Where we last left the story, Kuromi really surprised her friend, My Melody one late afternoon by revealing that she was going out on a date. But even more shocking, it was with her younger brother, Rhythm. The two went out to enjoy a wonderful movie together at the local town theater. And even though the movie in question was one that Rhythm wasn’t fond of at first, he ended up really enjoying it in the end. And since Kuromi hadn’t seen it herself, Rhythm was glad to share that moment with her; and Kuromi felt the same way.
We now turn our attention onto a cute, little café. Being run by none other than Hello Kitty. At the moment, she had just completed an order for her friend, Pompompurin. Little did she know that she was soon going to be greeted by a couple more customers.
“There you go, Pom Pom,” said Kitty as she handed him a wrapped paper bag, “Your special bag order of sugar cookies. Enjoy and have a good rest of your evening.”
The easy-going Pom Pom just smile as he held his bag close to him and said, “Thanks, Hello Kitty. You’re the absolute best.”
“Hee hee, my pleasure,” said Kitty to Pom Pom as he left the café, “Come again soon!”
Now that Pom Pom had left, Kitty’s next customer was a rather energetic penguin who zipped up to the counter and was ready to treat himself as always.
“Ah. Hello again, Baditz,” said Kitty, “What can I help you with today?”
“’Sup, Kitty,” Badtz responded, “I just want to order two slices of your scrum-dilly-icious strawberry crumb cake, please.”
Kitty had a little giggle knowing that she was right of what she was expecting, “Hee hee. I knew it! You’ve really come to loving that new item of mine recently, haven’t you?”
“What can I say?” said Baditz whipping a bit of drool from his mouth, “That crumb cake of yours is like a sweet dream in my mouth! It’s kind of hard to resist; at least to me anyway.”
“Well, I am glad to hear that you love an item on my menu so much,” said Kitty trying to give advice, “Just make sure you don’t overdo it. Too much of a good thing can be pretty bad for you.”
Badtz understood Kitty’s words, but he knew that wasn’t going to be easy for him, “Pretty good advice; but I can’t make any promises.”
“Very well then,” said Kitty as she held up a paper bag, “Shall I bag that up for you?”
“Nah,” Badtz responded, “I think I’ll eat them here this time. My tummy can hardly wait!”
“Heh heh. You got it! I’ll have it ready for you in a minute!”
With that, Kitty went to the back of her shop to fetch the cake slices for Badtz who was just standing there at the counter daydreaming and drooling a bit more imagining what was soon going to go into his mouth. But as he was doing that, he heard the bell of the entrance door ring which meant that someone had just come into the shop.
Badtz had turned around to see who was there, “Huh? I wonder who that could…” And when he did, he saw two familiar faces approaching where he was, “Oh! Hey there, Kuromi; and… Rhythm?”
“Hey, Badtz!” said Rhythm happily as he waved his hand, “Nice to see ya!”
“Sup’, Badtz,” said Kuromi with a smirk, “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you’re here for more of Kitty’s special crumb cake?”
Blushing a bit in Kuromi’s presence, Badtz just responded, “Guilty as charged. I can’t help it. It’s just so good! However, I couldn’t help but notice the nice attire on you. Uh… you look pretty good.”
“Oh. Um… yeah. Thanks,” said Kuromi feeling a bit flattered, “Its no big deal to be honest.”
“And what about me?” said Rhythm as he came up to Badtz, “How do I look?”
Badtz studied Rhythm’s appearance and responded, “Oh yeah. I almost didn’t notice. You’re looking pretty snazzy, buddy.”
“Thank you! I picked it out myself!”
However, to Badtz, he never remembered a time when he saw someone like Rhythm alone with Kuromi of all people. “So, I’m curious. What’s the occasion of you two dressing up so well? You out on a date or something? Heh heh.”
Badtz was actually just joking around to have a good laugh. But unknown to him, he was about to realize just how right he was.
“Actually… yeah,” Kuromi answered, “The two of us are on a date together. And to tell you the truth, I’ve had a great time so far.”
“Really?!” said Rhythm excitedly, “You really mean that, Kuromi?!”
Kuromi ruffled the top of Rhythm’s head a bit as she said, “Of course I do. And let me tell ya, Badtz, he really is much more of a gentleman than I thought he would be. He doesn’t disappoint.”
After hearing their response, Badtz thought that Kuromi and Rhythm was pulling a fast one on him. He thought he was being pranked. He just had a good laugh as he said, “Okay, okay. Very funny you two. You really got me going with that cute little act. Now what’s really going on here?”
But all Kuromi and Rhythm could do was continue to just look at him. Rhythm just tilted his head a bit in confusion while Kuromi just arched her eyebrow. And after studying their face expressions, Badtz finally realized to himself as his eyes went wide and then stepped back and shouted, “W-wait… you mean… you two are… actually dating?! FOR REAL?!”
“Yeah! We sure are!” Rhythm said happily, “Are you surprised? My sister definitely was. The look on her face was priceless.”
“Surprised?!” Badtz exclaimed, “Try completely shocked out of my mind! How did this happen?! Why did this happen?!”
Kuromi was feeling quite amused seeing Badtz’s reaction to the news. She chuckled under her breath before saying, “What’s wrong, Badtz? Feeling… jealous?”
“Wh-what?! Jealous?!” Badtz exclaimed, “Why would I… be jealous?! Heh heh.
Badtz was doing his best to not look jealous in front of Kuromi; but he was proving that to be pretty hard due to him rapidly sweating while Kuromi kept staring and smirking at him. But right at that moment, Hello Kitty came out from the back carrying Badtz’s order in her paw.
“Alright, Baditz!” said Kitty happily not noticing what was going on in front of her, “Your order of two slices of my special strawberry crumb cake is now ready! And don’t tell anyone, but I added an extra slice on me since you’re such a loyal customer.”
“Oh. Is that so?” said Kuromi suddenly.
Kitty suddenly realized who was there in front of her view and slightly gasped as she said, “Oh my goodness. Hello there, Kuromi. Sorry, I almost didn’t notice you standing there. Although, I really love that dress you’re wearing. And I see that you have Melody’s brother with you. His outfit looks great too.”
“Heh heh. Yeah, thanks,” said Kuromi with a slight chuckle, “We’ve been getting that a lot lately.”
“I see,” said Kitty, “So, what’s the occasion?” Kitty then noticed Badtz standing nearby sweating and looking like he was in quite a shocking state, “And… why does Baditz look like he just got the most shocking news of his life?”
All Badtz could get out was, “Uh… um…. Uh…”
“Oh… it's nothing much,” said Kuromi, “He’s just a bit flustered after Rhythm and I told him of the fact that the two of us are dating. More or less.”
Kitty herself was now at a bit of a loss hearing what Kuromi said. Looking between both Kuromi and Rhythm, Kitty questioned, “Huh? Wait… you mean you two are… really dating? As in actual legit dating?”
“Yep! We sure are!” Rhythm responded, “We held hands, watched a movie; and shared some popcorn… and a very close hug. It was wonderful! But now we came here for something sweet to eat together! Something sweet and super yummy!”
“Wow,” said Kuromi with a little smirk, “You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?”
“Sorta,” Rhythm admitted, “I really like sweets.”
Hello Kitty was still trying to comprehend what was going on. But she eventually just laughed it off as she said, “My my. I did not expect to witness something like this today. Kuromi dating My Melody’s younger brother? That is pretty crazy. But despite that, I am happy for you both.”
Hello Kitty then looked over at Badtz who was still trying to get over his shock and handed out his purchase to him saying, “Um… Badtz? Your order?”
Badtz then broke out from his shocked state and hesitantly said, “Huh? O-o-oh, right. My crumb cake.” He then grabbed it and then proceeded to head to a nearby table, “I’m just… gonna… head over here now and… you know… enjoy this delicious dessert. Heh heh.”
“Is he okay?” Rhythm questioned, “He’s acting a bit weird.”
“Don’t worry,” said Kuromi, “He’ll be alright. Right now, we should order our food. Right?”
“Oh yeah. Time to get some sweets!”
And as they went over to the counter, Kuromi went by Badtz and said, “Better close your mouth. You’ll catch flies.”
“Alright,” said Kitty, “What can I get for the adorable lovebirds?”
Rhythm was thinking about it for a few seconds; but he was at a loss. He couldn’t decide yet, “Um… I don’t know. Everything looks so good. I can’t decide.”
He then looked over at Kuromi as he pleadingly asked, “What do you think, Kuromi?”
Even Kuromi had a bit of a difficult time choosing what sweet treat they were going to have. But as she looked at the menu, she saw the different sizes of milkshakes that were available; including a giant-sized milkshake made specifically for two to share. That gave Kuromi an obvious idea.
“You know what?” said Kuromi, “How about you bring us one of those giant dual milkshakes.” But then she remembered of when Melody came to her house with a bag of her favorite cookies and then added, “and maybe a couple of dark chocolate cookies too.”
“Ooh. Nice choice,” said Kitty, “I’m guessing that the two of you will be sharing this milkshake together? It is recommended for this specific item you know.”
“Well of course,” said Kuromi with a slight eye roll, “I’m not going to eat the whole thing myself.”
“I probably could, heh heh,” said Rhythm with a little chuckle, “But… I think I can resist for our date. Promise.”
“You better, ya little runt,” said Kuromi with a little chuckle.
Kitty just couldn’t help but continue to smile at the adorable interaction between Kuromi and Rhythm. She then asked them, “Alright then. And I assume that you’ll be sharing your special treat together here in the shop?”
“We sure are!” Rhythm exclaimed, “The milkshake might melt by the time we take it somewhere else; and that wouldn’t be fun.”
“You have a good point,” Kitty agreed, “I’ll have your milkshake ready in a minute.”
But as Kitty headed off to make their order, Rhythm suddenly said, “Oh! And make it a blend of vanilla and chocolate; with lots of cream and sprinkles on top!”
“Heh heh. You got it!”
Rhythm suddenly looked over at Kuromi who was looking at him with an amused expression seeing just how enthusiastic Rhythm was about their upcoming treat.
“What?” Rhythm questioned, “I did say that I really like sweets. But don’t worry, I always brush my teeth every day!”
“Man, you must’ve been quite a nightmare for your parents at one point, weren’t you?” Kruomi questioned.
Rhythm thought about it and said, “Well… I’m not sure about that. But from what Mom and Dad told me, I could be a little… mischievous.”
Upon hearing that and the little naughty tone Rhythm made, Kuromi chuckled as she responded, “Heh heh. Well well, a bunny after my own heart. Looks like we have a bit more in common than I thought we did.”
“Maybe, but not the gothic attire you like to wear sometimes,” Rhythm pointed out, “I’ll do without that, thanks.”
“Hey, you won’t get any arguments from me.”
In no time at all, Hello Kitty finally came out carefully with the duo sized milkshake with all the works that Rhythm had asked for and stated, “Here you go. A giant duo-sized chocolate vanilla blend milkshake with whipped cream and sprinkles!”
Kitty then followed Kuromi and Rhythm to the table that they selected and placed it down where they could have a better look at it.
“Wow!” said Rhythm with stars in his eyes, “Look at it. It looks even better in person!”
“Impressive,” said Kuromi, “Sometimes I tend to underestimate you and your culinary skills, Kitty. You don’t disappoint.”
“Thanks,” said Kitty while blushing, “It’s been a while since someone ordered this size. So I was a little rusty which is why it took a bit for me to finish it.”
Seeing just how good the milkshake turned out, Kuromi thought to herself, ‘A little rusty? What would it look like if she wasn’t rusty?’
“Oh yeah,” said Kitty suddenly as she handed a small bag to Kuromi, “And here’s the dark chocolate cookies as well.”
“Thanks.”
Rhythm’s mouth was beginning to drool and was reaching out towards the milkshake as he said, “It looks… so yummy. I just want to…”
Kuromi had to quickly grab a hold of Rhythm while saying, “Whoa there, lover boy. Don’t be too rushed to act. This is meant for both of us, remember?”
“Oh yeah, right,” said Rhythm feeling a bit sheepish, “Sorry, I kinda lost myself there for a moment.”
“He really does have quite the sweet tooth, doesn't he?” Kitty whispered to Kuromi.
“More than we may think.”
Kuromi and Rhythm then took their seats at the table and prepared to dig in while Kitty headed back to her workspace, “Well, I’ll just leave you two to your little date. Enjoy your treat.”
After admiring the milkshake for a few more seconds, Kuromi stated to Rhythm, “So, you want to take the first bite? You did suggest its extra contents.”
“Well, yeah,” said Rhythm, “but you were the one who brought up the item in the first place. Maybe you should have the first taste.”
“No no no, I insist,” said Kuromi, “I like sweets, but you are obviously the sweet tooth king compared to me.”
Both of them were at a standstill trying to be nice for the other. But then, Rhythm came up with a solution as he stated, “Oh! I have an idea! Why don’t we both take a scoop of the milkshake and have a taste at the same time!”
“Well… I guess that does sound like a pretty good compromise,” said Kuromi, “Let’s do it.”
Kuromi and Rhythm both took the spoons that came with their milkshake and took a scoop as Rhythm said, “On 3. 1, 2, 3!”
Both placed their scoop in their mouth expecting to receive a great taste. However, both of their eyes grew wide as they froze for a few seconds. But then Rhythm broke the silence as he swallowed and said, “Wow. This milkshake tastes… AMAZING!”
“You’re telling me,” Kuromi stated feeling astonished, “Kitty took your request, and it tastes so… so…”
“Amazing?” said Rhythm with a little smirk.
“Yeah. What you said.”
Kuromi took another bite and lightly squealed with delight enjoying the delicious texture of the milkshake melting in her mouth. Rhythm, however, was presently watching her reaction and was slightly blushing from the sight. Kuromi eventually saw Rhythm and gave him a simple question.
“Well? Are you going to just sit there or are you going to dig in?”
“O-o-oh! Yeah, of course!” said Rhythm as he broke out from his daze, “Time to dig in.”
Rhythm proceeded to take a much bigger 2nd scoop of their milkshake and placed it in his mouth with glowing results as he swooned from the taste saying, “Mmmmmmmmmmmm. This is so good! I must request this milkshake flavor combination again in the future!”
“You were definitely onto something with this,” said Kuromi, “I approve.”
“Yep! Am I good or what?”
Kuromi suddenly opened her little bag dark chocolate cookies and took one out to share with Rhythm. She smiled a bit as she held out the cookie and said, “H-hey, Rhythm. Care to have one of my cookies? I don’t mind sharing one.”
“Really? Thanks!” Rhythm exclaimed, “I do love cookies too.”
After taking a bite, Rhythm showed another expression of joy tasting how good the cookie was as he said, “Wow. I’ve never had dark chocolate before. It's not too bad.”
“Wait,” said Kuromi, “You like sweets but never tasted dark chocolate before? How?”
“I guess I was more of a milk and white chocolate kind of bunny,” said Rhythm bashfully, “I never thought to try dark chocolate; until now that is.”
Kuromi had a little chuckle as she said, “Heh. Well, I’m glad that I piqued your interests.”
Meanwhile, Hello Kitty was secretly observing from behind her serving counter seeing the interaction between Kuromi and Rhythm and enjoying their reaction of her treats. She was glad to make their evening very sweet.
After a while, both Kuromi and Rhythm had finally finished their duo milkshake; and their stomachs were now full and satisfied.
“’BELCH’ Aw man, that was so good,” said Kuromi holding onto her stomach, “but I can’t eat another bite.”
“Me too,” said Rhythm, “Good thing we finished the milkshake though, heh heh.”
However, Rhythm noticed something was located right on the side of Kuromi’s cheek. He alerted it to Kuromi as he said, “Oh. Um… hey, Kuromi? Looks like you still have a little bit of the shake… right there.”
Kuromi noticed Rhythm was pointing towards one of her cheeks. She pulled out a small mirror and saw the small splotch of milkshake that Rhythm was speaking of and responded, “Oh. Well look at that. Guess I was enjoying myself so much I didn’t realize. Thanks for letting me know.”
Rhythm watched as Kuromi took a napkin and was about to wipe her cheek clean. But right at that moment, Rhythm thought of an idea as he suddenly said, “K-Kuromi, wait! I uh… I’d be happy to clean it off for you.”
Kuromi was a little confused by Rhythm’s suggestion; but she didn’t seem to mind as she responded, “Um… okay. Sure, if you really want to.”
As Rhythm began to approach her, Kuromi was just expecting him to take a napkin to clean her off himself which sounded like a nice gesture to her. But instead, once Rhythm got to her, Kuromi received a huge surprise as Rhythm carefully licked the milkshake off the side her cheek. She blushed brightly and her eyes went wide feeling that light sensation; but it worked. Her cheek was officially cleared of food residue.
“There we go,” said Rhythm, “All clean.”
Kuromi was still in a slight daze as she lightly touched her cheek and then looked over at Rhythm as she said, “R-R-Rhythm? What was… that?”
“What do you mean? I licked you clean. Although, I must admit, it was a way to get one more taste of that milkshake. But anyways, you’re welcome.”
Kuromi couldn’t believe that Rhythm did what he did and was a bit oblivious to it. But she couldn’t help of how she really like it. So out of curiosity, she sneakily dipped the tip of a couple of her fingers in the residue of their milkshake bowl and then held it out to Rhythm pretending to be oblivious herself.
“O-oh, wow. Would you look at that. Looks like I got a bit on my fingers here as well. Would you… mind getting that for me too?”
Of course, Rhythm didn’t mind as he agreed, “Oh. Okay, Kuromi. I’ll get that for you as well.”
Rhythm grabbed Kromi’s wrist as he carefully began to suckle on her fingers making sure that he got all the milkshake residue off. And Kuromi, she just stayed there watching him and blushing again feeling the nice sensation that she was suddenly experiencing. But before long, Rhythm stopped and was done with his action.
“There we go,” said Rhythm, “Is that better, Kuromi?”
Kuromi then held up her hand in front of her and then made a little sigh as she responded, “Y-yeah. Much better.”
Rhythm noticed the look on Kuromi’s face as she was looking at her hand and curiously asked, “Are you okay, Kuromi? Your face is all blushy. ‘GASP’ I didn’t leave any spit on your hand, did I?!”
“H-h-huh?” said Kuromi as she broke out of her little trance, “O-oh, no. It's nothing like that. I was just… admiring your… handiwork. You left my hand completely spotless.”
Rhythm just had a good laugh as he said, “Oh, Kuromi. You’re so funny. My big sis was right about you.”
“Huh?” said Kuromi curiously, “Right about… what?”
Rhythm then looked at Kuromi and blushing a bit while smiling as he said, “That… you’re pretty fun to be around.”
Hearing that, Kuromi’s heart leapt in her chest.
“You… y-you really think so?”
“I sure do,” Rhythm answered, “Hearing things about you from My Melody really intrigued me. You seem like a lot of fun to be with which is why I eventually was willing to do this date in the first place. It proved my point; and… I’m glad I got to know you more.”
Kuromi was happy herself hearing Rhythm complimenting her so much. She wasn’t asking for it, but she felt that it was worth it.
“Well… I’m glad to hear that,” said Kuromi trying to stay cool, “After all, who wouldn’t want to hang around with me? When I’m around, I’m always the life of the party!”
Kuromi then found herself blushing again as Rhythm then grabbed a hold of her hand in between both of his. He looked up at her with an excited expression and said, “Do you think… we can hang out together again sometime… just the two of us?”
“Oh! R-r-really?” said Kuromi feeling a bit flustered.
“Yeah. I’d really like that. Wouldn’t you?”
Kuromi wasn’t sure that she could say that right away to Rhythm. She felt that saying that right away to him would make her seem a bit weird. But it seemed that Rhythm beat her to the punch; and it really took her by surprise. But at that moment, the answer for her was clear. She smiled and wiped away a single tear as she gave her answer.
“Yes. I definitely… would love to do this again.”
After straightening out their table and making sure they had all their belongings, Kuromi and Rhythm proceeded to make their way to Hello Kitty to pay her for the sweets. However, she happily decided to give them a little discount seeing that it was their first date together; to which Kuromi and Rhythm accepted and thanked her for. Afterwards, they made their way to the exit of the shop when suddenly, they were approached by Badtz who was still there. There was something he felt that he had to say.
“Oh. Hello again, Badtz,” said Kuromi, “I take it that you happily enjoyed your special treat?”
“I’m sure he did,” said Rhythm, “He really loves that strawberry crumb cake. Maybe we should try it sometime.”
“Heh heh. Uh, yeah,” said Badtz with a nervous chuckle, “It was very delicious as always. And you’re right. You should try it. But, um… Kuromi? I just… I just wanted to apologize for acting so weird in front of you earlier. When I saw you arrive with Rhythm and then found out that you two were… dating, I guess I was so shocked that I felt like I was in some kind of bizzarro world. We did… used to do the same thing together after all. So… I guess I felt a bit… jealous. And again… I’m sorry.”
This was news to Rhythm. He was a bit surprised as he questioned, “Wait… is that why you were acting weird earlier? Because you were jealous? And also, you two dated?!”
“You mean… she didn’t tell you?” Badtz questioned.
Kuromi just sighed as she stated, “I guess I felt that I shouldn’t have bothered giving him that bit of info. Figured it wasn’t important.” She then looked over at Rhythm and said, “But yeah, me and Badtz did date before. But in the end, we felt that… it wasn’t going to work out. But we did leave on good terms.”
“I’m sorry that it didn’t work out between you two,” said Rhythm, “But you two, are still friends. Right?”
“What kind of question is that?” Badtz exclaimed, “Of course we’re still friends. That hasn’t changed a bit. Uh… right, Kuromi.”
“Absolutely,” Kuromi responded as she walked up closer to Badtz, “And by the way, thanks for being honest with me. I really appreciate it.”
Kuromi then proceeded to give Badtz a little kiss on his cheek causing his face to blush red. Having small chills from his body, Badtz just stated, “Uh… th-thanks. Heh heh. It was no problem.” He then looked over at Rhythm and said to him, “Rhythm, whatever you do, do not break Kuromi’s heart. Okay? Kuromi is pretty cool, and a great girl to have around.”
Rhythm understood what Badtz meant and felt that he now had an obligation to fulfill. He smiled and said, “Okay, Badtz! You can count on me!”
Badtz then made his way to the entrance door and partially went through it before looking back at Kuromi and Rhythm with a smile and said with a chuckle, “Heh, see you two around.”
After Badtz left, Rhythm looked over at Kuromi and said, “Wow, Kuromi. It’s amazing finding out that you two dated before. I know you two are still friends, but… why did you two stop dating?”
“Its… no big deal,” Kuromi responded, “Badtz is great and all and he didn’t break my heart or anything; but… let’s just say that he could be… a lot sometimes. And it just didn’t seem to be worth it for me in the long run. But that is in the past, and I need to focus on what I am dealing with now.”
“You mean me?” Rhythm responded, “That is what you mean, right?”
“Heh heh. Well, I was thinking of other things, but I suppose you count as well.”
Rhythm had a little chuckle as Kuromi once again gave him a little light noogie on his head.
“Now come on. How about I walk you home?”
“Hee hee. Okay.”
And with that, Rhythm and Kuromi held each other’s hand as they walked out of the Café as they their date night was about to come to an end. However, Kuromi was about to find out that their special time together… was about to become extended.