"C'mon, Taki-kun" Mitsuha whispered as she tried to move a totally spaced out Taki.
He snapped to his senses and the two of them followed the host up a tucked away flight of stairs in the back corner of the building. With every step up the stairs, Taki could only hope to contain the elation that was the thought of the night he was about to have with Mitsuha. It was only a few hours ago that he committed to treating her like a queen. He couldn't believe that it was gonna happen this fast. The trio approached a closed door that had almost no light protruding through.
"Tachibana-kun, I know you are familiar with this room, so you know what to behold. As for your partner, is she ready?"
"Let's do it."
"Well then. You two enjoy your meal" the host pulled the door open and what Taki and Mitsuha were met with was a dimly-lit, elegant room. With windows that looked out to the Tokyo skyline, which at this time was gorgeously lit, making for a breathtaking view.
"I-i-i. I don't know what to say. I can't put into words how much I appreciate all this."
"Just think of it as a favor. Besides, it's good to see that you've settled down and found someone to be with. I'm still working on it myself, but I'd say I've got a wide field to work with." The host reached into his pocket and pulled out several small pieces of paper. With digits on them. That were most likely phone numbers.
Taki couldn't help but smile as the host was the same guy he worked with years ago. It was good to see that he didn't burn out from this job. And that he's in a spot where he's totally content.
"Your server will be with you shortly. It was really nice to see you, Tachibana-kun. It meant a lot to me that you remembered me after all these years."
"Likewise, man. Likewise." The two shook hands for the last time in the night, and the host departed back to his post. While he was walking away, though, he turned around and gave Taki a serious look and pointed right at him.
"I expect an invite to the wedding!" he yelled on the way out.
"Eh! Eh… hehe"
"Taki-kun. Umm. Can I tell you something?" Mitsuha's voice in such a low tone seemed to serenade Taki, as he turned around and went to her almost in a trance. "Yes, my dear?"
"Ahem…WHY WOULD YOU BRING ME UP HERE? LOOK AT ME, I AM BEYOND UNDERDRESSED! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, TAKI-KUN, WHY?!" The 180 degree flip in mood flustered Taki, as he realized that Mitsuha had come in totally casual clothing, given what day of the week it was. His mind scrambled as he searched for any logical reason to calm her down.
"B-b-b-b-b-but there's no one here! There's no one here to see you!"
"Are you dense? The server, hello? You're gonna bring me into an upscale part of a restaurant knowing I look this this? I didn't have a chance to make myself look nice!"
"Are you serious right now? You're worried about the serve-"
"IF I'M GONNA HAVE A NICE CANDLELIT DINNER WITH YOU, I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AS NICE AS POSSIBLE, TAKI-KUN, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"Why didn't you say anything the whole time we were walking up here, then?!"
"Because I didn't wanna be rude! And besides, you lived in my body long enough to know that I like to make myself pretty."
"Honestly…you're perfect the way you are right now. I think you're beautiful just like this, I don't think a nice outfit could make you look any better than you already do."
Mitsuha just stared at him with one twitching eye, awestruck that he even tried to use that line.
"REALLY, TAKI-KUN? I DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE IN A CHEESY ROMANTIC DRAMA THAT WARRANTED THAT CHEESY-ASS LINE!"
Taki was beginning to reach his limit. His excitement for the chance to have this really nice dinner with the love of his life quickly turned to frustration. And it didn't take long for Mitsuha to notice. She quickly went over to him and put her hands on his chest with a worried look on her face.
"Baby, it's just…how often are we gonna be able to do this? What I'm so upset about is that…we're about to have the most romantic and classy dinner that either of us have ever had. And look at me…"
"I know you thought it was just a lame pickup line, but I meant it wholeheartedly. No matter what you're wearing, no matter how much makeup or anything like that you have on, you're still gonna be the most beautiful woman in the world to me. What matters is that you're here with me. No amount of aesthetics would change how much I appreciate being with you right now."
Mitsuha slid her hands up and over his shoulders, and placed her forehead onto his chest.
"This is already a special night for me. I'm a woman and you should understand that. You're so handsome right now, and I'm just…"
Before Mitsuha could finish her sentence, the server came through a door that lead to the kitchen. The room even had its own separate pathway for servers to bring food out to.
"Oh! I'm sorry! Did you guys need a second to get settled?"
"Oh no! My apologies, we were just discussi-"
"Yeah! Yeah! We're okay. We were just having uhh…a discussion."
The server tried to come up with something to say, but decided to avoid saying anything at all to avoid possibly making the situation unbearably awkward.
"Well, I'm not one to judge. If we're ready, have a seat!"
Taki pulled a chair out for Mitsuha to sit down, who promptly did so. He pushed her chair and made his way over to his own chair across the table. As he sat down, the server inquired for their choice of drink while placing down menus. Mitsuha had already decided in her head on just tea, but Taki had something else in store.
"Dassai 23, please." Mitsuha gasped, as she and Taki knew well that this was the highest quality sake offered, as well as easily the most expensive.
"Taki-kun! Are you sure? I mean, I don't want you to feel like you have to get it for me…"
"I insist. Please don't worry about it."
The server retreated to the back door to retrieve their libation. Taki took advantage of the solitude and reached over the table to take Mitsuha's hands into his own.
"I plan on spending the rest of my life with you. I just thought we might as well start it off with a bang."
"I…I don't know what to say, Taki-kun. You've…there's so much I wanna tell you. But not in a public setting. This may be private room, but we're not in a place with just each other."
Taki closed his eyes and chuckled at how unnecessarily nervous Mitsuha was. "Well. We have an entire weekend to catch up. And our whole lives after that to enjoy each other. I think I can wait until we're alone."
Mitsuha's tranquility began to rapidly drain as she held back tears. "Life's better with you already."
The server returned with their coveted vase of junmai daiginjo shu. Before a moment's notice, the couple beheld on the table a vessel of the most expensive drink in the house, along with two identical ochoko. As nervous as Mitsuha was, Taki suddenly felt equal, if not greater, anxiety himself. His experience with dinner with a female was very meager. As a matter of fact, the extent of which he's spent casual or personal time with a girl was 5 years ago. With Okudera-senpai. And he only landed that date because of Mitsuha's charm, it wasn't even him that won her over. So needless to say that in his own body, Taki wasn't sure how to act with Okudera-senpai. The date was awful. It was quiet, awkward, and very stagnant. And it was called off early before they could even have dinner. Something that brutally uncomfortable would stick with anyone forever, and Taki was no different. And between that time and now, Taki had no opportunity, nor reason for that matter, to develop any gentleman's etiquette. So of course he wasn't really sure what to do. The worst part was that Taki knew that he should've known sake etiquette of all things, having served this restaurant. But for whatever reason, all of his knowledge escaped his mind. He decided to blame it on nerves.
He took one of the ceramic drinking glasses and poured it full with sake. As he handed it over to his date, she giggled to his confusion. "You've never done this before, have you?"
Taki's fluster levels began to skyrocket, as he quickly began to wonder what he was doing wrong. "Well, I'll show you." She took the bottle of sake with two hands. "Now hold your cup up. With two hands." Taki couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious that he was being given a lesson in sake etiquette by a woman. But after all, Mitsuha had spent a good amount of her youth life making sacrificial sake for her temple. Something he experienced himself while he was switching bodies with her. Mitsuha filled her date's cup full of sake, smiling sweetly. "You never pour into a cup on the table. Always let the recipient hold it up. You do the same if someone is pouring for you," said Mitsuha in a connoisseur's tone.
At first, Taki had felt a little uncomfortable with his mental gaff. But he soon realized that there wasn't anyone here to judge him. The only other person was none other than the apple of his eye. The one that he would love unconditionally, and the one who would do the same, no matter how many stupid things he says or does. Once he accepted this, he relaxed a little and began to enjoy the atmosphere a little more.
Taki very nearly picked up the cup and just drank out of it, but wisely decided to see what Ms. Sake Master would do. Mitsuha picked up the cup with one hand, placing the other underneath it, and gently sipped it. Taki watched carefully and thereafter followed suit. The two silently consumed their pricy beverage, and just looked into each other's eyes. And just like before, the world around them began to slow down. It felt like time had come to a standstill as the two were lost in each other's gaze. Their eyes softened, and the lock in stare continued until Mitsuha placed her cup back on the table. Taki did the same, and realized that the cup was devoid of liquid, as all the sake it contained was now passing through his kidney.
As Mitsuha began to grasp her current setting and the surroundings, she sighed in happiness. A candlelit room, looking out to the Tokyo skyline, drinking some of the finest sake with the one person she held dearest to her heart. And when she realized it was just day one, her levels of bliss and delight exceeded what she previously thought was possible. Her dilemma of being underdressed was now a distant memory, as all she could think about was enjoying her time with Taki.
"I love you, Taki. Get used to hearing that."
"I love you, too, Mitsuha. You already knew that, though."
The server returned from the kitchen almost unnoticed. "I presume you're enjoying the sake?" said the server with a bright smile.
"It's very good, thank you."
"Good. Have we decided on anything to eat?"
The two of them gasped as the realized that they hadn't even touched the menus yet, so they scrambled to see what they wanted to have. But all was well, as the menu had remained much the same as when they worked here 5 years ago. Taki vividly remembered serving most of the items on the menu, being made up mostly of pizza and pasta, with some other Italian staples. Mitsuha herself had a sense of knowledge of the menu, and knew exactly what to order, as did Taki. It was a high-class, very fancy dining room, but what the heck, it was a pizza place at the end of the day.
"May I have a pizza margherita, please?"
"And may I have a pizza capricciosa? Without the artichokes?"
"Certainly. I'll get those started right away."
As the server departed, Mitsuha took another sip out of her ochoko, finishing the remainder of the sake it contained. She placed down the cup, picked up the tokkuri and poured herself another cup of sake, triggering a state of confusion and bewilderment for Taki, who just stared at Mitsuha with a gaping mouth.
"After the first round, the customary rules of pouring can be ignored."
Taki lowered his head in defeat, partially accepting that he would never understand sake etiquette, or fine dining etiquette for that matter.
The time spent waiting for their food to arrive was spent on small talk. Things like their hobbies, their favorite music, and what they do for a living. Just casual questions that didn't reveal too much about themselves. But with every question and answer, the two shared a feeling of knowing less and less about each other than they thought. They thought they knew everything about each other, having lived each other's lives. But some things change in 5 years.
Before they had a chance to unwittingly delve into deeper and more personal questions, their food arrived. Taki was all too sensible to the tantalizing smell of fresh pizzas out of the oven, despite having not worked here for years. The aroma of the pie in his hand carrying them to its destination would tap into his juvenile desires to eat the pizza on the spot. Now he was in a different situation.
The two dined on their meals very quickly, as both were famished from the lost energy during the day, and the waiting they had to go through on top of that. They bid the server adieu and thanked them for the meal, and departed the restaurant. It was slightly embarrassing to think about, but neither of them could help feeling like with every step out of the restaurant, they were heading towards a new chapter in their lives, with each other to go through it with. And the feeling brought a wide smile to their faces.
It was 7 pm and the dinner rush was crazier than it was when they got there. The host, despite appearing overwhelmed by the numbers, maintained his poise, and was somehow able to notice the couple leaving in time for the three of them to throw up hands of farewell.
Taki and Mitsuha made their way to the main road, and from the looks of it, their homes were in opposite directions. They mutually realized this, and turned to each other almost in unison, knowing exactly what the other was about to request.
"About 15 minutes from here by foot and train."
"I'm about 10. But Imouto-chan and Obaa-san are probably home. I'll make the extra trek."
Taki nodded in acknowledgement, and took Mitsuha's hand as they headed towards the train station.
Author's note: Of course it takes me about 7000 words to write 2 hours of action. But either way it was fun to write. This chapter was particularly hard since I had to actually do research on dining etiquette in Japan (especially the sake customs). But in doing so I learned a lot about Japanese societal norms, which I'm sure will help me some day. Thank you to anyone and everyone who read my story to this point, it really means a lot to me. I think a week between chapters is good, and the next one will probably have some smut (because I'm raunchy like that). Until then, cheers guys. See ya in the next one.