I Met Her on The Subway [MonaRisa]

Part 1

My name is Watanabe Risa. I guess you could call me a map enthusiast. Maps are so fascinating.

There are train lines that run all across Japan. I love looking at their maps. There are so many places that I never knew about. I plan to visit all of these places some day in the future.

The only problem is that I don't like taking the train. I have lived in Tokyo all of my life and have never left the surrounding area. The subway here is always crowded. I find it uncomfortable and annoying to be surrounded by so many strangers.

Even though I say I don't like taking the train, I must say that I am grateful that I am a map enthusiast. I never would have met her if I didn't discover this interesting place on one of my maps.

There was one place that I never discovered on any of my maps. I was excited to go explore the area, but I ended up on the wrong train. I didn't know what to do and decided to sit down in defeat. It would be awhile before we reached the next station.

Then I looked up, and there she was, sitting directly across from me. My heart started beating faster and I knew that I fell in love at first sight. What a beauty she was. She wore a pair of light blue headphones and listened to her music, drowning out the surroundings.

I wanted to know more about her, but I couldn't approach her. We just sat across from each other the whole way until the next station. One of us unfazed by the world around them, while the other stared at the former. I became obsessed with her, but I thought I would never see her again.

But fate had other plans for me. It just so happened that we both got off at the next train station. She dropped her school ID as we were getting off of the train. I picked it up and got a quick glance at her name.

"So her name is Shida Manaka..." I whispered to myself.

I hurriedly ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and asked if I needed anything. I fumbled around a bit before giving her school ID back to her. She was surprised but thanked me for returning her ID back to her. We then parted ways.

Ever since that day, I have made sure to return to this spot on the exact same train at the same time every day. It was the only way I had of seeing her. I found out that she always took the train home at that exact time every day.

She always got on at Shinjuku station, and got off a few stops later at Meguro station. I always made sure to get on earlier at Ikebukuro station to get a seat. She always sat in the same seat when she got on the train.

My obsession with her became stronger every day that I saw her. I hope I wasn't becoming a strange girl. I drew the line at when she left the train, but I have to admit that I have done some stalker-like things.

There was one time where she was wearing a cute outfit. I feel ashamed, but I couldn't control myself. I took a picture of her from my seat. My hands moved on their own and I pretended to be taking a picture of myself, so no one would suspect anything.

I kept on trying to delete the picture from my phone, but I couldn't. My hand would shake uncontrollably every time I tried. It resisted my will to delete the picture. I guess it would be better to say that my hand was following what my heart felt.

Ever since that time, I promised myself I would never do something like that ever again. It honestly felt disgusting. It felt like I was defiling her beauty with that picture. I didn't want to do anything to make her hate me and my heart agreed with me.

I was content with just being in the mere presence of Manaka. She probably forgot about me after our first encounter, but I was happy with being able to see her. I want to talk with her, but I am just too shy to walk up to her. I have even tried to talk to her a few times, but they all ended with me running away in embarrassment.

Today felt like a different day. I oddly felt confident in myself. It felt like today would be the day that I would talk to her. I felt butterflies in my stomach at the thought of being able to talk to her. I just had to wait for her to get onto the train.

The train arrived at Manaka's station. We waited there for a few minutes for people to board and I became concerned. She was nowhere to be seen. I let out an internal sigh of relief when I saw her walk onto the train just as the train was about to leave the station.

She sat in her normal seat across from me. She had her signature light blue headphones on and was distracted by her music. She looked beautiful just like any other day. But I suddenly became nervous.

My confidence from earlier vanished. I couldn't move to try and talk to her. My legs didn't want to move. I tried forcing them to move, but they were stuck to the floor. Today was supposed to be the day that I talked to her and I felt defeated. I wanted her to notice me for once, but I realized I didn't have to do much to get her to notice me.

Manaka suddenly looked up and stared me directly in the eye. Her deep brown eyes were mesmerizing. I didn't even realize that she was looking at me. My heart was drowning in the beauty of her eyes.

I don't know how long we were sitting like that, but it felt like an eternity. My trance was suddenly broken when she flashed me a big smile. My heart stopped for a moment. My eyes widen in surprise when everything processed in my head. Manaka caught me staring at her.

I quickly averted my eyes away from her. My cheeks felt red like a tomato out of embarrassment. How could I make such a simple mistake? She must be creeped out by me now. Is this how it is all going to end?

I took a chance and took a quick glance at Manaka. She wasn't looking at me anymore. Her eyes were focused on the piece of paper on her lap. She was writing something with a pen. I must admit that I was curious about it.

Manaka stood up from her seat. She began walking towards me. I didn't know what to do and started staring at the ground. What is she thinking right now? Is she going to tell me off for staring at her? Oh god no this isn't happening right now.

She stopped right in front me. I didn't move my eyes away from the ground. She tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. She was giving me a bright smile when I looked up. A paper appeared in my hand as she gave me a wink. My eyes widen when I opened up the piece of paper. It was a cell phone number.

"Call me."