Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Chapter 423 So You've Always Been Here

When he first arrived in this foreign land, walking through unfamiliar streets, Akira Kuroba also felt a sense of alienation.

But it wasn't loneliness; it was just a feeling of alienation from an unfamiliar environment.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that Akira Kuroba hasn't felt the so-called loneliness for a long time.

Because Akira Kuroba is the type who feels more comfortable when he's alone; to put it bluntly, he's a bit of a loner.

Although he is almost never alone now, he used to spend more time alone in silence.

But he did know what loneliness felt like.

At first, I thought it was just that the silence was more frequent than usual and I was spacing out for longer periods of time. But when I found that my phone's notification bar was full of shopping app promotions and the only unread messages were delivery verification codes and mobile phone bill reminders from my carrier, I realized that I hadn't had any communication with anyone outside of work for a long time.

Staring blankly at the computer screen in the darkened room, with only the hum of the refrigerator and the sound of the computer fan running... Unlike the intense emotions of sadness and pain, this feeling of emptiness and loneliness is like a transparent cocoon enveloping me... And so I am forced to realize once again: 'I am all alone.'

What's terrifying isn't being all alone, but discovering that you've integrated emptiness into your daily life.

"What's wrong, wise ruler?"

Noticing that Akira Kuroba was lost in thought, Hitomi Anri waved her finger in front of Akira's eyes.

Kuroba Akira raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to bring himself back to reality and shake off the loneliness that had gripped him.

"It's nothing... I just have this strange feeling of déjà vu..."

He mainly didn't understand where this feeling came from.

It's one thing to feel lonely when I'm alone, but it's definitely not normal to suddenly feel lonely when I'm with the class monitor.

The key point is that this sense of loneliness is accompanied by a sense of déjà vu.

However, Kuroba Akira had just recalled that he hadn't felt lonely for a long time.

At least I haven't felt lonely since I came into this world.

In other words, this feeling might not belong to him.

When he realized this, Kuroba Akira suddenly had a feeling that he was about to remember something.

This was the first time Kuroba Akira had experienced this feeling, but it wasn't the first time he had seen it.

A similar situation had occurred to Tianyu Guang before, when her memories became confused when she subconsciously did the same thing as her sister.

Could it be that I am also retrieving my memories?

Kuroba Akira began massaging his temples, trying to grasp at some fragments of memory while the sensation was still there, hoping to recall any key information.

But the vague memories vanished quickly, just like forgetting the contents of a dream after waking up.

In the very end, Kuroba Akira only remembered one scene: in the bathroom late at night, the mirror was fogged up, and he reached out to wipe the fog off, but what he saw was not himself, but a black, unidentified object. Then he asked the mirror, "What are you?"

What am I?

"Uh……"

Upon hearing the class monitor's question, Kuroba Akira suddenly snapped back to reality, and the last wisp of ethereal feeling completely dissipated, returning him to his normal state.

Did you accidentally say it out loud?

Kuroba Akira propped himself up, scratched his head, and said.

"It's nothing, I wasn't asking you, class monitor. I just suddenly remembered something strange and blurted it out..."

Upon hearing this, Anri Hitomi's expression changed drastically, her smile vanished, and she immediately grabbed Kuroba Akira's head, cupping his cheeks in her hands, gazing into his eyes, and asked urgently.

"My lord, are you alright? Have you lost your memory?"

"Uh, don't worry, my memory shouldn't have been affected in any way..."

"Really? Then can you still tell who you are? Do you remember your name?"

"I can tell the difference. I am Kuroba Akira."

"And what was your original name?"

"Bai Yuming... so I really wasn't affected at all."

"Phew...it seems like there's nothing seriously wrong on the surface right now..."

Anri Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more at ease, but she couldn't let her guard down yet.

What she fears are the subtle, gradual changes that even the person themselves may not be aware of.

Just like Tianyu Guang has also undergone many changes during this period, from being clueless to being an unconscious little devil, and now he has become an ancient relic from a thousand years ago, even more changeable than Hongxiang and Xiaohong who are one body with two souls.

Kuroba Akira's situation is even more complicated, as it involves three factors combined. However, Anri Hitomi does not want any 'impurities' to affect Kuroba Akira in his current state, and the others probably share the same sentiment.

So the most important thing now is to figure out what caused Kuroba Akira to suddenly enter the memory mode.

“But why did you suddenly fall into a state of memory recovery, Mingjun? When Xiaoguang remembered something before, she did related actions, like feeding and snatching food... But the lap pillow action shouldn't be the key to triggering it, right? After all, I've already given Mingjun a lap pillow so many times, it's too strange that it only triggered it now.”

"Indeed, I think it's probably related to what we were just talking about."

"What were you discussing just now? Which part specifically?"

"We were just talking about how everyone's work will get busier and busier, so there will be fewer and fewer times when everyone is present like this? Then I felt a little sad, and then a strange sense of loneliness welled up inside me..."

"Lonely……"

"Yes, but as you know, class monitor, I haven't felt lonely much since I came into this world. I was a little confused when I first woke up, but I soon met your grandmother and was taken in by her to a shared room full of people from other worlds. The language barrier was gone, and I haven't felt lonely at all since then. So I think this feeling of loneliness might not belong to me."

"And then, wise ruler, did you try to actively recall the relevant memories?"

"Yes, I just followed that feeling..."

"enough!"

The harsh words were forced out of her throat, shattering all the gentleness she had shown in the past.

"Please don't do such dangerous things anymore!"

Anri Hitomi's shoulders began to tremble, and the corners of her mouth turned down, revealing a sorrowful curve.

I was reprimanded.

This was the first time Kuroba Akira had ever seen such an indignant class monitor.

"Hitomi..."

“Wise ruler… perhaps this is just an exploration to satisfy your curiosity, but the thought that the person you love most might become a complete stranger terrifies me…”

Her face flushed red, even her earlobes were stained, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"You might think this is your own business and has nothing to do with others, but you also need to think about me and those around you! If we lost you, everyone, including me, would definitely go crazy!"

Yes, I have become their pillar of support.

Kuroba Akira realized that he had indeed made a mistake this time, failing to consider their feelings and simply relying on his feelings to search for memories.

"I'm sorry... I was too rash. I promise I won't do such a thing on my own again."

An apology alone is not enough!

Anri Hitomi stared into Kuroba Akira's eyes, as if to say, 'You know what else I want.'

Kuroba Akira already knew her very well, so he naturally understood what words would make her feel most at ease.

"If I sense anything is wrong again in the future, I'll tell you immediately, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Anri Hitomi wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and a smile finally returned to her face.

　"Yes, that's right."

She hugged Kuroba Akira tightly, pressing her cheek against his chest.

Kuroba Akira wrapped his left arm around her waist and gently stroked the top of her head with his right hand. Looking at the energy-saving light bulb in the room, he thought... So this is what it feels like.

It is something that terrifies even the strongest person when someone important to them becomes unrecognizable.

However, I didn't feel that kind of worry about Xiaoguang.

For Kuroba Akira, his sister was a completely new character who had suddenly appeared. He didn't have any preconceived notions about her, so when he saw her personality change due to her memories, he didn't feel much. He even found it a little interesting... It was really too much.

If you originally had a younger sister, and then discovered that her memories in this world had been overwritten, you would definitely be furious and would want to restore her to her original state no matter what.

Bai Yuming ultimately failed to truly embody the role of the older brother; he merely played the part superficially.

Then, once he became conscious, Kuroba Akira felt an overwhelming surge of emotions, namely guilt.

"Then she'll probably hate me a lot after Hikaru fully returns... After all, in her eyes as a younger sister, I'm the bad guy who took over her brother's body."

“If she valued your brother as much as we value you, Myungjun, perhaps... But that’s not a reason for you to regain your memories, Myungjun. Are you really going to abandon your bond with us for the sake of a ‘sister who isn’t your own’?”

On one side is her younger sister, and on the other side are her partners.

Family or girlfriend?

Kuroba Akira never imagined that he would face the same problem of falling into the water.

However, he did not fall into a dilemma, and his answer was not one of 'I want to save them all,' but rather he was able to distinguish between primary and secondary tasks and choose the more important one.

“I said I would take responsibility for each of you, so I won’t give up halfway for some unfounded reason.”

If there is no way to satisfy both sides, Kuroba Akira would choose them first.

It wasn't just out of a sense of responsibility, nor was it because of lust, but because they were the reason why Akira Kuroba felt he had finally integrated into the new world and his new life.

It is the trace of his existence left after he came into this world.

Even if it meant bearing the guilt of impersonating the original Kuroba Akira... he didn't want to let go.

"Furthermore, I don't think you need to feel guilty, Myo-kun. I don't think it's your fault, Myo-kun, nor do I think you should bear this resentment, because you yourself never thought of replacing the original Kuroba Akira, right?"

"That's true, but these things should be judged by the results. I can't just take advantage of it and then say something as rude as 'It wasn't my choice to be resurrected.'"

Then this sentence seemed to give Anri Hitomi some inspiration. She pinched her chin and thought for a moment before saying it.

"It wasn't his own choice to be resurrected... I see. In that case, you must have saved the original Kuroba Akira!"

"what?"

"Because Kuroo said before that she can only grant the wishes of those who come to make wishes in her own shrine, this means that the original Kuroba Akira came to pray to the gods when he had nowhere else to go, and then Kuroo granted his wish, which is why she pulled you from another world to this world."

"Oh right, it was the original Kuroba Akira who made the wish, which is why I was summoned..."

He had actually thought of this before, but at the time he was only concerned about the part of his memory that he had lost.