Chapter 11: Night Sky, Girl, and Smile
Days passed, and Naoto's painting began to improve day by day.
After that night, Naoto felt as if his inspiration had exploded, and he only wanted to finish this painting.
He only had three days of vacation, but Naoto stubbornly dragged it out to five days.
Under the night sky, Kuriko and he walked hand in hand towards the unknown forest.
Around them, fireflies filled the air, and young birds sang loudly.
Naoto was so engrossed in his painting that he didn't even pay attention to his manga work.
If Kuriko didn't come over every day to check on Naoto, he probably would have forgotten to eat.
When Naoto, engrossed in his painting, finally finished his work, even he himself couldn't imagine that it was something he had created.
The entire sky was rendered in cool gray tones, reducing the coldness of the night, while the distant forest and Kuriko in the foreground occupied most of the painting.
The interplay of light and shadow gave the entire picture a vibrant, dynamic feel.
Although Naoto himself didn't possess extensive knowledge of oil painting.
But when he saw this painting, he believed it was in no way inferior to the works of professional oil painting masters.
And by the time Naoto finished this painting, there was only one day left until the submission deadline.
Although he felt extremely exhausted both mentally and physically, Naoto decided to deliver the painting to the organizers first.
Following the address given by Teacher Matsuzaki, Naoto quickly arrived at his destination.
He saw three large characters formed by the three primary colors on the tall building ahead—AES.
The Japan Art Education Association, an art society specifically established to support art education, was considered the largest art association in Tokyo.
The most famous events of this association were the renowned Japan Youth Arts Award and the National High School Art Competition held this time.
Although one competition was for all Japanese youth, and the other was only for all Japanese high school students.
Both had extremely high prestige.
It was said that the top prize winners of both competitions could receive rewards exceeding 500,000 yen.
Although it seemed like a small reward, here, if you could win first place, it meant your future would take off immediately.
Not only would any art university in the country open its doors to you, but you would also gain eligibility to participate in various professional competitions in the future.
However, for Naoto today, he didn't pay any attention to this. Although he had some confidence in his painting, he didn't think he could win first place.
After all, art isn't something that's good just because you think it's good; it's only okay if those in high places think it's good.
In Naoto's opinion, as long as he completed the task given by Teacher Matsuzaki, he would be free.
After Naoto walked in, the staff looked at the tired Naoto, quite surprised.
When they learned that he was there for the National High School Art Competition, their expressions became even stranger.
While it was true that some people had submitted their works recently, those were mostly last-minute entries.
People who typically knew about this competition had already submitted their paintings on the first day, or at the very latest, by the middle of the period.
Who submits their work when the deadline is almost here?
However, the receptionist, seeing Naoto's exhaustion, didn't say anything more.
She just took the painting and left.
After seeing his painting finally submitted, the exhausted Naoto stumbled home in a daze. He didn't even make it upstairs before falling asleep on the sofa.
And while Naoto was on his way home, he never expected that a dramatic event would occur.
After Naoto handed his work to the receptionist at the front desk, President Fujino, as the organizer of the competition, was currently reviewing the submitted works with a group of judges.
Due to this being a national competition, a great many works had been received.
Even though the submission deadline hadn't arrived yet, the judges had already reviewed the vast majority of the submitted works.
It was at this moment that the receptionist, holding Naoto's work, happened to walk in.
"President, new works have been submitted."
"Works? Now?"
President Fujino and the experts were stunned upon hearing the receptionist's words.
There was only half an hour left until closing time, right? Could someone still submit something at this hour?
"Whose is it?"
"I'm not sure, but it looks like a student from a nearby high school."
"I see. Bring it over and let's take a look."
Looking at the tightly wrapped painting in the receptionist's hand, the judges, who had already reviewed many works, couldn't help but become curious.
They thought, since it was a work that needed to be reviewed anyway, they might as well take it out and look at it now.
However, when President Fujino opened the painting, he was stunned by the scene before him.
Under the night sky, a pink-haired girl extended her right hand with a gentle smile.
In the distance was a tranquil forest filled with fireflies.
It was just a simple painting of a girl, yet President Fujino saw many emotions in the girl's smile.
It was as if she was inviting her lover to a mysterious place, and for a moment, it made President Fujino, who was almost 60 years old, feel the sweet love of youth.
In that smile, President Fujino even recalled his first date with his first girlfriend.
That day, just like this, his girlfriend smiled at him, taking his hand, still a young boy, and leading him towards a distant stream.
Looking at it again, how could this be the work of a young high school student? It was clearly the work of a long-established master.
"President, what happened?"
The onlookers, seeing President Fujino staring blankly at a painting, quickly asked.
However, President Fujino said nothing, merely handing Naoto's painting to the others to pass around.
And these professional judges, upon seeing the painting handed to them by the President, all reacted just like President Fujino had earlier, frozen in place.
Just one painting made people feel that sweet, sweet love. From an artistic perspective alone, this was absolutely a master-level work.
There were even some aspects of paint application and compositional analysis that seemed so uncoordinated to them, yet in this painting, they formed a cohesive whole. Such strange painting techniques were something they had never seen before.
"President, is this... a high school student's work? Is he here for this high school competition?"
Facing the judges' questions, the President turned to look at the receptionist from before.
After receiving confirmation from the receptionist, everyone present numbly looked at the painting again.
"This person, isn't he here to 'fish' for attention?"