It was just another night for a young man who was driving home to his parents' house after working a late-night shift from 4 to 12 near Baltimore. He looked to be about 18, and was fresh out of high school, which had let out 4 months earlier. He had no idea of where to take his life next, and he was only enrolled in general education classes at college.
As he came up to a red light, he stopped and yawned. He then saw it flash green and proceeded through, just as he normally did.
Then, suddenly, he saw headlights from his right side, followed by a loud bang as glass shattered around him.
Suddenly, it was morning as he suddenly awoke. Immediately, he realized that something was not right. He looked around and noticed that his room was unrecognizable and smaller. He then looked out the window behind his bed and noticed his room was 6 floors off the ground. He also did not recognize the pajamas he wore at all, nor did he recognize the clothes that had been laid out for him as he also checked the time. "Huh... That's odd... I still sound the same." He then turned to a mirror and widened his eyes in shock.
He was no longer an 18-year-old young man with brown hair from Maryland. He was a younger junior high-aged boy, no older than 14 or maybe 13, with light brown hair from what seemed to be an east Asian country.
"What the fuck?" He then got up and looked around the room, finding a Japanese poster of Darling in the Franxx on his wall. "Well, at least I still have good taste in shows." He then chuckled to himself.
Then, he heard a female voice call out in Japanese, "Azuma! Breakfast is ready!"
"Coming, mom," he replied back in fluent Japanese without thinking. He then suddenly recoiled and said in English, "What the fuck?! How did I remember that was my mom, and how can I speak Japanese?!" He then hurriedly got dressed as he looked at his uniform and thought to himself, "Why do I recognize this uniform from somewhere?" He then picked his phone up and checked the date: May 16, 2024. "6 years into the future? There's no way I watched Darling in the Franxx at 8 when it was airing here. Maybe I have an older brother or I watched it later? Say, May 16..."
As he walked to school, he felt as if the route he was walking was familiar, even though he had never walked it before. "Okay," he thought to himself as he began to write stuff about his new life on a notepad. "Darling in the Franxx got a Season 2 in 2021 that was about the VIRM returning and the reincarnated Hiro and Zero-Two fighting them followed by a movie in 2022 that was an interquel about the rest of Squad 13, I am an only child, I got the poster at a shop, my parents were into anime when they were my age and watched DiTF when it first aired, though I wasn't shown it until I was older due to its content. As for me personally, my name is Azuma Inubouzaki, I'm 14, and I'm in what would be 8th Grade in America or 2nd-year-middle-school here. Oh, and for some reason, Madoka Magica got them confused when I asked about that, though other magical girl shows exist, like Sailor Moon or Yuuki Yuuna." He then finished his notes and said to himself in English, "Fuck, I gotta repeat the awkwardness that was middle school, and I still don't know where the hell I am. Well, at least I'll get straight-As in English classes, and hopefully I've learned from my mistakes."
He then looked around and admired the sights. He was impressed by the city, which had many tall buildings that looked almost brand new. Then, as he walked by a fountain, he noticed that many of the people that walked by had natural hair colors that should not have been possible. He then heard what sounded like several girls talking with each other nearby. Their voices sounded familiar to him.
He looked across the fountain and saw three girls chatting with each other. One had pink hair, the other blue, and the last one green. When he looked a bit closer without trying to get noticed, his jaw dropped as he quickly moved out of potential eyesight of them. As he collected himself, he said, "What... What... Whaaaaat... No way... Don't tell me... Wait..." He then opened up his flip phone and searched on the internet "Mitakihara Japan." Sure enough, results on Bing popped up with a Japanese Wikipedia article about the city. "This is... Now I know why my parents here didn't recognize Madoka Magica..." He then got up and took a deep breath. "Okay, don't panic. Just pretend to act normal. I think this will be the day Homura transfers into school." He then continued his walk to school.
As he sat down in his classroom, which he was again familiar with, he realized that Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi were all in his class, and that the teacher was Kazuko Saotome. He thought to himself, "Oh, this is great, juuuust fucking great. I get a front-row 3D seat to one of the saddest anime I've ever seen. Let's see if she does her thing with that Nakazawa guy. Say, we never did find out his first name in the show."
As Ms. Saotome began her spiel as she had in the show, Azuma sat and watched, holding in laughter. After such, the teacher calmed down and said to the class, "Well, now that that's out of the way, let's give a big warm welcome to our new classmate!"
Azuma thought to himself, "I gotta say, the girls in the show already looked cute, but they look better in real life. Well, here comes Homura."
"Come on, Akemi-san," Kazuko said to the black-haired girl. "Don't be shy." As Homura walked into the room, everyone stared at her in awe.
"I can see why everyone called her pretty in the show," the fan-turned-character thought to himself.
"I am Akemi Homura," the girl said with little emotion as she looked at Madoka. "It's nice to meet you all."
As Azuma stood outside of a music store in a mall, he said to himself, "This must be the place. It's gotta be it." He then walked inside as he was met with shoppers all around him. He noticed that neither Sayaka nor Madoka were at the store yet. "All I gotta do is find that back entrance to the closed off part."
As he walked in, he saw Homura briskly walk through the store and towards a hallway that led to the restrooms. As she did, she clearly was frustrated with something. Azuma quietly followed behind her without her noticing, sneaking behind boxes and cleaning supplies before she disappeared around a corner.
"This must be the way," Azuma thought to himself as he rounded the corner to find a set of double-doors that had a sign reading "FLOOR ABOVE UNDER RENOVATION, CONSTRUCTION CREW ONLY." He looked around to make sure no one noticed him and then went in. They led to a set of stairs that led up to what was supposed to be the second level of the music store, which he climbed quickly. He then walked through the dark second level before exiting out onto the closed off floor, which was dark. He asked himself, "Should I really be getting myself into this?"
He then walked forward, using his phone as a flashlight. As he walked deeper, he realized that given what he had seen in the anime, Madoka and Sayaka has not entered the floor the way he had gone. He also saw what he thought was a shadow and ducked behind a cabinet to avoid being spotted. He then heard a familiar female voice call out, "Kyubey?! Where the hell are you?!"
"That wasn't Homura," Azuma thought to himself. "It has to be Mami. Speaking of which, I really gotta see what she looks like in real life." Suddenly, he saw the room around him change as the walls suddenly got covered with odd objects such as cotton balls and vines. He then got up and looked around as he recognized what was happening. "This must be the work of an enemy Stand! Well, either that or a witch." He told himself a joke based on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure to try to keep himself calm.
Then, he saw the shadow suddenly run towards him as the same voice called out, "Who's there?! It's dangerous!"
Then, he saw her. Before his very eyes, Mami Tomoe came into full view, wearing her school uniform. To him, he was taken aback by her looks in real life. "Uh... Me?" She has the same hairstyle as she did in the show itself, and her eyes were still a deep yellow. "She... She's gorgeous... She looks even hotter in real life... Wait, it feels weird thinking that, given you were 18 or almost 19 before you were reborn here, and since you ship her with the other characters usually. FBI, don't hurt me, please."
"Are you a student at my school?" Mami noticed that Azuma was still wearing his uniform.
"Yeah," he replied as he gave a small bow. "My name is Inubouzaki Azuma. I'm a second-year. I believe you are Tomoe Mami, a third-year."
"I am," Mami replied as she looked around. "Well, anyways, come with me. You'll be safe as long as we stick together. I'll explain it in a way you can understand later. By the way, nice JoJo reference, but this isn't the work of an enemy Stand." She then took his arm and dragged him as they both ran towards the other end of the floor as the witch's barrier took form around them. "Huh... I can hear Kyubey now..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Mami replied, brushing it off. "So, how did you find your way up here?"
"I got lost," Azuma said, lying to her to conceal his true intentions. "And I found my way into here. How about you?"
"I came here to find someone," Mami replied as she continued to look around. "As long as you're with me, these things that keep chanting in German won't be bothering you." Indeed, the minions of the witch, which Azuma knew were called Anthonys, were chanting random threatening phrases in German at them as they passed by. They looked even more terrifying in real life than in the anime.
"I know I'll be having nightmares tonight," Azuma said out loud. "Wait, did I just say that?"
"I heard you," Mami replied as she chuckled. "Trust me, these things may be scary now, but you haven't seen anything yet." Then, the two of them spotted a scared Madoka and Sayaka ahead. Azuma could not see or hear him, but he knew that Madoka was holding Kyubey in her arms. "Ah! There you are!" She then stopped and let go of Azuma. "Watch this."
Azuma said to himself as Mami grabbed her soul gem, "That looks so cool!"
"It is," the blonde replied as a bright light emanated from the soul gem, creating a protector barrier around the four of them and clearing out several Anthonys ahead of them. As she then approached a scared Madoka and Sayaka, she said to them, "That was close, wasn't it? But don't worry. You're safe now."
Sayaka then said to her and Azuma, "Inubouzaki-san? From class? What are you doing here? Who's that girl with you?"
"I'm Tomoe Mami," Mami introduced herself. "I'm a year ahead of you two. I see you guys rescued Kyubey. Thanks."
Azuma said to them, "I can't see Kyubey, but I know he's there."
Mami turned around, confused, and asked him, "Huh? You know who Kyubey is? How?"
"I have my reasons," he simply replied, not wanting to give away his knowledge of the show. "Can you tell him he doesn't have to hide himself from me? I won't hurt him." Azuma felt a slight pain as he said the last sentence. "I wanna fucking hack him to death, but I'll stay civil for now."
"I suppose I can't hide from you forever if you know about me," a voice then called out as Kyubey suddenly appeared in front of Azuma and leapt our of Madoka's arms. "Inubouzaki Azuma, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he replied, wondering how Kyubey knew his name. "It is."
"Nice to meet you," the white alien creature replied to him. "By the way, Mami, I think you may wanna jump into action. This witch is getting restless." He then pointed at a thicket of barbed wire that rose around Mami.
"I see," Mami replied as she stepped back. "Let's do this." She then spun around and began to transform. As Azuma watched, he could almost hear the music from that scene of the show, Credens Justitiam, play in his head.
Madoka said to Azuma, "Inubouzaki-san, I'm glad you weren't hurt."
"Thank you," he replied. "Same to you and Miki-san." He decided to err on the side of caution and refer to Madoka and Sayaka by their family names for now. He then looked up and saw that Mami had fully transformed and was now forming muskets with her ribbons, which was even more impressive in real life. "She looks amazing. Why do I keep admiring her? Granted, she was my best girl in the old world, but still, it's not like the other characters don't look nice, but something keeps attracting me to her."
Mami the called out, "Eat this!" She then had all the muskets fire upon the witch, blowing it up in front of Azuma, Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyubey as they were blown back by the force of the blast. However, it wasn't enough to destroy the witch, as it only caused it to simply flee away from the scene.
Sayaka said to Madoka, "That looks so cool!"
Then, as Mami landed, the witch's barrier around them disappeared and was replaced by the original closed off floor. As Madoka and Sayaka looked around in amazement, Mami said to Azuma, "So, you've found out my secret."
"I won't tell a soul," Azuma replied with a thumbs-up and a wink. "Trust me."
"Good," Mami replied. Then, they all turned to face Homura as she landed in front of them.
Azuma said to her, "You're the new transfer student in my class, right? Akemi Homura? I assume you're like Tomoe-san?"
Homura was shocked to find Azuma with them. "What?! Inubouzaki-san?!" She thought to herself, "No way! This is an anomaly! I've never seen him do any of this in any other timeline at all! How is... How does he know about this?!"
"The witch fled," Mami told Homura. "I'll let you take care of it."
Homura coldly told her, "You know I have unfinished business, right?"
"Not now," Mami replied to her as she stared her down. "Let's do that another time."
"Fine," Homura replied. "I suppose so." She then walked away from them to go kill the witch.
Sayaka breathes a sigh of relief before she said, "Thank God. She was giving me the creeps."
Mami then said to Azuma as she turned around, "So, I imagine Kyubey will ask you this as well, but, how do you know about magical girls?"
Madoka asked, "Magical what? Like in anime?"
"Sort of," Mami replied. "I'm sure you've heard of the classics, right? Sailor Moon, the various Precure series, Yuuki Yuuna, Tokyo Mew Mew, the list goes on and on. Yet in real life, only Yuuki Yuuna comes even close to depicting what real magical girls are actually like in terms of combat, and even then, there are key differences."
"Well," Azuma replied. "I had a cousin who was one." "Wow, great, how fucking original, dude."
"Sounds about right," Kyubey replied as he turned to Madoka and Sayaka. "Say, speaking of that, why don't you two consider becoming magical girls like Tomoe Mami here. All you need to do is make a contract with me."
Madoka and Sayaka asked at the same time, "A contract?"
As Homura sat down on a couch in her home, she wrote down notes as she wondered to herself. "How does Inubouzaki-san know about magical girls?! How did he get to that location in the mall?! Why is this happening only in this timeline?!" She slammed her fist at the table in frustration. "That reckless idiot could compromise everything!" She then took a deep breath as she tried to relax. "Okay, Homura, calm yourself down. I need to make sure he keeps a distance from us."
"He is not normal," a voice suddenly said to her from behind. Homura turned around to see Kyubey staring directly at her and gave him an angry look. "He should not know a single thing about how magical girls work. I tell every girl I make a contract with to not reveal the details to non-magical girls, but I guess at least a few didn't listen. How troublesome."
"I never thought I'd hear myself say this to someone like you," Homura commented in disbelief. "And I still can't believe I am, but I completely agree with you on this one, Kyubey. Inubouzaki-san is unpredictable."
At around the same time, Mami led Azuma, Sayaka, and Madoka to her apartment. As they got off a bus to her building, Azuma looked up and noticed something familiar about it. "Huh... Why does this place seem familiar? Wait a minute..." As Mami talked to the other two girls, Azuma checked his phone to see where on Google Maps he had set as his home. "No way!"
Mami, wondering what he had seen, asked him, "Inubouzaki-san, what is it?"
"You live in the same apartment complex my family lives in," Azuma replied as he showed her where his home was on Google Maps. "Which apartment? My family is in Apartment 6-7."
"You're a floor below me then," the blonde replied as she smiled. "I'm Apartment 5-4. What a coincidence, huh?"
"I guess so," Azuma replied, slightly blushing. "It's like a dream come true... Hopefully, it won't turn into a nightmare."