The Best Day I Was Hit by a Half-Finished Plastic Bottle

October 31, 2017. Osaka.

I was there to see a live concert with a senior from my university club.

Apparently, another girl (who was cute) had been invited first, but she had a prior engagement, so I was invited as the backup.

As long as I could go to the concert, it didn't matter if I was a backup or whatever.
I was just grateful to be invited.

First, we went to get some food at a tsukemen place the senior recommended.
Honestly, I didn't really like tsukemen. Because it gets cold.
Plus, the line was super long.

But the moment I ate it, my concept of tsukemen was turned upside down!
What is this! It's delicious!!!!

I wanted to shake hands with everyone: the person at the shop who made it, the senior who introduced it to me, and the people on Tabelog who wrote that it changed their view of the tsukemen world.

Well, with our stomachs full, the fun was finally about to begin.

The concert I attended that day was the second day of BUMP OF CHICKEN's PATHFINDER tour in Osaka.
I really love BUMP, and I've been to their concerts several times before.

I bought a limited-edition Halloween concert T-shirt, and off to the venue we went!

As luck would have it, we were in the front-most block on the right side of the arena. (The arena was standing-only, and you could stand wherever you wanted within your block.)
People tended to crowd toward the front of the block, but we decided to watch from a bit further back.

The concert was truly the best!! Being close to the artists is justice!!!

Now, after enjoying all the music and the talk, came the encore.

Fuji-kun (the vocalist) came really close to us!!

And then...

Something was tossed out.

It was water! A plastic bottle of water!
It was surely the one he had been drinking from just a moment ago!!

While I was thinking 'Wow!', it slipped right through the hands reaching out from the people in front of me...

I actually caught the plastic bottle that came flying right at me!!!

Whoa, no way!!! I actually caught it!!!
I was so incredibly surprised.

The other members were throwing things too, but I usually thought it was things like picks (the little things you use to strum a guitar) or towels,
but it was water, of all things!!

And what's more, it doesn't have a cap.
And it's half-finished...

A-a-anyway, I waited for the LIVE to end, and then I left the arena while holding it carefully.

I hurried to a nearby vending machine, bought a small bottle of water, and chugged it.
I put that cap on the plastic bottle in question.

The LIVE was great, but that moment at the end took everything, and my head was in a whirl, haha.

On the way home, my senior was talking about their thoughts on the LIVE, but to be honest, I wasn't really listening (sorry, haha).

I thought this would be a memory I'd never forget.
I want to keep that feeling of excitement from that time in my heart forever.

By the way, I kept that plastic bottle in the refrigerator for a long time,
but someone at work told me that "water eventually goes bad," so I disposed of it.

As for how I disposed of it...
I took one sip (Eek!!) (I'm sorry if anyone finds this unpleasant.)
I felt a bit conflicted about the rest, so I poured it down the sink.

I kept the plastic bottle on a shelf for a while, but later I gave it to a true BUMP fan. (Apparently, they had been using the photo I took of the bottle as their smartphone wallpaper...)

Lately, I haven't been able to go to any LIVEs at all, and I haven't even listened to the new songs.
But they are still there, playing their music.

I think I'll listen to their songs again while remembering that time.

Thank you for reading until the end.

#ARareExperienceThatMightOnlyBeMine