Rumi and Seki's first date was going disappointingly well.
Rumi thought she hoped Seki would be on his best behavior and not get up to his usual antics while they were at the restaurant, but apparently she was lying to herself when she thought that because here he was, on his best behavior and not getting up to his usual antics, and it was just so dull. He'd chosen now of all times to do nothing to amuse himself, and by extension, nothing to amuse her.
It was sweet, she supposed, that the date meant so much to him that he'd take it this seriously and try to do it the way it was meant to be done, but that also highlighted the fact that neither of them had actually been on a date before. Were they supposed to make small talk? Or maybe just eat in silence while staring awkwardly at one another? The latter was currently out of the question, because the waiter still had yet to arrive with their food.
Speaking of the restaurant's staff, the person greeting them at the entrance seemed to recognize Seki, but whatever they were discussing with him was awfully cryptic. Rumi wasn't completely sure about the conclusion she reached based on what she'd heard, but apparently Seki had been there earlier that day? Maybe? At the time, this got her hopes up and lead her to believe he'd done something so spectacular that it needed to be set up hours in advance, but there was no sign of such a spectacle once they were seated.
Eventually, Rumi concluded that if Seki had been there earlier, then it was just to book a table, or maybe to check if the place met his standards. But then again, Rumi also found it likely from what the staff had said that he was more familiar to them than someone who'd only visited once before, but again, she couldn't be sure. If she was right, then his history with them could have gone back years, not unlike the hiking trail that held so many embarrassing memories for him.
Finally, their food arrived, and Rumi's prediction as to what two people did at this point in a date turned out to be right. At least that one time Seki chose to practice table manners in the middle of class had paid off, but Rumi wouldn't have known that had she not looked up the subject herself after getting home that day. That happened quite often, now that she thought about it. If she had no interest in it, then Seki would make it interesting. Or more accurately, he'd make her obsessed with it for at least a little while.
Rumi blushed upon suddenly realizing: Being obsessed with everything someone did meant you were obsessed with them. But she was glad to have realized it now, during their first date, rather than a week or so earlier when she was still blissfully oblivious to how she really felt about him. And if not for the catastrophe Uzawa had caused that day, she may never have realized. She resolved to thank him once he was out of the hospital.
As time went on, Seki was beginning to look nervous. And once again, this had Rumi guessing. Was this the moment of truth for whatever project he'd been working on earlier today? Or was he facing withdrawal symptoms after not indulging in his usual time killing activities for so long? Whatever the reason, he was going through dessert much more quickly than he should have been despite Rumi's warnings, and then he was just as impatient to pay the bill and leave. To make things more confusing, the waiter accepting the bill seemed to understand his behavior perfectly upon noticing something about Rumi that he hadn't before.
"Ah, I see," he said, "you think she'd get too embarrassed if she saw it. Well, I hope you both enjoy the rest of your night together."
Rumi waited until they were outside before voicing her questions. "Embarrassed? Embarrassed about seeing what? Did you do something in there or not?"
Seki held up his index finger as a way of saying 'give me a moment'. Once she'd resigned herself to following his instructions, he lead her around a corner so that they were peering into the restaurant from a convenient position where nobody inside or outside was likely to see them. Because Seki being familiar with a place inevitably meant that he'd know the best part of that place for going unnoticed.
"So it is something in there?" Rumi said. "How long do we have to wai-" She stopped herself upon noticing the lights get dimmer inside. People appeared to be setting up a projector, and the voice explaining what was going on was conveniently audible from outside.
...was that window always open?
"Ladies and gentlemen," the voice said, "some of you who have been here before may remember us showcasing the works of an anonymous ice sculptor. If not, don't worry. Here are some of their previous works if you missed them."
The projector came on, showing around half a dozen photographs of very impressive ice sculptures that just had 'Seki' written all over them. Not literally, though, which was surprising coming from the same person who had named a new species of dinosaur after himself and managed to brand the sun. For some reason, Rumi really enjoyed mentioning those two moments to people with little to no context.
"Today, they've truly outdone themselves with their latest project. Without further ado, here's their latest masterpiece!"
The projector went off, and the lights returned to normal. From behind two curtains, a table was wheeled inside with the latest sculpture on top of it, and Rumi finally understood the concerns about something embarrassing her.
Even from outside, it felt strange see such a large facsimile of her presented to so many people. If she'd been inside, it would have been even more awkward for people to recognize her as the inspiration for the sculpture and compare the two. Especially with the number of liberties she felt Seki had taken to make her look that beautiful. Or was it just her who felt that way? Seki appeared to be more focused on the real person than his own work, which was also quite unlike him considering how content he often was to spend the remainder of a lesson staring in awe at whatever project he'd just finished. Was he really more impressed with her than with himself?
"Toshinari…" She found herself unable to put her concerns into words, but he already understood. With just a hand on her shoulder, he conveyed his message: Yes, you deserve this.
And they'd communicated like this long enough for Rumi to know that he really meant it.
A/N: Seki tries to save actual voicewords for real emergencies, like when he's bragging about how easy a test was or wants to tell Rumi she has a nice butt.