It was already eight o'clock in the evening when I sent Tamura back to his home.

Seeing Tamura's desolate appearance, Higashinoji also felt a lot of emotions.

The real Tokyo is very different from the Japanese cartoons and dramas I saw in my previous life.

A more realistic and down-to-earth "Japanese Heart" is displayed in front of Higashinoji.

The drunk homeless man, the tired office worker who has to work overtime, the neighbors quarreling over a little profit...

It’s not that Higashinoji has never traveled to Japan before, but at that time, from a tourist’s perspective, he couldn’t see these things.

But now, precisely because Higashinoji lives in this international metropolis, he can really feel a corner of this foreign culture...

I don't know why, thinking of these, Higashinoji suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

The mind is very light, the thinking is very divergent, and the inspiration spurts out like water!

Although he hasn't thought about what he wants to draw yet, Higashinoji has an inexplicable feeling.

As long as there is a canvas in front of him, his fingers will move on their own - painting the most ideal Tokyo in his mind!

This is the best he's ever been!

But—where’s the canvas?!

Higashino raised his head and looked around, and he actually found a street painter.

It was a girl, she seemed to be a female college student.

At this time, she had just set up an easel on the pedestrian street and put her canvas on it——

Higashikata rushed over to her without saying a word, and asked her excitedly: "Excuse me, can you give me a seat?"

Normally Tonoji would never do this.

But the thoughts in his head were colliding, and his body's actions were one step ahead of his brain.

It's like when you do that kind of thing for the first time, your whole person is controlled by your body instead of your brain.

Perhaps she was frightened by Higashino's alcoholic smell (from Tamura), or she seemed to be attracted by the aura of similar people in him. The female street artist glanced at Higashino and showed a very understanding expression.

She nodded silently and gave up her position to Higashino.

"Thanks."

Higashino took the painting tray and brush from the opponent's hand, squeezed out the oil paint, rolled up the brush, and started painting directly without even making a draft.

What Higashinoji painted should be a Tokyo street.

Both sides of the long street are dotted with high-rise buildings and billboards.

The neon lights are flashing, the colorful lights wrapped around the green trees are shining brightly, and pedestrians are coming and going, dressed neatly and well-groomed.

They laughed under the swaying light, discussed happily, flirted in low voices, and looked relaxed.

Because they are already successful in Tokyo, and their bright future is just like the neon lights on the streets of Tokyo.

The sky is illuminated, making Tokyo in the painting look like a city that never sleeps.

The neon lights are flashing misty and shiny, making the entire Tokyo streets look exaggerated and luxurious.

The bright colors of yellow and white, the black of deep red and blue.

The hazy outline of the building in the light, the pedestrians walking in the oil painting, and the exaggerated behavior.

Everything is enveloped in an indescribable atmosphere, just like Japan was shaky like a dream before the bubble economy crisis.

But...

"Cool colors as base...?"

The female college student behind him looked at the overall picture of Higashinoji with an expression of incomprehension.

This painting takes up a lot of the overall warm lighting color blocks, and the cool colors as the background simply cannot overpower the entire painting.

But why does Higashino still use cold colors as the base color?

But she didn't speak.

After all, after just reading a few strokes, she already knew that the level of the young man in front of her was much higher than hers.

There is no comparison between yourself and the other party.

Sensing that the pedestrians around her were curiously gathering here, the female college student stood aside silently.

This action told them not to get close for the time being, so as not to disturb the creation of the young man in front of them.

She could also tell that this young man might have suddenly had an inspiration, which was why he asked her to borrow the canvas and brushes just now.

After driving away the crowd in a considerate manner, the female college student looked towards Higashinoji again.

The next moment, she showed an incredible look.

Because...the oil painting in front of the young man has completely changed.

What changed the whole picture was just a character drawn by the young man.

My whole body was wrapped in cold colors, and even the light from the street lights looked pale and powerless.

He was probably a down-and-out middle-aged man.

He leaned against the lamppost with a dejected expression, looking at the exaggerated Tokyo scenery with dull eyes.

Wearing a formal suit and smelling of alcohol, he seemed to be smiling, but tears flowed down his face unsatisfactorily.

Extreme depression, extreme pain, and finally helplessness.

This is a character that makes female college students feel like this.

It contrasts with the warm colors of Tokyo streets and the sneering eyes of pedestrians, but it also sets off the cold blue and black background.

The picture gradually rose in the eyes of the female college students and gradually became three-dimensional.

This is...?

The female college student looked around in surprise and confusion.

When he suddenly came back to his senses, the surroundings had changed.

Pedestrians in exquisite clothes and warm neon lights flash, making everything full of hope.

For some reason, when she saw this scene, an idea suddenly came to her mind.

This is Tokyo.

It is a place where hopes and dreams can come true.

But as soon as this idea came to mind, the next second...the world was spinning, and the female college student fell heavily to the ground.

She looked up again.

It's still the same Tokyo street, but the scenery is completely different.

The middle-aged man with his back leaning against the telephone pole smelled of alcohol and was shouting blaming words, with tears in his eyes.

Everything around her was shaky. In the cold night, even the lights of the street lamps looked pale and cold, making this female college student unable to feel any warmth.

Everything around me is so hopeless, depressing, and painful.

The female college student looked at the middle-aged man leaning against the telephone pole in front of her with a complicated expression.

Who is this middle-aged man?

That is clearly the version of myself after being down and out as an adult.

But this is also Tokyo.

It is a place where dreams are rubbed under the feet called money, and then a few mouthfuls of saliva are spit on it.

Why do I live like this?

Leaning against the telephone pole, I raised my head and wondered who I was asking.

She smelled of alcohol and stared at the sky with blurred eyes.

There is no night in Tokyo.

It's always lit here.

But the excitement never belongs to me, and my heart has long been dim.

But this is also Tokyo.

This is Tokyo.

...

Well!

The female college student seemed to wake up from a dream. Everything seemed to have passed for a while, but also seemed to have passed for a long time.

The surroundings were still the same. There was a circle of people surrounding Higashinoji. These passers-by looked at him painting curiously, but no one made a sound to disturb him.

She looked at Higashinoki in front of her again, and she was just surprised.

The cool tones of blue and black, which I originally thought could not be suppressed, have unknowingly enveloped the entire painting, forming a clear contrast with the exaggerated warm colors of the entire painting.

middle-aged people.

Exaggerated, luxurious Tokyo.
Chapter completed!