A/N: Well, this took a bit longer then I was expecting. The chapter has been done for a fair bit, but a solid chunk of it got cut out and moved to Chapter 2 while the stuff that was existing got expanded. (So that means Chapter 2 already has a solid start on it). Also, no promises, but I may break my three chapter limit for this arc. Because as that second sentence implies, the first chapter was big enough to be broken off into the better part of a second chapter and that's just to get to where the first chapter would normally end for one of my stories. So for those of you who like Cera you'll probably be happy. For the rest of you, vote harder! I'm happy to see the poll at 55 votes so far, but there around a thousand of you that read the last chapter so vote! Even if you don't like the story so far you should still vote cause why not, it only takes a few seconds. As always, like, hate, neutral toward, leave a review! I read them all!

Disclaimer: Still don't own DLWMG.

Arc 3, Chapter 1: Foal's Folly

England, to those who lived there, could be seen as many things. Beautiful rolling hills dotted with the iconic farms that clung stubbornly to their ancient shareholds, large metropolises with hundreds of thousands or millions within their near-timeless boundaries, even rain drenched, freezing hellholes, all could be found across the country. For tourists the expected ratio of the three rarely matched reality, and many a drenched foreigner learned quickly to avoid the third. So it had been for one black haired boy. Brought to England to visit his almost absentee parents, Kimihito definitely fell into the category of tourist.

The raven-headed youth had seen the Tower of London and felt the overwhelming sense of awe and antiquity of Westminster Abbey. He'd run amongst the old concrete fortifications and gun emplacements, gathering greenery and dust along the Cliffs of Dover, and traveled through the farmlands of Yorkshire to see a lifestyle that had survived industrialism, and two world wars. His father had been much more excited about the first two then the last, the glasses wearing man having a fondness for history, especially that of Europe. His mother, on the other hand, a short and skinny woman with thick glasses, was much more interested in the farms, and their current and final stop. The forest park of Galloway stretched on seemingly endlessly, and put any forest the three had seen in Japan to shame by a very large margin.

While his mother fawned over the giant trees that ringed the trail, and his father played along with her, Kimihito had decided to slip away. Now he was wasn't sure where his parents were, probably looking for him, but that was fine for the moment. The adventurous twelve year old was just at that stage where he started to feel invincible, and with it the need to spread his wings a bit. While he certainly didn't mind his parents flying him all the way out to England to spend some time with them, he did want to get away occasionally.

So as it was he found himself wandering the woods, long past the beaten path as he continued his little adventure. Kimihito probably should have brought something with him, even if it had just been his shinai that he had brought to show his parents, but as it was all he had on him was a stick that he had picked up and was using to walk.

As he walked, the woods around him becoming darker and thicker by the minute, Kimihito pondered about how he liked England. His parents had made sure that he learned english, or at least enough to function, before coming, so he was able to speak the language reasonably well for a twelve year old foreigner. It was much more open than home, even the rather boring trip through Yorkshire had been so refreshing compared to the urban sprawl he had come from. He took a deep breath where he stood; the air felt so clean. Though he knew he'd have to go back there soon enough, his parents didn't have the time to look after him here, and his aunt could at least check in on him occasionally back in Japan.

He was broken out of his musings when he heard the brush rustle nearby, and snapped to attention, wielding his walking stick with all the spirit of a novice that knew enough to cause some damage but not enough skill to prepare himself without making it obvious. He looked to the bushes nearby and said "Hey, who's there!"

The bush rustled again, and a female voice boomed across the small clearing Kimihito had found himself in. "I see you aren't completely unknown to the ways of the sword."

A moment later a woman stepped forward, her lower half completely obscured by the bush she hid behind, and brandished a wooden sword in a one handed grip. The sight of her left Kimihito's jaw hanging wide open; her skin was fair like many native English folk, an intriguing contrast to his own. Her hair was yellow like the bright daffodils he had seen in fields on the way here, but save for the waves of blonde across her forehead it was tied into a long ponytail that flowed down her back. While her youthful facial features suggested she was around Kimihito's age, her physical development in the chest area had exceeded any such girl's by months. He swore he was reading from an Arthurian fairytale right now, for a woman like this was legendary.

Then she took a few steps forward out of the bush, revealing she was a horse from the waist down.

That was one way to freeze his developing libido, to say nothing of their circumstances.

"What the heck! What are you!?" Kimihito said as his stance dropped, after a few moments of slack jawed staring at the woman, only to bring it up just in time to block a downward-sweeping strike from the horse girl's wooden arming sword. "Hey what are you doing!?"

"Don't let your guard down!" The centaur said as she launched another strike with her oaken blade. "I'm Centorea, the guardian of this clearing!"

"But you're just as old as I am! How are you the guardian of anything?! Also you didn't tell me what you are!" Kimihito said as he continued his desperate defense against the obviously more skilled girl, giving ground with strike he sloppily parried.

"Age does not matter when it comes to duty!" The centaur proudly declared, "For I am a centaur, the noblest species in all of England!"

Well that might be a bit arrogant, especially considering she had just started attacking him out of nowhere, but Kimihito wasn't going to let himself be beaten. While he was only just entering puberty, he had managed to rather firmly adopt the traditional teenager opinion that they were utterly invincible, even if he was being faced with something he thought shouldn't exist. If that meant beating a mythical beast in a swordfight, then by all that was good was he going to beat a mythical beast in a swordfight! He called on all his kendo training over the past year and struck back. Blocking another blow before twisting into a strike toward the centaur girl's wrist, which she was able to block. But the strike gave Kimihito what he needed to push the attack.

"Hmmm, you are capable for a foreigner! But you cannot triumph over a centaurs sense of duty!" The centaur said even as she was put on the back foot… Hoof?

Kimihito tried to bat her training weapon to the side and strike at her sword arm but was rebuffed. "What did I even do anyway?"

"You stepped on the flower I was protecting! It flowers rarely and was just about to bloom! Truly only the most heinous of people would step on such a flower." Shouted the blonde woman as she managed to put Kimihito on the defense again.

"What? It was an accident! I just wasn't looking where I was going!" Kimihito was starting to sweat from the exertion, before he stepped on a root, the ping of guilt she'd garnered from him enough to steal his concentration for the moment it took to fumble.

Losing his footing and wobbling over would have been bad enough, but in doing so he also lost his grip on the stick he was holding. Crashing to the ground with a pained groan he found himself staring at the tip of the woman's wooden sword, her triumph only lasting until the stick he'd thrown into the air came spinning down and beaned the centaur on the back of the head with a hollow thump. The surprise took her balance, the sudden, sharp pain sending her forward ontop of the youth with a yelp.

It should be noted, that while having the centaur girl's already generous bosom pressed up against his face definitely was something that would ingrain itself in the boy's mind, he wasn't able to take any pleasure from it. Instead Kimihito was much more concerned about the fact that the horse girl's horse half had just fallen on his legs. It was only thanks to a stroke of luck, and for ground, that in the fall both his legs weren't broken, but they sure felt like they had been.

"Ow owowowowowowow!" Kimihito cried out and flailed, causing the centaur girl to fall off to the side, her eyes unfocused for a moment before she shook her head to recover.

"Curses, just in the moment of victory, it is snatched away..." The centaur murmured with a sigh, before she noticed Kimihito rubbing his legs. The stinging in the back of her head wasn't quite gone yet, and she didn't want to continue the fight. There was a moment's pause, before she spoke up in the sheepish way one youth addresses another after roughhousing goes too far. "Are you okay? I did not… I did not mean to do any actual harm."

With the blood flow coming back to his legs, Kimihito was fairly sure that nothing was broken, though there would probably be a bruise or two. "It hurts, but I'm fine! Though I still can't believe you attacked me out of nowhere like that! Who are you anyways?!"

"You are the one who started it by damaging my dear flower! I have been waiting for two months for it to bloom!" The centaur half-yelped with a pout, then muttered to herself. "But... I should have addressed you first instead of going for the attack. Mother would be most displeased." She shook her head again and said. "I am Centorea Shianus, of the Shianus clan. We are the protectors of these woods! Now, what is a human doing here? You should have been stopped long before you could get this far."

A few kilometers away, the government assigned 'groundskeeper' of this tract of land was sprawled over his chair, snoring loudly. A large bottle of scotch was on the table beside him while a warning monitor on his desk beeped incessantly.

"Well I'm Kimihito Kurusu, and I just ran here to get away from my parents for an hour or two." Kimihito said, not exactly getting the implications of Centorea's words. With the pain in his legs fading, the adrenaline in his system was being replaced with childish glee. "But I wasn't expecting something this cool to happen! Why doesn't everyone know about centaurs! I thought they were just myths!"

The blond girl blushed at being called cool, before tutting at Kimihito waving his arms at his last statement in a very undignified manner. "Nor was I expecting to encounter a human today. Especially one that was skilled enough with the sword to keep up with me for any length of time. As for why you do not see us. The government does not believe most humans are ready for us, so we have to hide away from them. I haven't seen past the borders of these woods."

"Well that's cause I take kendo." Kimihito said excitedly, before his face fell a bit. "Thats...not very good! Don't worry though I'm sure you'll be able to see the rest of the world soon!"

The two talked for a while, quickly making friends and quickly losing all track of time. Centorea got to see for herself just how upright and purehearted this boy was. Kimihito felt a radiant goodness from this girl that made his heart feel light. Then in the distance they both heard a woman's voice calling through the woods.

"Ohh, that would be my mother." Centorea said as she tried to push herself up, before Kimihito actually offered her a hand to help get her to her feet, making her blush a bit again as her mind jumped toward those fantasy books she always read.

Kimihito missed the blush entirely and with the innocent grin of the young he said. "Let's meet again Centorea! And next time we can figure out who actually would win in a sword fight."

"That...might be a bit hard to arrange." Centorea, almost did a double take. Kimihito seemed to be completely honest in his words even though he knew about the government's blockade. She almost wanted to be insulted at it but...there was a little tug in her chest that made her say. "But we'll definitely make it work! Even if it takes some time."

Kimihito was about to say something more when the voice came again from much closer, and Centorea continued. "I must go, if my mother sees you there will be consequences. I'll look forward to that rematch Kimihito!"

With that the blond girl picked up her wooden sword and departed back into the bushes, leaving Kimihito to pick his way back to where his parents were staying, the two giving him a scolding for leaving without them and getting hurt while he was out there. Though neither would believe him when he told them about what had caused the bruises on his legs, and instead his mother had ended up taking him to the hospital to make sure he hadn't gotten heat stroke.

-ISoaN-

Being disbelieved would be something that Kimihito would grow quite familiar with. His parents didn't believe him when he told them about the centaur lady in the woods. The doctor didn't believe him when he told the older man that the bruises were caused by a horsegirl falling on them, and when he was sent back to Japan he couldn't manage to convince his Aunt or his schoolmates about it either.

It was the latter of those last two that would have the most effect on Kimihito's future. The boy had just transferred into junior high and one of the first things he was known for was his rampant attempts to convince everyone that monsterpeople were real. At first he was stunned when people thought he was kidding. Kimihito was still just a young boy; he didn't understand why no one would believe him without proof.

"If monsters exist, then how come only you seem to have seen one?" A girl asked him during an energetic lunchtime debate.

"I'm not. I can't have been! Hey Yusei, your family lives in the forests, right?" He touched the sleeve of the boy sitting next to him. "Haven't you guys ever gone walking in there?"

"Oh, yes. It's a government owned wood, but they always leave some parts of it open..." Yusei stopped himself. With everyone looking nervously at him, he gulped and realised just what Kimihito would twist his words into. "And we never saw a single one! The idea is crazy!" The boy shook Kimihito's hand off of him, and cared little for the frustrated dismay on his face. That was how it always went for the boy who had seen a centaur. None of his classmates showed him any faith, or even a tinge of curiosity - only ridicule. The teachers had drawn the line when Kimihito suggested they go to England for their class trip to any country. He'd have loved to have seen that countryside again for its own sake, but if he could find that centaur again and force her out to the open, everyone would have to believe him.

Eventually, his insistence had turned him into a social outcast from much of the school. By the time second year hit, Kimihito had grown weary and wary-eyed, and was starting to think that it was all a conspiracy against him.

That last line of thought was a short lived flight of fancy, a boy annoyed at the world and trying to blame it for all his problems. He did draw into himself though, doing well enough in his school, but devoting much of his free time to kendo. This only ostracized him further, and before the second year was out he had ended up falling in with the schools delinquents.

Here Kimihito found himself in a circle that he fit in surprisingly well after a bit of adjusting. Sure pretty much nobody believe him still, but if anything the thought that he might be a bit crazy just made those in the small gang like him more. Not to mention that since most of his free time went to his practice, Kimihito was starting to rapidly gain status in the local prefecture Kendo circle, and he even went to compete in tournaments across the country.

All of this lined Kimihito up to be the gang's enforcer. It wouldn't be too unusual by 9th grade to see the boy walking with his group of friends. A bokken over his shoulder and a reed grass stalk hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Was it stereotypical? Yes it was, but nobody was going to bring it up with the guy who was rapidly becoming the national kendo champion. Especially when said tournament winner was was quite willing to teach some 'manners' to whoever thought to insult him or his friends. By the end of that year of school he had been involved in a number of fights, and had been put to the principal's office more times than he could count.

Oddly enough,his popularity actually started to grow at that point. While he was rather dangerous when crossed, he became known for being laid back and never did to much harm to even those he went after, usually. There were rumours and confirmed tales of times he had hospitalized someone, his seeming calling card of such incidents was shattering the wrists of his opponents. He didn't participate in the groups' less savoury activities like vandalism or thievery, considering them petty and not worth the effort, even if he didn't stop them from doing such acts when he was around. He actually ended up becoming the 'approachable' member of the group when someone needed to bring issue to them or for other reasons. Though even as he was the 'approachable' one, when he was the one that approached you then that was a good reason to fear.

The gang actually stayed together as they moved on to high school, and Kimihito proved instrumental in them securing their place against the older groups. The school itself swept much of the damage done under the rug as they wanted to keep the prestige of such a capable student. What wasn't caught by the school was covered up by the victims themselves to save face about being beat up by a first year, and soon enough Kimihito actually elevated himself further among their hierarchy. Becoming the co-head of the group by popular demand, along with the former solo head Natsu Ayuhara, who like Kimihito had gotten into the school on a sports scholarship, though this one for volleyball.

It'd be in the position of mini-mob boss that Kimihito would ride the rest of his way through high school. He kept his group from going into the more dangerous crimes most of the time, and despite their appearance his group didn't partake in drugs worse than alcohol and tobacco or 'unwarranted' violence. It was more out of pragmatism than anything else. With Kimihito at near the helm he wanted to keep their group operating just above the table enough that they couldn't get booted out of school as a mass. Not to mention that keeping drugs out of the group kept them in shape to deal with those that deserved 'warranted' violence. That wasn't to say they didn't have the occasional brush with the law, usually when someone went just a bit too far and put someone in for intensive care. Kimihito though kept himself from being directly tied to any of it, or at least kept himself from taking the finger for it. He'd always keep some of the money his parents gave him, and what they made off their little rackets, to get his underlings out of such trouble before it hit the courts.

Despite it all, Kimihito himself was actually a rather adept student, floating through school with an above average grade. His various teachers felt that the boy could have excelled if he had ever put in the effort, but he was always more focused on his sport of choice.

His reputation of a bad boy had made him a target for girls. Kimihito could have asked almost any girl he wanted to go out with them and they would have said yes. It was only natural he'd try it out with a few, especially when a girl initiated. He kept their interest, they had a fun ride, but it'd always end before long. He could kiss them, he could date them, but Kimihito had trouble being close to any of them. The delinquent never had much to say when called out on this weakness of his. The most he could muster was that they were boring, and few were willing to push it further for fear of angering him.

It very much didn't help that Kimihito was still carrying a small torch for that supposedly non-existent girl he had met years ago. No human could match up to the vision of beauty his mind had built up around her as he had gone through puberty with his sparse memories.

Kimihito had long ago given up on meeting the girl again, though; if he were a lucky man, he'd have had better luck in these years. The closest a girl ever got to him was his co-boss Natsu. The woman hit most of the points he had been looking for. She was tall, taller than he was by a good two inches, she had an athletic physique built up over years of hard training, and had managed to beat his ass with a volleyball one time much to his embarrassment. They had dated for the better part of two years on and off, before eventually it ended. It wasn't that either actually disliked each other, but in the last year of highschool it had become rather painfully obvious that they were going to each go their separate ways. He was going to a university in town, she wanted to go to one in Kyushu. Maybe they'd see each other again, but odds are they wouldn't. So after a rather...memorable night the day before graduation they had broken it off amiably.

Still, even during all that time, he couldn't forget that day in the woods of Scotland so long ago. Maybe he really was crazy, or perhaps the world was crazy for most to not even try and meet that standard he'd seen set. Either way, the end result was the same. He was left lonely, and with no prospects on the horizon to change that.

He didn't have to wait too long for that to reverse again, just till a few months into the first year that Kimihito passed on to university. He had been accepted to a relatively good university, his delinquent streak swept under the rug in favour of a scholarship for his skills. It was on the first day of classes that the raven haired man had woken up to a rather interesting newspaper headline.

"Mythological Creatures Confirmed by Government."

Below that was a picture of people that would look perfectly acceptable in a fantasy novel. People that looked like any beast or creature just as much as they looked like a human. Kimihito didn't even read the article; there wasn't anything it really had to say that he hadn't been trying to tell people already. His phone was being lined with messages and phone calls, from family members and other doubters. His fingers started speedily writing a proud reply to his parents, boisterously asserting how right he had been. But as he dwelled on it more, he couldn't seem to finish it. Yeah, the truth was now out there, but had the people themselves really changed? The same ones who wouldn't give him the time of day when he told them the truth so long ago? Likely not. So he discarded the message. Why get worked up about something that meant so little? He went about his day, figuring out what to do next.

Though he did allow himself a smart little grin.

-ISoaN-

And of course, he was right again. Kimihito's world didn't change much. Sure he felt vindicated by it all but he wasn't about to do a sudden 180 because of the revelation. Nor was the world around him. He was still a feared gang leader. His peers still thought he was a delinquent yakuza heir. The irony in how some myths are easily accepted while others are rejected. He was half tempted to go visit his parents in England, but his commitments to the kendo circuit were enough to keep him from running off, if just barely. Instead he just piddled along in school, training constantly for the big tournament that was coming. A grand international tournament for fighters of various styles to compete was being held just nearby, and the prize money was enough that he certainly wasn't going to turn down the invitation he had received.

Kimihito even got one of his old gang friends to sneak him out the participants list a week before so he could research them a bit.

"Ryusuke Ishida - Kendo."

Kimihito was familiar with this one. Ishida was an arrogant heir of a wealthy family, and a straight-and-narrow stick in the mud, so of course the two didn't like each other. They'd clashed in the circuits, and there were boos when Kimihito had trounced the snob so hard he couldn't stand to be in his own gear, it felt so filthy. Either he'd be pumping for round two, or, more likely, he'd be so reluctant that the pre-match banter would probably tilt him. Could be good.

"Matthew Clement - Fencing."

France's best competitor for this tournament, or so he had heard. Fencers moved fast and they were all about 'la belle touche'. That would be a clash of styles. Apparently the guy was composed and patient, but fencers didn't like to be on the defensive. Maybe he could make that work.

"Hans Schneider - Longsword."

The tournament favourite. The guy worked out like swordfighting was his life. Kimihito could try and use his strength against him, but otherwise he'd have to read up on what tactics worked against longswords.

Still mulling that over, Kimihito had almost drifted completely past the next name on the list, when he realised its pronunciation was like nothing he'd ever heard before. But like something he had heard. It was one of his most vivid memories, and it made him almost choke on his drink.

"Centorea Shianus - Centaur Sword Arts."

He hadn't forgotten that name. He couldn't. In all the years when it was just him against the world, he remembered exactly what she'd called herself.

Now there she was. Again, just as he'd been vindicated. Like that centaur was sailing all the way here just to challenge him. Probably as valiant as ever. The image made him smile.

The part of Kimihito that was still spiteful at the world, that thought even the reveal of monsterpeople might all be part of a plan that would spite him further, was pessimistic. Enough to cool him and make him a little trepid. But the other part just really wanted that rematch.

Sure she was in the other block so he'd only get to potentially fight her if they both got to the finals, but he couldn't help but feel some extra motivation to get that far at seeing the name. He wasn't sure if it was the same girl he had run into all those years ago, but he'd be damned if he couldn't hope.

Kimihito rushed off to his university and promptly took over the training room for a few days, much to the annoyance of a few of his peers. All of whom were too afraid to say anything, lest the newspapers report them being found dead in an alleyway having shot themselves in the back of the head. Meanwhile, Kimihito would train harder than he ever had in his life. He wouldn't be the only one preparing.

-ISoaN-

Centorea took in a deep breath as she calmed herself before the opening ceremony. She had managed to get a special pass from the Liminal Migration Department to be allowed to travel to Japan by herself and look for her own host. Though she had managed to get it bent a bit to allow her to compete in this tournament without it potentially being a visa violation.

For years Centorea had been looking forward to her rematch with the one human she had ever fought against. She would fight many more in this grand tournament to come, but she felt more prepared than any centaur alive thanks to her training since that day so long had also already determined that she'd make sure that Kimihito accepted her as her host. After all, it was obvious when one looked into it that they were a fated pair. Their single meeting had been the start of Kimihito's rise to the top kendo competitor in Japan and it was obviously thanks to their fight spurring him on to train better. Centaurs were the trainers of heroes after all.

But what was making her focus to calm herself was not the prestige of the tournament ahead. Nor some of the less appropriate fantasies that were running through her head. Instead it was the things she was hearing from some of her fellow competitors, namely the japanese ones.

"I can't believe they allowed Kimihito to compete." Said one to another.

"I heard he beat up the universities' heads to get them to let him in." Said other replied.

Kimihito knew about it, but didn't care that the kendo community had gotten wind of his delinquency long ago. His high school friends had embraced the ire that he was so apathetic to, and that word had bloomed into a full blown mythology around the boy. If you asked some other schools they'd tell you that the boy had ruled his high school with an iron fist and had his own yakuza thugs make anyone who said a bad word about him disappear. Others would just say that the man was dangerous and shouldn't be allowed to compete with more honourable members of society. Yet others would espouse about the villainous honour of the raven haired man. About how he would beat up only worse crooks then his own group, which came out of the early years of his time in highschool.

Regardless of the various stories she heard, Centorea was rather concerned. Centaurs were the trainers of heroes, not villains! She'd have to see this for herself and if need be she'd have to set him on the right path.

Her worries were to some extent confirmed when she finally walked into the opening ceremony and saw Kimihito standing down on his end too. The boy was dressed just like one of those delinquents! His jacket kept on lazily without even having his arms through the sleeves, unkempt hair, a cocky smile that was as confident in himself as it was dismissive of everyone nearby. He even had an unlit cigarette hanging lazily out the side of his mouth. It was downright uncouth!

Though there was a glimmer of hope for Centorea. The black haired boy seemed to recognize her instantly and his smile turned into something more genuine as he gave her a two finger salute before the ceremony began and their attention was taken by it. The blonde woman made sure to remember to have a chat with the man after this. Neither of them were actually going to be fighting today anyways, according to the ranking board.

-ISoaN-

Kimihito had caught the look in Centorea's eyes, and knew that he'd just have to wait after and the woman would find him. So he was outside the arena with that lit cigarette now sporting burning embers on the tip. He wasn't a habitual smoker. Whenever he really needed to calm down he could usually be found with a smoke, and right now he really did need to calm down.

The mental image he had built up of the centaur girl over the years had proven rather insufficient for what he had seen in that opening ceremony. The already developing girl he had met as a young teen was now a fully developed woman. She had long flowing blonde hair that was tied back in the same ponytail as before, her figure had filled out and left her with a body that most humans would kill for even with the horse half, and while he couldn't be sure, her arms looked skinny but filled with steel cord like muscles. She also towered a good half a foot or more over him, a fact that became rather obvious when a shadow passed over Kimihito. He normally hated coming across someone taller than him.

"Smoking is deleterious for thine health. You should abstain from it." Centorea said as she stepped up beside him. She spoke with such firmness. But it came from a much different place than the likes of snobs like Ishida who thought they were better than him.

Kimihito just shrugged his shoulders. "Helps me calm down."

"Deep breaths and peace of mind should be enough to sate any great warrior."

"I see that your vocabulary has grown even more then way back when?"

"I've taken to the teachings of my elders, including language." Centorea looked over at Kimihito and added. "You, meanwhile, have changed rather drastically from who I remember."

"Hey, I'm not that different. I just like to dress a bit differently." Kimihito joked. "If you're thinking about what the others probably say about me, let me tell you they are pretty much all massive exaggerations."

"So you didn't beat up a dozen older knaves just so that thine cohorts could claim domain over their territory?"

Kimihito laughed dryly to himself. "Okay, that one's true. But if you heard anything about me beating up teachers or being Yakuza? Complete nonsense."

That wasn't as bad as Centorea had feared. Already she was at ease - there was something honest about how the boy answered her, that meant she believed him wholeheartedly. That honesty was something he had still held since the day they first met. But it would have been nice if he could have kept his virtue.

Centorea looked Kimihito over. The boy she had met had grown into a rather strapping young adult, large for the average japanese person and visible through his shirt were muscles born of long practice along his arms and torso. "Hmmm, well, we shall have to see. Though if you would deign to allow it, I am in need of a billet during my time here-"

"You can stay at my place, if that's what you're going to ask." Kimihito said with a sidelong look and grin. "Though it's pretty brave to be asking to stay over at the local thugs house, isn't it?"

"I highly doubt you would resort to anything untoward. Besides, I'd dearly appreciate understanding how the years have treated you." She spoke as if they were old friends with years' of experience together instead of years apart. Yet like Kimihito, Centorea had spent much of the past few years building up her mental image of the boy she had met. Every centaur dreamed of finding a hero to train, and her mother had set the precedent for centaurs living with human husbands instead of the few men a centaur tribe would have the government bring in being used solely as teasers. So even if her fated partner was a bit off from what she had hoped, she'd still follow through! It was a centaur's duty to guide their human on the correct path!

Kimihito chuckled again. "Well, if you want, then who am I to say otherwise? I've got a room on the first floor that should be good for you." Taking the burnt out cigarette out of his mouth Kimihito flicked it away. "It's a bit of a walk so maybe we can catch up some more on the way?"

"That is acceptable, please lead the way."

-ISoaN-

Centorea felt a fair bit better about her situation by the time she arrived at Kimihito's home. For one, it wasn't in a slum or anything, so that was a plus. She had also learned that while Kimihito definitely was...a bit rough around the edges, he wasn't a complete write off. Many things he stood for were noble, like standing up for one's friends, but the ease with which he'd resort to violence sometimes felt thuggish. Or maybe he just didn't care enough to make himself not seem that way? Assuming he wasn't lying, the man seemed much more like the noble enemy in her books then the outright villainous bandit.

Kimihito had spent much of the walk asking Centorea about how she had spent the past few years. She was almost disappointed in herself that she did not provide any particularly interesting tales, but Kimihito didn't seem to mind that much of her life was spent behind the walls the government of England had erected to protect its liminal population from its human ones. He could tell it bothered her, though, and he didn't know how to process that just yet.

That wasn't to say Centorea was entirely devoid of stories to tell. She rejoiced with noble gusto the jousting tournaments her mother had helped her compete in, or the forever immortalized battle against the bees. Truly the latter was an epic tale to tell full of combat and stories of valorous action by herself and her family. That story took most of the time it took them to walk back to Kimihito's home, and Centorea was shown to her room, which was indeed much to her liking.

"I used some of my parents' cash to get it remade into a kendo dojo, but I got some futons and stuff we can throw down on the mats and you'll be all good to go." Kimihito said as he showed Centorea the room, it was traditional and surprisingly unfitting for the look Kimihito sported for himself. How he had guessed that she liked traditional styling she wasn't sure, though it could have just been because of her speaking style and like of swords.

It was that easy. Kimihito had taken a guess off his companion's method of speech that she'd like the room over the more proper guest room that he had on this floor. Regardless he figured that anything upstairs was more or less out. "But yah, you need anything, just ask." If there was one thing he wouldn't be, it was a bad host.

"Mmm, that sounds good. Though...if it isn't too much to ask. I did not have time to eat today. Could you perchance provide me with a meal?" Centorea asked. While she was starting to relax her worries about Kimihito a bit, she was not done testing him. She had managed to eat earlier, but she wanted to see if Kimihito would be willing to provide for her.

And he didn't disappoint.

"Ain't a problem. I'll throw something together. Guessing you can't eat meat?" Kimihito asked as he opened the hallway closet and pulled out a stack of futons, handing them to Centorea to let her set up her room however she liked. When he got a nod of confirmation he flashed a grin and added. "Sounds good, should be ready in a few minutes Cera."

Centorea missed the nickname for a moment and Kimihito managed to escape the room before Cera caught it and sputtered, causing Kimihito to chuckle as he heard it from the hallway.

"Centorea."

"Hm?"

"My full name is Centorea, Kimihito. You should address me as such. It is only courteous to your company."

She clearly had no idea what he would call his gang sometimes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll try and remember that, Cera."

-ISoaN-

After that meal, the two of them had enjoyed a pleasant if brief evening of sightseeing. Kimihito kept to mostly pleasant locales, and the ever-proper Centorea had insisted they return home the instant dusk had set, meaning anywhere else would have to wait. It was just as well that they be well-rested, he conceded, for the next day would bring battle.

Both Kimihito and the now insistently named 'Cera' despite mild protests had matches. The two headed over to the arena it was being conducted at together. Though this time Centorea would notice a few things as they went, namely a few stares that seemed to be directed at Kimihito more than her. Maybe it was because he looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Though Cera now knew that he did actually clean himself up in the mornings, he actually woke up fairly early. He just seemed to have a naturally messy look.

They parted ways when they arrived though, as their fights were in different parts of the building. There, Kimihito was met Daiki, a friend who only looked like a gang member; his grades as good as Kimihito's own, and if every threat and insult he had memorised didn't work then the brown-haired sap was likelier to run away crying for his mother than actually fight.

"Boss!" Daiki waved him over anxiously. "Why weren't you here yesterday? Didn't you want to look at the competition?"

Kimihito tilted his head. "I was. Kinda. Why, what are you so shaken up over? You're not the one fighting."

"But I was watching and I'm, I'm kinda worried for you, boss. Some of these monsters are strong! Hans Schneider got knocked out by a minotaur with a club! It was mad!"

"Wasn't he the favourite?"

"He was, and he wasn't the only human to lose. Most humans who had monster matchups yesterday lost. A lot of people are crying foul, but nothing's been done. They just expect you to play like it's nothing. Have you seen some of these monsters, boss? I think I saw a minotaur here; that isn't nothing!"

"How do we know it's the racial factor?" Kimihito retorted while looking down the hall where his opponent would be. "They've no experience fighting against a monster's combat style, no? Perhaps they expected it to be just like a human."

"That's optimistic, isn't it?"

"Not really. It's just typical. People tend to fall for the most basic assumptions."

Kimihito's battle, as Daiki helped discuss with him, was against a Mantis girl named Yume. The woman was known for incredible speed and skill.. Nothing he couldn't likely deal with though.

"I didn't sell you short when I was talking, don't worry. That mantis should think you're the devil incarnate. Squash that bug!"

"Thanks." Was all Kimihito had to say; he knew how mood could affect a competitor's performance. All the same, Kimihito couldn't go into this one overconfident. Instead he went into it expecting that the woman could kick his ass. Victory always felt better when you thought that head of time.

Sliding into his fighting mindset Kimihito would look completely calm as he stepped onto the arena that he would be battling the Yume at. The mantis girl was already there as well, doing the exact same that he was, namely checking to make sure there weren't any oddities in the arena floor. The mantis woman had padding on the natural blades that were attached to her arms.

Soon enough the match itself would start, and after all the pomp and ceremony that followed these things Kimihito found that the Mantis girl was extremely fast. As soon as the match had started, she launched off at him almost faster than he could react. 'Almost' wasn't fast enough, though, and Kimihito stepped back from her strikes. The two weapons striking simultaneously were rather impossible to block without taking a hit; baiting and punishing attacks would be the key

Having being given such a chance, he stepped back and struck out, catching the girl on her wrist. As his sword made contact, the point caller handed out a point. Each fighter got a single point for each solid hit they made that could cause debilitating damage, with the victor being whoever had the most points at time's end or got to fifty first, and Kimihito had quite some skill at doing just that both in the arena and off.

The mantis girl obviously had some skill in it as well, given she kept striking for what would have been incredibly painful hits even with the padding she had as the tournament didn't have the strike rules on hit locations like sports like Kendo did. Hits to places like his diaphragm, to his groin, and even toward his fingers, though the latter two were not scoring locations. The only place spared from threat was the back of his head; such was a hard and very damaging place to hit which neither attacker had the malice to even consider. Kimihito stepped away from them when he could, deflected them when he couldn't, and if he couldn't do either he would twist and put a less painful place in the way even if it sacrificed a point. He had to play for the long game.

The fight would go on all the way till the time draw, and Kimihito honestly wasn't sure who won as he lowered his weapon and took in short breath. They really weren't kidding when they said they had brought the best they could find here, and he would try to center himself as he waited for the judges call. The mantis girl across from him hadn't even changed her expression the entire fight, though she too seemed short of breath even if she was trying her hardest not to show it.

The raven haired man couldn't help but break into a large grin when the results came in and they were in his favour, by five points. The totals being forty five for him and forty for Yume. His grin turned a bit cocky as he looked to Yume and said. "Good fight, maybe you'll get me next time." Yume didn't react to the comment or the expression, and without even a short bow she turned and left.

So little emotion from his opponent, even after he'd teased them. Perhaps she simply didn't care about him now that the battle was done. With a shrug, Kimihito turned and left the arena himself, running into Centorea who had already finished, hitting the maximum of fifty points over her competitor from some western heavy combat school or something. He hadn't looked up her opponents much; he'd just taken it for granted that she would win.

"I caught the tail end of your battle. Your technique was solid, even at that stage of the match. Your skills are indeed as good as I heard if you were able to hold out like that against a mantis girl of all things." Kimihito was exhausted, but Cera's praise was like fresh water. "Though, it is still early in the day, would you mind showing me around the town?"

"Mmm, don't see why not. Let me just get changed back into normal clothes and we can head out of here." Kimihito said with a nod and headed into the changeroom.

Cera would wait outside, and saw a rather rough looking, younger woman standing outside too. Compared to Kimihito, this dame didn't even pretend to look like a reasonable member of society. She wore the same kind of jacket that Kimihito did though she actually wore it, and had a streak of red hair running over her left side. Cera didn't know what she was doing there but she seemed to be waiting for Kimihito too.

"Hello? May I ask why you are waiting here?" Cera asked the woman.

Said woman gave Cera a single glance before dismissing her with a. "None of your business, horse pussy. What are you doing here?"

"I am waiting for my host." Cera said bluntly, half glaring at the woman. "Kimihito is just retiring his battle armour for the day."

"Shit, you boss' girlfriend or something?" The woman said with a frown. "Didn't think he'd go for the stiff busy-bossy type." She eyed Cera's chest with a minxish smirk. "Or maybe he would."

Cera couldn't hold her glare, instead she was too busy blushing embarrassedly at such a crass assumption. "What! N-No, we are simply warriors! We are most certainly not in courtship!" She thought the Japanese were meant to be more mannerly than most humans.

"Sorry bout that." The woman held her hands up innocently. "I'm Ryuko. I've just got to borrow Kimihito for an hour or two, hope you don't mind." She couldn't keep from chuckling a bit, but thankfully Kimihito came out before the conversation could continue. "'Ey boss, mind helping me with an...issue?"

"What is it this time, Ryuko?" Kimihito asked with a half sigh. While uni had more or less put him out of the gang stuff, occasionally a few of his old school buddies would stop by and ask him for help.

"Just need some extra muscle. My sister's crew are running the school like they own it at this point and don't think I can take on all of 'em by myself." Ryuko replied. "And Mokoto's not around today."

Kimihito chuckled. "Satsuki really took over after me and the majority of the gang left didn't she?" He turned to Centorea, who was looking rather lost in the dialogue. "Cera, want to go beat up some people that deserve it?"

"Centorea," the centaur raised a pointed finger as she blushed, "and yes, it is a centaur's duty to act righteously."

"Great. Let's go." Kimihito said with a grin.

-ISoaN-

"Kimihito. How does a school's disciplinary committee remotely resemble 'people that deserve it'?'" Centorea glared at Kimihito for a moment before focusing back on the opponent she was fighting sword to sword, who for some reason was a blindfolded man who dressed much like Kimihito. They had showed up at the school and Ryuko had drawn the man out, along with two of his friends; a small woman with blonde hair that Ryuko was fighting, and a giant man who Kimihito was battling.

Kimihito had ample opportunities to tell the centaur of his motives; she'd noted just how many quiet gaps had emerged in his battle. But despite her shouts, which he must have heard, he never gave an answer. What was he taking her for?

For all the world Centorea wished she could stop the battle and force a more honest answer from her allies and her opponents, but no one would yield until beaten, and they were forcing a fight out of the tournament-tired trio. Perhaps super skilled high schoolers were the norm in Japan; it would explain a lot. For the battle between the two trios was grand indeed, and Cera was hard pressed against this Uzu person. After a few minutes of her doubts, she decided she'd had enough and dodging away from Uzu's latest strike she said. "I yield, I cannot properly put myself into this fight as I do not believe in its cause."

The blindfolded swordsman seemed to pause for a moment, expecting a trick, before he shrugged and lazily said. "Fine, not like I really care. Ryuko's the one that we're after." The words caused a minor twinge in Centorea. They were said with an edge that made her wonder if the man was actually a school disciplinary officer, or an enforcer that had been put in a uniform.

When the man immediately went after Kimihito, and left him on the back foot as he tried to fend off two attackers at once, she felt a mix of more a bad feeling in her stomach, and a bit of a 'he deserves it' melding together to leave her confused.

Oddly enough Kimihito didn't give a vocal reaction to her bowing out. Instead he just seemed to grin of all things and doubled up on his effort. Ryuko though was a bit more vocal. "Hey! What are you doing horse girl! We're going to get our asses kicked if you bow out."

"You should have informed me of what we would be doing before you dragged me here under false pretenses." Centorea replied to the irate raven haired woman, and shifted on her feet as she saw Kimihito take a hit to the chest from Uzu's shinai causing him noticeable pain.

The battle continued for another two minutes, as Kimihito seemed to get faster and stronger with every strike he landed, and was landing on him oddly enough. Until with one hard strike he knocked Uzu back for a moment and struck out for the giant of a man he was battling the blow catching him off guard and slamming into the man's solar plexus, causing him to bend over and collapse in pain.

Even as the strike was connecting though, Uzu had gotten his bearings and was striking again, the blow going right for the back of Kimihto's neck. It was just inches from connecting when it was stopped by a replica sword getting in the way.

"I thought you said you were going to bow out!" Uzu said with surprise at Cera's blade blocking his strike.

The centaur woman frowned, and threw a glare at the man for his dishonourable strike. "No true ally of justice would aim for such a potentially crippling strike. You dishonor your uniform."

Uzu didn't get time to protest, before he was hit by both Kimihito and Cera's strikes, causing him to join his large comrade on the ground in pain. A moment later the blonde woman joined them as Ryuko finished her fight.

"Thanks, boss." Ryuko said with a thumbs up. "I can handle it from here. And I guess you're alright, horse girl."

"Heh, I'm sure you can, Ryuko. Try not to lose your way while you're at it." Kimihito gave her a thumbs up back as he stowed his bokken and lead Centorea away from the school, looking for all the world like absolutely nothing unusual had happened.

As they got a bit further away from the school, Centorea said with an edge in her voice. "Kimihito, I would like you to answer my question. How was that in any way a proper course of action?"

"Well, Ryuko's sister is a real card, she tried to recruit us into her little 'company' back when she showed up but in the end we graduated before she could push it too much further. Looks like she moved into the vacuum we left though." Kimihito said almost disinterestedly.

"And? She is the rightful authority, even if she seems to have caged bears for enforcers. Orderly and and respectful structures are for the benefit of all society; thuggish brutality is not." Centorea pushed.

Kimihito shrugged. "Yeah, but order ain't all it's cracked up to be you know? So you think we should be working against Ryuko, not with her?"

"Yes, yes I do. I think to most of the school there we looked like villains, not heroes." The horse woman said.

Kimihito noticed Cera stressing 'heroes' a bit oddly. "Mmmm, everyone looks like a villain on the other side, you know. Not that I don't see where you're coming from, but I'm not going to leave one of my old friends out to dry."

Centorea really couldn't tell how she should feel. She wanted to be angry at Kimihito for being such a force against order and law, but in another, he was doing it out of loyalty to one of his friends. She almost wondered if Kimihito would do something like that for her if they got to know each other a bit better, and for some reason she felt a bit...off at the worry that he might not.

"Heh," Kimihito laughed at the concentration on Centorea's face. "Don't worry, I'd count you as an old friend too. If we hadn't had that merry old bout in the woods that day, I probably would have dropped Kendo within a year or two, and then I wouldn't be a national champion at something." Kimihito patted Cera's flank as they walked, causing the centaur to blush.

The blush would be lost when Centorea stomped the ground with her front hooves, kicking up some dust. Kimihito stepped aside in surprise. "Well, that is good to know, but it excuses nothing. A hero should act heroic, not like a thug. Even if it is a thug with morals. Likewise, a hero does not simply allow his company to act like knaves. Ryuko and your followers should have a nobler example! Not this, this single-minded blackguard they have now!"

"Oh, is that a challenge Cera?" Kimihito's voice was full of amusement. He'd actually heard of 'blackguard' before, but even if he hadn't he knew all too well what she meant. "Want to put something up on our match if we get there?"

"Indeed, if I win, you will conduct yourself as a true hero!" Cera said with a flourish. "No excuses!"

"And if I win?" Kimihito responded.

"By my honour as a hero, you won't." She said that so sternly that he was actually caught off guard for a moment.

"Hm. Alright." He chewed his lip. "But if I do…" Centorea didn't have anything to say so he added his own with a massive smile. "Mmmmm," he tapped his foot on the ground as he thought of something. Cera didn't really have anything he wanted. But then again, this was an honourable bet, right? So he could ask of her anything. And if they could do just one thing...

"If I win you'll go out on a date with me."

Centorea flushed again. "W-What! That is not-"

"I think it's quite an even exchange. If anything I think I'm getting jipped." Kimihito cut Centorea off, a hint of nervousness hidden underneath his facade. Kimihito would not miss his chance to at least try to get the girl of his very literal dreams to at least go out on a date with him. Seriously, the image he had built up of the centaur girl over the years had paled to the true thing, especially in the...figure department. Really, even his wildest fantasies couldn't have expected the girl's chest to get as big as it actually was. It was so broad that in a match it struck out as easily as any other target, but it would be heresy to touch them in way other than...than...

Anyway, Centorea was still blushing. She couldn't actually say that she was entirely against the idea of a date with Kimihito. The man was fit, on the handsome side of plain, and he had at least some virtue. It was just such a brazen way to go about it! "I...I accept those terms…Though I shall not go easy on you, Kimihito. Our rematch must be at both our full strength, so I expect you to not laze about the next few days." She would know, she was living in his house afterall.

"Sounds good. Now, let's go check out downtown, why don't we? There's an organic foods store that we could pick up something to eat." Kimihito motioned Cera to follow him. "No thuggery, I promise."

"It won't be the first time you make that promise." She smiled radiantly as she followed his lead. The two made for quite good icebreakers through the rush hour crowds.

A/N 2: One note in passing, while we do have an early start on chapter 2 here. I am planning to get out at least one chapter of Spokes of Life before chapter 2 gets seriously looked at for this arc as I've left SoL languid a bit longer then I'd like. Sorry about that to all my readers of this story!