Kurusu Kimihito has lived this day before—and he has watched everyone he loves die.
When he wakes on the morning of April seventh, trembling and drenched in sweat, he knows what's coming. Miia's arrival. The red rain. The Glow. The night that, decades from now, will still haunt his every waking moment. He survived it once, carrying nothing but regret for the girls he couldn't save. Then he died.
And then he woke up. Six in the morning. The same date circled in red pen on his calendar. A second
Monster Musume: Rewriting the Fates of Despair - A Knight's Vow: The One Who Was Supposed to Protect Was Protected Instead
Turned the corner into the alley. The sunlight vanished.
Kurusu Kimihito, shopping bag in hand, stopped dead for a moment. An April afternoon. The wind was lukewarm.
(I hope nothing happens today.)
That's what he thought.
The memories of the future were always there, in the corner of his mind. Red rain. Black mist. The cold hands of girls.
He took a deep breath.
"It's fine. I'll handle it, somehow."
He said it out loud, to convince himself.
He started walking.
That's when it happened.
"Kyaaaaa!"
A scream.
He spun around.
Deep in the alley. A woman, collapsed on the ground. Her bag had slipped from her hands, its contents scattered everywhere.
A man sprinted past her. Black hoodie. Hood pulled low, face hidden. A woman's bag clutched in his fist.
A purse-snatcher.
Kimihito's body moved on its own.
He dropped the shopping bag.
Ran.
"Stop!"
His voice echoed down the alley.
The man glanced back. Clicked his tongue. Picked up speed.
Kimihito accelerated too.
Corner. Left. The alley narrowed. His shoulder slammed the wall. Didn't care.
The man's back grew closer.
Three meters.
Two.
One.
He reached out.
—And then.
Clack.
A hard sound.
Hooves.
In front of the man. At the alley's exit.
A silhouette stood in the backlight.
Big.
No—bigger than big—
"That's far enough, villain."
A clear, ringing voice.
It was a girl.
Long blonde hair. Deep blue eyes. White and blue garments that resembled a knight's armor.
And below the waist—the body of a white horse.
A centaur.
In her right hand, she held a sword. The blade, drawn from its sheath, caught the sunset and glinted.
The man froze.
"W-what the hell are you...!"
The man clutched the bag tighter and braced himself.
But the girl didn't flinch.
"In the name of the knight Centorea Shianus, I shall smite the evil that harms the weak."
She raised her sword to a middle guard.
That stance was no amateur's.
The man took a step back.
"Damn it...!"
He tried to bolt down a side path.
—And then.
The girl's lower half—her horse legs—kicked off the ground.
Thud.
It took an instant.
Her body moved like wind.
She cut around to the man's front.
The sword swept sideways.
Swish.
The sound of cutting air.
The blade didn't catch the man's body.
But—
Thwack.
The flat of the blade struck his ribs.
"Guaah...!"
The man's body slammed into the wall.
Crumple.
The bag fell from his hand.
He slid down against the wall, back pressed to it, and slumped to the ground.
He was conscious. But he couldn't move anymore.
The girl sheathed her sword.
Clink.
A quiet sound echoed through the alley.
"Are you all right?"
She approached the fallen woman.
Her horse hooves clicked against the cobblestones.
Kimihito stood frozen in place.
He couldn't move.
No—it wasn't that he couldn't move.
His body was trembling.
(Cerea...)
The memories of the future crystallized sharply in the back of his mind.
It was the same.
That day, in the future, Cerea appeared just like this.
She routed the purse-snatcher and stood before Kimihito.
And she said:
"I recognize you as my master."
In the future, that was the beginning of everything.
She came to the Kurusu house, they lived together, laughed, got angry, cried—
And then she died.
In the red rain.
Soaked in blood.
Growing cold.
(No. Not this time.)
Kimihito clenched his fist.
His nails dug into his palm.
It hurt.
That pain dragged him back to reality.
"—Um."
His voice shook.
The girl turned around.
Her deep blue eyes looked straight at him.
"Is something the matter?"
"...No. I just—thank you."
Kimihito bowed his head.
The girl tilted hers.
"No thanks are necessary. I merely did what any knight must."
As she spoke, her eyes fell on the shopping bag lying at Kimihito's feet.
Its contents were spilling out a little.
"Is this yours?"
"Ah, yes. Sorry, let me get that."
Kimihito hurriedly picked up the bag.
The girl stared intently at his hands.
"...Are you living in poverty?"
"Huh?"
"That bag. Only vegetables, eggs, and bread. No meat or fish to be seen."
Kimihito was at a loss for words.
True enough—today he'd bought only cheap ingredients to save money.
"No, that's, well, budget reasons..."
"I knew it. You are struggling."
The girl nodded deeply.
"Rest assured. I will protect you."
"Huh?"
"As a knight, I cannot abandon the weak. I have seen through your plight. Now is the time for my sword to become your shield."
Her eyes shone with sincerity.
Kimihito was confused.
(Why does it come to this?)
"Um, wait. I'm not really in trouble—"
"There's no need to be modest. That haggard expression. The fatigue you cannot hide. All of it is proof that you need help."
Haggard expression.
That was because the memories of the future had kept him from sleeping properly lately.
"No, I'm telling you, that's not it."
"Then why did you chase that man?"
"Because I was trying to catch the purse-snatcher..."
"Exactly. You ran for another's sake, heedless of danger. That is the very spirit of a knight. I cannot overlook a soul as noble as yours suffering in poverty."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"I am Centorea Shianus. A centaur knight. Please—let me protect you."
Kimihito clutched his head.
(Same as the memories of the future. Cerea was always like this.)
Earnest. Inflexible. Prone to jumping to conclusions.
But at heart, endlessly kind.
That's why, in the future, he accepted her.
And she died.
(—Not this time.)
(I can't accept her.)
(I can't drag her into this.)
Kimihito raised his head.
He looked straight into the girl's eyes.
"...Please don't come."
His voice was dry.
"What?"
"Don't come to my house. I don't need your help."
The girl's expression froze for an instant.
"Why not?"
"Why... because I'm not in any trouble. There's no reason for you to protect me."
Kimihito adjusted his grip on the shopping bag.
"Well then, excuse me."
He turned his back.
Started walking.
One step.
Two steps.
—Thud.
Hooves.
"Wait!"
The girl cut around in front of him.
"Why do you refuse so strongly? I simply cannot ignore your plight. I have no intention of harming you."
"That's not it..."
"Then what is it?"
She pressed closer.
Kimihito was at a loss for words.
He couldn't talk about the future.
Cerea comes to the Kurusu house.
And she gets gravely wounded.
He couldn't possibly tell her that.
"...I already have a homestay girl at my house. So I don't have room to take you in..."
"I see. There's someone there before me."
She crossed her arms.
"Then there's no problem. I shall protect you alongside her. As a knight, guarding my master's home is only natural."
"No, that's not the issue—"
"Then what is the issue?"
Kimihito sighed.
(It's no use. She won't listen.)
(Once Cerea decides something, she never backs down.)
The memories of the future told him so.
"...Fine. But you're only coming to the house today."
"Understood. Then let us be off."
She stamped the ground happily with her horse legs.
In his heart, Kimihito apologized over and over.
(Sorry, Cerea.)
(But I can't let you die.)
The entrance of the Kurusu house.
When Kimihito opened the door, Miia came flying out.
"Darling! Welcome hooome!"
Her vivid red hair swayed.
Her golden, vertically slit eyes narrowed happily.
But the moment those eyes caught the figure standing behind Kimihito—
Miia stopped dead.
"...Darling. Who's that?"
Miia's voice dropped suddenly.
"Ah, uh, I ran into a purse-snatching and she helped me out..."
"I am Centorea Shianus."
Cerea stepped forward.
"As a centaur knight, I could not overlook this man's plight, and so I have decided to protect him."
"Plight...?"
Miia glanced at Kimihito.
"Darling, are you in some kind of trouble? I haven't heard anything about it."
"No, I'm telling you, it's a misunderstanding—"
"It is no misunderstanding. Had you not noticed his fatigue? To overlook your master's distress—how pathetic."
At Cerea's words, Miia's eyebrow twitched.
"...If it's about Darling's distress, I'd be the first to notice. And anyway, what are you to Darling?"
"What, you ask?"
"I mean, the reason you're coming to Darling's house. You're not seriously thinking of homestaying with Darling, are you?"
Miia's tail swayed back and forth.
The motion she made when on guard.
"I have come to protect my master. Not some lukewarm arrangement like a homestay."
"Master...?"
"Yes. I have recognized this man as my master. A knight's sword exists for her master."
Cerea puffed out her chest.
Miia pressed in on Kimihito.
"Darling! What's going on? What is this girl even saying?"
"I mean, there were various circumstances..."
"What circumstances! I'm Darling's number one!"
"Wait a second, Miia. Number one..."
"Excuse me. My master's number one is me. As a knight, serving closest to my master is my duty."
"Whaaat!? What are you even saying, you!"
"I am not 'you.' I am Centorea Shianus."
"I know that! That's not what I meant!"
The two glared at each other at the doorway.
Kimihito wedged himself between them.
"L-let's go inside for now? Arguing here won't get us anywhere."
"Darling, be quiet!"
"Master, please step back. I shall teach this rude one some knightly manners."
"Rude one!?"
Kimihito looked up at the ceiling.
(My stomach hurts.)
At the dinner table.
Miia proudly laid out her cooking.
"I made it today! Darling, eat lots, okay!"
On the table sat a lineup of unidentifiable objects.
Black lumps. Red liquid. Yellow foam.
Kimihito steeled himself and picked up his chopsticks.
Cerea stared fixedly at the food.
"...What is this dish called?"
"Huh? It's hamburger steak. And an omelet, and soup."
"This is... hamburger steak...?"
Cerea's face paled slightly.
"Um, I am only able to eat vegetables. I appreciate the thought, but I must decline."
"Huhh? But I went to all the trouble of making it. Just take one bite."
"No, um, a centaur's stomach cannot handle meat or eggs."
"Hmm. Then how about the stir-fried vegetables? I've got some."
Miia pointed at a brown clump of vegetables next to the black object.
Cerea stared at it in silence for a while.
"...I'll have some."
She timidly took a bite with her fork.
Cerea's face twisted in agony in an instant.
"H-how is it?"
"...It's delicious."
Cerea's voice was trembling.
"Really!? Yay! Then eat more!"
Miia happily piled the brown vegetable clump high on Cerea's plate.
Cerea's eyes went dead.
Kimihito quietly brought the black lump on his own plate to his mouth.
(...No taste.)
(No—it's not that there's no taste. My sense of taste is dead.)
In the memories of the future, his sense of taste was off for three days after this.
Same this time.
Before bed.
Kimihito sat in the living room, thinking about tomorrow's plans.
How to send Cerea home.
No—did Cerea even have a place to go home to?
In the memories of the future, Cerea had just arrived in Japan and had nowhere to live.
That's why she ended up homestaying at the Kurusu house.
(Not this time.)
(If I don't take her in, she'll go somewhere else.)
(That's fine. That's the right thing.)
"—Master."
A voice. He turned.
Cerea stood in the living room doorway.
"You're still awake?"
"As are you. Won't you go to bed?"
"Ah, I was just thinking about some things."
Cerea walked slowly toward him.
Her horse hooves clicked against the floor.
"Master. There is something I wish to ask."
"What?"
"You have been strange lately. Is there something you're hiding?"
Kimihito's heart jumped.
"...Strange, am I?"
"You are. Even when we first met, you wore a complex expression—as if afraid of something, and yet as if resolved to something. And even now. Your heart is somewhere far away."
Cerea's deep blue eyes looked straight at him.
"As a knight, I cannot overlook my master's distress. Please, tell me. If there is anything I can do, I will do it."
Kimihito was at a loss for words.
Tell her ab
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