a Kirin's Memoir・Miyashita Yuu・Water Vein「english translation」

It was a strange sight.
At first, all I could see
was a dazzling, deep green
I thought I saw something white
floating somewhere on the horizon
I wanted to see what it was.
I started running, pushing my way through tall grass
afraid of what I might find.
For a moment, I was transfixed.
Dressed in white, with long white hair;
a woman stood before a large canvas, painting
She looked as though she might fade away at any moment
She was a painter named Nazuma
who, I was told, was traveling from town to town
collecting colors.
I don't really understand what she meant by "collecting colors"
but, more importantly, she spoke of towns.
At this point,
it wouldn’t be wrong to say that I’d gotten lost.
I thought that if I followed this stranger
that I might find my way to a town somewhere
and enjoy a nice view along the way.
I decided to accompany her for the time being.
In any case, seeing a painting be completed is not a bad thing.

Far, far away..
It's been a while since we came to this town of sprawling blue.
While Nazuma painted
I attended to my business.
One day, a man came to me asking to go back in time.
"I will send you back," I proposed,
"in exchange for the most precious thing in your life"
The man nodded silently.
"However, you must never change the past."
The next day, a woman came to me
wanting to go back in time.
On her finger I saw a ring
exactly like the one I had received yesterday.
Business was going surprisingly well.

Nazuma left, and after staying for another three months
I followed suit, heading towards a town with a lake,
which I had been told was my next destination.
On her canvas was a lake
covered by countless floating flowers, a child in a wheelchair..
.. but not a single flower was floating
on the lake in front of her eyes.
If you look through the surface of the water,
you'll see that there are enough submerged flowers there
to cover the whole surface.
In the end,
I never met anyone else in this town.
We stopped by a small park.
I've visited quite a few towns with Nazuma at this point,
but being in a town without people
was more unpleasant than I had expected.
In this town where only backdrops line the streets;
this is the only place with color.
There are moving things, yes, but...
No matter how many times I try to talk to them,
all they say is, "I have an appointment."
I can't do business with a machine.

I stare at the sunset
through a gap in the backdrop.
It felt as though time had stopped moving.
I had never considered that one day,
I might be doing business with someone like this.
It really was extraordinary;
that this legless figure,
this see-through body, could really exist.
I was told that the body was still alive in the hospital.
I was wondering what that was all about.
"I want to save someone dear to me," the girl says.
Apparently, shortly before that boy was discharged
from the town's hospital..
There is a single, vacant room
at the end of a long hallway.
There was a rumor,
about that hospital in the outskirts of town.
It was a very common rumor.
Then, Nazuma stopped painting.
"They say the hospital here is haunted"
That there is a painter
with long white hair, dressed all in white;
a very beautiful woman.
She visits the town during winter and stays much longer
than it'd take to complete a single painting.
By her side is a peculiar man, or, maybe not?
Her white hair is dyed purple, crimson, blue, green
taking on the colors of the landscape.
The people of this town say that she goes around
painting in the colors of their town.

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song/lyrics by miyashita yuu

translation by crosshill