Custom-Made: Senpai and Kohai, One Week Later

Click here for one week ago

Chime chime

This is Tailor Ninomiya, a shop that handles custom-made suits. It is a long-established shop among long-established shops.

In the bright and homey shop, the pleasant scent of foreign fabrics and upbeat house music play like a whisper.

Excuse me.

Just like last week, I called out as soon as I entered the shop, and the owner, Mr. Ninomiya, came out from the back.

It's Takashima. I've come to pick up my suit.

Yes, please wait a moment. Today... no fitting is needed, right?

Last week I was with my chubby son Murakami, but today I came alone because he said it was a hassle to come all the way from Kanagawa.

I barely made it in time for the Coming of Age Ceremony. I was worried you might be closed for the year-end holidays, so I rushed over.

While making such trivial conversation, I received the suit. Normally, I would just head home now, but there was something I absolutely had to tell Owner Ninomiya. A story I had been saving for nearly a quarter of a century.

Senpai, actually, I didn't meet you in junior high school, but in my mid-twenties at a club in Aoyama. Don't you remember?

Huh??? A... a club?

Yes. A club in Aoyama where house music was playing. When I first came here the other day, I heard house music playing in the shop and it felt so nostalgic. Senpai, don't you remember?

Hmm, Aoyama? Where could it be? I used to go to clubs all the time back then, so...

Ithought so.Senpai, you looked like the type who went all the time (well, so did I).

Huh? Could it be the club in Omotesando? Were you a pair?

Yes, that's it! I didn't know you were my senpai, but I was the one who approached you.

If I recall... you approached me looking incredibly annoyed, didn't you?

****

Twenty-three years ago, at a club in Aoyama (Omotesando).
DJ Z, who worked at the soul bar I always frequented, was hosting a house event, so B-ko and I went out night after night. Usually A-ko would be with us, but that day it was just the two of us.

As the event was heading toward its finale, B-ko whispered to me.

"Aya! That guy over there is super hot.

He's totally my type, totally my type, totally my type.

Aya, please, go talk to him for me.
I'm begging you for the rest of my life! I can't talk to guys myself if they're too much my type. You can do it, Aya!
Go! Go! Go!"

"Wait, which one?"

"Look, over there, the stylish subculture-looking guy..."

"Are you serious? He's not my type at all."

"Please, please, I'm begging you for the rest of my life!!!"

So, I went over.

"Good evening~
Sorry, I'll say this first, but it's not me~
It's not me, but that girl over there with the bob cut and sharp features (pointing at B-ko), she's my friend, and she told me to come talk to you because she thinks you're super hot. I really didn't want to do this, but sorry. Could you talk to her for a bit?"

What a super rude and clumsy way to pick up a guy lol

Despite that,
I succeeded brilliantly and introduced a shy B-ko to the stylish subculture guy.

Good evening~
Cheers~
Yeah~

(The same old idiotic vibe)

The stylish subculture guy had come with a friend, but pairs are tough in these situations. Because when B-ko talks to the subculture guy, the remaining two of us who have absolutely no interest in each other have to talk lol
Since I had no choice, I was dancing half-heartedly with the subculture guy's friend when B-ko came over.

"Hey!!! That guy, his name is Sho-kun, he's a year older than us and lives in the same K City as you, Aya."

"Seriously? Ask him what middle school he went to."

“They said Gochu.”

“Wait, wait, wait, what’s his last name...?”

“They said Ninomiya.”

“No way! Could it be Taylor Ninomiya?”

Thanks to that coincidence, the four of us ended up going to a local family restaurant for tea after club activities. B-ko was all excited and giddy, and I was in that strange, high-energy state you get the morning after an all-nighter. I decided the senior was a relatively calm and quiet person, so I started pestering him with local talk and went wild with my usual parade of jokes and retorts lol. The other person, the senior’s friend, was the only one who couldn't get into the loop, and thinking about it now, it’s hilarious lol.

That’s how it went, and B-ko exchanged contact info with Ninomiya-senpai, and we parted ways there, but...

After that, B-ko managed to get a date, but she said she was easily dumped after just one time (it was a wholesome date, lol). “Sho-kun apparently had another girl he was considering, and he said he was torn between her and me. Well, it seems I lost. Waaah, I’m so sad. He was exactly my type, so cool, so kind, he was truly perfect...

It’s probably Aya’s fault.

He found out there was a crazy junior in the neighborhood, and he dumped me because he thought someone like that was my friend. I mean, Aya, you were acting pretty crazy, weren't you? You were saying all sorts of stupid things to Sho-kun. Aya, you have to take responsibility for this!!! Hey, hey!!!

Shut up, B-ko, don't blame others, you idiot.
It’s all because you lack charm.

***

So, that’s what happened. The senior, who was so popular, might not even remember it that well, but for me,

the first person I ever hit on was a senior from junior high.

It was such an unavoidable coincidence that I’ve always remembered it. (Though it’s also because it was funny that B-ko got dumped so hard lol).

With that in mind,
I chatted about the old days with the owner of Taylor Ninomiya, and while I was at it, I mentioned that the senior was popular with his juniors back in junior high too, hoping to put the owner in a good mood and maybe get a free necktie or something, but it didn't work (obviously lol).

However,
why didn't I tell the senior this story right then and there? Why did I save it for a week later? The reason is...

Because I didn't want my 20-year-old son to find out that his mother used to be a party girl.

I mean, I don't want to talk about clubs or picking up guys in front of my son, right?

Come on, you know how mothers are—
we always want to remain pure, innocent, and untouched in front of our children. So, you know,

If a mother were untouched, she wouldn't have given birth to a son in the first place.

Well, that's true.
That's right, that's right, that's the sauce!
Besides, my son has already vaguely figured out that his mom used to be a party animal lol

And with that,
thank you for everything this year too. (As usual, a sloppy ending lol)

Happy New Year, everyone!