I Met Her on The Subway [MonaRisa]

Part 1.5

Music. It is my only salvation in this world. Listening to it always calmed my mind and emotions. I could drown out my surroundings by just putting on my signature light blue headphones and pressing play on my phone.

Commuting on the subway is always noisy. The sound of the train, the people, and the chatter was just too much for me. There were always too many people around. I always felt sick by this environment.

I hated commuting by subway, but I didn't have any other options. It was the only convenient way of getting around Tokyo for me. Rush hour was the worst of it. The trains were always jampacked with people going to work or going home.

I always avoided taking the subway during those hours. The less people around, the less I felt sick. I always left early in the morning and left later in the afternoon just to avoid the traffic of people.

My afternoon commute home tended to be quieter. There was a seat that I always favoured when I got on the train. I tried my best to sit there any time I got on the train, but sometimes it was taken when I got on.

Today's afternoon commute was the same as always. I got on the train and my seat was empty, so I sat in it. I placed my headphones over my ears and hit play on my phone. The music began to play and the surroundings were washed away.

My mind was always tranquil during these times. It gave me time to reflect about the day so far. I always took this time to plan out the rest of my day. It was also the perfect time to catch up on some much-needed sleep. Although it wasn't enough time, as my stop was a few stations away from where I got on the train.

The train arrived at my stop. I stood up and made my way to the exit onto the platform. My school ID fell out of my bag as I was getting off without me noticing it. I walked a few steps before feeling someone tapping on my shoulder.

My heart skipped a beat as I turned around. My eyes found a beautiful girl standing in front of me. She had short brown hair that reached just above her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep brown. It combined with her face to give an allure that prevented me from looking away.

I could not even hear the music that was coming from my headphones. My world suddenly revolved around this girl in front of me. She was looking down at the ground while fumbling with something in her hand.

"Can I help you?" I manage to ask.

She took a few moments before presenting something to me. It was a school ID. My eyes widen in surprise as I looked in my bag. My school ID was missing. I took it from her hands, and read the name on the inside cover to make sure it was mine.

"Shida Manaka...," I whispered low enough for the girl to not hear me.

It was indeed my school ID. I thanked the girl before she gave me a quick nod and hurriedly left. My eyes were glued to her until I could not see her anymore. My music finally returned to my ears. I knew what I had to do.

"I have to make her mine," I said with a grin on my face.

The next day I had my headphones on before I got on the train. My surroundings were already drowned out as I looked for my seat. My eyes locked onto the person sitting across from me as I sat down. I was surprised to see that it was the girl from yesterday. I was not expecting to see her again that soon.

My heart beated faster as my music once again vanished from my ears. My world became focused on the girl. The whole train ride was like that. I pretended to not notice her, but I was keeping my eye on her. She kept on giving quick glances at me. It was amusing to see the girl look flustered.

My music returned to my ears as the train arrived at my stop. My emotions calmed and I quickly got off the train before they became erratic again. I had a feeling that it was not a coincidence that I saw the girl again.

My feelings were right as I would see the girl everyday on the train in the same spot for the next month. I learned a lot about her during that time. It was amusing to watch the girl over the period of a month.

She was very timid and did not seem to speak much. It seemed that she was always by herself on the train. She never had company with her. I could tell that she had a good personality based on my observations.

There was one peculiar thing that I found out about her. She had some stalker-like tendencies. Normally I would hate people like her, but I found it cute and amusing as she was the one I wanted to make mine.

One time I decided to dress differently instead of my usually style of fashion. It wasn't anything special, but it was a cute outfit. I went through my usual routine when I got on the train. The girl was already sitting in her spot across from mine. My focus was already on her as I waited to see her reaction.

I was very surprised to see that she had her phone out. She never had phone out as she was always too busy giving me glances. It looked like she was taking pictures of herself as she was posing with her phone in her stretched-out arm, but I quickly realized what she was actually doing.

She had the phone's rear camera facing directly at me. I pretended to not notice as she took a few pictures of me. I chuckled inside as she swiped her phone to look at the picture. Her expression looked blissful as she viewed the pictures. It gave a warm feeling in my heart to see her expression like that.

It was after that point that I knew for sure that the girl had feelings for me. I could have made it easier for both of us by going up to her myself, but I didn't find that enjoyable. I wanted to mess with her for a bit longer.

After that incident with the cute dress, I never saw her using her phone on the train ever again. It seemed that something changed a bit in her, and I felt a bit disappointed. I wanted to see her blissful expression again, but she was probably scared that I would catch her in the act someday.

There were a few times where she walked up to me. I pretended to not notice her, as I looked in a different expression. I could feel that she wanted to say something, but she never did. Every time she just ran off with an embarrassed expression on her face.

I was running late one day and almost missed the train. I got on just in time as the doors closed behind me. I made my way to my seat and the girl was already in her seat across from mine. I had already decided that day that I would change the relationship between us.

She gave me her usual quick glances. I turned my head just as she was about to avert her eyes away from me. Our eyes locked for the first time in a month. It reminded me of the feelings I felt during our first encounter. I had vowed on that day that I would make this girl mine.

I gave her a big smile. Her eyes widen in shock as she realized that we were making eye contact. She quickly averted her eyes away from mine. I giggled as I was amused by the embarrassed expression on her face combined with her bright red cheeks.

An idea popped in my head. I got a piece of paper and a pen out of my bag. Now was the perfect opportunity to make it clear to her that we had mutual feelings and to end this amusing game. I wrote down my cell phone number on the piece of paper.

I put the pen away in my bag and stood up with the piece of paper in my hand. The girl was looking in my direction, but she quickly stared at the ground as I stood up. I walked towards the girl and stopped in front of her.

I could tell that she was panicking as her shoulders raised a bit when she saw my feet stopping in front of her. I waited a few moments before tapping on her shoulder. There was a bright smile on my face as she looked up at me.

I placed the piece of paper in her hand as I gave her a wink. She took a few moments to open the piece of paper and read its contents. Her eyes widen in shock as she realized what it was. I had a big grin on my face.

"Call me."