The courtyard that made up the front of Arisugawa Academy was covered up with some tent-like thing. Kurumi paid it no mind, far more interested in the girls in the tent with her, her new classmates. She was searching for a perfect target for a perfect prank.
"Hey!" Kurumi was interrupted by a childish voice right in her ear. "You're a pretty girl! Wanna dance?"
Once Kurumi got over the annoyance of the loud surprise, she couldn't help but scoff and look the other girl up and down skeptically. She was somehow even shorter than Kurumi, and she sounded like someone half her age! She had short blonde hair, bright green eyes, and a smile so wide that Kurumi couldn't help but wonder if it hurt her face. Once she got her bearings, though, Kurumi finally answered the girl's question.
"Dontcha know? Dancin' is a dangerous game." The smile Kurumi gave could only be described as wolfish, impish, devilish.
The other girl on the other hand…? "Oh, that's ok, Miiko likes dangerous, scary things! They're fun and exciting!" Her green eyes gleamed. Kurumi could only scoff again, shaking her head, almost pitying the strange, little Miiko girl.
Oh, this is gonna be one of those things… A naïve child overly excited to make a new friend for a new school year? Cliché. And alas for Miiko… Sorry, kiddo, I'm here for pranks, not pals! Kurumi thought, even though Miiko was her age. I'm never gonna love anyone or anything else!
"I've got some tricks up my sleeve," Kurumi shrugged, but despite her disinterested gesture, she could barely contain her glee as she extended a hand to Miiko. If she wanted to dance, then Kurumi supposed she could spare her one…
Miiko grabbed her hand without hesitation, clasping it with a smile. And even as a little rubber snake shot from Kurumi's sleeve, wrapping around Miiko's hand, Miiko's smile remained unchanged.
"Awww, so cute!" Miiko dropped Kurumi's hand to pet the snake immediately. Kurumi could only gawk, eye twitching and jaw fallen open. When Miiko met her gaze again, it was her turn to wear the devilish smile. "Takes one to know one," you're a prankster like me…!
ooo
Kurumi never forgot that day, no matter how much time passed. The things she thought upon entering Arisugawa echoed in her memory.
I'm here for pranks, not pals! I'm never gonna love anyone or anything else! She never wanted love, just a bit of fun. Now I'm sitting by the phone like I'm waiting for school to be done.
Instead of planning pranks for the following day, all Kurumi could do was sit in bed and stare at her phone, waiting for Miiko to call. It was embarrassing, but eventually, Kurumi couldn't help but close her eyes, shake her head, smile, and cave.
Ok, Miiko, I admit it. "You had some tricks up your sleeve." Typically, Kurumi never said such things out loud. She wanted to be known as the ringleader and mastermind of their little duo, after all, not Miiko. But as much as Kurumi wanted to deny it even to herself, she could not lie that Miiko surprised her in more ways than one. If anyone had asked her on the first day of school if she thought she would come away with a new best friend, she would've laughed in their face.
As she stared at her reflection in her dark phone screen, still waiting for Miiko to call, though, Kurumi had no choice but to look truth and reality right in the eyes. You got me good, Miiko… And I should know! Because it takes one to know, after all. You're a prankster like me…
ooo
Perched in the dark, Kurumi and Miiko reunited on Miiko's bed. As soon as Kurumi got the call that the coast was clear, she came sneaking in through Miiko's window. They whispered and plotted all the lies, tales, and yarns they would spin to the nuns in order to reap the rewards of pretending to be reformed. It was a trick Kurumi had used before, but she wanted to try a new storyline this time!
"We can tell all the rich, old folk anything they wanna hear!" she began excitedly. The possibilities were limitless!
"Like it could be love that redeemed us!" Miiko leaned forward. She liked this idea!
"Yeah, I'm down for that. I can be the way forward." Kurumi flashed her a wink, a smirk, and a thumbs up.
"Only if they pay for it," Miiko added quickly, holding up a finger and winking as well.
Kurumi gave her a surprised look before nodding and beaming. You're a bandit like me!
As if reading her mind, Miiko spoke Kurumi's thoughts aloud at the same time. But then she continued, still leaning towards Kurumi. Miiko finally reached out and placed a hand on the other girl's cheek, stroking it with her thumb.
"You're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars!" Hustling for a fun life, never thought we'd meet up here. Her idea really was fitting. "It could be love!"
As Miiko brought her other hand to Kurumi's other cheek, cupping her face, Kurumi could only stare into her beautiful eyes, dazed.
We could be the way forward, even though I know I'll pay for it… Kurumi hated admitting it to herself, but what else could she do? Miiko was, after all, a prankster like her. Kurumi couldn't lie to herself about Miiko any more than she could lie to herself in general.
As they would learn about the other, each girl was troubled in her own way. Pranks and horror were just two ways the inner trouble manifested externally. That was not to say all pranks or horror were an example of acting out, but for Kurumi, her inability to sit still and focus in class made her feel stupid and frustrated, which in turn made her bitter and resentful. For Miiko, it was her inability to read social cues. It was rare to find someone that liked horror as much as she did, even Kurumi had limits.
In either case, they knew they had skeletons in their closets. If Kurumi let herself get too close to Miiko, and something went wrong, even if Miiko was the cause, Kurumi knew she would pay for it, and the thought troubled her like nothing else. They were both bandits at heart, after all.
The old nuns that I've swindled really did believe I was the one, Kurumi thought back to middle and elementary school. Same pranks, different people. That, as well as the fear of losing Miiko now, was why Kurumi saw no reason to prioritize friendship over fun. Everyone always fell for it. Everyone always left. Only pranks remained constant in her life.
And the schoolgirls lunching have their stories about when I came around. While Kurumi was being yelled at by the nuns, Miiko was being yelled at by her peers. Where she saw thrill, they saw terror. One story her old school still told was of when she brought a tarantula to the cafeteria. She thought it was cute. Her peers screamed, cried, fled, and hurled food (throwing and throwing up). She'd never been so ashamed of herself.
But that was all before I locked you down. The troubled expression that plagued Kurumi's face faded into a smirk again.
ooo
That night was not the first time Kurumi and Miiko snuck into each other's rooms in the dead of night, and it was far from the last.
"Hey, Kurumi!" Miiko whispered happily as the top half of her face appeared at the bottom of Kurumi's bedroom window.
"Hey, Miiko!" A normal person might've shrieked, but Kurumi only laughed and opened the window.
As soon as Miiko was fully inside, she launched herself at Kurumi and wrapped her arms around the taller girl like a monkey. She peppered Kurumi's face in kisses, smothering her. Miiko's lips covered every inch of her.
Keep it comin', Miiko! Kurumi thought with a cocky smile as she reveled in Miiko's affection. But on the inside, she was on cloud nine, floating in a hazy white daze as she was wrapped in Miiko's essence.
Hours later, they were side by side in Kurumi's bed, under covers. "G'night, Kurumi!" Miiko propped herself up on her elbow one last time to lean over and give the other girl a goodnight kiss. Unlike the playful greeting kisses from before, the goodnight kiss was sweeter and deeper. Miiko stroked Kurumi's cheek again while Kurumi smiled in bliss.
Now I hang from your lips like the Gardens of Babylon… It was a romantic thought, interrupted only by a jest from Kurumi's brain. See, Chairman? This IS ladylike behavior! I am building bonds with peers! Comradery among young ladies! You have Miyu, let me have Miiko!
Kurumi was quick to push the joke back out of her mind, though. This was Miiko's time, not Haruna's. What did the old Square Chair know anyways? Kurumi had found Paradise; she was looking up into her eyes. Kurumi reached up to caress Miiko's cheek the way Miiko was holding hers. She knew Miiko's boots were beneath her bed, and there was something so cozy about the thought. This was Miiko's home too now.
Even after the goodnight kiss ended, Miiko finally pulling her hand from Kurumi's face (much to Kurumi's regret) as she lowered herself back under covers, Kurumi stayed on cloud nine. She frowned briefly when Miiko pulled away, but before long, she was grinning at the darkened ceiling again. It suddenly occurred to her that fate might've just played the ultimate prank on her. This demon child had found Paradise…
It's funny to think that I used to think that I wasn't here to make friends. "Forever" was the sweetest con. Kurumi always thought she would be a lone-wolf prankster, then Miiko came along. Granted, life could play another trick and take Miiko away again, but Kurumi decided not to entertain such thoughts. Now that I've had the thought anyway, the bigger prank for the universe to play on me would be for it to let me keep Miiko.
The tender smile on her face became yet another smirk. Now she was trying to play reverse psychology with "forever", but she couldn't help it! Although… Maybe Miiko could. To put her mind at ease, Kurumi rolled over and faced the other girl. Miiko felt and heard the blankets shift and opened an emerald eye. It met Kurumi's tan ones, and they both smiled.
I've had some tricks up my sleeve… Yes, fate and forever most certainly did.
Takes one to know one. Fate and forever were just like Kurumi, just like Miiko—
You're a prankster like me!
As Kurumi finally drifted off, her last conscious thought was that now that she had Miiko in her life, I'm never gonna love again.
Because Miiko was more than enough. Now that Kurumi had her, she didn't want or need anyone or anything else. I'm never gonna love again!
AN: Yes I know Kurumiiko wasn't in the D4 Cowgirl event, but I was listening to Taylor Swift's "Cowboy Like Me" and was hit by a wave of Kurumiiko inspiration out of nowhere and I had to jump on it immediately!
Also recommend the song "Getaway Car" as a faster-paced, sadder-ending version of "Cowboy Like Me".
Also unwittingly wrote this right before Miiko's bday, so that's fortuitous LOL