The Story of the Senior Who Kept an AA Battery in His Ear

Everyone has their own "world."
The world of "that senior" reflected in my eyes was creative and far removed from my own. Though our paths crossed only for a brief moment, the scene I caught a glimpse of remains in my heart even 16 years later. Along with the AA battery inside the large hole in his earlobe.



2007. My first year of high school. It was the heyday of feature phones, before the iPhone had even been released in Japan, and when the invite-only social network mixi reigned supreme.
Despite it being summer vacation, I went to school every single day. Between the hellish, intense training of the judo club and preparations for the school festival coming up in the autumn.
As a first-year, I was someone who stood outside the center of the class, and my social skills were certainly not high. However, contrary to my nature, I loved "school events where everyone works together," and I poured enthusiastic effort into every one of them.
During my first high school festival, while I was part of the outdoor stage committee (responsible for building the outdoor event stage and managing equipment) and busy with various preparations, the senior who stood out the most in the committee was him. I cannot remember his name. I don't know his contact information. Therefore, in this piece, I will simply refer to him as "the senior."

To tell the story of the senior, I must start with his appearance.
He had smooth, brown hair that reminded me of Tomohisa Yamashita from the then-popular drama "Operation Love." He was tall, exceeding the average for a high school boy. He had a slender, high-bridged nose. His handsome and somewhat flashy appearance made it impossible not to be drawn to him.
Contrary to my first impression, the senior's demeanor was calm, and he carried an atmosphere that felt somewhat philosophical. I am sure the reason for that lay in his slightly raspy voice. For the first time, I felt a sense of sex appeal from someone of the same gender, thanks to his rough yet delicate tone.
The senior was also good at looking after his juniors, and he treated me kindly even though I felt a bit intimidated, thinking, "If we were in the same grade, we probably wouldn't be in the same group." Still, I couldn't quite see his inner self. Perhaps it was because I couldn't shake the preconception that he was a "distant existence" and didn't try to approach him myself.

There was a moment when I might have gotten just a little bit closer to that senior.
It was on the way home one day, when I was hurrying toward the station. Ahead of me on the path, I saw a figure that looked like the senior. Tall, long hair, school slacks worn lower than his waist. There was no mistake.
I was walking fast. The senior was walking at a normal pace. The distance between us gradually closed. Just as I thought I would greet him as we passed, I saw something like a thick cylinder between his swaying brown hair.
What was stuck in his left earlobe looked just like an AA battery... no, it was definitely an AA battery itself.

"What is that?"

I called out from the side, throwing a direct question at him without even a proper greeting. Even though I could see it was an AA battery.

"I'm keeping the hole from closing up."

When he slid the battery out, a huge hole was pierced through his earlobe. It was the first time in my life I had seen a piercing hole.
Strict school rules. Piercings were out of the question. He apparently wore them on his days off, but he had no choice but to endure it at school. Therefore, according to the senior, he tried to maintain the hole while commuting to and from school where teachers wouldn't see him.
I can't remember at all how I reacted. A huge hole in an ear that was usually hidden by his hair. And the AA battery fit perfectly into that hole... I remember feeling a conflicting sense of guilt, as if I had seen something I shouldn't have, yet wanting to stare at it intently. I didn't feel fear or intimidation. Perhaps it was because I found the battery stuck in his ear somewhat surreal.
After that, I walked to the station alongside the senior. Glancing at his profile—no, at his left ear—every now and then. There was no way I could get close to his inner self after walking and talking for only about 10 minutes. However, having seen the piercing hole and the battery, I felt like I had learned a little bit about the senior's world. That his world was vastly different from mine...



Even though I should have poured my limited youth into it, for some reason, my memories of the day of the school festival are hazy. The scenes that barely remain in my memory feature only the senior.
The senior fulfilled his duties behind the scenes while also appearing on stage as a participant. He sang his heart out to "BIG MAC" by BBQ CHICKENS* at the karaoke contest and performed impromptu spray art (would "graffiti" be more accurate?) to the rhythm of Western music I didn't know.
The senior literally painted the stage he had prepared and built himself with his own world. In his ears, there was neither an AA battery nor a piercing.

The aftermath of a festival is empty. Because various things, not just the stalls, but the excited mood and the bustle, disappear without a trace.
When the school festival ended, the executive committee disbanded easily, and everyone returned to their respective grades and groups.
After the disbandment, I never had a chance to talk to the senior again. I never saw the senior wearing large piercings again.



Yesterday, the topic of piercings was brought up in the listener mail corner of the discord stream (DHT Radio) I love to listen to. At that moment, my "memories of one summer" suddenly came back to life, and I missed the senior so much.
I tried searching for things like "earlobe AA battery" to see if I could find anyone else who expanded their piercing holes with batteries. However, the results I wanted didn't appear. It seems that using an AA battery to expand or maintain a piercing hole was not a very common practice.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
The AA battery inserted in his ear...
Perhaps it wasn't a piercing, but that very object itself was one of the senior's forms of self-expression. "I'm keeping the hole from closing up" might have just been an excuse.
The senior's world was creative and beyond my understanding. Now, there is no way to know the truth. That is precisely why I wanted to know more and more. I wanted to get closer.
Carrying a wish that has nowhere to go, the summer night deepens once again.