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“Zantetsu…”
Gripping the piece of scrap paper in his hand, the one that supposedly held the address of the restaurant he and Chigiri were meant to be having lunch at, Zantetsu strode forward, moving directly towards another restaurant, trying to look as confident as possible.
“Hey, Zantetsu,” Chigiri called to him again, keeping up with his longer strides by walking quickly, his fingers tugging at the edges of his coat, trying to get him to slow down.
“We’re here!” Zantetsu announced confidently, gesturing towards the restaurant that was most certainly not the one he had wanted to take Chigiri to, but one that would have to do because he absolutely could not be embarrassed on this date. He couldn’t admit that he had gotten them so terribly lost that they had walked around in this area for at least thirty minutes before giving up and settling on another location because he could not eat his pride long enough to ask Chigiri for help.
This was meant to be a surprise after all, and a surprise did NOT entail Zantetsu telling Chigiri about this restaurant prior to their arrival. He had already used up all his courage asking Chigiri out on this date in the first place. He really had not another ounce to spare as he guided Chigiri inside, a hand on his lower back, even if the ambience of this restaurant immediately alerted Zantetsu to his mistake.
“Oh…this place is…quaint,” Chigiri remarked, holding his hands close to his body so as not to brush the walls plastered with flyers so yellowed that they were probably older than the pair of them combined.
“The location leaves something to be desired, but the food here is worth the travel!” Zantetsu announced, awkwardly waiting at the front of the restaurant until he saw the “seat yourself” sign posted on the wall. Zantetsu guided Chigiri towards a booth near the window, wishing briefly that he had chosen a table with chairs so he could have done the gentlemanly thing of pulling the chair out for him.
But who is he kidding, Zantetsu thought as the image of Chigiri crashing to the ground as he pulled the chair out too quickly flashed before his eyes.
Shaking the image out of his head, Zantetsu looked towards Chigiri who was inspecting the table, hands folded politely in his lap. Zantetsu placed an arm on the table, trying to get a look at what Chigiri was inspecting, and immediately realized why Chigiri wasn’t touching the plastic table top. Peeling his wrist off the sticky surface, Zantetsu looked at the table again, noticing it was the menu embedded into the table.
Chigiri leaned back, seeming to have decided on an entree, and Zantetsu did the same, unable to read the menu with the glare and smears of previous cleaning attempts. Zantetsu resigned himself to getting whatever Chigiri ordered, even if it was something he didn’t like, because he had no other options.
After a worker came to get the orders, Chigiri raised his eyebrows at him, a look of surprise on his face at the brash, short attitude the worker had. Zantetsu laughed, pretending that things were always like this here, before sinking into himself, knowing he had made an absolute fool of himself and a ruin of this date.
They kept their meal short, as Chigiri had ordered something spicy. Zantetsu knew he couldn’t handle spice, but he attempted to the best of his ability to power through it, his face turning red as Chigiri laughed at him. The laugh wasn’t mean though, just simply Chigiri pointing out how silly he looked with tears streaming down his cheeks as he coughed on the spices. Chigiri noted that it was even too spicy for him, however, and also quickly sat down his utensils, pushing the bowl away as he dabbed at his lips with a napkin.
“Too oily,” Chigiri explained, lips turning pink as his tongue poked out of his mouth to further clean them. “Makes the spice burn ten times worse sometimes…”
Zantetsu nodded in understanding though, not really, as he stood to pay for their lackluster meal, leaving more than half uneaten on their table. Chigiri pointed towards a cafe they had passed a few blocks back, noting that they had really good ice creams and teas that would cool their tongues, and Zantetsu frowned, but followed along anyway, Chigiri tugging at his hand so he would increase his pace and stop dragging his feet.
“I think…” Zantetsu stated, crossing his arms over his chest as he and Chigiri sat down at a table. “I think I wrote down the wrong address. This is the place I meant to take you all along.”
“Oh, I was wondering if we were lost…” Chigiri mused, leaning forward to rest his elbow on the edge of the table. Setting his chin in his hand, he smiled at Zantetsu softly, lips still slightly swollen and pink from their inedible food. “We were going around in circles.”
Hanging his head, Zantetsu sighed, because of course Chigiri noticed. He was too smart and perfect to not have noticed his careless mistakes that had him running all over town. “Why didn’t you say anything? I’m sorry if this date has not met your expectations.”
“Because, I didn’t want you to feel discouraged. Nagi told me about your struggles with directions when you asked me out.” Reaching out his spare hand, Chigiri patted Zantetsu’s arm. He left his hand there as he continued, his skin soft and warm and comforting, keeping Zantetsu’s mood from sinking any further. “Besides, I was really enjoying talking to you as we walked around. You’re really funny, and just spending time with you is a nice time, even if we were a bit lost.”
Zantetsu lifted his head, eyeing Chigiri suspiciously. He almost didn’t believe him, even if his words sounded so genuine and sincere. He couldn’t believe that someone like Chigiri was even out on a date with him, and would actually be enjoying his time on said date. It was almost too asinine to comprehend, but nevertheless, Zantetsu was glad that Chigiri was enjoying himself.
“You know, for our next date though, maybe no surprises? You pick the place, and I will get us there.”
“Next date?” Zantetsu asked, lifting an eyebrow, wondering if his ears and eyes were deceiving him. He was half convinced that Chigiri was just a figment of his imagination, but the soft feeling of his hand, gently rubbing the tension away with a light brush of his thumb on his wrist was quite real. So real that Zantetsu blushed, pushing his glasses back up his nose to hide his face.
“Next date. This has been really fun, truly. I definitely want to see you again, Zantetsu.”
Zantetsu sat up straight, feeling his heart swell as Chigiri smiled at him, the fondness in his eyes not an emotion that Zantetsu was familiar with. Flipping his hand over, he clasped Chigiri’s fingers between his own, taking the hold step to grab his hand on his own as he swore to himself that the very next date he would not screw up, because seeing Chigiri smile like that when he was sure the date was a disaster… Zantetsu could only imagine how brightly he would smile when he actually got it all right.