“Do you know about the saying that a person who can tie a knot in a cherry stem is a good kisser?” Suguru picks up the cherry decorating his milkshake.
”...do you think about that every time you see a cherry? Because now I will,” says Kura with a dry laugh before sipping her milk tea shake.
The cafe they're in is quite popular for their various flavors of milkshake, and that's why Suguru asks her on a date to try them out. That's also why she can't look anywhere without seeing cherries and keep remembering the trivia that Suguru just drops onto her.
He dangles the red cherry with the long stem in front of Kura's face. “Wanna try?”
Oh, that face. That smile with just enough smug to provoke her combined with the half-closed eyelids. He rarely wears that face, but when he does, it looks really good on him.
Kura covers her mouth with her left hand out of instinct. What was she thinking? Her ears begin to heat up, and she decides to speak up to distract her mind.
“You believe in something like that?”
“True or not, aren't you curious about whether you can do it?” says Suguru, laughing.
Rolling her eyes in a joking manner, Kura grabs the cherry. He really knows how she works. “Just once.”
She separates the stem from the cherry carefully, and puts the cherry on beside her cup before biting on the stem, trying to remember the tutorial she once saw. Then she begins trying to do moves with her tongue, manipulating the stem as best as she can.
Suguru watches from his seat across the table with amusement. Though not as bad as Satoru, he really enjoys teasing Kura on small little things like these. He sips his dark chocolate milkshake.
After a full minute of trying, Kura suddenly stops.
“Ah.”
Suguru looks up from his drink, tilting his head. “Kura? Can you do it?”
“I-I…” her face looks a bit pale. Then she raises her voice in panic.
“I-I THINK I ACCIDENTALLY EAT THE STEM!” She looks at the stemless cherry in front of her with horror. “It just slipped from my tongue… and suddenly it's gone…”
“Pfft—”
“Su-gu-ru!” Kura pouts. “Are you laughing?”
“N-no, I'm… pfft—” Suguru tries to hold back his laugh with a smile but he eventually fails. He laughs quite loud for a few seconds before his voice is mostly stable again. “W-why can't I not laugh? I mean, you just swallowed the stem whole…”
“I said it was an accident!!” said Kura, banging her fist on the wooden table as softly as she could. She continues pouting. “How can people do it anyway… ugh, tying a knot with your tongue… how stupid…”
“Oh, Kura…” Suguru shakes his head. His girlfriend can be so cute sometimes.
He pulls out his phone and mutters to himself while chuckling. “Just wait until Satoru hears about thi—”
“NOOOO!! DON'T TELL HIM! HE'LL SAY I'M LAME!!”