want a few words with her. “Thank you very much, Mr. Silver Red,” he said, looking at the hero. “You saved me again.”

“It was nothing,” said Silver Red with a determinedly deep voice. “I was just passing through.”

“But you were passing through as well in Greece,” said Hayate. “It is as if you are not only passing through, but have been living around me.”

“That… that is not true!” said Silver Red, who had the feeling that Hayate might be picking up hints about her identity. “I am not somebody you know!”

“But you do know Katsura Hinagiku-san, don’t you?” said Hayate, pointing at Wooden Masamune. “And you are close enough to her to borrow her weapon.”

“No, I…”

“Who are you, Mr. Silver Red?”

“I…”

Silver Red looked desperately for an answer, but she couldn’t come up with any. Fortunately, the police cars arrived just in time, which distracted Hayate and Nagi. “Well, see you!” Silver Red leaped backward very quickly while they were not looking at her. Hayate did not even recover in time to stop her.

“Please wait, Mr. Silver Red!” exclaimed Hayate, but Silver Red was already gone.

“Don’t push him too hard, Hayate,” said Nagi wisely. “Heroes don’t like their identity exposed.”

Hayate shrugged. “Well, in that case I might just ask Hinagiku-san.”

*

Silver Red retreated into a nearby public washroom. It took her even shorter to undress and reveal Hinagiku, who was both relieved and miserable – she was relieved because she could take off the suit, but she was miserable because she was sweating heavily and she found herself smell bad.

She emerged from the washroom, threw the Silver Red costume into a rubbish bin and met up with Hayate and Nagi. “Oi! Hayate-kun! Nagi!” she called out to them, trying to sound as casually as she could. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, Hinagiku-san,” said Hayate cheerfully. “Thanks for your care.”

“Yea, thank you for your help, Hinagiku,” said Nagi.

Hinagiku’s heart skipped a beat. “I – I did not do anything.”

“Yes, you did,” said Nagi, bemused. “Didn’t you call the police?”

“Oh, that,” said Hinagiku, clearly relieved. “Y – yes, I did.”

“By the way, do you know Silver Red, Hinagiku-san?” asked Hayate. “I mean, personally.”

Hinagiku blushed, but as she was determined to keep this a secret, she knew that there was only one answer.

“No,” she said, a little too determinedly. “I do not know him.”