This is a true story.

On a drizzly day of July 22, 2005 at around 9:30 at night I stepped onto the densha from Mizonokuchi on my way back home. A few days before I had received a WWE wrestling shirt from my english student, who just happened to be one of the main wrestling reporters for the Japan Sports newspaper. It was great. We got to talk about dying people's hair blue, spitting in rice, and the mardi-gras (I helped write that editorial!). But for now, he had given me a shirt for which I was extremely grateful. So that day I had decided to center my outfit around "80's nerd with wrestling fetish"...as is natural given the circumstances of NEW WRESTLING TSHIRT zomg

Only at about 9:20 it had started to downpour. I had quickly realized that the dye from my new shirt might run onto the rest of my clothes and removed it, sticking it on my head instead for protection and grudgingly heading for home. So I stood on the platform and moped in my white, soppy tank top until the densha came and then stepped inside.

As I stood there shivering (they always have the air conditioning going because businessmen refuse to take off their suits even in the summer), I glanced in front of me and noticed a man was standing there. He was medium height and weight, and dressed all in white, save for a blue tank top under his white jacket. In his his hands he held a manga. I looked at him for a moment. "Aw, that's so Patalliro," I thought. And indeed it was. Patalliro! Saiyuuki, to be exact. There was something about him that seemed...well, I couldn't really place my finger on it. So I looked him over once again and my gaze fell upon his shoes. Ah! That was it! They were White!

I hate white shoes, unless they are sneakers. And so I started thinking, "Gee...who would wear white shoes...?" The only people I could think of who would wear white shoes with white pants and white jackets were...angels. So he must have been an angel. I kinda wanted to talk to him...but he was listening to music, and so I figured that would be kind of rude. And so I decided to have fun moping some more.

Now meanwhile I think he had noticed I was kind of looking him up and down and standing on tiptoe to see what manga he was reading and being a basic pain in the bottom. Perhaps he didn't care, but perhaps he did. At any rate, he took out his cel phone (to this day I'm not sure why) and...it was Nightmare Before Christmas \(O_o)/ ~orororo
Which, for those of you who don't know, means he's probably into the gothic scene.

So I, who usually never talk to anyone, gathered my inner spirits and in my soppy nakedness said...(herein follows the basic flow of the conversation)

"Um, hi. Is that Patalliro?"
He looked at me. "Yes it is. Do you know it?"
"Yeah! My idol suggested it in his diary."
"Oh, so you've read it?"
"What?" He had a very soft voice, and I was having a hard time hearing him.
"You've read it?" he repeated in perfect English this time.
"No."
He just kind of looked at me for a while with an expression that clearly said, "well why not?"
"It's perverted," I stated.

I have never, in my life seen anyone give the look he gave me then (aside from maybe Hora). It was a completely blank stare that proved infathomable. But at that point we arrived at my stop, and so I bowed, told him I was sorry for disturbing him, and hopped of the train and went down the stairs a few steps before turning back.

He'd kinda watched me leave it seems (laughs) But who could blame him. You don't often get approached by a soggy foreigner on the train and have her talk to you to tell you you're a pervert. Judging from everything I would assume he was gay, and so there was no problem with my outfit, but it was still rather odd all in all.

So when I was making the potato chart (see the previous page for details) I naturally connected him with Patalliro. And that is my story. La Fin.