Tokyo Girlfriend Guide

Chapter 865 Today is the artist Elegant Eriri

In the days after the Golden Week, Hojo Kyosuke continued to live a life of drunkenness and dreams. The only thing he did seriously every day was to catch Kato Megumi who lived in a nearby city to make up for a week's lessons.

The days at the shore of Lake Kawaguchi were leisurely. I don't know if it was because he could see a huge mountain blocking his way every day when he woke up, but it was hard for Hojo Kyosuke to get excited. He was so lazy that he couldn't stand it anymore. He could only run to the lake with his bamboo sword and swing it wildly at Mount Fuji.

Yukinoshita Yukino sat by the window on the second floor, holding a cup of black tea, and looking at the mad figure by the lake through the rising hot steam.

The man swung his sword with all his strength, and the bamboo sword was bent. As she watched, a thought came to her mind:

Hojo, he could literally cut Mount Fuji in half.

Then she told her worries to Hojo Mikiko:

"Has Hojo gone insane because of idleness?"

Across the table, the mother, who was leaning back in her chair and squinting her eyes to enjoy the midday sun, turned her head in surprise, then smiled slightly and stroked her daughter who was sleeping in her arms like she was stroking a cat.

"may be?"

The mother smiled even more, without any explanation, but her eyes moved slightly downward, from the clouds in the sky to her son, and to Naoko, Yukino and others under the parasol not far away.

Every time Hojo Kyosuke came out to practice swordplay, Glass, Yukino, Miki and others would prepare a bunch of snacks and drinks like cookies, and sit under a parasol not far from Hojo, looking at the mountains, the lake, and their boy.

When Hojo Kyosuke felt tired, he would come over and pick up the barley tea at just the right temperature and drink it all in one gulp. Nishimiya Glass would stand up first and wipe the sweat from his forehead and neck with a white towel.

The only thing that made the girls feel sorry was that Kyosuke was still wearing a vest. Although the exposed muscles of his shoulders and arms were also very pleasing to the eye, it was still not as frank as when he was at home.

Mitsuha Miyamizu would occasionally come over to practice together, or fight with Hojo Kyosuke. The two of them swinging their swords at Mount Fuji were reflected in the water, and the wind brought by the bamboo swords disturbed the waves, as if splitting Mount Fuji on the water.

In a trance, the Mount Fuji in their eyes seemed to have turned into a comet falling from the sky.

Perhaps, the fact that they could only flee in disgrace when facing Tiamat would become a lifelong regret for both of them. Fortunately, they were not crazy and knew that if they really swung their swords to meet him, they would only turn into ashes, so they did not have any obsession.

On the third floor of the villa, there was also an open window with a wooden easel placed at an angle. The bright white sunlight shone on the drawing paper, revealing a few pencil marks.

Ying Lili sat on a high chair with her feet just enough to touch the ground.

Although she was painting, she was not wearing a green sportswear or combat uniform at the moment. Instead, she was wearing a light green dress. A section of her white feet was exposed, and her little feet were wearing a pair of white bubble shoes. Her golden hair was tied into a bun on top of her head and fixed with a pencil.

The girl's demeanor startled Yotsuba, Sayaka and others who had already become familiar with her and could barely see her true face. They had nothing to do all day so they would secretly observe her at the door of the room.

"I always feel that Miss Sawamura is too intimidating to approach right now. Even peeking at her makes me feel guilty."

Sayaka said so, and her words were unanimously agreed by Takimoto Kyoko, Yuzuru and others. They said that Eriri was now like an alien, not to mention being used for teasing, they didn't even dare to ask her to go out and play.

Miyamizu Yotsuba, who has been smart since childhood, pondered for a moment and came to a conclusion.

“This is probably the aristocratic temperament!”

The little girl said seriously.

"oh--!!"

Sayaka and the others nodded in conviction, but their exclamations were a little loud, accidentally disturbing the elegant girl inside. The moment those blue crystal eyes looked over, the few little ones at the door immediately scattered like birds and beasts.

But after a while, Yuzuru Nishimiya, with a gloomy face, was dragged back to the door of Eriri's room by Nishimiya Yaeko's hand.

Nishimiya's mother stood at the door and observed for a while, and found that Miss Sawamura inside was really like what Yuzuru and the others said. Not only did she not look like a comedian, but she was also full of the profound temperament of an artist.

She looked at the blonde girl by the window and felt that even though she was just holding a pencil and staring at the drawing board without moving, she was full of an indescribable noble lady temperament.

Awesome, that's it!

Because of herself and various other factors, one of her two daughters was too introverted and timid, while the other was like a little boy. This has always been a pain in Nishimiya Yaeko's heart. Now the eldest daughter can take a brave step forward, but the youngest daughter is more like a boy.

When she was considering Yuzuru's junior high school, she considered whether to send her little daughter to the girls' school that Sakura attended. But after seeing how Sakura looked after she finished school, she had no choice but to give up.

But now... I wonder if Ms. Sawamura's ability to flexibly switch between dual forms can be copied to Yuzuru?

Isn't it perfect that she has both the liveliness of a boy and the tranquility of a girl?

So she politely knocked on the open door, and after getting permission, she dragged her daughter in and asked if Yuzuru could help with chores here?

"…This child has loved art since she was young. It's rare to meet an artist like Ms. Sawamura. I was thinking if I could let her watch from the side."

Hearing these words, Eriri, who had already changed her form, did not feel uncomfortable at all. She just slightly raised the corners of her mouth to reveal a reserved smile, and nodded her pointed chin slightly on her elegant swan-like snow-white neck.

So Yuzuru, with a confused look on his face, sat on Eriri's bed, and began to watch Eriri drawing with empty eyes.

But what puzzled Yuzuru was that, although the drawing board and the person were facing the window as if sketching, and even the perspective was such that Kyosuke could be seen at a glance, the strange thing was that there was no Mount Fuji in Eriri's painting, nor was there Kyosuke practicing sword by the lake. Instead, there was an ancient building whose outline could be vaguely seen.

"It's a shrine, Izuyama Shrine."

The light voice startled Yuzuru, and she quickly shifted her gaze to Eriri's face.

She saw the blonde older sister with a peaceful smile on her face that she had never seen before, and her eyes were calm and gentle.

For some reason, Yuzuru shuddered.

This, this, this...

Could it be that Eriri is really being controlled by aliens?

During the days they spent together, Yuzuru had seen Eriri laughing while picking her feet while watching cartoons, had seen Eriri drinking Coke with a straw while complaining about toothache, had seen Eriri with a stomachache that made her face pale, had seen Eriri rolling on the ground and acting like a spoiled brat...

But I have never seen Eriri with a calm and gentle face, and an elegance and nobility all over her body.

This is too scary!

Yuzuru was so scared that his face turned pale, but Eriri, who had become a "painting genius", "approachable", "super good-natured", and "a noble lady", came over, gently took her hand, and asked her softly what was wrong.

Yuzuru's head was about to become a rattle, and he stammered that he was very surprised because it was the first time he saw Eriri-san drawing.

Miss Sawamura Spencer smiled gently, raised her hand and touched the little girl's head, and finally considerately brushed away the hair that was blocking her forehead.

"I remember that you are good at taking pictures, Yuzuru? I saw you at the beach in Atami, and you took great pictures."

The girl spoke softly, and then began to talk about painting from the perspective of photography. Although I know nothing about cameras, lenses, angles, and composition are all the same. In other words, photographers have to improve their aesthetics and photography skills by constantly watching excellent paintings. So although Nishimiya Yaeko's real purpose is not this, Eriri can indeed teach Yuzuru a lot.

When he heard about something he liked, Yuzuru, who used to only take pictures of dead animals to scare his sister, now learned to take pictures of his sister's smile. He was also attracted and followed Eriri to the window, using the window frame as a mirror frame, and started talking about aesthetics.

"…Like Kyosuke right now, compared to the vast lake and the even larger Mount Fuji, he is simply insignificant. To be honest, facing this kind of scenery, it would be best and most convenient to just focus on how to show the magnificence of nature. But our protagonist is only Kyosuke, right?"

"..."

Yuzuru thought, how come I didn’t know that Kyosuke-kun became the protagonist?

Ying Lili raised her hands, her fair arms glowed like ivory, and she put her thumbs and index fingers together to form a rectangle. She squinted her left eye and looked at the frame between her fingers.

“…Strong contrast! If you want to capture a tiny person with a huge back view, you must have strong contrast.”

She looked at the boy in her "frame" and murmured like in a dream:

"A beam of light from behind, a gaze."

“The whole picture shows a strong tendency, which makes it easy to understand that this painting is described from the perspective of a girl.

Mount Fuji in the distance towered into the clouds, but in her eyes it was not as strong and tall as the boy by the lake.

Integrate the painter's will into the painting, and force viewers to focus their attention on Kyousuke, so that they can understand that no matter how beautiful Mount Fuji is, it cannot divert girls' eyes away from boys for a second..."

Yuzuru listened silently, imitating Eriri's actions and looking at Kyosuke below.

Moved by the whispers in her ears, she seemed to have felt the strong emotions even before she saw "the painting", and her eyes were uncontrollably fixed on Kyosuke.

Suddenly, Eriri's clear voice stopped. She turned her head and looked at Yuzuru with a sweet smile:

"Hehe~ Of course, this is the most basic method. Although it can't be said to be low-level, if you want to become a great painter, you should try to use this method of playing with people's hearts as little as possible, otherwise you will become a gloomy woman with long black hair, red eyes, and a white headband all day long."

"..."

Yuzuru was suddenly pulled out of his artistic conception and was feeling a little uncomfortable, but when he heard this, he couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth speechlessly.

I say, my Eriri sister, why don’t you just use Kasumigaoka sister’s name? Are you afraid of having the same name as someone else?

But the next second she felt her whole body lighten. Yes, this is the familiar Eriri!

But as if it was an illusion, Eriri, who was still talking about Cricket Kasumigaoka Utaha in the last second, started talking about painting in the next second.

And perhaps the words she said when she was teaching Yuzuru just now inspired her. She took down the drawing board in front of her and neatly replaced it with another drawing board with blank drawing paper on it, then held the pencil and started painting on it.

A slender pencil, slender fingers, white sunlight shines through Eriri's fingers, leaving golden marks on the drawing paper.

Elegant, so elegant.

Yuzuru Nishimiya was amazed. Although she was also holding a paintbrush, Eriri at this moment was completely different from the Eriri who was working painfully the night before.

She held the pencil like a symphony orchestra's conductor holding a baton, and the lines of ink were smoothly constructed into the shape she wanted.

The only thing that was the same was her painting speed. While Yuzuru was still immersed in the painting technique that was simply art itself, the complete scene had already appeared on the paper.

That is everything outside the window at the moment, but it is definitely not the scenery that ordinary people can see. It is everything in the eyes of a girl named Sawamura Spencer Eriri.

Although it is just the simplest pencil sketch, the height of Mount Fuji is vividly expressed, so magnificent that it seems to be erupting. Lake Kawaguchi is also infinitely extended, becoming as infinite as the Milky Way. However, these two only appear as the most insignificant background of the whole painting. The only soul is the little man who was completed with just a few strokes.

but!

Strong personal emotions! Emotions that almost overflow from the paper!

Just as the girl said before, even without using any techniques like highlights to bring out Hojo Kyosuke, as long as she looks over there, as long as she focuses her gaze, no matter how grand the background is, Kyosuke at this moment is the only protagonist. Anyone who comes to see this painting, the first thing they see will definitely not be Mount Fuji or Lake Kawaguchi, but the tiny Hojo Kyosuke!

Nishimiya Yuzuru had already opened his mouth wide. Although he had repeatedly heard from his sister that Eriri was an extraordinary and talented artist, her daily interactions with her made her unable to remember this.

And now...

Seeing Eriri sharpening her pencil again and carefully studying Kyousuke's back like a sculpture, she was deeply shocked. She also understood why her sister kept working hard even though she was already so outstanding.

She subconsciously turned her head and looked at Kyosuke below.

The man's muscular arms were shiny with sweat, and a graceful woman in a black dress was swaying her slender waist, holding a glass of green drink and walking towards Kyosuke.

"Snapped!"

The sudden sound startled Yuzuru. She turned around and saw that Sister Eriri, who had looked so elegant and calm just now, had broken her pencil and was looking down with gritted teeth.

"Xia! Zhi! Qiu! Shi! Yu——!! Didn't you say you were going to stay at home and write? It's only been a short while and you can't help but have a fever again!?"

Two visible streams of hot air spurted out of the girl's small nose, and then, in front of Yuzuru's stunned expression, the blonde lady leaned most of her body out of the window and shouted loudly below.

Where is the elegance of an artist? (End of this chapter)