Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki's Time-Reversal Epic - Blue Blade, Before My Best Friend

April sunlight streamed through the classroom windows. The clock above the blackboard read 8:40 AM. Kaname Madoka stood before the school gate. Her soft pink twin tails swayed in the spring breeze. Her peach-colored eyes gazed steadily down the school road. "Sayaka-chan... today's the day, right...?" Madoka murmured quietly. A small paper bag in her hands. Cookies inside. She'd baked them herself last night. Some were a little burnt, but Sayaka would laugh and eat them anyway. Footsteps echoed from the distance. Running closer. A blue-tinted short bob bounced. Azure eyes gleamed. A blue ring on her left wrist. Miki Sayaka came sprinting, waving her hand. "Madoka—! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Sayaka screeched to a halt in front of Madoka. "Sayaka-chan!" Madoka threw her arms around her. "Thank goodness... you really got out of the hospital... Does your leg still hurt?" Sayaka laughed and patted Madoka on the head. "Not at all! See? Look!" Sayaka jumped on the spot. Madoka wiped her tears and smiled. But even smiling, she stared intently into Sayaka's eyes. Her peach-colored gaze clouded, just a little. (*Something... yeah, something's different.*) A tiny sense of wrongness sprouted deep in Madoka's heart. Sayaka's smile was bright. Her voice was energetic. She'd just left the hospital — of course she'd seem happy. But — her eyes. Her eyes alone were looking somewhere far away. Madoka started to say something, then stopped. "Come on, let's go! Saotome-sensei's waiting!" Sayaka pulled Madoka's hand and passed through the school gate. Her hand was warm. But it felt like she was gripping just a little too hard. The classroom door opened. Saotome-sensei stood at the podium. A female teacher in her late thirties. She wore a new suit today and was unusually fired up. "Everyone, I have happy news today." The teacher extended her hand. Sayaka entered the classroom. "Miki Sayaka-san has been discharged from the hospital! Everyone, applause!" Her classmates clapped all at once. A few called out, "Welcome back!" Sayaka waved with a smile. "I'm back! Sorry for worrying everyone!" From her seat, Madoka watched her. (*Sayaka-chan really is pushing herself.*) The smile was perfect. The voice was bright. But the instant the applause ended, the expression vanished from Sayaka's face. Just one second. But Madoka saw it. A profile, exhausted, like an adult's. Break time. Madoka had come to the rooftop. Beyond the fence, the city of Mitakihara. The bridge over the Mitakihara River visible in the distance. The wind blew, swaying Madoka's twin tails. The iron door creaked open. Sayaka stood there. "Knew you'd be here. You love the rooftop, don't you, Madoka?" Sayaka lined up beside her. The two leaned against the fence and looked down at the city. Silence flowed. Madoka searched for words in her heart. (*What should I say?*) Sayaka said nothing. She just stared into the distance. Her earlier smile had vanished somewhere. Her azure eyes were fixed on something. But that something wasn't in this city. "Sayaka-chan... you've changed, somehow." Madoka said it quietly. Sayaka looked a little surprised, then gave a wry smile. "Huh? Really? My hairstyle's the same, though?" "That's not what I mean." Madoka shook her head. "Your eyes. The old Sayaka-chan was more... how do I put it... like you were only looking ahead. But now, it's like you're always looking far away." Sayaka's shoulders trembled slightly. (*Madoka's noticed.*) Sayaka thought to herself. But she couldn't say it yet. If she did, she'd drag Madoka into danger. "Ahaha, come on, stop that. I was just in the hospital for a bit! I'm fine, totally fine!" Sayaka laughed and clapped Madoka on the shoulder. Madoka didn't press further. But she made a decision in her heart. (*I want to be there for Sayaka-chan.*) That feeling spread warmly through her chest. After school. The evening sun streamed into the hallway. Sayaka stopped just outside the classroom. The Soul Gem on her wrist glimmered faintly. (*A barrier's presence...*) Sayaka's face tightened. It was coming from the art room. "Madoka, go on ahead. I forgot something." Sayaka put on a smile and said it. Madoka looked worried, but nodded. "Okay. But... be careful." Sayaka ran off. Madoka watched her retreating figure. (*Forgot something... That's a lie, isn't it?*) Madoka steeled herself and followed after Sayaka. In front of the art room, something was wrong. The air was heavy, like water. The door looked subtly warped. Like a door painted in an oil painting. Sayaka gripped her Soul Gem. The light intensified. A blue radiance spread through the hallway. "Here I go." Sayaka murmured and pushed the door open. In that instant — The scenery changed. Inside the barrier was a labyrinth of paintings. Floor, walls, ceiling — all canvas. Multicolored paints glistened wetly, as if still fresh. Countless frames floated in the air, and familiars crawled out from within them. Dozens of creatures, shaped like distorted human paintbrushes. "A barrier like this... I don't remember it from my past life." Sayaka generated her sabers. Two in her hands. Four behind her back. More blades emerged from the surrounding space. The familiars lunged. Sayaka cut — She slashed one's head diagonally. With the returning blade, she pierced another's torso. But there was no end to them. New ones kept appearing from the frames. Too many. That was when it happened. The barrier's entrance glinted sharply. "Kyaa!" A scream. Sayaka spun around. Madoka had been dragged into the barrier. A giant brush extending from one of the frames had seized Madoka's arm. "Madoka!" Sayaka shouted. Madoka's body floated into the air, dragged deeper into the labyrinth. She ran. But familiars blocked the path. Sayaka hurled her sabers one after another. Countless blades danced through the space, slicing familiars apart. Severed brushes fell, scattering paint. Madoka was slammed against a wall. "Oww...!" Three familiars closed in before Madoka's eyes. Sharp brush tips swung down toward her face — "STOOOOP!" Sayaka raised her right hand. Blue light repainted the world. Her Soul Gem burst. Light gushed out like a torrent, enveloping Sayaka's body. Her uniform melted away, replaced by a blue-toned frilled skirt. A white cape fluttered. Countless sabers were born from space itself. One, two, five, ten — a hundred. The blades reflected light, gleaming blue. "Get away from Madoka!" The sabers were unleashed all at once. A downpour of blades pulverized the swarm of familiars. The three familiars were shredded and blown away before reaching Madoka. The rest were pierced one after another. Toward the witch's main body — a distorted self-portrait painted on a giant canvas — Sayaka sprinted with all her might. She re-gripped the saber in her right hand. She leaped. "Take THIIIS!" A full-force thrust pierced the center of the canvas. Crack, crack — The paint fractured, and light spilled out. The witch let out a death cry and shattered. The barrier collapsed. The real world returned — the art room in the evening sun. Her transformation undone, Sayaka collapsed to the floor. Her uniform was stained with blood. Wounds from the familiars. Her body was torn all over, beyond what her healing magic could keep up with. "Sayaka-chan!" Madoka rushed over and lifted Sayaka's body into her arms. She rested Sayaka's head on her lap. Madoka's hands grew wet with blood. "No... this is... Sayaka-chan! Stay with me!" Tears streamed down Madoka's cheeks and fell onto Sayaka's face. Sayaka opened her eyes. "Madoka... you're safe... thank goodness..." "Thank goodness?! Why did this... That light just now... all those sabers... what was that...?" Madoka's voice trembled. Sayaka slowly raised her body. Her wounds still hadn't fully closed. She grimaced in pain. But she gripped Madoka's hand. "I'll tell you. Everything. Will you listen?" Madoka, her face a mess of tears, nodded. The smell of paint lingered in the art room. The evening sun streamed through the window, stretching their shadows long across the floor. Sayaka began to speak, slowly. "I... died once." Madoka's eyes widened. "A magical girl is someone who trades a wish for their soul turned into a gem, and fights witches. There's a white creature called Kyubey, and it makes contracts with girls." Sayaka stared at the Soul Gem on her left hand. A considerable amount of taint had already accumulated. "But the system has a secret... Magical girls... eventually, without exception, become witches. You keep fighting for hope, and in the end, despair swallows you, and you turn into a witch yourself. That's the true nature of this system." Madoka was speechless. "In my past life, I became a magical girl to heal Kyousuke's hand. But in the end, I fell into despair and nearly became a witch. And then I died. ...But somehow, time reversed, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital bed." Sayaka's voice shook. Madoka squeezed her hand tighter. "So this time, I want to protect you, Madoka, at all costs. You absolutely can't make a contract. You can't end up like me." Tears spilled from Sayaka's eyes. Madoka embraced her. Not caring about the blood, her small body wrapped tightly around Sayaka's trembling shoulders. "I understand... I understand, Sayaka-chan." Madoka cried as she patted Sayaka's back gently. "I've been watching you push yourself this whole time. I was waiting for you to tell me. ...It was hard, wasn't it? Fighting all alone... it was so hard." Sayaka buried her face in Madoka's shoulder and sobbed aloud. The memories of death and despair she'd told no one. Now, her best friend was accepting them. That alone made her simply, purely happy. When they left the school gate at dusk, twilight was beginning to envelop the city. Streetlamps flickered on. Beneath that light — a white shadow sat. Like a cat, like a rabbit. Red eyes. Long ears. Kyubey. "Hey." An emotionless voice echoed in the twilight. Sayaka instantly hid Madoka behind her. A saber appeared in her right hand. "Don't you dare come near us." Kyubey tilted its head. "There's no need to be so frightened. I was merely observing your battle. Today's fight was splendid." Its red eyes turned toward Madoka. "Kaname Madoka. You are a very special existence." Madoka's body stiffened. "Wh-what...?" "You possess tremendous latent potential. If you were to make a contract, any wish would be granted. And you would become the strongest magical girl." "Don't screw with me!!" Sayaka screamed and swung her saber down. Shunk — The white body was cleaved clean in two. But before the corpse could hit the ground — a new Kyubey appeared right beside it. "Doing that is pointless. We have no concept of individual death." The cold voice stoked Sayaka's fury further. She tried to raise her saber again — and fell to one knee. Her wounds had reopened. Blood seeped into her uniform. "Sayaka-chan!" Madoka tried to support her. "No... Madoka, don't go near it..." Kyubey turned its back, spinning around. "Well, no matter. I'm in no hurry. Kaname Madoka. The time when you are needed will surely come." The white shadow vanished into the darkness. Trembling, Madoka held Sayaka's shoulders and stood frozen. That night. Sayaka's room. On her bed, Sayaka stared at her left hand. The blue Soul Gem. At its center, a black taint had pooled, like spilled ink. The battle and mental exhaustion had accelerated the corruption beyond expectation. Sayaka took a Grief Seed from her desk drawer. As she brought the black seed close to her Soul Gem, the taint was gradually absorbed. But — the corruption from this battle wasn't fully cleared even after using nearly half the Grief Seed. "Pushed myself too hard, I guess..." Sa

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 2

Name: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki's Time-Reversal Epic
Author: Novelia

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt