Usagi hopped along a winding path through the edge of the forest, ears bouncing with each energetic step. The morning mist still clung to the ground like a sleepy blanket, and little drops sparkled on the tips of the grass. He was travelling again—looking for something fun, something strange.
It was quiet.
A tug. Not on his ears, but in his chest. Usagi paused. He turned his head sharply, sensing something—someone—nearby. A shadow moved between the trees.
Suddenly, the bushes rustled, and a strange creature stumbled into the clearing. Towering, beastly, mismatched—horns, fur like a thundercloud. A chimera. Its yellow eyes wide and wild, filled with... something familiar.
Fear? No—pain.
Usagi didn’t move. He tilted his head, studying the creature. It looked like a monster, but…
“...Momonga?”
The creature’s eyes widened.
Then, it began to cry.
Big, shaking sobs. Its claws curled into the dirt, and it howled a wordless scream that made the trees tremble. Usagi’s heart ached. It wasn’t the sound of a monster. It was the sound of someone lonely. Someone who had been crying like this for a long, long time.
Suddenly, the chimera lifted its head, Usagi jumped.
The cry was so desperate, it hurt. But even more than the voice, it was the feeling behind it—aching, sharp, and real. Usagi’s big eyes blinked slowly. He stared harder.
Then he understood.
This was Momonga. The real Momonga.
The creature wasn’t trying to scare anyone. It was chasing his own body—the one now worn by the cheerful Momonga Usagi had seen before. But that Momonga wasn’t really Momonga. Not in soul. Just a thief in soft fur.
And the one crying here… was the real one.
Usagi stepped forward.
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t run. Just waddled up to the beastly figure and placed a tiny paw on its clawed foot.
“...I believe you.”
The chimera stopped. Its breathing slowed.
“I’ll help you,” Usagi said, smiling gently. “Let’s get your body back.”
The chimera—no, Momonga—stared at him with trembling eyes.
Then, for the first time in a long time, he nodded.
A new journey had begun. Not just for adventure—but for justice. And Usagi would make sure the real Momonga could smile again.
Even if it meant facing a fake one who had stolen everything.
The wind shifted.
Usagi's ears twitched as he walked beside Chiikawa and Hachihaware. They were chatting cheerfully about the pancakes they were going to eat, faces bright with excitement.
Behind his usual bounce and loud laughs, his eyes flicked to the side—to him. The one trailing a few steps behind. The thing that wore Momonga’s body like a costume.
He had already confirmed it days ago. That sharp instinct of his, the one he rarely showed, had picked up the difference immediately.
The soul inside the stolen body didn’t even realize it was being watched.
Usagi did what he did best: He played dumb.
But behind the pranks and games, he was waging a quiet, one-sided war.
"Oops," Usagi said loudly, snatching the last rice ball before ‘Momonga’ could reach it. "Too slow~!"
“H-hey… I wanted—”
"Should’ve been quicker! Wahaha~"
Chiikawa and Hachihaware just giggled.
"Usagi is being Usagi again," Hachihaware shrugged.
The fake Momonga looked increasingly nervous around him, flinching whenever Usagi got close. Every meal became a test. Usagi would startle him with loud screaming.
Because he knew.
He remembered the chimera’s scream. The agony in the woods.
Usagi never forgot.
When night fell, and everyone else was asleep, Usagi stood on the hill, ears rustling in the breeze. He looked up at the moon.
"Don’t worry," he said softly, to the wind. "I’m gonna get it back for you."
He turned and looked over his shoulder toward the campfire, where the imposter was resting comfortably in a stolen body.
And with a small smile—not his usual loud, mischievous grin, but something sharper, colder—Usagi walked back to his friends, pretending, once again, to just be the playful idiot.
Because Usagi wasn’t just the second-ranked hunter.
He was something far more dangerous.