"Where am I?" I was in some space that looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. But why was I here?
"Hey."
"Huh?" I heard a voice behind me. When I turned around, there was this massive creature over a hundred meters long. A crimson dragon.
"Awawa... I'm gonna get eaten!"
"I won't eat you. I sensed a familiar presence and came to look. Found you instead. I'm curious though. What's your name?"
"My name is Hyoudou Issei."
"Ah! So that's why I'm getting vibes similar to those two."
"Hey, where is this place?"
"This is the dimensional gap."
"Dimensional gap?"
"That's right. I live here and rule this space."
"Really? You mentioned a familiar presence earlier. Do you happen to know my parents?"
"Good catch. I'm friends with your parents."
"Whaaaat?!" I gaped at what the red dragon just said.
"Heh, figured you wouldn't believe it..." he started to say, but then I cut him off.
"It's true?! Mom and Dad always said 'We have a dragon friend,' and I heard about it, but it was actually true?!"
"...You didn't think it was a lie?"
"I believe in Mom and Dad. They've never lied to me, so I trust them. Just the other day, my friends wouldn't believe me, but during the full moon, they let me meet all kinds of fairies and spirits!"
"I see... So those two were up to their old tricks again." He seemed exasperated that my parents were still the same as always.
"Wait, why am I here? Oh! That's right! Dad! Mom!"
"Calm down. Let me explain." He settled me down. "First, you're here because of your Sacred Gears. Looks like you have three of them."
"Sacred Gears... That's right! Those bastards!" I remembered what happened and got pissed all over again.
"Can't blame you for that. But I'm afraid I have sad news for both of us. Your parents... they're dead."
"What?"
"I'll say it again. Your parents are dead."
"..."
"What's wrong? You're not sad?"
He seemed puzzled that I wasn't saying anything.
"I am sad. But you know what? My family has these rules we live by."
"Oh? What kind of rules?"
The crimson dragon looked interested.
"Hyoudou family rule number one: men must protect girls and friends no matter what..."
"..."
"Hyoudou family rule number two: don't get cocky or careless, always stay calm..."
As I kept going, I started remembering Mom and Dad teaching me these rules. I could feel tears coming, but I held them back and said the last rule.
"Hyoudou family rule number three... men... even when... sad things happen... don't cry... accept it... and keep moving forward."
"You are strong... even though you are about to cry, you fighting back the tears and still trying to move forward."
The crimson dragon spoke to me after I finished reciting the rules.
"If you want to cry, go ahead and cry."
"...Is it really okay?"
The red dragon nodded. "Yeah."
"Sniff... UWAAAAAAAH!"
And I let out all my grief and sobbed my heart out.
"Dad! Mom! AHHHHH!"
I'll raise this child to be strong. Strong enough so he won't have to cry anymore...
The crimson dragon watched me cry and made that promise to himself.