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The story begins with Rohan Kishibe, a famous manga artist, resting in the alcove of his office. He has a vision of a woman in black standing on a field of grass, which rekindles his interest in a long-forgotten subject.
Maurice Legrand's Black Painting
Some time later, Rohan visits an antique shop managed by a pair of men. The senior clerk hesitantly asks what Rohan wants to which the manga artist answers he's doing research for his work. The older man enthusiatically tries to sell him a replica of an antique Momoyama period bowl, stating that it looks just like an original and that even a manga artist can afford it. The junior clerk who was reading a catalogue at his counter recognizes Rohan as a famous manga artist and tries to warn his colleague. However, Rohan is already vexed and begins a rant. Offended, Rohan asks if the clerk really thinks he or any expert artist couldn't tell the difference between a fake and a genuine article and declares that what he needs is reality that he can use to tell his stories. Surprised, the clerks head towards the back of the shop to show him a real article, but then Rohan asks to know more about a certain fencing operation. The clerks, clearly guilty, try to shoo Rohan, but then Rohan uses a special ability to turn them into books: Heaven's Door. With Heaven's Door, Rohan Kishibe is able to read into people like books and learn about their history and their thoughts. Plus, if he writes an order on someone's page, they cannot defy the command. Rohan uses the chance to command the clerks to respect the art they sell, although he doesn't bother to call the police on their operation. Rohan then spots the catalogue the younger clerk was reading and sees a pitch black painting that will be auctioned. Rohan takes an interest in the painting and decides to participate in the auction.
The day of the auction, Rohan meets with his editor, a merry young woman named Kyoka Izumi. Izumi has facilitated Rohan's admission into the auction and reports back to Rohan, amazed that anyone can actually participate and not just rich people. She mentions that she had to reveal his identity to get an admission, Rohan being an admired artist himself and that he'll have to have three autographs ready ; this naturally annoys Rohan who doesn't want to distribute autographs. Izumi also shows Rohan the bidding paddle (which she mispronouncces as "bidding pedal") that they will use. When Izumi asks Rohan what he is interesting in the auction, Rohan shows her the catalogue of items to be auctioned off, pointing to a pitch black painting named "Noire" by an obscure French artist named Maurice Legrand. Izumi is somewhat disappointed there aren't paintings from famous artists like Van Gogh though Rohan points out it would make the news. Rohan suggests Izumi goes home, not wanting her with him, but she wants to experience the auction alongside Rohan because she is managing a website promoting Rohan's work and thus she wants to use the experience to write a research diary for him online. Rohan resigns himself to her presence and goes to the auction.
Rohan and Izumi attend the auction and see how attendants and even clerks on the phone bid by raising their paddles. When the "Noire" painting comes up, the bid starts at 200,000 yen and Rohan bids. Soon, a pair of men try to outbid Rohan and start a bidding contest. Soon, they have to bid large sums but Rohan finally tops his competitor by bidding 1,500,000 yen and acquires the painting.
Rohan and Izumi head back towards the manga artist's house. Still excited by the bidding, Izumi asks why Rohan is interested in the painting, to which Rohan answers he's interested in the black color of the painting. Back in his office, Izumi discovers that the room is filled with all sorts of items, plants, and even an aquarium housing squids. Rohan explains that these are all sources of pigments. For instance, he has a disc of red cotton whose pigment was collected from crushed cochineals, or a stick of gamboge used for yellow pigment. Rohan is looking into the compatibility between the pigments and his manuscript papers to create colored pages. He had hoped to study the black pigment of the painting by Legrand, but he is disappointed.
Rohan asks Izumi if she knows about the blackest color in the world. As she is ignorant about the subject, Rohan shows her and example of a very black color such as the feathers from a bird of paradise that nearly completely absorbs light. However, Rohan is sure that even this is not the blackest color, and he mentions a black painting created by a certain Nizaemon Yamamura, an obscure painter from 250 years ago. Incidentally, Rohan spots a spider roaming on the board of his window and sees a vision of the woman in black telling him something unheard. Izumi asks him who told him about Yamamura and Rohan answers that he doesn't remember.
Suddenly, Rohan sees a man trying to sneak into Rohan's property and opens up a gate from his window. He runs out of the office and tries to check on the iron gate, finding of the men from the auction who tried to outbid him. Thankfully, he's been turned into a book. However, there is a second man who sneaks behind Rohan and steals the Maurice Legrand painting, running into the forest bordering Rohan's house. He tears the paper behind the frame and seems disapppointed to find nothing here. However, a black liquid oozes from the back of the painting. When the man touches it, he begins to see spiders covering him. In a panic, the thief tries to take off his coat. Suddenly, the thief also hears a car approaching at high speed. Fearful, he runs off.
Moments later, Rohan and Izumi find the painting left on the ground. They notice some words written in French on the back of the canvas which Izumi translate as "This is the black seen at the Louvre. remorse". Incidentally, the second man flees after spying on them. Back into the office, the duo ponder on the meaning of the message. They make a connection between this and the black painting Rohan mentioned earlier, and thus Rohan decides to visit the Louvre museum in Paris. Meanwhile, one of the thiefs reports back to an unknown contact, saying that he wants out of the operation and confirming that there was nothing behind the painting. Meanwhile, the second thief who had touched the black liquid finds himself run over by an unseen car, and dies in the forest.
At her office, Izumi gazes at a photography and dreams of going to Paris. Meanwhile, Rohan sees the woman in black again and tries to sketch her. He finally reminisces his youth during which he met said woman.
A Young Rohan and Nanase
When Rohan was a mere teenage aspiring mangaka, he moved into his grandmother's inn. His grandfather had passed away that year and his grandmother began to empty the house of all furnitures and unneeded items, selling some to antique dealers. At the same time, she wanted to rent some room. Apart from the one dealer visiting the grandmother, the inn was nearly empty and Rohan hoped to take advantage of the peace to focus on his drawing. One evening, Rohan surprised a woman undressed in the changing. Although he hurriedly apologized and shut the room, Rohan noted that he was going into the right changing room for men but that the signs that his grandmother had placed were confusing. Flustered by the experience, Rohan soon became attracted to that pretty woman who was residing with him and his grandmother. In the narration, Rohan adds that her name was Nanase.
One day as Rohan was sketching in the garden, he saw Nanase hanging clothes in her room and tried to sketch her. Nanase suddenly disappeared only to reappear behind Rohan, asking if he was looking for her. Wondering if he was peeping, Nanase looked at his sketchbook and asked if he was drawing manga. Upset and after fumbling his rant, Rohan explained himself and said that his editor had asked him to draw cuter girls to make a series that would sell. Although he felt insulted, Rohan felt compelled to listen to the advice of a professional. Rohan apologized to Nanase for drawing her without her consent as part of his training. Interested in Rohan, Nanase asked to see his work later.
One night, Nanase actually invited Rohan in her room go look at his drawings. Still shy, Rohan remained at the door but Nanase insisted on him coming inside. Agitated, Rohan tried to delay his viewing of his art, saying it was already late, but Nanase assured him that she didn't want to criticize but just look at his art he drew with his heart and soul. Rohan insisted, because it was unfinished work and he didn't want to show it. Nanase thus changed subject. She turned off the lights, only letting a small lamp lit. It is then that she asked if Rohan ever heard of the blackest painting in the world. She described this painting, painted with such black that it didn't reflect light and was unseeable. According to her, it was the blackest and evilest painting ever, created 250 years ago by Nizaemon Yamamura. Yamamura had used the perfect black pigment extracted from a sacred tree. Rohan asked where the painting was, and she answered that it was in the Louvre. Finally, Nanase wondered what the blackest black would reflect, and warned Rohan not to approach the painting. Suddenly, a spider came out of Nanase's hand, and she hurriedly excused herself, telling Rohan to leave and even snapping at him when he lingered. Later that night, Rohan heard Nanase seemingly leave the inn and she indeed disappeared from the house.
Rohan continued to work on his manuscript, though his mind was still preoccupied. Incidentally, Yoshio Kawadori, the antique dealer whom his grandmother had asked to organize the storage had gone missing but Rohan dismissed the issue, stating that since he had found a buyer for her stuff, the buyer would come pick up what he had bought anyway. As he finished his drawing, Rohan finally heard Nanase come back. When he barged into her room, Nanase tearfully embraced him. At that point, Rohan didn't know what was happening with Nanase, but he swore to protect her and held her in his arms. Staring to turn her into a book with Heaven's Door, Rohan suddenly showed restraint and decided not to pry further. At this point, Nanase noticed Rohan's manuscript and saw that Rohan had drawn a beautiful girl in black. Asking if it was her, she became angry when Rohan added that the black of the drawing wasn't perfected yet. She became mad at Rohan for drawing her and stabbed the manuscript with a pair of scissors. Rohan was shocked. Nanase apologized and told him something unheard, before she left for good. Rohan asked his grandmother where Nanase went, but she actually doesn't remember anyone by this name. The grandmother changed the subject and told Rohan to give a painting in the storage to a foreign buyer who would come soon. On the radio, there were news of Kawadori found dead in a junkyard, seemingly drowned where despite the lack of water sources in the area. Rohan gave the painting to the buyer, who left in a hurry. Rohan continued his life, wondering whether Nanase really existed as she appeared as suddenly as she left. Nonetheless, Rohan continued to see her as a woman in black standing on a field of grass and telling him something he couldn't hear.
In the present, Rohan wonders why these memories resurfaced with the black painting of Maurice Legrand and is sure that it isn't mere curiosity that is leading him to the Louvre and to the blackest painting stored within the museum.
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