"Didja get them?" Kurumi demanded, bouncing up and down, tiny hands clenched into even tinier fists as she stared up at Kokichi with fierce, narrowed eyes. By contrast, Kokichi's were closed, and there was a casual, amicable smile on his face as he sauntered over to her.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging innocently. "It depends on whether or not you trust what's in this box!" He reached behind himself slowly, then he whipped out a wrapped container of Christmas cookies. Kurumi's narrow eyes widened.

"Then that means… we did it! 'Kichi, we did it!" Her tiny fists shot up. Obviously, as any little girl, she loved cookies, but for her in particular, even sweeter than the treats were the tricks. Kokichi may have been the one to actively swipe the box from the family kitchens, but Kurumi helped design the plan he executed. That, in fact, was the true goal of the holiday heist. It wasn't just the extra Christmas gift, it was testing Kurumi's cleverness and cunning. Could she live up to her big brother's legacy of lies?

The Prince of Pranks and Thieves jokingly bowed as he presented Kurumi with the box. She took it from him, brown eyes glittering.

"Shall we open it together?" Her voice was soft and sweet. She set the box on the ground between them and sat down, gesturing for him to take the other side and lean over it just as far as she was.

Clever girl, Kokichi grinned. Although, he thought, as toy snakes lunged at his and Kurumi's face, it WAS a rather elementary trick…

The grin on his face stayed pleasant, light, and amused, and he fought hard to keep it that way. "Not bad, kiddo," he said, picking up a cookie, cracking it in half, and giving her one as he bit into the other. Kurumi beamed, chomping into the cookie. A second later, it came back up and Kokichi nearly did the same, but while Kurumi was disgusted, he was in hysterics.

"Oatmeal raisin?!"

…but there was a REASON it was elementary! Oh, sis, I love how hard you try, but you're still a long way from the Princess of Pranks!

ooo

"LIES! THAT'S ALL IT IS! LIES AND SCANDAL! You know how the tabloids are!"

"But even if the stories are lies, the tests…"

"Were tampered with, I'm telling you!"

Complete opposites to their parents, Kurumi and Kokichi sat in different rooms, dead silent, and on different pages. Their parents were fighting, but at least they could agree that they were enemies. Much more despairfully, only one of the two children saw the other as "an enemy".

Oh, 'Kichi… Kurumi sat on her bed, arms wrapped around her legs. She pulled them even tighter against her chest. That was how she knew it was bad. The only time she ever called him "'Kichi" was as a very young child, when his full name was too hard for her to say. She was older than that now, though, much older, in middle school! No longer a toddler, and yet…

She couldn't bring herself to admit it, even to herself, but she certainly felt like one. The only difference, she had even less of a family than ever before. At birth, her brother was distant, and her parents tumultuous, but it was never this bad before—not just the fighting, but the distance between Kurumi and Kokichi.

It's… like… something… out of one of those stupid movies I'm always hearing Mom complain about, or Kokichi laugh at! Kurumi thought bitterly, biting her lip in a failed at stifling her sobs. They still ripped free. All she was doing was leaving painful bitemarks around her lips, but half of her mind didn't care, and the other half considered the pain well-deserved.

Even though it was beyond her control, that didn't make the cliché, tragic tale of infidelity any less intolerable. In the days to come, as the family slowly fell apart from pressures inside and out, Kurumi would never forget the haunted look that came across Kokichi's face during dinner one night. He gave an unhinged, unsettling laugh.

"Guess they were right about calling me a bastard. Guess you were right about calling me a son of a bitch." His eyes darted hatefully between his parents. Kurumi didn't remember anything else, because as soon as she heard Kokichi curse, she knew it was over. She fled from the table, knocking over her chair in a blind panic to escape before the screaming began. She covered her ears, but she could still hear the dull roar, the scraping chairs, and the slamming silverware.

ooo

"Devil! Devil child!" One of the nuns howled, chasing Kurumi with a ruler. But because of her aging joints, combined with the near-heart attack she suffered because of Kurumi's latest mischief, she was unable to move much faster than a walking pace. Kurumi, meanwhile, breezed by, reveling in the breeze blowing through her billowing white locks as she glided through Arisugawa's hallowed halls.

Serves that crazy old bat right! The young delinquent thought with a nasty smile. She'd come to class only to find every wall covered in a pentagram, Satanic cross, or 666. And of course, Kurumi made sure to use red ink only. But that was only a surface-level blow. The real kicker was what Kurumi did to the nun's lesson plans, turning them all into origami creatures to scattered not just around the classroom, but that entire hall of the academy! And what was the crime committed for which Kurumi felt so affronted that she sought vigilante justice?

Detention. For another prank committed the day before. Some of the… lab specimens managed to find their way into other classrooms, giving many a student and teacher quite the fright when they stumbled upon the dead rodent or amphibian. Somehow, the little "devil child" was never caught in the act, but perhaps that was all the more evidence pointing to her unholy wiles. It was a never-ending stream of pranks from the transfer student. If she was in a good mood, it was good fun. If she was in a bad mood, it was punishment.

No matter what, Kurumi always had an excuse, and today's was the latter. In "just" revenge for what she perceived as an unjust punishment over what was harmless fun (the lab specimens were already dead anyway, so it wasn't as if she was harming them), this nun was going to get a taste of what an immoral and harmful prank really looked like. After all, what was more immoral to a nun than anything Satanic, and what was more harmful to a teacher than losing their lesson plans the day of class? Even if Kurumi was caught and brought to justice every single time, it didn't matter how many times she prayed or repented, they were never truth.

ooo

"You're… really weird." Kurumi didn't know what else to say to the other girl other than that. She looked Miiko Takeshita up and down with a critical, skeptical eye, scoffing under her breath.

Just who does this munchkin think she is? Never mind that Kurumi was only slightly taller. Acting all wide-eyed and lovey-dovey like this!

It suddenly occurred to Kurumi just how close Miiko was getting. Which were wider, her eyes or her smile? And why wasn't she, for lack of a better term, afraid of Kurumi? Most people didn't like getting too close to the "devil child". Little did Kurumi know, that was exactly why Miiko wanted to be so close to her. Fate or luck, the universe sent Kurumi the one Catholic girl who didn't fear the Devil.

Miiko, meanwhile, seemed not to understand the concept of personal space.

Despite being well past the age when such lessons would be learned! Kurumi thought haughtily.

They way she defined it, she only pretended to be stupid if it served her. Miiko, meanwhile, seemed actually stupid. Dumb as a box of rocks… A lightbulb clicked on in Kurumi's brain. A pawn for a chess master.

So, yes, at first, she was leading with her head, but all it took was one single truth to knock her off course and get her to start leading with her heart. Then again, it was perhaps the first truth in her life, at least that she could believe with any sort of certainty, and that was groundbreaking.

"I love you, Kurumi!" Miiko declared, beaming, just as peppy as ever. They strolled through the academy garden, hands and fingers intertwined, Miiko swinging them up and down. For once, the beast was tamed, spending the afternoon in a rose garden with Beauty rather than rampaging in the castle. Those four words were enough to shoot Kurumi right through the heart.

Wh-what…? In her mind's eye, the word "love" was a bullet, stronger even than Cupid's arrow. It flew right through Kurumi's heart, and all she could do was clutch at the gaping aftermath. At the same time, her brain jumped to the only other person she might've considered someone that she loved. This person abandoned her the day she was sent to Arisugawa, ceasing all contact from then on. Kokichi…

For the longest time, I believed that he loved me. I know he was a liar and a prankster, but we grew up together! He taught me everything I knew! But then, when even that wasn't enough for him anymore, it didn't take him long to move onto the next big thing. Kurumi, meanwhile, was left to rot—err, rehabilitate—in the academy.

After hearing Miiko, though, everything was thrown into question and doubt. Did Kokichi ever truly love Kurumi, and if so, why? And was Arisugawa really that bad if people like Miiko were there? The way she said "love" was different to Kurumi than anyone else. Miiko wasn't just around because she was family, she was family because she was around, which was more than Kokichi or her parents could say…

ooo

"H-huh…?" Kokichi backed up slowly, eyes wide. He trembled with quiet laughter, unhinged smile still on his face.

I swear, has he stopped with that stupid, clownish grin at all in all the time he's been here? One of Kurumi's hands was on her hips while the other held Miiko's hand. She stood protectively in front of the other girl, as well as two others.

"I'm not alone anymore, Kokichi, I've got a family now." There was no emotion in Kurumi's voice or on her face as she spoke and Kokichi felt a chill. His eye twitched, and he did indeed want to laugh like a madman.

Incredible, isn't it? How much can change in such a short timeframe! While Kurumi was shipped off to Arisugawa to be reformed, Kokichi took to the streets and ran wild, learning as he went, building his own friend group along the way: DICE. While Kurumi's little friend-squad only had four girls total, Kokichi's was double the number and all boys, other street orphans and urchins and rats. It wasn't the most elegant way to get two kids out of a toxic home, but as mastermind-minded as Kokichi was, he was still just a child, and he could do only so much.

Now, though, with DICE at his back and beneath his feet, perhaps it was time for the Princess of Pranks to retake her throne beside his.

"You considering yourself a Dark Knight, don't you, Oma?" Kurumi sneered. "But that's not me, remember? This is the name you gave me. This is the person you made of me!" She gestured to herself. Although the nuns were the ones who tried to reform her, it was her own family that sent her away in the first place. Lies and pranks were their bread and butter, yes, but loyalty and teamwork had to have its place too! Not abandonment…

"I never thought I'd say this, but…" Kurumi smirked grimly. "I am the white bird, I am Shiratori." The bishop to his black horse.

Kurumi and Kokichi were only two pieces of the entire chessboard, though. While Kokichi could only gawk, paralyzed in shock and even a little bit of fear, Kurumi was more than happy to explain.

Miiko started off as my pawn, just a lackey to keep me entertained while I was lonely, but… she cared for me. She really, really cared for me. Now, if I was the king, then she would be the queen. Or I would be the queen and she would be the king. Haruna, though, was more of a queen. Kurumi smiled ruefully. The last person I thought I would have in my family, yet here she is, the Disciplinarian Chairman!

There was a lot of snooping—ah, detective—power one had if they were friends with a teacher's pet. That also applied to Miyu.

A bishop in spirit, a queen in action. She was able to get her way even better than Haruna, and with even less explanation.

Together, the four of them lured Kokichi into being caught blackmailing Haruna into access to Kurumi's school files.

"You might've put on a Good Big Brother mask for every other nun and student at this academy, but not anymore!" Kurumi gestured to the hidden cameras lining every side of the room, so as to catch Kokichi's crime in the act, indisputably.

H-how…?

"I've grown up, Kokichi." Kurumi crossed her arms, confident enough that his threat was over that she no longer needed to hold Miiko's hand, though she continued to stand protectively in front of her and the other two. "I've become a bit of a chess master in my own right while you were gone, and I've learned and done things you would've never expected or imagined!" Her smirk turned into a genuine, tender, and fond smile. The she remembered who she was talking to, and her face and voice grew severe again. "But what have you done?" Kokichi still only stood there, barely stifling uncontrollable laughter. Kurumi didn't think it was funny. At all.

ooo

"Congratulations, Arisugawa, you've really outdone yourself this time!" Kokichi clapped sarcastically up at the ivory towers and iron gates. "You managed to be even more overbearing about reputation than Hope's Peak, or dear old Mum and Pop!" He scoffed venomously, crossing his arms, closing his eyes, and shaking his head as if lecturing the Catholic school.

"But." A tiny smirk spread across his face. "You did teach me one valuable lesson, and that is that my dear, sweet, little, baby sister just might be readier to be the Princess of Pranks than either of us realize. Of course, of course! It's all so clear to me now! How didn't I see it sooner?" He slapped his forehead and giggled to himself. "The three girls she was with were also Ultimates!"

Even though none of their Talents had been confirmed, and wouldn't until a Hope's Peak scout came for them just as one came for Kokichi, that didn't mean that the Talent itself only came into existence after acceptance into Hope's Peak.

I've been hoping for a long time that she would be an Ultimate too. I don't know if any of my training contributed, at least in developing her Talent, but after what she was able to do to me today, it's not just Talent that carries her. Passion and practice are there too.

He was satisfied. It wouldn't be long before they saw one another again. Either it would be at Hope's Peak, or sooner. He smirked again as he last departed from the iron gates, patting his pocket, containing his sole souvenir from the holy grounds: a chess piece, the rook.

"Shiroma," Kurumi had said, placing the white rook in his hand. "It means "between the castles"…" She looked meaningfully at him and he smiled and nodded. She learned well, finding a way to play to their love of chess, fake names, fake stories, and fake relationships.

"I love you, Kurumi," Kokichi said, closer to DICE territory than Arisugawa by then. "I've loved you ever since the first time you looked up at me when you were still just a baby and I knew in that moment that you were just as sharp and cunning as me."

It was something he told Kurumi in private, the first time he tried to convince her to run away from Arisugawa and join DICE. Back then, though, she was disgusted. The realization that her brother had not loved her because she was his sister, rather, because he saw a resemble to himself in her was a hard pill to swallow, but it was marginally easier now that she had people in her life who did love her for her.

Oh, sis, I love how hard you try, but you're still a long way from the Princess of Pranks! Kokichi shook his head and cackled as he at last reached his little lair in one of DICE's largest outposts. The reason I realized I loved you the first time I realized you were capable of lying was because it suddenly occurred to me that you were the one person in my entire life that I DIDN'T want lying to me.

So I'm glad to have seen the truth, 'Rumi. You've converted into the perfect Christian girl. You look like an angel, and you know exactly how to act like one too, but there's still just a touch of devilish mischief in you!

Oh, he absolutely could not wait to see her again, and for once, Kokichi wasn't telling a lie.

AN: I just envisioned Kurumi and Kokichi as siblings of a rich, powerful family only to be torn apart after a vengeful, bitter Kokichi intentionally digs up and manipulates old family secrets to get them both out of the family. During that time, Kokichi takes to the streets and builds DICE while Kurumi is sent to Arisugawa and slowly drawn into LL.

Then, when Kokichi tries to come back for Kurumi, she chooses LL over him and outsmarts him, getting him permanently banned from the academy. (Even if he can sneak back in, it's a symbolic gesture).

But if Kurumi is the Ult. Prankster, Kokichi is the Ult. Liar, because I also like the idea that, all along, Kokichi manipulated everything to give Kurumi the better outcome.

For example, with the infidelity case, rumors start that either Kurumi or Kokichi is illegitimate and then it's discovered that they both are (or did Kokichi just manipulate those results?)

Also there's apparently 3 female members of DICE. It's Kurumi, Miiko, and Miyu, just saying, LOL!