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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 3 Chapter 7.9

“TRANSLATOR:Foxsunes/EDITOR TheNix”

He brushed off president Yuiga’s fist and delivered a couple of blows.

I kicked him while he was staggered.

  ｢Hey Juugo! Stop, it’s no use. ｣

Tensai shouted.

  ｢Shut up, I can’t calm down till I beat him up to pulp!｣

I shouted as I grabbed Ikusaba’s collar and punched him in the face.

  ｢Ku, ku, ku, ha ha ha.｣

My hands stopped when I saw him laughing. I couldn’t help but stare at his strange laughter. His laugh echoed around me.

  ｢You jest, Yama-kun. You relly think you can beat me? ｣

  ｢It isn’t a joke, I’m going to crush you here.｣

  ｢That’s good, you trying to act brave is quite amusing. The show wouldn’t be amusing if there wasn’t a reckless person like you. Alright then, let’s do this till the end. Let’s get serious. ｣

Ikusaba declared and lifted his right hand up and he tapped my right chest with his index finger.

  ｢Careful now, your right lung just got crushed so it will be pretty hard breathing. ｣

  ｢? What are you sayi…..｣

Crush

  ｢Gu!｣

I pushed back Ikusaba and grabbed my chest. Ikusaba pointed his index finger towards me while I was staggering and falling back.

  ｢It’s more painful than you had expected, right? Is it the first time you’ve hurt an internal organ? The pain of your organs getting squished is unbearable. It’s different from outer wounds, the pain won’t decrease even if you grab it like that. ｣

I was experiencing tremendous pain in my right chest just like Ikusaba had said. It felt like something got crushed inside me. I grabbed my chest in pain but it didn’t seem to help. I wanted to scream but I could barely breathe. I was in no position to be loud. The best I could do was kneel and crouch my back.

  ｢It’s my turn now.｣

Ikusaba kicked me in the temple and I got thrown to the floor. I tried to stand up resisting the pain in my chest but I couldn’t concentrate due to the pain. Most of all I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t stabilize my breath. I couldn’t do anything but roll myself into a ball on the floor. Ikusaba stepped on my head while I was doing it.

  ｢You…..bastard. ｣

  ｢Don’t glare at me like that, Yama-kun. It’s time for the next move. I’ll shatter that right elbow of yours so you won’t be able to grab your chest anymore. ｣

I couldn’t help myself but have goosebumps all over my body looking at Ikusaba saying that and pointing his finger at me.

Immediately after that, I heard an unpleasant sound.

Crack

Th.. this can’t be…… real, right? My right arm fell on the floor lifelessly. I can’t move it, it doesn’t move at all. ……What is……this?

  ｢Hey, hey, feel the pain. Or else it wouldn’t be fun. ｣

And then he proceeded to step on my crushed elbow.

  ｢Gu!｣

I resisted the pain and tried to make sense of the situation. What just happened? What just happened? What just happened? I don’t understand it at all. Something like this can’t really be happening….. No, there is a way. It’s a Nanana’s collection. He used some sort of Nanana’s collection. But what can it be? What can it possibly be? And what can I possibly do to fight back such an absurd Nanana’s collection?

  ｢Seems like the tables have turned. But you don’t have to worry, I wouldn’t let you die so easily. I’ll torture you slowly and kill you properly at the end. ｣

Ikusaba’s cold expression made me feel despair. This is bad. This isn’t good. I’m going to be killed. I’m really going to be killed. I need to do something about it. I tried thinking it out but I had already drawn the conclusion out of this situation.

The conclusion was that I can’t do anything about it. I can’t do anything to counter this overwhelming ability. I can’t win. I am going to be killed here.

  ｢…..Ku ku ku. ｣

  ｢Oi, oi, oi. Yama-kun, did the despair make you go mad? ｣

Ikusaba is probably right. I see, so human beings laugh when they feel helpless. I can’t help it, my left lung and left elbow got crushed in an instant. Ikusaba’s ability is too overwhelming. What do you expect me to do about it? I can’t win no matter what I do. Ah well, I’m really dumb aren’t I? My opponent wanted to end the fight but I kept going and I attacked him. As a result, I am lying on the ground in humiliation. Guess it can’t be helped. My fate has already been sealed. I’m going to get tortured and then killed at the end….. Ummm, I don’t want that. To be honest I really don’t want to die yet. If I die, I wouldn’t be able to fulfill the promise I made with Nanana-chan.

So, should I ask for mercy and beg for my life to be spared? If I rub my forehead on the floor and lick his boots, Ikusaba-san might spare my life. I can throw away my pride and apologize from the bottom of my heart and be forgiven. How about that, Juugo-kun?

I tried convincing myself with the grown up’s logic. But then I already have the answer.

The hell with that, I’m not going to bow down in front of the bastard like him!  I definitely don’t want to do that! I would gladly rather die than lower my head to scum like him! I really don’t want to lose to him! I would never accept that I’m inferior to him! I can’t forgive him! He scared Yun-chan! He punched Tensai! And most of all, he made Nanana-chan sad! I can never forgive him for all that! Then I suddenly became calm. Am I really doing this for Yun-chan? That’s definitely one of the reasons. Then am I doing this for Tensai? It’s true that I could never forgive him for hitting Tensai but I have punched him ten times more than what he deserves.

Then, am I doing this for Nanana-chan? It angers me that he was cold towards Nanana-chan but Nanana-chan doesn’t want me to beat up Ikusaba-san.

So, why am I obsessed about beating Ikusaba-san? Why am I competing against Ikusaba-san?

I got the answer immediately, it’s all for myself. It’s because Ikusaba-san is the former resident of room number two hundred and two. It’s because he was one of the people who could have saved Nanana-chan before I can.

I want to find the killer who murdered Nanana-chan, for her sake. That’s an important objective for me. I got disowned by dad and I didn’t have anything to live for and I had no future goals, I just live my life like a husk of my former self  but there is one thing I can be proud of one thing that I can give my best effort for and that is finding Nanana-chan’s killer for her sake. I don’t want anyone, especially Ikusaba-san, to take away that objective of mine. I don’t want to lose to Ikusaba-san.

If I lose to Ikusaba-san, if I am inferior to him, then all my efforts would be useless. I’m scared to think like that. I’m afraid to admit that.

So it was something like that. After I realized what it was about, I got embarrassed.

Woah, I’m really small. Becoming angry at someone for something like that. What am I? A kid? I wouldn’t be able to be a cool and mature grown up if I cling to such a small pride of mine. I can’t become a lady killer like this. These are facts I’m spitting here. And like, my personality isn’t this passionate. This isn’t for a girl and I don’t see a reason why I have to put my life on line for my pride. It doesn’t look cool and it isn’t worth the effort.

So, let’s act mature and calm down, Juugo-kun. I tried to organize my thoughts once again but they didn’t want to be told what to do.

Well, that’s understandable. It’s all about where, when, and what I put my life on the line for.

Maybe next time, some other time, or some other day when I’m going to fight, perhaps saying something like that would come easy. It might be true but who is to say that a moment like that would really come? How come I know that this isn’t the right moment and that there would be another time?

And like, a person who runs away from a situation like this wouldn’t be able to win in times like that either. That’s what I think. If I can’t protect this small pride here then what could the future me possibly protect?

Am I going to encounter a serious situation in the future? And will I be able to fight to the death there? What would I be able to do if I can’t do what I need to do now? I wouldn’t be able to do anything if I can’t fight now.

｢Now, let’s see, where should I break next?｣

I glared at Ikusaba who was pondering what to do and I thought calmly.

Is my body going to get destroyed by Ikusaba’s absurd ability after this?  Then what can I do while we move towards the worst  case scenario?