A/N: So, I just had a random desire to write this, so I'm gonna be treating it as practice. I want to make it clear up front that I'm not up to date on the series (I'm currently going through the Light Novels, and have most recently finished volume 5 with 6-8 on their way at the time of writing this) so I might make mistakes that could cause this to branch off in extreme ways from the actual series (though being fanfiction that's part of the point).

There's not really any planned non-canon pairings, at least at the start of this. If in the writing, it seems like it can go that way, I might be inclined to end up adding, or changing any pairings, but I'm not going into this with a plan on that.

Anyway, hope anyone who reads this enjoys it!

Chapter 1

Day 1

I could only see darkness. Something was wrong, I knew that. Yet I couldn't do anything. I attempted to move, even blink, but my body wouldn't let me. Pain shot through my chest, which of course I tried to scream in response, but not a sound came from my mouth. Something felt like it was ripped from me.

The next instant I was bathed in a bright light. A wave of vertigo nearly knocked me over, but I just barely remained upright. I looked around. "The hell?" I said more than questioned. I was in some kind of medieval-looking marketplace. The road looked like it was some kind of cobblestone. There were people walking by, not just humans but what looked like people mixed with animals of all kinds.

I looked around confused at who had spoken at first. "Was that…me? I asked aloud slowly. My voice, it wasn't my voice. It sounded nothing like my voice normally did. I looked around quickly, seeing a fountain just a few steps away from me. The sound of the marketplace must have drowned out the sound of it. I thought as I quickly approached it.

I looked into the water expecting to see my own reflection, but it wasn't. The face looking back at me was pale, piercing blue eyes, long blonde hair, and perfect teeth. "The hell is going on?" I mumbled.

I looked down at my clothes, seeing what looked like a generic fantasy tunic and pants. What really surprised me was there was an ornate-looking sword at my left side, and a dagger at my right. I took the dagger out, seeing that it was an extremely thin blade, that wouldn't have been more than a foot in length.

What is this called? I knew that it was familiar, but for a few seconds, the name had escaped me. Misericorde. A mercy dagger. That's what it was called. I faintly remembered its use too. If a knight was too injured to recover but still alive, you were supposed to stab into the gaps in the plate armor and mercy kill them. I put the dagger back where it was supposed to be and started looking around. I noticed that there was someone else besides me standing out. He was clearly Asian and looked to be in his late teens, with black hair looking like it was pushed back up. I'd have called it short as is, but for all I knew it was longer if it was actually down.

The main thing that stood out, however, was what he was wearing. It was a black and white tracksuit, something that definitely seemed to clash with everyone else, myself included. Could he be like me? I wondered. I walked up towards him. "Excuse me," I started. He jumped in surprise before looking towards me.

"Me?" He asked, pointing at himself. I nodded. Why does he look so familiar? I asked myself.

"You're Asian, yeah?"

"How did you know?" He seemed surprised. "Yeah, I'm Japanese. Does a version of it exist here?"

I shook my head. "Not that I know of. I just happened to get here too." I motioned to my body. "Though unlike you, it seems I got a different body when I got here." I held out my hand. "I'm James, by the way."

The teenager smiled and shook my hand. "Subaru Natsuki," He introduced. I'm not sure if it showed on my face, but I froze for a second. I knew why I knew him now. That's the name of the main character from Re:Zero, right? Did I get Isekaied into an Isekai? "Are you okay?" Subaru asked. He looked a little worried.

"I-I'm fine," I stuttered for a second. I quickly got my composure back though. I just need to keep calm. I told myself. "I just had a feeling of dejva."

Subaru looked down to my side. "Oh, you have a sword!" He exclaimed. "I didn't get anything extra." He held up the bag that he was carrying. "I also have my cell phone on me."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why myself." We walked in silence for what felt like a minute.

"So since we were Isekaied, we're both the main character right?" Subaru asked with a smile.

"You probably are," I commented back. Before he could respond we heard someone cry out. We both turned towards the center of the street. A boy had tripped while crossing the street and was on the ground right in the way of a carriage.

"This is it!" Subaru yelled out excitedly. He started to do a weird pose. "This must be an event pop where I'll learn to produce magic! Ha!" He thrusted his right hand out. I didn't wait to see if anything would happen. In fact, I knew nothing would happen. My body seemed to move on its own, as I moved for the boy. I grabbed him and did a tuck and roll just barely getting out of the way of the carriage in time for neither of us to get hit. I quickly stood up and sat the kid on his feet too. He looked upset, but otherwise, nothing seemed to be wrong at a glance. People started clapping. I don't deserve this. I thought. My body acted before I did. I looked both ways and quickly crossed back to Subaru, who looked disappointed.

"You did good." A guard walking in the other direction put a hand on my shoulder as he passed.

"That was awesome!" Subaru shouted when I got back to where he was. He still had a disappointed look in his eyes, but otherwise, he acted like it didn't bother him. We resumed walking. "I guess it's too early for me to use magic in this world," He mumbled under his breath. I wasn't sure if he actually wanted me to hear that or not, so I chose to ignore it.

We came up to a stall that was selling fruit. I looked down, much like Subaru did, both of us being confused, though for very different reasons. While I knew for Subaru it was because he couldn't read a thing of it. For me, however, the thing that confused me was that I could read it. While I recognized the characters as something I'd never seen before, somehow I could understand them perfectly.

Now that I thought about it, I could also understand Subaru perfectly too. He would be speaking Japanese, wouldn't he? Or at least the language should be similar to it enough. I should have been speaking English, but now that I actually thought about it, I hadn't been, had I?

We both walked away from the stall, without buying anything. "I couldn't read any of that," Subaru complained.

"Maybe it's something to do with the new body, but I'm able to read it," I responded.

"What?" Subaru looked shocked. He crouched down and stuck his hands to his head. "Please don't tell me I'm just a side character and you're the main character." He panicked.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," I laughed lightly. You're actually the main character after all. I thought. "We probably shouldn't be thinking of this as a type of media anyway. We should think of this as actual life."

Subaru quickly stood up. "You're right, you're right," He said flippantly as he started walking again. I stopped following him for a second, as he bumped into someone, and was pulled into an alleyway. I didn't go after him.

If I remember correctly, this is where he meets Emilia. I definitely don't wanna get in the way of that. I sat down against a building. Besides this gives me some time to think. Do I remember anything from before coming here? My name is James, I was 19 years old…Is that it? I started panicking. Why can't I remember anything else? I can remember games, books, and anime, but I can't remember my own life?! I was practically panicking in my head.

Why can't I remember anything?

While I'd been lost in thought, or more like panicking, I hadn't noticed that Subaru had walked back up to me, with a silver-haired half-elf with him. "James? Earth to James," Subaru said. I jumped slightly and looked up at him. I quickly got up.

"Glad you found me, I lost you," I lied. I knew that I couldn't have gone into the alley with him. I looked behind him, at the beautiful silver-haired elf behind him. She had a gray cat floating by her as well. "Seems you've made some new friends." I smiled at them and she looked a little shy.

"Not friends," the half-elf, Emilia, quickly said. "He's just returning a favor and helping me look for my badge." the cat, Puck flew up to my ear.

"She's pretty shy about it, but I think she's happy to have the help," Puck told me with a slight laugh. He floated back to Emilia's side.

"I'm glad to see you too," Subaru smirked. "I wanted to let you know that I'd be helping her so you wouldn't be looking for me. Let's meet up by the fountain again at the end of the day."

I nodded. "Okay, see you later then." I started walking. I wasn't gonna get roped into their quality time. I looked back at them and Subaru gave me a thumbs up. Besides, I knew what waited at the end of his path.

Is that cruel? I know he's going to his death after all. No don't think about it that way. There's no way that I could make a difference after all, right? I might have two weapons, one of which is meant only for mercy killing, but I don't know how to actually use them after all.

Maybe I'll try to get the lay of the land. I thought.

The night was starting to fall, as I stood near the fountain. I knew Subaru wouldn't make it back to me. Though honestly I was surprised this look was still going. I'd have thought he'd be dead by now.

I looked down one of the streets, as a group of knights were walking up it, in my direction. The lead one I recognized was Julius, his violet hair was a dead giveaway. As they walked by, Julius glanced up at me, locking eyes with me. He froze for a second.

"How are you here, Michael?" He said, his hand moving towards his sword.

I stared at him for a second, confused. "I think you have the wrong person. I don't believe I know you, and my name is James, not Michael."

That seemed to anger the knight. "Don't think you can fool me with such trivial acting." He drew his sword.

I held both of my hands up. "I really don't know what you're talking about." I was scared, obviously. I don't remember a character named Michael, though I only had read the first four books, was it someone that appeared later?

"Do you think he's a leftover from the Biehn incident?" another knight questioned, drawing his sword.

"That must be it," Julius said as he stepped forward. "Though he's different from the rest. That's the only explanation for how he's here now." I quickly tried to draw my sword, and with a swift motion, Julius stabbed his sword through my chest. I attempted to scream, and my mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Julius pulled his sword out and I fell to the ground. "Stay dead this time you disgrace," Julius said as he lifted his sword up. My vision was blurring but I could make out another figure walking up beside him.

"Is this really how we're going to let this end? The newcomer mocked. Julius didn't react to his presence, it was like no one said anything at all. He reached out his hand to me. "Just take my hand and we can make them pay." Julius's sword came down, chopping off my head. I died there by the fountain that night.