Jun

Jun Hashiro 20                                     Studies at University Of Tokyo              Nice to meet you, I'm Jun! I study sports science at Tokyo U and play basketball! I love anime and manga, and spend most of my spare time reading or watching. I'm also a big animal lover, and can be a highly qualified house husband lol

This is my profile on MatchMaker, the most popular dating app, and also a short introduction to me. I'm a university student living in Tokyo, and an aspiring basketball player. If you're wondering, the photos on my profile are either bland selfies or photos of me playing for my basketball team. My profile honestly doesn't miss much out, my days are mainly training, studying and watching some anime or reading manga in my downtime. I live in an apartment on my own, and thankfully am sound financially due to my sporting scholarship from the university. Above all though, I'm pretty lonely, which I don't think needs to be mentioned on a dating profile, there's a reason I'm there. My day-to-day is pretty busy so meeting somebody I could have a change of pace with really would be nice, but I want an actual connection, not just somebody I'll see a few times with no real feelings, I want somebody to cherish, someone I can do the little things with to make me fall back in love with life itself, someone to cook with, to come home to, to watch the stars with. I guess simply put, someone to truly experience living with.

Now, back to reality, unfortunately. I frantically open the app on my phone, as if there's a time limit on the match I just received, and on the screen I see, well, nothing that I haven't seen before, an overused pickup line, photos in a nightclub, and that dreaded, mood-ruining 'something casual' tag. I went out to the balcony and gazed out at the stars. Weirdly things like the sky and the stars feel alot closer nowadays, when I think about how far away something as simple as having someone close enough to hold is. The winter chill hit my body, being negated only by my mug of tea and fluffy socks, a mixture of shivers and warmth. As I ponder my mixed feelings and how similair my body feels to them right now, my phone pings again, this time showing they'd sent me a message.

'Moonlight bar tomorrow night at 8? You're cute I'd love to meet you ;)'

I think most people would love to see a message like this, and don't get me wrong she's an attractive girl, but I've learnt this is the kind of message that screams 'nothing serious'...

But at the same time, what position am I in to be giving up chances, who knows what could happen, her profile tells so little that the only way to find out is to go. She seems like the popular trendy type from her photos, I kind of question whether she actually read my profile at all or only looked at the photos, it wouldn't be the first time, I mean my first few photos have my basketball teammates in them too.

I'll spare you the details of the rest of that night, as I spent it being in my own head about whether I should even go or not, until I eventually sent a 'yeah sure' and planned the next day. It was a Saturday, so I had basketball training from noon till three in the afternoon, but after that, I had a few hours to prepare... And by prepare I mean overthinking every last detail of what was about to happen and mentally readying myself for all the different ways it could go wrong. I wore a pretty basic outfit, but still fashionable, and made sure to wash up properly and wear some nice perfume, I've always thought perfume smelt nicer so I stick with it. It might be worth mentioning, I'm not what you'd consider unnatractive from what I know, my rejections aren't just because I look better in the photos I choose or anything like that, I think I'd be a bit more understanding if that were the case, and I'm pretty tall too, I don't feel it since I'm in a weird limbo of small for a basketball player but taller than average at six foot one, but either way I don't want somebody who'd pick me based on purely physical attributes regardless.

Despite how tired I am from training today, I force myself out of the door of my apartment, and take the elevator down to the bottom, I usually take the stairs for the extra fitness being on the eigth floor, but it wasn't necessary after the fitness based session we were dragged through earlier.

I arrived to the bar 20 minutes early, I always try to arrive first because I feel like then I get to escape the awkward seeking out of the other person, jerking my head around like a meerkat until our eyes would finally meet. Eight on the dot and she seems to almost waltz in through the entrance, her energy and aura seemed positive, and a lovely smile beamed across her face as she looked around. I raised my hand slightly as I looked at her, hoping it'd make finding me a little easier, and eventually she found me and made her way over.

As she got closer the usual anxiousness enveloped me. The maybe ten or fifteen seconds it took her to walk over seemed to stretch to at least a minute in my mind.

What do I say, how do I greet her, is a hug to much, is a handshake too formal, should I pull her chair put for her or is that too traditional, do I ask if they want a drin-

'Hey Hashiro-kun, nice to meet you!'

I draw a blank on all my thoughts, and now the only thing on my mind is surviving the conversation that's about to start. Luckily for me she took the initiative and she went in for a hug first.

'Nice to meet you too! You have a... A-a wonderful smile, it made you easy to spot when you came in'

I was ready for her to leave there and then, too cringe, a little creepy, and stuttering on my first words, a zero out of ten score so far. I wish I knew at least something about her so I could make coherent conversation, but I was given nothing and no chance to learn more before we met.

'ahhh, haha, thank you!' she responded awkwardly, almost sounding like she was pitying me.

'so you play basketball?'

She prompted me, thank god, and gave us something to talk about. I told her about my aspirations and how I play for the university, and at first I thought she was taking an interest.

'does that mean you know Takahashi-kun?'

These words, are the only words that could possibly hurt more than the usual excuses people make up to leave. I only know Takahashi as a teammate, and he isn't a great basketball player, but he's good enough to be on the bench of the team. On the other hand it seems he's an absolutely incredible 'player', there's no denying he's got model level looks, but he does not hold down girlfriends, they come and go as much as I delete and re-install MatchMaker. If you couldn't guess, that is extremely often.

I just told her I don't know him to save myself the pain. We shared some other small talk after but there was obviously no chemistry there.

'I think I'm gonna head home because I have to wake up early for work tomorrow, but it was nice meeting you'

She left in a brisk walk, as if in a rush to get out, quite the opposite to the slow, carefree looking waltz displayed when she came in.

I'm used to being walked out on and having dates cut short, but being asked about another guy on a date like that plucked a new string I didn't know I had, it's the kind of thing I imagined could never actually happen on a date, that it would never reach that point.

I don't drink, and I never really have, but I didn't really feel like going home and being alone with my thoughts either, so instead I sat at the bar ordering soft drinks for the next few hours, just people watching as different groups came and went. Seeing the amount of couples that were in the bar throughout the night definitely didn't help.

'Didn't you're date leave some time ago now, kid?'

The words brought me back to my senses, I'd zoned out a little, and the last few people in the bar were having the last of their drinks and leaving.

'You've got a good memory, that was some three hours ago now right?' I let out a chuckle with my response, my head still turned away from the bartender, looking out into the bar.

'I've got to say, I've never seen somebody drink away their sorrows with cola before, you allergic to alcohol or do I need to ban an underage bar-goer' she said it jokingly, but seemed a tad serious, she hadn't seen my face properly yet so I could've been a sneak-in.

'I think I've already had a better conversation with you than I did with my date'

'then you could at least turn and face me while we talk then, couldn't you?'

We shared a laugh, and then, a little reluctantly as I felt shameful she knew how I'd been stood up, I turned and, honestly, I was startled for a moment when I turned, as the thought a beautiful, older woman would be behind the bar infront of me wasn't something I was expecting.

'Cat got you're tongue?' she smirked whilst she wiped down the glass she was cleaning.

She was teasing me, I knew that, but she wasn't wrong at all, my tongue was well and truly tied. She was tall, not as tall as me, but maybe a few inches smaller, with long, silky looking silver hair, the dye she used made her hair have this shiny glimmer that made it look almost angelic, and hazel eyes, maybe the exact same shade as mine, that had this constant, motherly, caring look, even when she was teasing. For her uniform, unlike the other women working around the venue, she was wearing a white long sleeve buttoned shirt, that gave her a more mature and warm vibe, I'm fact her whole aura was warm, and a tad playful. It's pretty safe to say I was encapsulated by her very being, if my description didn't give that away enough. I don't know if the moment was getting to me a little to considering how the night had gone, but I really felt like I'd met an angel behind that bar.

'you fancy pouring me one more cola?' I wouldn't openly admit it, but I wanted to be able to sit and talk to her as long as I could, I didn't want that part of my night to end.

'Last drinks are done now, sorry. I see the necklace you have on though, it has a lighter on right?'

I was surprised she noticed it, however she seemed mature, so maybe NANA was in her era, I love Shin's character and bought the piece as a memento, despite having never smoked in my life.

' Yeah it does, do you know it from NANA or do you just like Vivienne Westwood?' I asked in the small hope that maybe there would be something in common between us, as she looked like a distant angel to me right now, the bar between us like the purgatory between my world and the heaven she was in.

'Yeah, I love NANA, but isn't that a little before your time?' She chuckled. It felt like she was teasing me again, but I didn't care. 'I need a smoke but don't have a lighter with me, if you go on and wait out front I'll be out in a few minutes when my shift is over' she gave a warm smile, it wouldn't be long, the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, but however long it was would be a moment I was certain I'd cherish for life.

'Sure' for the first time that night, I didn't have to force a smile on my face. 'You want a drink from the vending machine?'

She looked at me, a little surprised. 'Are you sure? I'd love a coffee if you don't mind'

'Of course, it's the least I can do for serving me all night then cheering me up'

We both exchanged a smile, then I left, bought two coffees from the vending machine then waited out in front of the bar.

The ten minutes I had to wait, I didn't feel nervous at all for a change, and the time passed pretty quickly.

'Sorry, I took a little longer than I usually do'

She came around the corner, and for a second I was stumped for words again, this time I could see all of her. She had a slender figure, athletic, she seemed a healthy person, except the smoking obviously. She had on a scarf this time with it being winter, but still only had her shirt, she seemed to be shivering a little.

'No problem at all, considering how today went, I'm happy enough you showed up!' we laughed together, before her expression changed slightly, showing a hint of concern.

'On a more serious note, you shouldn't let it get to you too much, I see cases like yours around the bar all the time... Although the difference is, you don't seem to come across as weird or overbearing, and you're pretty too, not all guys can make long hair work but you do'

I stood there dumbfounded, how can someone throw around compliments like that so easily, sure thinking them is one thing but just tellimg them like that? I could never.

'T-thank you, I'm used to this happening by now so it doesn't bother me too much' I said looking away a little embarrassed. 

She took a few steps closer to me.

'Can I use the lighter?'

She had pulled out her cigarette as I looked away, not being able to take the compliment whilst looking at her.

'Yeah, go ahea-'

As I reached to my neck to take it off and give it to her, she took one last step towards me, gazing into my eyes.

'Like this is fine, no need to take it off'

This felt like another way for her to tease me, she was close enough that I could feel her breath on me. She put one hand on my shoulder, as if to make sure I didn't move, and used the other to flick open the lighter and light her cigarette. I gathered the courage to look back in front of me where she was, and she was already looking up into my eyes.

We locked eyes, only for a few seconds, and despite the cigarette in her mouth, she looked beautiful, I hoped to burn that memory into my brain like a cigarette burn. I looked away again pretty quickly.

'Not a staring contest guy, huh' she pulled the cigarette away from her mouth to taunt me with her words again, I can't say I wasn't enjoying it, but equally I didn't want to be the only one getting teased.

'So, what's your story, if you couldn't tell, I'm interested in getting to know you at the least' attentively, she returned her gaze to me, awaiting my response...