Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

After all, what magical girls do in this world is to punish evil and defeat wicked witches... to bring peace to the world.

How could someone who is so righteous and heroic, someone who is so highly anticipated and praised, possibly be rejected by others?

There shouldn't be any problems now.

"Quiet! Class, I know you're all very concerned about what's been happening these past few days, but it's time for class now!"

Okay~

The students at Mitakihara School continued with their lessons for the day.

However, Mami Tomoe had no time to continue paying attention to the lesson content.

The students' constant discussions about magical girls still fascinate her.

How to do?

If I were to reveal my identity as a magical girl right here, in front of everyone, what would the result be?

Will I live up to everyone's expectations? Will I fulfill their aspirations?

Surely... Magical girls are all symbols of justice, so how could anyone dislike them? There's absolutely no reason to! Isn't that right?

This subtle, heart-wrenching feeling made Mami Tomoe feel that time was passing more and more slowly. Every minute and every second that followed made her blood boil, as if she was anticipating something that would happen.

"what?"

"What's wrong, Inoguchi? It's not good to daydream. You haven't been paying attention to the class for the past three minutes."

"Um...no, teacher."

During class, the teacher noticed something unusual about one of the students, who then pointed to the window in front of them, looking puzzled.

"Didn't you notice? There are black bugs flying around over there."

"…ha?"

"That's right, teacher! I've wanted to remind you so many times, but I was afraid you'd scold me, so I just kept watching!"

"Hey...did you all see the black bugs too?"

"I didn't see it."

"Me too. You guys aren't all ganging up to scam people, are you? Doing this kind of thing in class isn't fun at all."

"No, I'm not lying!"

The students' increasingly quarrelsome behavior also caught the teachers' attention.

He quickly gestured for the students to quiet down, adjusted his glasses, and moved closer to the window.

—In that very instant.

Sitting on the other side, Mami Tomoe suddenly felt a sense of astonishment.

That feeling immediately extinguished the excitement that had been constantly welling up in her heart during this period.

'This feeling, could it be—?!'

This familiar... extremely unsettling and bizarre feeling.

That was the first time, as Mami Tomoe believed, she had ever experienced such a feeling in her life until yesterday.

then.

"No...teacher!"

Her eyes widened, and she immediately called out to the teacher who was walking toward the window.

"Don't go near there, get out of the way!"

"Huh...?"

Then, before the teacher could even react...

A plume of black smoke, large enough to be seen by everyone, instantly billowed in through the window.

puff--!!

Without the slightest hesitation, Mami Tomoe raised her hand, and a golden ribbon flicked out from her sleeve.

She then wrapped her arms around the teacher's waist and pulled him backward.

After that fleeting moment, a huge cloud of black smoke rose directly from outside the window.

"What, what is that?!"

"Could it be a fire? Wow, there's so much smoke!"

"But, but—how could a fire produce purplish-black smoke?"

When the students and teachers were all in complete chaos because of this situation—

The plume of black smoke gradually grew larger.

Now everyone can respect it... But what exactly is inside the black smoke?

Those were beings that defied all conventional logic.

The entire body and limbs were twisted into a liquid-like shape, suspended in the dark smoke, constantly spewing out poisonous gas. Overall, it looked like a creature that had stepped out of a painting.

No… that can no longer be called a living being.

It was a monster through and through.

"That's a lie... right?"

Almost all the students were dumbfounded. The light bulbs in the classroom shattered and the light went out. Then, endless smoke and dust seemed to engulf everyone.

"It's a witch...the witch we heard about on TV, right!"

"It's actually real! It really exists, it's not a fabrication!"

"It's already on TV, how could it still be fake!"

"Now, now is absolutely not the time to care about such things!"

"Classmates, classmates, don't panic! Everyone hide at the back of the classroom—Waaaaaah!!"

Under the students' almost stunned gazes, a cloud of black smoke engulfed the teacher's body.

And the students could do nothing but stand there, dumbfounded—

Bang——! !

Just then, a clear voice rang out.

"…What?"

Under the shocked gaze of everyone, the teacher's body was pulled out and landed safely on the ground.

Are you alright?

After a moment of dizziness, the teacher finally managed to see the situation clearly.

...Huh?

My own student, that girl named Mami Tomoe, actually—

She changed into a very glamorous dress, and... she was holding a weapon that looked like a flintlock pistol?!

"Ma, Mami... classmate?"

The teacher was too frightened to speak, but Mami Tomoe simply smiled gently.

"Please take good care of the students. I will take care of everything right away."

The voice just fell.

Mami Tomoe leaped forward, and then countless guns poured out from behind her.

The witch, who existed within the black mist, directly confronted her.

Boom—!!

The sounds of violent explosions and battle continued to echo afterward.

at this point.

Everyone, from the teacher to the students present, understood what had happened.

"Asami-kun..."

They stared in disbelief at the blond figure outside the window.

"Asami-kun, is she a magical girl?"

Upon hearing those words, Mami Tomoe felt as if her heart were boiling water, a boiling and scorching sensation that filled every corner of her soul.

----------------------

The school in Mitakihara was filled with noise all day long.

Because a magical girl appeared here today.

Homura Akemi stood on the rooftop, looking down from above.

Countless students surrounded a girl.

Even more, among them were the school principal, television reporters, government officials, and countless students and teachers—almost the entire school and many people from outside the school came here.

"So, it really will turn out like this..."

The girl surrounded in the middle was none other than Mami Tomoe.

That's right... During the day, she revealed her identity by defeating a witch in front of everyone, making everyone aware of her magical girl identity.

Following closely behind, countless people focused their attention on her.

Amidst a barrage of emotions—admiration, anticipation, affection, and curiosity—Mami Tomoe seemed to be instantly transported to another world, experiencing everything she had never known before.

The school principal and students regard her as a hero because she saved students and teachers.

Television reporters flocked to cover the story. Magical girls are a hot topic these days, let alone discovering that the students at a school are magical girls.

Government personnel were responsible for communicating with her, explaining all sorts of things, big and small, to Mami Tomoe. Although she didn't understand much, the adoration and love people showed her, and the fact that they treated her like an idol, left her speechless.

Homura Akemi witnessed all of this.

"After the magical girl was exposed, someone else would definitely be exposed in Mitakihara's school, but I never expected... that the first person would be her."

"Isn't it amazing? Even I find it incredible."

The sound suddenly came from beside me.

Homura Akemi immediately looked to her left with extreme vigilance—there was a girl who didn't belong to the school standing there.

But... she knew this person.

She was wearing a blue jacket, had a long red ponytail, and a lollipop in her mouth; she was a girl about my age.

“...Sakura Kyoko”.

"Huh? You actually know my name? Oh wait, I think we did meet before... Hmm... when was that? I've almost forgotten..."

That's for sure... Homura Akemi affirmed in her heart, because of what Jirin Yanming did, history was rewritten, and she no longer remembered anything about Kyubey and all that before.

"Shouldn't you be outside Mitakihara? Why are you here?"

"Hey, with all this commotion, a huge number of people have been drawn here. What's wrong with me coming over?"

It seems she doesn't know anything about the Time Jackers... so it looks like Tide hasn't contacted her.

Homura Akemi felt a little relieved and looked directly at Kyoko Sakura.

"So... what do you think?"

"You mean Mami's situation? Hmm... To be honest, I don't think it's so bad."

Sakura Kyoko put on a serious look, but it was really just an act.

"Actually, I don't understand at all. If you want me to talk about some grand principles or anything like that... to me, I just feel terrible."

"Is it bad?"

"Yes, although I don't know exactly how magical girls and witches were revealed to the world... do you really think people can accept us?"

Right now, Mami Tomoe may indeed be enjoying immense popularity and adoration.