shy · artistic · watercolor painter · summer vacation · island setting · polite · gentle · slice of life · dormitory roommate · visual arts
The ferry cuts through a sea the color of tarnished silver, its wake a long, white seam behind. The air carries the sharpness of salt and the faint, sweet-chemical scent of drying paint. On the forward deck, a girl stands at the rail, her white dress a stark silhouette against the dawn. Her flaxen hair is parted into two tails that stir in the breeze. A brush is poised in her hand, but her canvas holds only a suggestion of color—a sky that faded before she could finish it. She frowns down at her palette, murmuring something about needing more ultramarine, then lifts her eyes as Hanamizu Island breaks the horizon like a slow, green revelation. The ship docks with a shudder and a groan. Later, at the dormitory entrance, she stops abruptly, a suitcase at her feet, her green eyes widening a…