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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 9 Chapter 6.1

Episode 6: This Time it’s my Decision

1

「When did you realize my true identity?」

The woman in the jumpsuit, or rather the original President of the Adventure Club and former resident of Room 202 of the Happiness dorm, Kasumi Konjou, scratches her head with the putt of the brush she is holding.

「When I first met you here.」

「Oh, my face is exposed. Maybe you saw me in a photo of the Adventure Club or something.」

「No, it was when I saw Nanana-chan’s past.」

「Wow, there was a Nanana collection that could let you do that?」

She looks genuinely surprised. That’s why I ask.

「You knew I’d come here today and that I’d be asking you these questions, didn’t you?」

I hit the nail on the head with that question. But contrary to my expectations, Konjou-san looked confused.

Then she laughed and said, ‘Oh, I see.’

「I see, the <<mirror of life’s predictions>>. You knew that I had obtained it. Of course, I guess that’s what to expect from the winner of the <<game>>」, the previous <<game>>’s winner said with a laugh.

「Can you really see that in a mirror?」

「Well you’re overestimating it. I only know that because a friend told me about it.」

「Friend?」

「It’s true that I left Nanaejima a long time ago. But I have friends who stayed on the island. I’m proud to say that I have a lot of friends.」

「Really?」

「You’re so suspicious. Are you really that scared of me? No, what you’re scared of is the <<mirror of life’s predictions>>, or someone who knows the future.

「That’s not true.」

「Yama-kun, you met Utsuki Kakkyou and he said something to you, right?」

「! That mirror…」

「No, no. I met that person and had the same experience. And as I’ve been saying, the <<mirror of life’s predictions>> isn’t all that versatile. And I don’t have it with me right now. I left it on Nanaejima after all.」

「Why?」

「Well, there are a lot of reasons, but if I had to say, because it’s boring?」

「? Boring?」

「I’ve learned that knowing what’s going to happen next with your life isn’t that much fun.」

「That’s not true. Because if you know what’s going to happen in the future, you can do anything.」

「I thought the same at first. It was because it gave me hope that there would be fun things in the future.」

「Because it gave you hope?」

Then Kasumi Kanjou looks to the distance.

「If I knew that the future was only filled with despair, then what do I have to live for, living in the present?」

That seemed like a very heavy statement.

「However, no matter what I say, you probably won’t believe me. It seems that you have really come to dislike me, Juugo-kun.」

「No, that’s…」

「Maybe I’m wrong? I felt that way from the first time I met you the other day. I didn’t know why, but it makes sense if you knew who I was. So you hate me because I’m Kasumi Kanjou, right?」

When she asked me that, I was at a loss for words for a moment. I thought about what to say… and decided to be honest.

「I was just taking out my anger on you, you know.」

「Taking out your anger?」

「When I met you on the riverbank, Kanjou-san, I realized, ‘Oh. Going to Nanaejima and meeting Nanana-chan was all planned by Kanjou-san.’.」

I continued as Kanjou-san’s eyes widened.

「When I think about it, everything I’ve done on Nanaejima has been according to your plan… And when I think about that, it makes me angry…」

I knew there was a reason why my dad started targeting the Nanana Collection hidden on Nanaejima, because I had spoken to him on the phone shortly after we’d visited the island.

And in this town, after I had returned from Nanaejima, I found the person who had been closest to Nanana. When I had first arrived at Nanaejima, not knowing how to interact with Nanana-chan and holed myself up in the bathroom, the person who had left me a message and a notebook titled The Nanana Manual was here, on this riverbank.

At that moment, I realized everything. I’d been a puppet played by Kasumi Kanjou’s hands, because she used the <<mirror of life’s predictions>>. Being disowned by my father and exiled to an island, and then meeting Nanana-chan on Nanaejima. Everything I did on Nanaejima.

Kanjou-san, who had been listening in silence, eventually burst out laughing.

「I see, that’s amazing. The moment we first met here, you had thought through that much. You’re truly the great son of Sougo… No, that’s rude of me to say…」

Then Kasumi Kanjou looked me in the eye and said, 「As expected of the boy who might just save Nanana.」

That smile seemed the complete opposite to the image of the villain I had built up in my mind.

Kanjou-san spoke up as I was confused.

「Juugo-kun, there’s a lot I want to say, but let me explain first. First of all, your guess earlier was half right and half wrong.」

「What do you mean?」

「The <<mirror of life’s predictions>>’s official name is <<Himeko’s mirror>>. Its ability, as you know, is to predict the future. But it’s not as omnipotent as you think. You seem to think that you can read prophecies that contain all fates, even into the distant future.」

「Yeah… that’s what I think.」

「That’s not true. It’s not that powerful. You can certainly know the future, and it’s a great ability, but it’s only for a few days out at most. And it’s limited to your own future.」

「Your own future?」

「Looking into the mirror, you imagine what you will do in the future. Then the mirror reflects what will happen to you when you do what you imagine. Let’s make a hypothetical situation. I imagine walking along this riverbank tomorrow. Then, when I look in the mirror, I can see a future of picking up a 100 yen coin. It’s something like that.」

「That’s a pretty simple scenario.」

「This is the basic ability of the <<mirror of life’s predictions>> that Nanana taught me.」

Konjou-san nods.

「All of the Nanana collections have a standard set of uses made by Nanana for safe use. However, it is possible to bring out even more of their abilities. That’s called overlimit. However, it places a considerable physical and mental burden on the user.」

「So what’s the overlimit for the <<mirror of life’s prediction>>?」

「It’s just as you imagined, Juugo. It allows you to predict more than just your own future in the near future. It can also predict the future of others for more than a few months. It’s a rather unique way of predicting things though.」

「Unique?」

「Let’s use the analogy from before. I can see the future in which I pick up a 100 yen coin tomorrow. But at the same time, I can’t see the future in which Juuugo gets run over by a car on Nanaejima.」

「What? I get run over?」

「I told you this was just an analogy… but back to the point. In this case, I can’t see Juugo’s future. That’s because there’s no connection between these two futures. So I’ll imagine something slightly twisted. The day after tomorrow, I’ll read the newspaper.」

「Oh, I see.」

「If the day after tomorrow’s newspaper has an article that says, ‘Yesterday Juugo was hit by a car’, then you can know that tomorrow, Juugo will be hit by a car on Nanaejima.」

「Predict other people’s futures by figuring out a way to get the information from your own actions…」

「That’s it. Oh, by the way, that was just an example. You can’t use such a convenient method. It’s actually a lot more complicated than that.」

「Well, it’s actually quite useful then, isn’t it?」

「I’ll admit that. But it’s extremely tedious and exhausting. To the point where I think if you want to know what tomorrow will bring, it’s better to wait for tomorrow to come.」

「That sounds pretty sarcastic.」

「That’s true. After all, I had to predict the future thousands of times in order to be able to predict what the future would be like a year and a half in the future.」

「A year and a half into the future!?」

「To be exact, 8,735 times. Moreover, it is a very vague thing that will come true if I take 72 specific actions within a year and a half.」

「Well, how should I put it…」

「I understand that information about the future is extremely valuable. But to be honest, it’s not the kind of information I want to go to all that trouble to find out.」

「Well, this is a bit of a science fiction question, but isn’t fate predetermined…..?」

「Oh, don’t try to talk to me about philosophical things like that. You should do that with someone who can actually see fate.」

「So what did you see, Kanjou-san?」

「At the time, I was on Nanaejima, and after thousands of predictions, I arrived at this vision of the future. It was a future in which, about a year and a half later, a mean-looking boy would come out of the bathroom in Room 202, and try his best to make a lonely Nanana smile as she hugged a cushion.」