Akiyama cringed as he walked through the restaurant door, the bell ringing above the frame summoning attention that he really didn't want right now. Whoever had designed this place had a full theme in mind and a laser focused demographic of young-ish couples on romantic dates that could have been taken out of a Disney movie. The décor somehow managed to combine traditional with the slightly whimsical and dim ceiling lights were supported by candles stuck in old wine bottles on every table, there was even a single rose set in a vase when he explained that he was going to have company on his small table, everything was set out to try and make the evening magical when the financier would have been more happy grounded in a reality where secretaries don't try and set their bosses up on semi-blind dates. At least the wine list was comprehensive and priced somewhere between hostess club and actual reasonable prices for reasonable people, if it wasn't for the effort put in to making this romantic it might be a decent place to eat in general.
He had tried to tidy up, make himself look presentable as possible. This was a date even if he didn't want it and that required a certain dress code. No shirts that had been worn for days without washing, ironed suit trousers, not too uptight of a jacket (still in maroon like the rest of his decent-ish wardrobe) but one that had certainly been given a once over by the dry cleaners. Shun Akiyama was looking good tonight, all he had to do now was find a way to break it to the poor woman that he hadn't actually arranged this for them but he was still willing to pay for both food and drinks within reason. Depending on his date's reaction, that might be a whole bottle of wine worth of reason.
Sae Niijima was in a similar mood as she stepped out of the taxi in a low-cut black dress, a red shawl around her shoulders and red high heels. While a date wasn't what she wanted in amongst setting up her law firm, it was reality and therefore an effort must be made to keep up appearances even if she was walking into the restaurant with every intention to confess that her sister had set them up and it was probably better if they just had an enjoyable meal and leave it at that, and it was something all the more difficult when she entered and heard the faint violins and accordions that passed for background music. This whole establishment was trying to be romantic and were it not for the presence of other couples in states of pre, post and currently kissing, she would have assumed that this was one of her sister's friends ideas down to even the brickwork.
Trying to not cringe past the younger as she was lead to a table with an older man in a maroon jacket, Sae sighed as she sat down "Shun Akiyama I presume?" She asked, trying not to sound like she was the Spanish Inquisition.
"Guilty as charged," Akiyama joked with a slightly strained smile "So you must be Sae Niijima then, nice to finally meet you." He said, restraining himself from adding 'I guess' at the end.
"Likewise," Sae replied, also restraining herself from adding anything that would give away her motives, easier to just play it off as general unease "Is this... your first time?" she asked, quickly adding "At online dating." after the man's smile quickly vanished for a brief moment.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, it was kind of scary at first glance... didn't really know what I was doing when I was using it." He half-admitted. It was kind of intimidating and he didn't know what he was doing because he wasn't the one doing it.
"Ah, I see... it was a similar experience for me as well." she nodded, suddenly becoming very engaged in the wine list.
"Mhm," Akiyama agreed, likewise looking down the selection of ways to get expensively hammered "Do you have any preferences for a wine bottle?"
"It's better to stick to individual glasses for now," Sae shut down, noting the prices of the bottles. If she was going to be covering for all this, she wasn't paying full markup for something that they might not drink "I'll have the prosecco." That at least was something she knew she could drain a glass of regardless of what food it was with.
"Alright then!" Akiyama declared with a smile as they rattled off their respective orders to the waiter and were left in the awkward silence waiting for their first course "So... kickboxing champion, prosecutor and now attorney? That's quite a history." he said, trying to break the ice before it turned into a glacier and crushed them under sheer social embarrassment.
"Uh... yes, I've only recently started up my own firm." Sae said, sending longing glances to the kitchen over Akiyama's shoulder.
"Forgive me if this sounds rude, but doesn't it take years before you're allowed to set up your own firm?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going as the drinks arrived.
"If you're starting from just a law degree, yes. Fortunately having spent several years as public prosecutor, that counted towards several years experience instead of working for another firm so I was able to go it alone as soon as I received the badge in the mail." Sae answered, relaxing slightly. This was something she could deal with.
"Wait, those pins are actually real, not something TV made up? Like with the powdered wigs?" Akiyama asked, quickly taking a rather large sip of the glass of indeterminate red wine that was sat down with a small plate of salad and fish.
"The wigs are British, but yes. Attorney badges are real, the same with Prosecutor badges. Although with that case you don't really need them as the police generally know who you are and why you're allowed to look at dead bodies. It's more for the news casters so they know who to point a camera at as they walk down the steps of the courthouse," she said, regretting mentioning corpses just before eating a meal but to both their credit, they managed to hold their nerves and not balk, even if Sae needed a full gulp of the prosecco afterwards "Ah, so how long have you been working in finance?"
"Since I left college back in... it was a while ago," Akiyama answered, taking the time to take a few mouthfuls of his first course "Started out as a trader for a bank after I'd done my year of coffee fetching, that...didn't work out so well, but then I got a lucky windfall, set out on my own and eventually I'd worked my way back as an independent trader before setting up Sky Finances as a loan company for those who found the banks too manipulative or intimidating to work with. Which turned out to be a lot of people. Who'd have thought not being trash was a valid business strategy?"
"Didn't you say you started out working for a bank though?" Sae asked as she subtley scraped the vegetation away from the delicious fish. Makoto wasn't there to keep her on the straight and narrow, she could eat or not eat whatever the hell she felt like.
"I did, that's how I know they're trash." he answered, earning an earnest chuckle from both Sae and himself.
The plates were taken away and the glasses replaced, the smokey air around the candle seemed much more relaxed even as Sae picked her moment "Akiyama... I have something to admit."
Mental images ran across Shun's brain for a long time, cutting off interaction with his mouth beyond going "...Oh?"
"I... didn't arrange this for myself," she confessed as Akiyama's brain restarted "My sister... thought it would be a good idea for me to get a boyfriend," Sae continued as he started to laugh "What's so funny?" She snapped.
"Nothing... nothing," he lied, trying to drown the giggles with more booze "But... you'll never believe this but... same thing happened to me."
"Really?" the suddenly shocked attorney let out.
"Well, it was my secretary, not my sister... but if I had one they'd be working together on this."
"Let me guess, you'd just finished setting up your office just how you like it and before you can let your hair down she decided 'you know what would be very relaxing? A meal with someone you'd never met before!'" Sae pondered, starting to chuckle herself.
"Got it in one!" Akiyama declared, raising his glass.
"Although if it's your secretary, why didn't she pull you on a date herself?" Sae asked.
"She's known me for so long we've already hit the later married couple stage of a non-relationship. If I tried being romantic with her she'd be chasing me out of my own office."
"And here she wrote that you were very sweet." Sae teased, running her finger harmoniously over the flute glass.
"Oh I am. It's her that can be vicious when she wants to." he added as they both laughed and signalled for more drinks, breathing sighs of relief.
"So..." Sae began as the pasta arrived on time "Since this isn't a date any more, how do you want to pay for this?"
"You had to ask after I already ordered something else, didn't you?" Akiyama groaned, twirling spaghetti around a fork "It's fine, I can cover the bill."
"Wouldn't it be better to go Dutch and split it?" Sae asked
"Is this why you said to only order glasses and not bottles?" Akiyama teased, wondering why splitting the bill was called 'Going Dutch'.
"Well, that and the prices here. It's almost host club prices." Sae whispered with an offended expression.
"Wait, how do you know how much the wine costs at a host club?" Akiyama asked, thinking back to when he ran a club, and charged way more for wine than these people were.
"An assault charge based around a guest in a host club complaining that the wine was overpriced and then smashing the bottle over the manager's head." Sae explained very quickly.
It had been an enjoyable meal and evening as Akiyama made his way back to his office, a spring in his step as he made his way up the metal gantry and into the still-lit office, waking Hana up from what seemed to be a deep sleep as he shut the door behind him. "Hana-chan?" Akiyama began, shocked that she was still here "What are you doing here this late?"
"Oh! Uh..." Hana stumbled, wiping away the drool around her mouth with a nearby tissue "I thought that since you closed early, I'd better stay and make sure everything was fine here and that we didn't get robbed again." she said, being surprisingly coherent for someone who'd just woken up.
"...Really?" Akiyama asked, not believing a word of it.
"Yes!" Hana insisted before swiftly changing the subject "So how did the date go?" she asked with a lot more enthusiasm as Akiyama started to put the picture together.
"It went well! You can get rid of that dating profile of me now. Don't need any more attention." He said with a smile, throwing his jacket across the room with satisfaction.
"So when's the next date?" Hana asked with great interest.
"There isn't one." Akiyama announced as he collapsed on the couch and stretched out like a cat.
"Wha- I thought you said it went well?!" the secretary demanded, marching over to the resting financier.
"It did, we're going bowling in a few weeks."
"Isn't that a date?"
"No, it's two people who have a little too much to deal with trying to unwind while they talk shit about life around them," Akiyama explained "Much less pressure than a date, and you don't have to care about eyeshadow."
Hana sighed dejectedly as she went to pick up her things "Good enough I guess..." she said.
"Aww Hana-chan, you can't get rid of me that easily."