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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 10 Chapter Epilogue 2

「By the way Misao…」

「What is it, Tai-chan?」

「Who’s that gorgeous girl over there with her black hair up?」

「Eh? Who are you talking about?」

「Look, that girl over there in the black yukata and the red obi.」

There stood a beautiful woman whom Taisei had never seen before. She was tall and had a great figure. The corners of her eyes were also strong and dignified.

Misao sighed.

「Well, Tai-chan. That’s Kuroko.」

Taisei spit out the oolong tea he was drinking.

「Hey, Tai-chan. Are you okay?」

「You’ve got to be kidding me! That’s Kuroko!? Her bangs are always so long I can’t see her face, but that’s what she looks like?」

Then, as Taisei stood there surprised, Kuroko came over.

「Hey, blonde delinquent. You’re such a monster, squirting fluid from your hole and trying to splash a woman with it.」

Well this ruined the beauty she exuded. 「Mukekekeke’, gave away her identity.

「This beauty is Kuroko for sure.」

「Who is a beauty!?」

「No, I’m saying you are.」

As Taisei boldly points at her, Kuroko groans and ruffles her hair to hide her eyes.

「I’m not particularly pretty, you know.」

「Hey, Kuroko! I went to so much effort to style your hair!」

A fierce battle ensues between Misao, who tries to fix her hair, and Kuroko, who tries to run away.

「Things are getting exciting.」

Meanwhile, Asumi arrives wearing a white yukata decorated with a gorgeous floral pattern. Completely captivated by her appearance, Taisei freezes in place, but Asumi holds out her hand. He instinctively takes it and shakes it.

「No, Taisei. No, give me something to drink.」

「Sorry!」

Hastily, he pours Asumi’s favorite orange juice into a glass and hands it to her. Seeing Asumi smile and say ‘thank you’ makes him feel relieved. When summer vacation started, she was in a completely listless state. Even with all the problems that arose during the summer and the constant demands of responsibilities, though, Asumi has now completely returned to her old self.

「We’ve come so far」,  Asumi mutters to herself while watching her community members gather on the rooftop.

With new members joining the old guard, it’s safe to say the community is finally starting to take off.

Watching them, Taisei feels a sense of melancholy.

「Summer vacation’s almost over, huh?」

「It was a tough summer vacation in many ways.」

「The student council president was especially useless and it was really tough.」

「If the vice president could do his job a little better, I could take a break every once in a while.」

The two of them glared at each other, then laughed.

At that moment, fireworks burst into full bloom in the sky. Everyone looked up at the sky and cheered.

Looking up at the fireworks along with her friends, Asumi mutters, 「Taisei, thank you so much for everything.」

He couldn’t help but look at her profile.

Her smile seemed somehow satisfied, yet also as if she was looking towards the end. That’s why he lightly chopped her head.

「You idiot. It’s too early to thank me. It’s not over yet.」

Asumi came to her senses and nodded at Taisei’s sullen comment.

「You’re right. The real action is about to begin.」

Then, looking up at the night sky again, Asumi muttered.

「It’s finally starting.」

Who knows what happens next, but in their hearts, there was only one word that they were focused on. Revenge.

***************************************************

The sound of fireworks echoed outside, and the cheers of students could be heard as they looked up. Isshin, who was holed up in his room, couldn’t bring himself to join everyone though. He wasn’t in the mood. He hadn’t seen Yuu or Kagetora since the day of Juugo’s presentation.

「Damn it!」

He slammed his fist against the table. Then he noticed the red notebook there. Obtaining it should have given him an overwhelming advantage. Even though he had it, there was no advantage. Was it because he was the one who obtained it, because he was so inadequate, that he felt so frustrated? Someone else could have used this information better than he could…

Thought like these kept going round and round in his head. It continued like an endless loop of negativity.

He then saw the display of his cell phone light up. He picked it up casually and checked it, seeing a new email.

Isshin’s eyes widened as he read the message.

「….Kuu kuu kuu.」

It was a reply to his love letter. A reply from the person he had been waiting to hear from. He saw it and burst out laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach.

「That’s right. I’m not done yet.」

The face of one of his kouhai came to his mind. Isshin spat out words as if he were speaking to that kohai, 「I haven’t lost yet.」

1

「Welome back, Juugo. Welcome Tensai-chan.」

I finally returned to Room 202 of the Happiness Dorm. Sora-neechan, Ulysses-chan, and D’ark were already in the room watching the fireworks unfolding across the night sky together with Nanana-chan. There was a festival spread on the table. (Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, hotdogs, shaved ice, pudding, etc., probably all made by D’ark)

I quickly changed from my sweltering suit into some loungewear and sat in an empty spot. I started casually eating some of the festival foods, specifically the shaved ice. I got mizore flavor, by the way.

「By the way, Juugo-kun, where were you going today? Why were you wearing that suit?」

「Oh, I had some serious business to take care of.」

「What business?」

「That’s rude of you to ask, Sora-neechan.」

I was tired, so I just dodged the question.

「It was just you and Tensai-chan-sempai?」

Sora-neechan narrowed her eyes, and I replied, 「Yeah, I guess so.」 I then slurped down the shaved ice that D’arc had brought out for me.

Well it was more like, I couldn’t possibly declare here that I had challenged Shunju Ikkaku to a fight. After all, Nanana-chan was also here. I had told Nanana-chan in advance that he would be taking care of some of the paperwork for the company today, but I didn’t give her all the details.

It seems Tensai has no intention of spilling the beans as she is having a great time watching the fireworks with Nanana-chan while munching on her favorite strawberry-flavored shaved ice. Tensai was told, before we got back, to keep quiet about one thing. I told her to keep it secret that I (like her) was also pursuing the culprit of Nanana-chan’s murder.

Certainly, there are various factors involved in keeping this secret (like Tensai for example) so it may end up being unavoidable.

As I gazed at Tensai’s profile, I suddenly remembered the story of her upbringing I’d heard earlier. She was an orphan. Coincidentally, that’s the same Nanana… no, the same as Shunju Ikkaku. I’m sure there are reasons for this though.

And then there’s the question from earlier. What exactly is family? I’ve never heard of Tensai’s past before, and it made me think about it.

「Hey, Juugo!」

I suddenly heard something and looked next to me, to see a sulky Sora-neechan.

「What’s wrong Sora-neechan?」

「Well, Ulysses has been calling out to you for a while now, so why are you spacing out?」

When I turned to the other side after hearing that, I saw Ulysses with her head slightly down.

「Sorry, Ulysses. I was just thinking about something.」

「N..no, don’t worry about it Juugo-san.」

「Why on earth have you been staring at Tensai-senpai this whole time? We should be watching fireworks!」

My little sister growls in indignation. I pat my irreplaceable family member on the head.

「W..what’s wrong, Juugo-kun?」

「Well, I just…」

I have family, and I know what it’s like, but Tensai doesn’t. It’s a very difficult problem, to put it simply. But that’s exactly why I wanted to help out in any way I could.

「Hey, Sora-neechan.」

「What is it, Juugo-kun?」

「From now on, when talking about Tensai, please call her one-chan.」

「」」」PFFFFFFFT」」」」

Everyone spat out the shaved ice they were eating.

「Whoa, that’s a mess, Sora-neechan! Also, what’s wrong, everyone?」

「N..no, Juugo-kun…」

Sora-neechan had a shocked look on her face. I couldn’t quite understand what she was so surprised about.

I was then pushed down onto the table from behind.

「What do you mean, Juugo? Depending on your answer, even I might not forgive you.」

D’ark was exuding a dark aura of rage. He twisted my wrist from behind and pushed me down onto the table, putting his weight on me.

「Um, D’ark-san. You’re really scary, aren’t you? I mean, you’re pretty strong. Oh, I guess that’s to be expected since you’re a boy. And why are you holding a stick in your other hand? And why are you slapping my side with it?」

The feeling of the stick sharply smacking my butt stirred up an indescribable sense of fear.

「J..Juugo-san. What should I do?」

「Um. For now, why don’t you stop panicking with that knife in your hand, Ulysses? It’s really scary.」

But seriously, what on earth is going on?」