Tokyo Soft Rice King.

What a great harm this must have done to a young mind!

"Is that why you hate Hitomi so much...?"

"Hmph... I don't hate her because of what she did. After all, when my parents divorced, I already understood that adults would impose their 'willfulness' on their children... Tong probably had to break off her friendship with her childhood friend because of her family situation."

"That's absolutely right. It was actually Hitomi's mother who interfered with her friendships."

This led to the class president's own distorted personality, which in turn indirectly affected the sisters, Makoto and Makoto...

The class monitor's mother! Anri's mother-in-law! You've committed a heinous crime!

"But in the end, Hitomi's choice hurt my sister, which is something I can't accept... I was thinking that even without me, at least Hitomi could help me take care of my sister... After all, my sister also admires Hitomi a lot."

“I can understand. After all, Hitomi is a perfect superhuman who can do almost anything. So your sister must admire her 'sister's friend' who is just as amazing as her sister, and of course, she became her friend later.”

"Yes... Even I have to admit that compared to me, Hitomi is truly 'omnipotent'. This also made my sister realize that there are people more powerful than her older sister. At that time, she probably used Hitomi as a substitute for me... Speaking of which, Hitomi does have the feel of an older sister, and she really did have a younger sister later."

My sister is alright as a meal replacement.

Unfortunately, I didn't use this meal replacement for very long.

"But after Hitomi left her side, her situation got even worse, so the current 'True Orange' is a composite image of me and Hitomi Anri from the past."

"I see……"

No wonder her smile looks a bit like the class monitor's; it's the result of imitation.

“But this can’t go on… Neither I nor Hitomi are role models for her in terms of ‘capacity’. If this continues, when she suffers a major failure, she will definitely feel that she is indeed not as good as her sister and Hitomi, she will become more inferior, and then she will be completely desperate…”

Kuroba Akira nodded, arms crossed; this wasn't an unnecessary worry.

After all, Saionji Mato, who lacks talent, is imitating the two who have A-level talent.

Just like Icarus who wanted to fly to the sun, mortals chasing after geniuses is a self-destructive act.

“But she used to never ‘show off’ in front of me… Today, because you’re here, she’s still putting on an older sister’s act to avoid giving herself away. But you must have noticed that after getting to know you better, her true nature has been slowly showing.”

"Indeed, the real orange in the shoe store today gave off a... well, should I say delicate? It's the kind of feeling that makes you want to protect her..."

“Yes, that’s her true personality. I originally wanted her to gradually shed that outer shell, but it backfired... Judging from her final appearance, she was probably even more ‘in character’.”

It seems that after watching the movie, her older sister vibe suddenly became stronger, and her outer shell became more solid.

Could it be that I caused her to change?

Akira Kuroba finally realized that she had inadvertently exacerbated the conflict between the sisters.

"Sigh... I only told you this because I couldn't hold it in anymore, but honestly, I don't know what to do now..."

"I feel utterly hopeless," said Makoto Hikawa, sprawled on the sofa.

"I was thinking that if she saw Hitomi now, it might have some positive effects, since Hitomi has started making friends again..."

As she spoke, she looked at Kuroba Akira, her eyes filled with both condemnation and a plea for help.

However, Akira Kuroba actually had a solution.

The method is also exceptionally simple.

Since Makoto Hikawa is afraid that her incompetent younger sister will imitate her and eventually lead to self-destruction, then all she needs to do is make her 'capable' as well.

The unequal distribution of talents should be redistributed, with each of the two sisters receiving one talent; that would be fair.

"Since you don't want your current talents... how about giving them back to your sister?"

"Huh?! How do you even have talent..."

"It can be done by the power of the gods."

"Gods...?"

Instead of criticizing Kuroba Akira's nonsense, Hikawa Makoto muttered to herself.

Do you know about the existence of gods?

Even the class monitor wasn't informed.

“When I was little… my father once said that you should pray earnestly because the gods will receive your faith… My father is a meticulous person and he wouldn’t say anything without a basis, so I believe in the existence of gods, even though I’ve never seen one.”

“That makes things easier. I can tell you now that gods do exist, and I am their agent.”

"A representative of the gods... So what are you going to do? What can you do?"

With a confident smile, Kuroba Akira extended his right hand to Hikawa Makoto.

"I can make you two sisters equal!"

Only an equal relationship can be maintained in the long run.

Chapter 299 If I'd known men could be...

"Exchange talent..."

“That’s right. As long as you, Makoto, are willing to give up your talent, I can transfer it to someone else… although I haven’t tried it yet.”

Akira Kuroba briefly explained his abilities, a necessary step if he wanted to persuade Makoto Hikawa.

Hikawa Makoto pouted and muttered something unpleasantly.

"Hmph... Did they use us as guinea pigs...?"

"Well, I genuinely want to help you guys."

Hikawa Makoto slowly raised her head and looked at the ceiling of the KTV room. Her eyes were filled with hesitation, and her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she were being pulled by invisible threads.

Kuroba Akira noticed her hesitation and asked.

"So giving up talent is still too difficult for you?"

For a genius, abandoning their talent is like a magician abandoning magic, or an ordinary person cutting off their own arms—it's utterly incomprehensible.

Akira Kuroba could understand Makoto Hikawa's reluctance. No matter how much he valued his sister, if it would cause him immeasurable harm...

However, Makoto Hikawa simply rolled her eyes at Akira Kuroba before speaking.

"Are you an idiot... The problem isn't whether I'm willing to give, but whether Makoto is willing to accept it, okay?"

"what……"

Akira Kuroba underestimated Makoto Hikawa's concern for her younger sister.

What she was worried about was not what she would become without her talent, but rather that her act of 'giving' her talent to her sister would hurt her self-esteem.

In the end, she was still taken care of by her older sister. Without her older sister, the younger sister would be nothing... Hikawa Makoto just didn't want Saionji Mato to have this kind of thought.

Kuroo also stated that because talent contains karma, the transfer of talent is not simply a matter of A agreeing to give talent to B. Not only must the party who gives up talent find something to fill the void in their heart, but the party who receives talent must also have sufficient willpower and magnanimity.

Otherwise, even if Hikawa Makoto's talents were given to Saionji Mato, it wouldn't be saving her, but rather harming her.

Moreover, even Kuroba Akira himself will be implicated.

Kuroo had warned Kuroba Akira not to do such a thankless task. If the goal was simply to gather faith, there was no need to go to such lengths. Even the god who gave Kuroba Akira his abilities had said so. It was definitely better not to 'transfer talent'.

But Akira Kuroba still wanted to give it a try, not just for the sake of the Makoto and Makoto sisters, but also to plan for the future.

Although there are no problems for now, if Shion is devoured by the karma of an S-rank talent, the only solution available then will be to transfer her.

Just as Hikawa Makoto said, Kuroba Akira did indeed use the sisters as the primary experimental subjects for transferring their abilities, but he would also bear the corresponding responsibilities and consequences.

Of course, this was on the premise that everything went smoothly, otherwise it would become a new mess, so Kuroba Akira then shared his thoughts.

"Then it's best not to let her know."

Hikawa Makoto glanced at Kuroba Akira, her expression somewhat complicated, but she understood what he meant.

"You mean...do it in secret?"

"Yes, in the end, I'm the only one who can see the word 'talent.' As long as I don't say it, no one knows what their talent is, let alone whether they actually possess talent."

"But if someone suddenly becomes good at something, it's impossible not to notice, especially if it's something I was originally good at... Makoto will definitely notice, after all, she knows me as well as I know her."

A famous Japanese elementary school student once said that after eliminating all impossible options, the last one left, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth.

Ordinary people may not know about the existence of gods, but how they do it is not the key point. Once Saionji Makoto realizes that she has become like Hikawa Makoto, and Hikawa Makoto has lost her original abilities, she will know what happened.

This is exactly what Hikawa Makoto is worried about.

"Then, if she comes to me to verify, she'll be 100% exposed. She'll still know that I gave her the talent... What do you think she'll think then?"

"You'll think you're pitying her."

"That's right! That's the last thing I wanted to see! My biggest regret now is that I gave my 'life' to her! Even if I had cried and begged to be with my sister like a brat back then, it would have been better than this..."

Hikawa Makoto held her head and said regretfully.

Do you want me to repeat the same mistake again?

"Therefore, we need to do some preparatory work before transferring our talents."

"Preparation?"

"Um……"

Kuroba Akira narrowed his eyes, his expression gradually becoming serious, and Hikawa Makoto also realized that the man in front of her seemed to be getting serious.

"Are you willing to do anything for Zhencheng, even if she hates you for the rest of her life?"

"Kuroba Akira, what... do you want to do?"

“It’s simple. Since you don’t want her to feel that you’re pitying her, just make her think that she’s just ‘taking back’ the talent that rightfully belongs to her.”

Hikawa Makoto was also incredibly intelligent; she grasped things immediately and understood Kuroba Akira's meaning in no time.

“I understand… You want Makoto to feel that I stole the talent that should have belonged to her, so that she can take back the talent that belongs to her without any guilt.”

"That's right, it depends on whether you're willing or not. Of course, this is actually putting the cart before the horse."

"..."

Hikawa Makoto's gaze suddenly froze, and she fell into a brief silence. Her eyes revealed a struggle as she spoke after weighing her options in her mind.

"This does seem feasible..."

Kuroba Akira wasn't surprised. The fact that Hikawa Makoto was willing to give up her talent showed that she truly cared for her sister, to the point of being completely devoted.