Tales From The Kronos

The snow fell on the icy buildings, the streets were filled with people busy with their lives. The two friends took this opportunity to go for a stroll. One of them seemed clearly more annoyed than the other, following his friend with low energy.

"Shiro... Why did you bring me along?"

"Come on, you always stay in your house doing nothing! You know it's not good for you to stay depressed and alone."

"I'm doing just fine."

Shiro's friend walked toward one of the trees and stared at the crystal blue it was made of with empty eyes.

"Look Kuro, isn't nature wonderful?"

One of the icy leaves of the tree fell on Kuro, making him flinch and step back.

"No... It's not."

"You can't stay like that forever, you need to do something with your life. Do you remember when I taught you how to make a gun? What did you think of it?"

"It's not my thing."

Kuro took the leaf and stared at his reflection for a moment until his friend slightly tapped him in the back.

"Alright, I can feel you're not into it. We can always walk together when you're feeling like it."

Shiro was about to leave but Kuro grabbed his sleeve before he could leave, begging with his eyes for him to stay.

"Kuro... I wish I could do more for you. You always seem so... Empty."

"Just stay with me, it's enough. I'm sorry if I'm always so cold with you."

Shiro smiled softly and caressed his friend's head with a smile.

"It's almost night, do you want to go to my house to watch the moon?"

Kuro shyly nodded his head and took his friend's hand, following him.

The friends stood behind the house, lying down on the snowy ground. The moonlight was shining upon them, just like usual.

"Hey Kuro, did you know that some people say that the moon is a portal to other worlds."

"You believe in other worlds?" Kuro asked in an empty voice.

"Not really, but wouldn't it be fun? I hope there are many worlds! Maybe there's one where I'm a girl, one where I'm a superhero... One where I can help you..."

Shiro stopped staring at the moon and sat on the ground with a sad look on his face. Kuro went next to him as soon as he noticed his friend feeling down.

"Shiro... I'm sorry I can't be a good friend to you."

"Why are you saying that?"

"I mean, you always look sad and empty. I should be able to at least bring a smile to your face sometimes."

"I don't like to show my feelings."

Kuro grabbed Shiro's hand and snuggled against him, getting as close as he could.

"It's not your fault Shiro, I'm just messed up."

"Don't say that, it's not your fault."

"No, it's true..." Kuro looked down, still trying to get closer to his friend "You know so much about everything. You always try your best while I... I can barely do the basic things."

Shiro put his hand on his friend's face and moved it to look at his eyes.

"Kuro, it's not your fault if you feel like that, it will get better eventually, I promise."

A small tear fell from Kuro's eye, making its way to the ground. He took all the courage he could and tried his best to be clear with his voice.

"Shiro, I wanted to tell you something for a while now... I lo-"

The sound of ice breaking took the two friends by surprise. It looked like someone was voluntarily causing chaos.

They hurried toward the center of the town only to see it in ruins. Two girls were in the middle, visibly the source of the chaos. The one with long ginger hair turned toward them and let out a sound of surprise. Curious about the reason for her friend's shock, the girl with short red hair turned toward the two friends as well. Shiro took his firearm and pointed at her, in an attempt to scare them.

"Who are you? What are you doing?"

The girl with short red hair took a firearm from her belt. It looked like a more advanced version of the one Shiro had, confusing him. The girl aimed her weapon and shot without hesitation. The man fell to the ground almost immediately. Kuro hurried toward his friend to check up on him and was faced with the reality, Shiro was no longer.

"Emel, let's go. I don't want to change the future for now."

The girl left her weapon still in hand and was quickly followed by the one with long ginger hair, leaving the town in ruins with the corpses of many. Kuro was frozen, unable to move. It wasn't like he wanted to move, his only reason for living was right here, devoid of any signs of life. A few voices approached his direction but couldn't get him out of his stupor.

"How is it possible? A being from no world?"

"I don't know, we have no signs of it existing before, it's like the thing that caused all of this just vanished."

A group of three arrived to see Kuro, next to the body of his friend. The man with short white hair of the group went toward him and tried to communicate.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

"Of course, he's alright Neige." Sarcastically answered the girl with short red hair "He's just having fun with his friend, can't you see?"

The man named Neige rolled his eyes. Kuro muttered all the strength he could and was shocked at Neige's sight. He looked eerily like his friend, not physically, but in his soul. It was hard for him to understand, he just felt like it was his friend, here to give him another chance.

"I'm Neige, can I know your name?"

Kuro looked at the body of his friend for a moment. He turned toward the man and answered with a weak voice.

"I'm... Shiro..."

"Shiro... We'll take you to our doctor, she'll know what to do with you. It's going to get better, I promise."

Kuro was still a bit confused. A week had passed since he arrived on this ship and ended up in an office, just like every day of the week before. A tired-looking woman with short grey hair sat in front of him and opened a notebook before talking with an exhausted voice.

"I'm Gwyn, doctor, ship, world destroyed, bla bla bla. Can you tell me your name?"

"My name..." Kuro couldn't stop thinking about his friend on the ground. He wasn't sure what happened or where he was but none of that mattered to him anymore "I'm Shiro."

The doctor looked surprised and noted the name on her notebook.

"There's an improvement. So Shiro, can you tell me a bit about yourself? Just basic information so you're comfortable."

"I'm 160 centimeters, I have short white hair. I know a lot about weapons and I just want to help people."

Gwyn looked at her notes from the test she had previously taken. Not only his hair color wasn't white but black, but his height was also incorrect.

"So you like weapons, why did you start learning about them?"

"I... Don't know, I never asked."

The doctor quickly understood that there was a problem with the man and closed her notebook with a sigh before standing up.

"I'm going to go get something, stay here, and don't get in trouble while I'm away."

Kuro was left alone in the room, forced to face himself in the large mirror next to him.

"No one will forget you, Shiro... I promise..."