The Fascinating Silver Red – Chapter 15

This is a fanfiction by Doughnut Gunso.

Mikado was in the Student Council Room on top of the Clock Tower, sitting at Hinagiku’s desk. He looked at the mechanical clock on the desk: it was 22:50. Mikado put his hands together and grabbed them tightly. He was a bit nervous – something he had been looking forward to for so long was finally going to happen in 10 minutes.

In front of him, there stood King Midas, who was in the form of the now-posseesed Aika. Mikado could not see the face of King Midas, but he was sure that the legendary spirit was as excited as he was. They were both on a quest for some things they wanted, after all. King Midas never said what he wanted, but it was not important to Mikado – all he had to know was that he would get what he wanted.

“Are you sure that she will come?” asked King Midas suddenly, in Aika’s voice. “If she doesn’t show up, you will only have 10 more minutes to live, old man.”

“Relax, King Midas,” answered Mikado as he grinned. “That Katsura girl would definitely come, in her stupid hero suit.”

“Speaking of that, why did you tell me to ask specifically for ‘Silver Red’ to come, instead of the girl?” asked King Midas. “If they are the same person, what is wrong with asking directly for the girl?”

“You are less intelligent than I thought,” said Mikado, still grinning. “That Katsura girl is the Student Council President of this school, and she is a very important figure to this neighbourhood. If we asked for the girl to come, the police would guard her house and effectively locks her within. Now that we asked for that stupid ‘Silver Red’, you could see the police are trying to break into the school instead. I assume your barrier is powerful enough to keep them out?”

“Of course,” answered King Midas. The police were indeed gathering at the school gate, but they were not able to get into the school. The officers were confused: the school gate was opened, but as they walked close to it, they found themselves hitting an invisible wall. They were considering to call for a battering ram, but they had difficulty trying to explain that they needed to knock down something which was non-existing to the eye.

“And of course the Katsura girl would come,” said Mikado. “She is too noble to leave her friends suffering here. I hate to say this, but she really is an interesting girl – fascinating, even.”

*

As Silver Red walked towards the school, the first thing she saw was the police officers who were still busying trying to get into the school. They might look funny, but Silver Red was not in the mood of laughing at them. With her “reputation” among the police and the public, Silver Red knew that the officers would be a problem for her.

She had every reason to enter the school simply by jumping over the wall – just like what she did last time. A thought came to her mind, though: she would go through the police officers to enter the school this time. Enough with the hiding, running and sneaking – she would have to confront the police officers directly. She took a deep breath, and starting walking towards the school gate very slowly.

Sure enough, when the police officers saw her coming, they all turned to her with hostility. Some officers were having hands on their pistols, ready to pull them out. Silver Red summoned Wooden Masamune and pointed the sword at the officers. “I have an appointment at the school’s Clock Tower,” she said coldly. “I have no time for you, officers. Please move away.”

The officers were not moving, though. “You are not going in, Mister,” said the leading inspector as he walked towards Silver Red. “We are going to rescue the hostages and arrest the criminals, and yes – we are arresting you as well.”

“You are not able to go in, are you?” asked Silver Red, lowering Wooden Masamune. “Believe it or not, the school is surrounded by an invisible barrier. They would only allow one person to get through the barrier, and that person is me.”

The inspector was still not moving. “You are a wanted criminal yourself,” he said. “Give me one good reason to let you go, instead of arresting you on the spot!”

Silver Red sighed. “It is because it does nobody a favour,” she said. “I have friends held hostage in that Clock Tower and I have to save them. You have innocent citizens to protect. We have the common enemy, who is on top of that building, so why we should stay here fighting each other while our enemy watches idly?”

The inspector did not speak.

Silver Red stepped forward once again. “No matter what you think about me,” she said, “I am here to save my friends, so please don’t make things more complicated for me. Just let me go, okay?”

The inspector took a step backward. He looked as if he was having a real struggle in reaching the correct decision. “When it is over,” he said finally, “make sure you come back and surrender to us. Did I make myself clear?”

“I am not coming back,” said Silver Red. “In fact, I don’t think you would ever see me again.”

The inspector swore and turned away. “Go!” he said through gritted teeth.

As Silver Red proceeded, the other police officers stepped away quietly, slowly but surely. Silver Red took a deep breath, and walked through the school gate. She was clear.

“Don’t die,” the inspector whispered behind Silver Red.

*

Back in the Clock Tower, King Midas sensed that someone was fast approaching. “The girl is coming,” he said to Mikado, who grinned.

In five minutes, they heard that the elevator of the Clock Tower was activated. “Ignore it,” said Mikado. “That Katsura girl has used this elevator trick once. She is using the elevator as a distraction, while she enters this room through the balcony.”

“You are quite wrong,” said King Midas, also grinning. “She is in the elevator. I can feel it.”

“Then let’s cut out the power to the elevator,” said Mikado hurriedly. “This will trap her  inside, and we will have her!”

“No,” said King Midas as he held up his right fist. “I am going to crush her head on.”

The elevator door opened, and Silver Red stepped out of it. “Here I am, King Midas!” she declared. “Let my friends go immediately, and get away from Aika-san’s body!”

King Midas grinned. “So you know who I am,” he said. He then pointed at the guest room, which was apparently locked. “Your friends are quite safe in that room. If you can defeat me, you can take your friends and go.”

Silver Red frowned. King Midas had completely ignored her demand to leave Aika’s body. It would mean that she had to hurt Aika in order to defeat King Midas, but how could she do such things to her friend’s body…?

“Ironic, isn’t it?” said King Midas. “You were able to fight me when you misunderstood me as your friend. Now that you know the truth, you simply couldn’t fight me, right?”

Silver Red thought hard for a moment. “I am sorry, Aika-san,” she whispered. “I guess I have no choice…”

And she dashed towards King Midas with Wooden Masamune held high…

*

“How’s it, Hayate?” asked Nagi. “Can you see anything?”

“No, milady,” replied Hayate. “I am not seeing any better than you do!”

Hayate and Nagi were watching TV at home. The kidnapping of the Student Council was such a big news that TV stations had decided to live broadcast the rescue mission by Silver Red. Helicopters were sent to Hakuou Academy, but the invisible barrier set by King Midas meant that they could not enter the school territory. They could barely manage to capture the balcony of the Clock Tower from outside of the school, and for the moment there was nothing to be seen.

News flashes proved to be more informative than the visuals of the Clock Tower. The announcer had just informed the audience that Silver Red had managed to get into the school area, though he admitted that nobody had any further information on the progress of the rescue mission.

Things changed very suddenly, and Nagi screamed. She saw a human figure flying out of the balcony, and falling down the Clock Tower…

“Silver Red!” she shouted.

*

Silver Red was indeed knocked out of the balcony. With all her might, she managed to flip her body in the air, so that she faced the Clock Tower. She then threw Wooden Manamune at the Tower wall, in an attempt to nail herself to the wall, thus stopping the fall. She slipped a further five metres, but she managed to stay in mid-air.

“Oh my God!” she thought to herself as she panted very heavily. “He is indeed very powerful. I could barely dodge his attacks, let alone attacking him! What am I going to do?” She then remembered how Hayate defeated him, with the same sword, with relative ease. “So it means I am a lot less powerful than Hayate-kun as a fighter, huh?”

She looked up at the balcony. “What are you thinking, Hinagiku?” she thought to herself. “It is not the time to give up yet!” She took several deep breaths, and started climbing the wall. “It is now me who is trying to save my friends! I must do what I can!”

*

“Come on!” said Nagi through gritted teeth. “Come on, Silver Red!”

Hayate looked at his young lady, and then turned his head back to the television. “What kind of determination is this, Mr. Silver Red?” he thought in awe as he saw Silver Red struggling to climb to the balcony. “Why are you doing this? What makes you work so hard for us? Who are you?”

He wished he was there to help Silver Red. However, with his primary mission to protect Nagi, he simply could not leave her at the moment. It was not a proper occasion to take another night’s off…

*

Silver Red was almost completely exhausted as she reached the balcony again. Her limbs were sour and tired, her mind unable to focus, and she found her vision partially blocked – it appeared that her helmet was cracking.

“I must say, I am very impressed that you could still stay alive,” she could hear King Midas talking. “I think even that young butler would have been killed.”

“Your… full power?” asked Silver Red weakly. It wasn’t that she wanted to sound weak…

“Yes,” said King Midas. “I had Tennonsu Athena with me back in Athens, but even her raw powers were not comparable to a King’s Jewel and a fully cooperating Aika. I could only use 20% of my full power back then, but now I can use 50%.”

“That’s 50%?” Silver Red thought. “You are kidding me!”

“Now I am one final step away from restoring my full power, and I need you for this purpose.”

“Why…?” asked Silver Red. “Why me?”

King Midas grinned. “Ask this question in Hell!”

*

Nagi screamed and buried her head in Hayate’s chest. She couldn’t bear to watch what was shown on the TV screen.

An enormous arm emerged from the balcony, grabbing Silver Red in mid-air. Suddenly, the helmet of Silver Red cracked down, showing the face of a young girl. Her ponytail loosened, and a mane of pink air danced in the air. Hayate looked at the face in shocked: it was Hinagiku’s face, but now it looked lifeless. Tears began to drop from Hayate’s horrified eyes.

“HINAGIKU-SAN!!!” he shouted at the top of his voice.