April 6th, 2008
The full moon shone brightly through the window of a small apartment bedroom. Inside, a young man with brown hair and eyes, dressed in a simple black shirt and pants, sat staring at an ID card pulled from his wallet.
"Yuki Judai…" He walked to the mirror and examined his reflection. "Huh. Isn't this Jaden's face?"
Confusion settled over him.
"Wait, wasn't I supposed to lose my memories of fictional worlds? Why do I still remember Yu-Gi-Oh!? And Mr... damn, why can't I remember his name now?"
The contradiction buzzed in his head.
"I guess it makes sense that I'd remember Yu-Gi-Oh! as a series. But why? Did he give me a freebie? If so… thanks."
He looked back at the ID.
"To think I became Judai. Not bad, he looks pretty cool." A smirk spread across his face. "Alright then, I guess I'm Judai now." He struck a pose, lowering his voice dramatically. "Elemental Hero Neos… contact fuse!"
He laughed at himself, amused by the coolness of the imagined summoning and his new, fitting voice.
Judai walked back to his bed and sat down, the initial amusement fading into practicality.
"I know I have the power of Duel Monsters… but how do I actually summon anything?"
He racked his brain but came up empty. No instruction manual appeared in his mind.
Frustrated, he stood up and began experimenting aloud, cycling through various poses and catchphrases.
"Draw!"
"I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
"Appear, Dark Magician!"
"Super Polymerization!"
"Yubel!"
After several minutes of futile attempts, nothing happened. No spectral cards, no glowing monsters.
"Does it need to be a life-or-death situation?" he wondered aloud, scratching his head.
"Probably. Maybe I just need some fresh air. I'll figure it out tomorrow."
He tried to sleep, but his mind kept racing, obsessed with unlocking his new ability.
'How do I activate it? I still have no idea.'
Tossing and turning, he finally sat back up and grabbed the red flip phone from his bedside table.
"Hmm." He scrolled through the contacts. "Barely any numbers. Does this guy not have any friends?" Only entries for his father and mother were listed.
'I guess it works out. Less acting required.'
His eyes drifted to a calendar on the wall, where a note was scribbled in the date box for tomorrow: Go to Kouh Academy. First day of transfer.
"So I'm a transfer student. Cool."
Seeking a distraction, he turned on the small TV across the room. It flickered to life, showing a promotional ad for Super Sentai Go-Onger.
"Wait, I've seen this before." A realization dawned on him. "Hold on… did he only take my specific world knowledge, and I get it back by experiencing the media here? Does that mean I have to marathon a ton of stories?"
He considered the idea. 'I guess he wants me to enjoy myself by watching the anime or reading the manga again, without meta-pressuring myself. He must be a God of Entertainment or something, since he wants to see something fun.'
"This is a lot to take in. Now I'm definitely not sleeping."
The channel changed, and an anime called Blassreiter began.
"Ayo, what the hell is this anime?"
The show opened starkly: an uncensored, deceased nude woman in an ambulance, followed by guards being slaughtered by a CG mech. The robot hijacked the ambulance, plowed into a motorcycle race circuit, and started shooting before fusing with a motorcycle itself.
"Okay, I definitely haven't seen this one before." Judai found himself locked in, the bizarre, gritty story completely capturing his attention.
When the episode ended, he let out a breath.
"The story's actually pretty fun, even if the CG is a mess. Gotta forgive it. It's 2008, after all."
The next thing to air was a trailer for Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2.
"Okay, I need to watch that. I feel like I've seen it…"
It was immediately followed by a 15-second trailer for the movie Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva: Climax Deka.
"I need to see that, too. I think I remember it… Bruh." He ran a hand through his hair, a weary smile on his face. "This is so much work."
2008, April 7th
He managed to stay awake until 7:00 AM, but by then he was exhausted, yawning as he glared at the clock. He groaned.
"I have to go to school again? Man, I do not want to have to learn all over."
He dragged himself up from the floor, headed to the bathroom for a quick shower, and put on his school uniform. He stared at himself in the mirror.
'Gotta say, this uniform is even worse. I thought I'd get one of those cool black blazers you see in anime.'
With a sigh, he stepped out of his apartment, only to realize he had no idea which way to go.
"But where is the school?"
As he wandered, he spotted a student with strikingly scarlet red hair walking ahead of him, wearing the same uniform.
'Why is the skirt that short? A small breeze and you'd see everything. Also, that hair color… wouldn't that violate school regulations?' He ran a hand through his own brown hair. 'Wait, isn't mine kind of a violation too? But mine's natural, so maybe it's fine. Maybe hers is natural too… fascinating.'
He picked up his pace slightly until he was walking beside her.
"Hey, are you heading to Kuoh Academy, too? Can you show me the way?" he asked.
Internally, he chuckled. 'Can you show me the way?' It felt oddly formal and silly, but he wasn't sure why.
The girl turned to look at him. She was slightly taller by about two inches, and she offered a kind, charming smile.
"Of course. Are you new here?" she said.
"Yeah, I'm a transfer student. Name's Yuki Judai. Nice to meet you," he said, introducing himself.
'Is it even possible to be this beautiful without wearing makeup?' he thought.
"I'm Rias Gremory. It's nice to meet you too, Judai," she replied, her smile unwavering.
"Are you not from Japan?" Judai asked, noting her distinctly non-Japanese name.
"That's right," Rias said.
"So, what part of the world?"
"Northern Europe."
"Got it," Judai said, filing the information away as they continued walking. 'Is she the heroine of this story? If she's the only one with that kind of hair, she must be the heroine.'