Can Sempai be used to address a student of the same year/age


I've been working on a script for a Visual Novel, in it one of the heroine's
Sakura address's the main hero Talavaliau (Tala for short) as Sempai because
she has a crush on him and can't bring herself to actually call him by his
name even with honorifics but also as a sign of respect for his nature

i base this on a number of anime/manga/books/games i have seen where a younger
girl addresses an older crush as sempai and in most cases their just a class
year's difference or have a year gap between their age

i know that sempai is used as a form of respect for younger students to
address older students however in my script, Tala ends up being reassigned
into Sakura's class so they are in the same year in the school, Tala's and
Sakua's age are the same but Tala's birthday falls on the same day as his
foster sister (he no longer remembers his real birth date and uses the day he
was saved/adopted) which is only 1 month before Sakura's

so i am wondering if Sempai can be used to address a student of the same
year/age or if i should use another term which doesn't involve using a
person's name




It can refer simply to age, but especially in the context of school it will
refer to someone in a grade above you. It's a similar thing in work or other
organizations: your 先輩 are the ones who came first and outrank you. Outside of
a strict hierarchy (like school or work) I think it just refers to the idea of
someone being older, as in [彼は私の5年先輩です。 (He is five years my
senior.)](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%85%88%E8%BC%A9&ref=sa) It may also
be worth noting that dictionary entries tend to roll up the idea of simply
being born first into the same definition as seniority in academia or in arts,
so this may be more of a reference to someone who is more wise or
knowledgeable rather than _just_ being older. For example I don't think you
really refer to elderly people as senpai.

_Technically_ your classmate is your 同輩 (douhai), although as istrasci (and
formerly snailboat) reminds us this term is not the most common, and instead
同級生 or other more common terms would be used (emphasis that this describes the
relationship, _not_ the term you would use to talk to them). These people
would be _addressed_ with kun/chan/san/whatever else. When in doubt, just
stick within the established hierarchy. As a (pro?)noun used to address
people, though, you have senpai but not much else.




It can refer simply to age, but especially in the context of school it will
refer to someone in a grade above you. It's a similar thing in work or other
organizations: your 先輩 are the ones who came first and outrank you. Outside of
a strict hierarchy (like school or work) I think it just refers to the idea of
someone being older, as in [彼は私の5年先輩です。 (He is five years my
senior.)](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%85%88%E8%BC%A9&ref=sa) It may also
be worth noting that dictionary entries tend to roll up the idea of simply
being born first into the same definition as seniority in academia or in arts,
so this may be more of a reference to someone who is more wise or
knowledgeable rather than _just_ being older. For example I don't think you
really refer to elderly people as senpai.

_Technically_ your classmate is your 同輩 (douhai), although as istrasci (and
formerly snailboat) reminds us this term is not the most common, and instead
同級生 or other more common terms would be used (emphasis that this describes the
relationship, _not_ the term you would use to talk to them). These people
would be _addressed_ with kun/chan/san/whatever else. When in doubt, just
stick within the established hierarchy. As a (pro?)noun used to address
people, though, you have senpai but not much else.

