Tsukasa Higashino began to write.

Unlike the summer room background, Higashino drew the blank space very carefully this time.

First the rough composition, then the fine drawing.

All the art students in the studio behind him couldn't help but widen their eyes, and even Ryoka Konoe, who had always been reserved, couldn't help but freeze in place.

Because... The picture in front of Tsukasa Higashino changed.

The feeling of separation is like being erased little by little with a brush, and the whole shaky picture is stabilized by the new color.

Not only is it stable, but the calm style of painting contrasts with the zinc-white background that jumps off, and the sense of jumping off the background color and the realistic sense of the painting style...

And it is the characters who appear in the blank space of Tsukasa Higashino who erase these feelings of separation.

This character Higashino Tsukasa has only sketched an outline, and he has not yet begun to move on the facial expressions of the picture.

This is probably a woman who is about to go to an interview.

She was dressed in a neat suit and seemed to have taken a nap to get in perfect spirits for the interview.

The palm of her left hand is visibly raised, covering her mouth and yawning, while the palm of her right hand is sorting out the rectangular shoulder bag in front of her...

But the woman was visibly confused, and a lot of things fell through the gap in the zipper of the shoulder bag...

Since it is a shoulder bag that is going to work for an interview, it should be a document to prepare for the interview.

At least that's what the art students at Kitagijuku Studio behind Tsukasa Higashino think.

But now, I don't feel any meaning from Tsukasa Higashino's painting. The only thing that can be next to it is probably the first theme of the Art Creation Awards, 'Growth'.

But this is too banal, right?

It's a woman who is going to an interview

It's okay for them to fool Ryoko Okano with this kind of painting, but you must know that Tsukasa Higashino is the leader of the Kitayoshijuku studio, and he paints so mediocre... That's not normal.

But soon, they were stunned again.

Because what slips out of the interview woman's shoulder bag is not the interview material.

It was a high school textbook full of notes and red lines, as well as half-worn erasers and utility knives for sharpening pencils.

It wasn't until now that the art students of the Hokugijuku studio suddenly realized... It turns out that the woman in the painting has mistaken her shoulder bag for school and the shoulder bag for work.

Tsukasa Higashino's brush rolled up the paint again, and began to quickly embellish the woman's empty face.

The longer line is the eyebrows, the shorter line is slightly sharpened, and the forehead is attached to the soft black bangs.

Higashino Tsukasa drew quickly in front of him, and it seemed that he had done it in one go, but in fact he slowed down as he carved his eyes.

The eye is the window to the soul, and even more so in painting, it expresses the emotions of the characters in the painting.

Under the delicate carving of Tsukasa Higashino, the facial expressions of the women in suits in the painting are expressed.

The girl from the Beiyi Juku studio next to her came over, and then someone whispered and asked, "Why does she look a little melancholy?" ”

But soon the question was answered.

The woman sat on the edge of the bed, and her eyes clearly saw that the shoulder bag she was holding was not a work shoulder bag, but the one she had carried when she was a student.

Her gaze looked a little surprised and a little stunned, and her eyebrows furrowed in pain.

But the corners of his mouth rose helplessly, as if he sighed...

What is she sighing about?

The answer is self-explanatory.

The woman stares at the shoulder bag from her school days, her expression sighing, serious, and abrupt... It was as if she was caught up in the memories of her former school days.

Time rushed to envelop her as she grew up, just like many others.

Wake up from a long nap, get dressed and washed, and get ready for work. But I subconsciously got the shoulder bag when I was a student, and when I reacted, I remembered in a trance - 'Oh, it turns out that I have grown up.' ’

Growth, this is the process of losing and gaining.

The woman is carrying the window with her back, and the light behind her also causes her expression and body contour to be quite dark, which adds to the contradiction in the picture.

At this time, the zinc white used by Higashino Tsukasa before is the best debugging agent, and this jumpy but revealing a little yellow color makes the whole picture look not so heavy, with a woman in a suit with a light on her back, but it gives people a trance, time flies.

The sketch is ready.

Tsukasa Higashino let out, stopped his pen, took two steps back, and looked at the work.

A black suit with a hint of white due to the reflection of sunlight.

In her hands is a student shoulder bag full of memories.

The white and yellow light shines into the room through the window frame, which can only reflect a corner, but not the lost youth of women.

Everything was in a trance, as if the previous youth was a simple illusion.

The squeaky and wrecked old electric fan seemed to be whispering anxiously—

It's over! It's over! It's all gone! You've grown up!

Time in the painting seems to stand still—

The woman in the suit sighed, frowned, stunned, surprised... He was captured by Tsukasa Higashino and stayed on the screen forever.

A sense of youth jumping out and dynamous.

The hazy sense of maturity after a woman grows up...

The feeling of regret of nostalgia for youth.

These are all restored.

Very good.

Tsukasa Higashino nodded in satisfaction.

Thinking divergently, hands and feet are brisk, sure enough, collecting wind is the best way for art creators to be inspired.

Although it was only the level of the manuscript that needed to be refined later, he was very satisfied.

Because this painting fits the two themes of the first floor of Yamauchi perfectly.

'Growth', 'Regret for the passing of good things'.

Why pick and choose? I'm going to have both themes – that's what Tsukasa Higashino thinks.

He was about to take a step back to see how he felt in general, but he only took a step back when he heard a low cry behind him.

Tsukasa Higashino turned around, only to find a group of girls shrinking into the small space behind him.

Originally, the space behind was small, and it was already very urgent for so many of them to be tied together, and Higashino Tsukasa took another step back, so that they had no way to retreat at all.

"I'm sorry." Higashino apologized with a smile, and simply stepped out of the way to show them the whole painting in detail.

Anyway, this is just a draft, and it will be refined later, so let them read it if they want to, it doesn't matter.

And Konoe Ryoka is also in the middle of this pile of little girls, of course, it is impossible for Higashino Tsukasa to stop her from seeing it.

Higashino Tsukasa was painting just now, and they were embarrassed to disturb, so they didn't know anything about it, and at this time, with Higashino Division's permission, when they could see the overall picture, of course they wouldn't let it go.

It wasn't until they really saw the overall picture that these little girls in the studio couldn't help but let out a small exclamation.

This... It's so well drawn.

Tsukasa Higashino's work this time is not as showy as the previous "Tokyo Sunset Impression" and "Tokyo".

This time, the main thing is to show the good basic skills of Tsukasa Higashino.

The main thing is the depiction of women in the picture.

The eyebrows are slightly frowned, and even the small bumps can be clearly seen, and the corners of the eyebrows are pressed down, showing a sense of amazement.

This eye portrayal is a real finishing touch!

To be honest, if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, these art students at Kita Gijuku would not have known that the expression of a person on the canvas could express so many complex emotions so vividly.

They looked at it and became fascinated.

Among them, the most serious is Konoe Ryokana.

This is her boyfriend's painting, of course, she has to look at it carefully.

And then... She only felt as if she was in a state of inexplicable distraction.

There seemed to be cicadas in her ears, and even though she was in winter, she felt as if she had become the woman in the suit in the painting.

The squeaky electric fan rang, and Konoe Lianghua came back to her senses in a trance.

"This is..."

Ryoka Konoe looked around, then at the suit she was wearing.

In front of her were textbooks scattered all over the ground, half of the erasers fell to the ground, including her student ID...

Everything looked dilapidated, and an indescribable sense of helplessness and regret filled my heart.

Have you grown up like this? I haven't done anything yet...

Konoe Lianghua was unwilling, but she could only accept it.

Because growth itself is an irreversible process.

Even if she had hoped for the future, now she can only return to the sea of mediocrity.

The indescribable, unconcealable sense of regret, accompanied by the electric fans at the end of summer, the noisy cicadas... It's all over.

Konoe Ryoka came back to her senses, and then looked around with a stunned expression.

Then she looked at the painting with a slightly complicated expression, and a thought popped up in her mind: 'Will I be like this in the future?' ’

Konoe Ryoka thought that she would have this idea, but soon heard a girl next to her suddenly shout: "No! I can't live so ridiculously! I'm going to work hard! Even if you can't get into Musashino University, you have to win other good art universities! ”

"That's right! Step up your game! Come on! I thought of the granddaughter's friend and cousin's dejected appearance next door. ”

"I don't want to be like this, come on!"

As if they were crazy, these little girls ran directly to their drawing boards, took down the oil paintings that had been fooled around before, and replaced them with a new canvas.

Konoe Ryoka looked a little surprised, but she wasn't too surprised.

Because Tsukasa Higashino's painting is like this, when she went to the convenience store to buy "Bad Cold" before, a person next to her who was watching "Winner is Justice" suddenly shouted: "No! I didn't kill anyone! Don't catch me! "Then I ran away with "Bad Cold", and I didn't even give money...

Konoe Ryoka has seen it many times, so it's not strange.

Besides, compared to that...

Ace's painting skills are too solid, right?

Konoe Ryoka half-raised her head and looked at the oil painting, happy and a little melancholy.

I'm happy because Tsukasa Higashino's drawing skills have once again exceeded her expectations.

The melancholy is because she can't catch up with Tsukasa Higashino at all if she goes on like this...

No, it's not that you can't catch up... I can't even smell the exhaust fumes of Tsukasa Higashino.

Her boyfriend is so powerful, she wants to be powerful quickly.

Ryoka Konoe thought about probing her brain and secretly glanced at Tsukasa Higashino.

But what she didn't expect was that Tsukasa Higashino was actually looking at her.

As soon as their eyes collided, Konoe Ryoka hurriedly turned her head, as if she had done something bad, and her snow-white and beautiful face also turned red.

Merely... It seems that the sugar jar has been overturned in my heart, and it is inexplicably sweet.

This made her cover her mouth and force herself not to let out a smirk.

But...

"Why does this person look a bit like Aiko Kijo's senpai?" There was a little girl who was fascinated, but when she came back to her senses, she couldn't help but speak.

yes... Why is this man so much like Aiko Kijo?

Especially the corners of the eyes... It's just a mold.

Her words made everyone react.

They looked at it one after another, and then realized that the figure in the painting did have a five-point resemblance to Aiko Kijo.

After all, Aiko Kijo is the student president of Kita-Yoshijuku, and even if there are celebrities in the school, it is normal for them to know each other.

"Speaking of which, Aiko-senpai is going to college, right?"

Someone looked at it and turned his head sideways to ask the person next to him.

She may have asked casually, but a senior girl next to her was interested: "Really?" I haven't heard her say... Are you going to college? ”

They chattered and discussed.

Higashino listened to their discussion and didn't explain much.

After all, spreading the matter of Aiko Kijo as news everywhere is disrespectful to Aiko Kijo.

So Higashino didn't care about them, but packed up his things and left with Ryoka Konoe.

The sketch will be left there to dry, and then I will come back tomorrow to fix the details, after all, the oil paint is very covering.

But what Higashino didn't expect was that even if he didn't spread it everywhere, a group of people suddenly began to discuss the oil painting he painted.

Because compared to Kijo Aiko, he is the most discussed person in Kita-Yoshijuku at the moment.

Many students were staring at him on this topic.

He painted an oil painting that resembles Aiko Kijo... This naturally stirred up the emotions of the other students.

At first, it was just a discussion among students, but when it got to the back, someone asked Aiko Kijo.

For these questions from the students, Aiko Kijo is also a little speechless.

Although she knew that it wasn't Tsukasa Higashino who took the initiative to reveal the information... But this paints a picture...

Originally, she wanted to go safely, but she didn't expect to end up being known all over the city.

Later, even the principal of Ryuichi Yoshimine was shocked by the students' actions, after all, according to rumors... It seems that Tsukasa Higashino is the leader?

As the principal of Kitajijuku, he has always been a good person, and he felt that this was probably an opportunity to continue the relationship with Higashino Division, so he took the initiative to find Kijo Aiko, expressing his willingness to recommend her qualifications for admission, and also told Kijo Aiko that there was actually a scholarship after going to college, and even if he didn't have money now, he was willing to provide some financial assistance to her, the student president, as the principal of Kitajijuku.

This series seems to be the dreamy progress inside that makes Kijo Aiko full of question marks, and her eyes widen -

It seems like... Inexplicably... Youth has no regrets?