The Fascinating Silver Red – Chapter 7

This is a fanfiction by Doughnut Gunso.

It had all begun a few moments ago in Deathny’s Restaurant. Two young girls – one with short hair, and one with very long hair and a kimono – had just arrived.

“So, tell me, Isumi-san,” said Aizawa Sakuya, “why did Nagi invite you to this restaurant?”

“Nagi wants to give me a copy of her new manga,” said Saginomiya Isumi, who had the habit of covering her mouth with her sleeve. “She wants me to comment on it, and give her some new ideas as well. Of course, I will study her manga and come up with a better one to beat her next time!”

“I think you should give up on this,” said Sakuya. “Honestly, she has had a successful Comiket under her belt, but what do you have?”

“I don’t care what she has done before,” said Isumi calmly. “Each competition is a new competition, so no matter how successful she was last time, it has nothing to do with my chances of winning this time.”

“I admire your spirit, but I think you are missing the point,” said Sakuya as she sighed. “Anyway, just make it quick. I am not staying here for long.”

“That begs the question: why are you here?” asked Isumi. “You are not needed here. I can meet up with Nagi myself.”

Sakuya stood up. “If I am not with you,” she hissed, “you wouldn’t even be able to come to this restaurant! If I am not with you, you won’t be able to find the way home! So why else do you think that I am here?”

“Sakuya, could you call Nagi and tell her that we have arrived?” asked Isumi, apparently trying to change the subject. “You know, I am not too good with iPhones.”

Sakuya grabbed her own cellphone. “If you don’t know how to use an iPhone, then you are truly hopeless.”

Sakuya was calling Nagi when she heard a loud bang at the entrance. A moment later, she heard a female voice screaming: “What are you doing, sir? No!!”

“What is happening out there?” Sakuya muttered to herself, but as she turned her head to the entrance, she was shocked: two men wearing masks were entering the restaurant, both of them holding guns. This only meant one thing: robbery.

“Everybody don’t move!” shouted one of the men. “We now have control of this restaurant! Stay where you and give up all your property!”

“This is no good,” whispered Sakuya. “Can you do something, Isumi-san?”

There was no response.

“Isumi-san?” repeated Sakuya, this time a little louder. There was still no response. Sakuya turned back to find Isumi, but to her horror, Isumi was nowhere to be seen. She was, apparently, gone.

“How is she able to disappear from within a restaurant?” exclaimed Sakuya.

*

“What? Sakuya-san is held hostage in the restaurant?”

Hayate could not believe his ears as Nagi told him what had happened. They were two blocks away from the restaurant when Nagi picked up the call from Sakuya, who briefly told her about the robbery.

“Yes, you heard me,” replied Nagi. “You need to save Sakuya, Hayate. Then bring her to our home.”

Hayate hesitated. “But what about you, milady?” he asked. “Surely someone must escort you home?”

“Not to worry,” said Nagi. “I have told Maria to pick me up. Look, there she is.”

Hayate turned and saw Maria coming, with her shopping bag in her hands. “Before you ask, Hayate-kun,” she said, “I was shopping for tonight’s dinner nearby, so I have come quickly after receiving Nagi’s call.”

“Ha…” replied Hayate as he did not really have anything to say.

“So, I am in good hands, Hayate,” said Nagi. “Go and save Sakuya.”

Hayate knew there was only one thing he could do. “Understood,” he answered with a bow. “Please leave it to me.”

As he watched Nagi and Maria go, however, Hayate began to worry. The police had set up a blockade around the restaurant, but they were doing nothing. An inspector was telling his subordinates to tell who the robbers were by their “aura”. Other than that, they were not doing anything. Hayate could tell that he could not rely on the police to help him.

“How am I supposed to save Sakuya-san?” he asked himself.

News reporters had also arrived at the scene reporting the breaking news, and it was when Hayate was caught on the camera.

*

“Hayate-kun!” exclaimed Hinagiku as she saw Hayate on the TV, clearly panicking. She then turned to Athena. “Whatever you may say, I am going,” she said, her eyes full of determination.

“Hinagiku…” Athena began, but she already knew that it would be a very difficult job trying to convince Hinagiku not to go. “Try to be reasonable, please. The cops have already arrived at the scene. Whatever trouble Hayate is in, everything would be all right. Okay?”

Hinagiku shook her head. “My experience suggests otherwise,” she said. “The last time Hayate-kun was involved in a robbery in a restaurant, the police was almost unable to do anything! They couldn’t even stop me getting into the restaurant, and they did not take action until the robber agreed to turn himself in!”

Athena said nothing.

“The police won’t be helpful to Hayate-kun,” said Hinagiku. “I have to do it myself.”

“But…” said Athena weakly, “you have to stay out of trouble…”

“I will stay out of trouble,” said Hinagiku as she grabbed a bag – Athena could see something like a helmet popping out of the bag. “Well, at least I’ll try.”

With that, Hinagiku stormed out of the Student Council Room. Athena slumped into Hinagiku’s chair. “Where does she hide her costume?” she muttered to herself.

*

Hayate was trying to picture what it looked like in the restaurant. He had been here before, and according to his memory, there was no such thing as a secret passage for him to sneak into the restaurant without drawing the attention of the robbers.

Suddenly, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned and see a masked Ranger.

“Mr. Silver Red!” he exclaimed, half-shocked and half-relieved.

“You are in trouble again, Ha – Ayasaki-kun,” said Silver Red, relieved that she had recovered from a verbal blunder, but then…

“How do you know my name?” asked Hayate. “I don’t remember telling you my name, Mr. Silver Red.”

“W – well, I am Silver Red, so I know everything about this district!” said Silver Red, who was silently praying that Hayate was stupid enough to believe in her.

“O – okay,” said Hayate, although not entirely convinced.

“Anyway, what is happening here?” asked Silver Red. “Is Nagi kidnapped or something?”

Hayate glared at her. “You just said you know everything,” he asked suspiciously.

“Ah, you are so annoying! Just tell me, won’t you?”

“I – it is Sakuya-san, she is held hostage in the restaurant,” Hayate replied, although he somehow found the attitudes of Silver Red familiar. “Sakuya-san is the cousin of milady, so I have to save her. Well, you probably know about it already.”

“So, do you have a plan to save the girl?” asked Silver Red, ignoring Hayate’s last words. “I thought you have your special move, right?”

Hayate shook his head. “It is too risky,” he said. “There are at least two robbers inside the restaurant. Even if I could grab Sakuya-san from these men, we could get shot in the back by anyone of them if they recover in time.”

He turned to Silver Red. “I’ll need a distraction,” he said.

“And an eyeball?” asked Silver Red.

*

The two robbers were busy guarding the front door. They knew that they could not allow the police to break into the restaurant, or they would be doomed. Suddenly, they both heard a loud bang. The robbers turned and saw a masked Ranger standing on the back door, which was just knocked down by her.

“Who the Hell are you?” demanded one of the robbers.

“Me? I am…” began Silver Red, as she proceeded to perform a series of awkward posturing which resembled those by Sailor Moon, “… for love and justice! The mighty heroine – no, hero – in tights! Silver Red!”

Her performance was so lame that there was a prolonged moment of silence. Sakuya had a great urge to jump up and hit Silver Red with a harisen, but she was too scared of the robbers that she did not move.

“So… in what name do you punish us?” mocked one of the robbers, who lowered his gun.

“Well, that…” began Silver Red, but she had no idea what to say next. Surely she couldn’t say that she would punish them in the name of the Moon, right?

As Silver Red struggled for an answer, the windows began to vibrate, as if the whole restaurant was hit by a hurricane. The vibration became more and more vigorous, and the windows began to crack one by one. Obviously, something serious was coming.

“What… what is going on here?” asked the robbers as they nervously looked around. Then there was a loud bang: this time it was the front door, and it was reduced to pieces. A black shadow zoomed into the restaurant at top speed.

There came a voice: “Just like the wind – HAYATE NO GOTOKU!”. A wind storm then blew all movable objects away, even uprooting one or two tables. The black shadow then dashed towards Sakuya, who was about to scream, and grabbed her.

“Indebted butler!” exclaimed Sakuya as she looked up and saw Hayate, who was so focused on his special move that he looked very serious and did not speak.

“Don’t move!” shouted one of the robbers as he recovered from the storm, pulled out his gun and pointed at Hayate. Silver Red quickly came in and – “Masamune!” – she smashed the gun with the wooden blade. She then turned and kicked at the robber, sending him fly into his partner. Both men were knocked unconscious.

“Well, I punished you in the name of the wind!” she declared.