Focus on Miss Tanaka for now

You turn around to see what this mysterious Miss Tanaka looks like, and are not disappointed. She imposes a striking figure, dressed in fashionable designer clothes and being surprisingly tall for a Japanese woman, which you credit to her long legs. Her dark hair is done up in a bun in the back, framing her face in long bangs in the front. And with just the right amount of blush and eyeliner, her features were highlighted in a way that made her look gorgeous. You can't help but wonder to yourself how someone who still looks to be barely older than the hostess could be in charge of a restaurant this swanky.

Oh right, the hostess. You look back at her and can't help but be amused at how dramatically her demeanor had changed. She was fidgeting in place behind her podium, doing her best to look like she hadn't been slacking off. You're tempted to stay behind and mess with her, but with a beauty like Miss Tanaka right behind you, you decide to hold off on trying to embarrass her, at least for the moment. Besides, you have a feeling you might be able to make her squirm a bit with your plan anyway.

You turn back to face the golden skinned beauty again and ask, "Have you had lunch yet, Miss Tanaka?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," she replied, looking you dead in the eye. You can't really fault her for being annoyed, that is a weird first question to ask someone.

"I was just curious, since I'm about to eat here," you say, "Despite what your less-than-friendly hostess believes. And I want you to join me."

The two women look at you for several moments, possibly to process what you just said. Miss Tanaka ends up breaking the silence by looking back at Miranda and saying, "Well, what are you just standing there for? You heard him, we need a table for two."

"O-Of course!" Miranda said, grabbing a pair of menus from behind the podium, "Right away Miss Tanaka."

"And I would appreciate an apology for your rude behavior," you say with a smug grin.

Miranda glares at you, but with an even harsher glare from Miss Tanaka directed at her, Miranda sighs and says, "I'm SO sorry that I tried to make you leave, Mister... uh..."

"Doe," you reply, following her and Miss Tanaka into the restaurant proper, "And I suppose that will do for the moment."

Miranda takes you to a small booth in the back of the restaurant, most likely Miss Tanaka's preferred table for entertaining guests, and sits the two of you across from each other. Miranda gives you both a small bow, then leaves, giving you the stink eye.

"I'm sorry about how Miranda treated you, Mr. Doe," Miss Tanaka said to you with a pleasant smile, "I'm happy to hear she did not turn you off from dining here this afternoon."

"It's fine. I'm sure karma will catch up to her eventually," you say with a smile of your own, "And please, call me John. I'd prefer if the two of us were on a first name basis."

"Oh, of course," she says, reaching out a hand, "I'm Saori. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise," you say, shaking her hand from across the table, "Judging by how Miranda seems positively frightened of you I'm guessing you're the owner of the restaurant."

"Technically my father is the owner," Saori said, relaxing back into her seat, "But I've been running the place and handling the day-to-day business for a few years now. At this point, him 'retiring' and transferring ownership to me would just be a formality."

"I see," you say, taking a look over the menu, "And do you like running this restaurant?"

"It can get a little monotonous at times, but yeah I do," Saori answered, "It makes good money, and as you can see, I like getting to tell people what to do."

"So do I," you say to her with a grin, as a waitress comes to bring you you drinks. You accept the water she offers you and order some calamari as an appetizer, while Saori gets served an iced tea. Clearly she isn't a stranger to dining at her own establishment, but this wasn't exactly the experience you came to the Sakura Japanese Steak House looking for. Lucky for you, and not so lucky for Saori, you had the power to fix that.

You ask the waitress to give you a few more minutes to look over the menu, which given all the outright delectable options available to you, you honestly needed anyway. After she leaves, you ask Saori, "So this may be an odd question, but humor me: do you ever wear a kimono? I can't help but notice it's not really part of the uniform here."

Saori frowns, "Yeah, that isn't odd so much as just presumptuous: no, I don't wear one very often, if ever. Maybe for a cultural event or something, but that's only once or twice a year at most. And it's not really something we have people wear at the restaurant, either. We're a modern Japanese restaurant."

"Ah, I suppose that's understandable," you reply with mock resignation. This was actually more or less the answer you were expecting given what you've seen so far, but it's not really important for what you have in mind. In fact, it could make things more interesting.

"Still," you say, "I think I'm in the mood for more of a traditional Japanese dining experience."

"Well, we have plenty of more traditional dishes on our menu-" Saori starts, but you hold up a finger to interrupt her.

"Not what I meant. Besides, I also think you need some more experience wearing kimonos. So from now on, I'm going to say that's all you're allowed to wear. Well, those and yukatas, I suppose. But nothing else, not even underneath."

Saori is now looking noticeably less self-assured, but gives you a smile and says, "Sure, I can do that. I'll change as soon as I get home."

"I don't think you understand," you say with the shake of your head, "When I said 'from now on', I meant 'from now on'. As in, if the clothes you're wearing right now aren't a kimono or yukata, you need to take them off."

Saori looks down at her pricey outfit, now looking a little bashful as she tugs at the hem of her top, "But... then I'll be naked."

"You won't be if you happen to have a kimono or yukata stashed away in here somewhere," you say with a smile, "If you do, I'll let you keep those clothes on long enough to go grab it and find a place to put it on. But either way, you're going to be having lunch here with me this afternoon, and it would be rude of us to duck out before we even ordered the main course. So if there isn't one in the restaurant, it looks like you'll be dining in the nude. Which I am by no means opposed to, of course."

Saori, rather than looking annoyed like Mina would, seems to be more worried. It looks like she's trying to remember if there is a kimono in some corner of the store she could wear, even as she starts slipping off her shoes.

"I'll give you one more minute in those clothes to try and remember where one is in here," you say 'helpfully', "After that, I better see them off of your body."