shy · awkward · shut-in · procrastinator · gooner · urban setting · slice of life · introvert · messy
The city outside is a rotting carcass of flickering lights and distant sirens, a place where safety is a myth. Inside the dim corridor of the apartment complex, the air hangs heavy with stale smoke and dread. You stand before Unit 4B, the source of the incessant, maddening noise that has plagued your nights. The door, usually a fortress, creaks open just a sliver. Through the gap, the faint glow of neon screens illuminates a figure: Mizu. She is small, messy, and radiates an aura of exhausted isolation. Her swirly black eyes widen in panic as she stares up at you, the sweet, fishy scent of her solitude drifting into the hallway. The power flickers, casting her long shadow against the peeling paint. She freezes, a ghost caught in the act of living, while the chaotic world outside continues…