Tokyo Soft Rice King.

“I have no doubt about that.”

After all, the words on her right hand prove that Hikawa Makoto is also a member of the Genius Club.

"Hmph... My father is a conductor, so he favors me a lot. He saw my talent, which is why he wanted to take me away. But I know that people who stay with my mother will live a poor and hard life..."

Then she talked about her concerns at the time.

"My sister is different from me... She doesn't have any special talents, she's a bit slow, and she can't do anything right. All she does is follow me around calling me 'sister.' At that time, I felt that as the older sister, I had to take good care of her... But because of our parents, we sisters had to separate. If she stayed with our mother, she would definitely have a miserable life, and without my protection, she would definitely be bullied..."

"Uh... wait, your father intended to take you away, but in the end he took your sister instead. If he didn't change his mind at the last minute, could it be...!"

"Heh... Father probably still hasn't realized it, after all, when I was little, I looked so much like Zhencheng that even my parents would mistake me for her. So as long as the two of us conspire together, no one will find out..."

She made a bold decision at the time.

"So I decided to give everything I have to my sister..."

"No way... I thought you two just swapped sister identities... but it turns out you even swapped 'names'!"

“That’s right… I am the original Saionji Mato.”

Chapter 298 Only an Equal Relationship Can Last

Kuroba Akira felt that this was both unexpected and reasonable.

If the goal is to keep the secret from even the parents, then the sisters' names would indeed have to be switched.

But isn't she a bit too precocious? Ten years ago, she would have been just a few years old.

She already understood these principles back then, and even put them into action, willing to exchange names and even lives for her sister...

However, the outcome did not seem to meet her expectations.

"Actually, if we had to assign sisters based on the order in which they came out of their mother's womb, she would definitely be the older sister. It's just that our parents didn't assign sisters based on that order."

"How were they divided?"

"It is said that I was very quiet and didn't cry much when I was little, while my younger sister was a crybaby and always making a fuss. So my parents treated me, who was easier to take care of, as the older sister, hoping that I could take care of my younger sister in the future."

"After all, adults prefer obedient children who don't cry, make a fuss, or cause trouble, which is understandable."

However, there is also a saying that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," meaning that the process of worrying about troublesome children can also deepen the bond between parents and children.

However, Hikawa Makoto did not feel jealous of her younger sister because of this. Instead, she stood on the side of her parents and cared for her younger sister just as much.

In other words, this younger sister is actually a child who is showered with love and affection.

But because she was so well protected, her younger sister developed a somewhat timid personality.

"Anyway, it was decided from that time on. The older sister's name is Makoto, and the younger sister's name is Makoto. That's the only thing that hasn't changed."

Kuroba Akira scratched his head and said.

"So what should I call you now?"

"To avoid confusing you, just call me Makoto. Actually, I've been called Makoto for longer than I've been called Makoto... Of course, my sister is the same as me, just the opposite."

The time that has passed since the name swap is longer than the time that has passed before the name swap.

It has a bit of the feel of the Ship of Theseus.

"So you address each other by your first names because only you sisters know that you are the older sister and she is the younger sister?"

"Um……"

Makoto Hikawa sighed and continued.

"Sigh... Actually, I don't mind calling her 'older sister,' but in her heart, I will always be her older sister... She just can't treat me like a younger sister."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

“She has never had any opinions of her own and likes to follow me around. For example, when it comes to learning to dance, I started learning first, and she only started learning after she saw me learning. But the reason she became like this is because I made her feel like she has no skills.”

This is also the source of the conflict between the sisters.

Even now, Makoto Hikawa still feels that this was simply a cruel joke of fate.

“As identical twins, my sister and I should have been exactly the same, with identical appearance, chromosomes, and even DNA… but we have a difference in our ‘talents’.”

"Talent...?"

Kuroba knew that Hikawa Makoto possessed two completely unrelated talents.

"As I just mentioned, my father is a conductor, so he had us learn music from a young age. I showed a clear talent for music, and I can accurately identify the sounds of various instruments in a symphony orchestra. Moreover, I can identify the pitch and location of the sound even without a reference pitch."

"Perfect pitch..."

“That’s right, it’s perfect pitch. My father was especially happy when he found out that I had this innate talent. Then he arranged for me to learn piano and started teaching me music theory. After that, I won a lot of awards, which I just told you about.”

"Hmm, Makoto-chan, the genius piano girl, does suit your current name quite well."

Despite being teased by Akira Kuroba, Makoto Hikawa had no mood to retort and continued talking about the things that made her feel most 'twisted by fate'.

"If only I had musical talent... The problem is, I 'stole' my other talent too."

"what……"

Kuroba knew exactly what she was referring to.

In fact, he had already noticed this when he clapped hands with Saionji Machi earlier.

"My mother is a fashion designer, but I'm the one who shows the real talent in terms of aesthetic sense and styling..."

it is as expected.

Hikawa Makoto possesses two A-rank talents, but Saionji Mato is just an ordinary person like Kuroba Akira.

"It's like the distribution of resources was wrong; all of my parents' talents have been concentrated in me...tsk..."

Makoto Hikawa was not happy to have gained two talents; on the contrary, she showed the most displeased expression she had ever had.

Because this makes sisters who were originally identical become different, and the difference is one that cannot be narrowed.

What the older sister can do, the younger sister can never do.

Hikawa Makoto felt that she had taken away her younger sister's talent, so she wanted to compensate her in other ways.

"So in my sister's eyes, I am the 'all-powerful older sister,' and she sees herself as the 'incompetent younger sister'... I made her feel inferior."

If her younger sister were truly jealous of her and disliked her because of this, perhaps Hikawa Makoto would feel a little better, but unfortunately, her younger sister is a kind and gentle girl.

Hikawa Makoto slumped back on the sofa, shielding her eyes with her forearm, and said with some discomfort.

"But... even so, she was never jealous of me, and tried hard to keep up with me, simply because she didn't want to be left behind..."

She still remembers the heartbroken look on her sister's face when she asked her to switch names and identities, and how her sister said, "Sister, don't leave me..." It broke her heart.

But as a child, she couldn't change the adults' decision, and the two sisters couldn't stay together.

Kuroba Akira didn't know what to say to comfort her, and besides, all of this had already happened.

After a while, Hikawa Makoto lowered her arms, her eyes slightly red, but she ultimately did not cry.

My sister doesn't cry much... but maybe she's just putting on a brave face right now.

"In short, at that time, I thought that if my sister left me and went back to live with my mother, she would suffer. So I thought that I should at least make sure she had enough to eat and wear. That's why I thought of exchanging our names and identities... But I didn't expect that this exchange would cause her to have even more serious problems."

"Is it because she has become completely different from before?"

"That's right, my idea of ​​switching identities was too ill-considered. It was just a child's fantasy. I only thought about giving my sister a comfortable life, but I didn't realize that it would also be a kind of 'constraint' for her."

Makoto Hikawa didn't actually see the specific changes, but after careful consideration, she deduced how her sister had transformed.

"Letting her be the real Orange means that I will pass on all the achievements I have gained through my talents to her. For her, this is not an honor, but an unbearable pressure and burden."

"It's become a hot potato."

"Yes, and she was cowardly and afraid that her father would find out that she was actually the younger sister. At the same time, she wanted to meet her father's expectations, and there was also the possibility that she missed me... In short, for various reasons, she was ultimately forced to decide to imitate me in the past... that immature me."

The two sisters already looked alike...

Since my sister isn't around anymore, I'll just become like her.

That's probably what my sister was thinking at the time.

Now Akira Kuroba finally understands where the incongruity in Masato Saionji comes from.

It turns out it was because she had been acting all along, playing the role of 'Saionji Mato'.

It's similar to the awkwardness that came with Ziyin's acting when it wasn't mature enough; it was a kind of 'stiff' performance.

This is the real reason why Makoto Hikawa regrets her decision.

“I was originally happy to see her find what she wanted to do and become positive and lively, but… ‘playing the role of an older sister’ is not a kind of growth, but rather an escape, hiding in a shell called ‘True Orange’.”

"Her thoughts, her personality, her freedom..."

"I wiped them all out with my own hands...!"

So when the two sisters met again, the older sister found that her younger sister had become a disgusting entity wearing the 'older sister's disguise'.

Hikawa Makoto doesn't hate her sister. On the contrary, it's precisely because her sister is the person she cares about most that she feels like she ruined her sister's life when she sees her sister in this 'distorted state'.

"And she's imitating me from the past, from when I was a child, that naive and ignorant... self-righteous me."

"Really? I didn't think Makoto acted arrogantly at all."

"Of course you wouldn't notice, because this kind of arrogance is imperceptible to the person themselves, but you can clearly sense it from her way of doing things. She will proactively help others solve their problems, want to make sacrifices for others, and see herself as a partner of justice... um..."

Makoto Hikawa looked embarrassed.

My sister's current state is practically a tangible, amplified version of my own embarrassing past.

She has now realized how immature she was back then, but she is completely unaware that she is imitating her younger sister.

"She is indeed very kind-hearted and will take the initiative to care for her childhood playmates... Hmm?"

Kuroba Akira suddenly thought of a question.

"Wait, if you're the real Cheng from when she was little, then the class monitor's childhood friend was also..."

"Yes, it's me too."

"Was it you who broke off all ties with Na Tong?"

“This happened after my parents divorced. I was no longer myself at that time, and I only found out about it later. This must have been a devastating blow to my sister.”

She lost her mother, her sister, and now she's lost a close friend...