Chapter 13: Here Comes The Dream Man

So...it's been a hot minute hasn't it? Thank you all for being so patient for me! You guys are incredible! This was STILL getting active bookmarks and comments and kudos while in mini-hiatus! You guys are the best!

I hope it's up to snuff! While down, I had to get a new computer, so I don't have my usual tools to help me correct it. So PLEASE, if it sounds weird or if there's any ANY misspellings, please let me know until I get NaturalReader back. I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer.

The three of them stayed on the Caboose's platform for a while longer, watching the world run behind them at speeds that two of them hadn't ever experienced before. However, as it was night and with the speed of the train, they soon got cold and decided that it was time to finally head inside. When they entered, Tanjiro and Inosuke did not have any clue what to expect and were looking around the small area as if they were small children in a sweet shop. Even Zenitsu was a little curious; he had never been as far back as the caboose before. They were meant for the railway workers, and off limits to passengers. Various tools, lockers a few beds, a desk, a small stove and even a small restroom was in the caboose. So far, it seemed like a 'work office' of sorts where the workers would—

"Get down from there," Zenitsu yelled at Inosuke, who had climbed up into a small compartment area that was on top of the caboose (the Cupola for those curious) and was giggling as he looked around. Zenitsu pulled on his leg to drag him down. Clearly, he had to keep an eye on him; he was going to be in everything otherwise and he didn't want to be the one to explain to the conductor why and who broke everything on the train. Grumbling to himself, he grabbed the backside waistband of Inosuke's pants and started dragging him along, however Inosuke didn't seem to care at all and was still looking around in wonderment of what the train had to offer.

As they made their way to the passenger cars, Tanjiro still looked around with silent awe, but was more reserved than Inosuke's giddied muttering. The cars were half filled with passengers of all walks of life, from an older couple to a small group of older schoolboys. Unfortunately for Zenitsu, Inosuke caught sight of the window where the boys were sitting and, in his excitement, slipped out of his grip and ran towards the window to look out the window.

"Look how fast we're going," he giddily said as he smooshed the boar mask up against the window, clearly trying to look out of the holes of the mask, "just look how fast!" The schoolboys were surprised, one nervously peeking over his textbook at Inosuke's swords.

"Sorry," Zenitsu muttered to the group as he approached and grabbed Inosuke, "we're very sorry! Just get over here you idiot," he whispered to Inosuke, and actually had a hard time peeling him away from the window.

"So fucking fast," Inosuke yelled out, "we're going so—"

"Shuuut uuup," quietly hissed Zenitsu, "people are staring at uuusss!" That didn't nor had it ever seemed to bother Inosuke, as he still tried to squirm out of Zenitsu's grip to continue to look out the windows. It was official, Zenitsu thought, he was babysitting a five-foot five inch, one-hundred forty-pound toddler. It was only when he finally grabbed the back of his pants again and this time piercing the cloth with his claws to properly hold him in place, was he able to (somewhat) control Inosuke for the moment. While this had been going on, it seemed Tanjiro had occupied himself by doing what he seemed to do best; he was helping an older couple put their luggage away in the upper compartments. Tanjiro saw that the others were catching up finally and continued his way down the cars.

"Let's just find our seats and be done with it," Zenitsu said towards Tanjiro, "I just want to get to our destination as quietly as possible." Tanjiro nodded in agreement.

"Alright," he said towards him, not wanting to agitate him any further than he already seemed to be, "but we need to find Rengoku Kyojuro first." He turned and started walking down the car while Zenitsu slowly followed him while dragging Inosuke.

"I believe I remember what Rengoku looks like," Tanjiro said walking down the car, "I remember he had that gaudy hairstyle," Zenitsu heard in his voice that he had meant no insult when he had said that…not what he himself personally thought, "and I also remember his sent; so I'm sure I will recognize him when we get close."

"I know I will," Zenitsu said with a slightly wrinkled nose, "He's loud. So loud it makes me jump every time he speaks. And he told me himself that he wants to be the one to kill me! And he said it like he was doing me a FAVOR! Do you KNOW how that makes me FEEL?!" Tanjiro had placed a hand on the door of the car but turned towards him and placed a finger towards his lips, quietly hushing Zenitsu. Zenitsu quietly growled at that, he still had his worries to spout out at him! Was he just going to stand by and let that—

"DELICIOUS!"

Zenitsu let go of Inosuke to slam his hands over his ears, the word rang so loud in his ears and head that it caused him to subconsciously growl out defense. If the passengers of the car weren't distracted from the one yelling out the word, they would have been most certainly looking towards him. There was no doubt about; it was Rengoku Kyojuro, the Flame Hashira who was obliviously making a scene. He was currently on what appeared to be his fourteenth (fourteenth!) store bought bento and didn't seem to be slowing down. He also didn't seem to be staring at anything in particular, just taking a bite of food then declaring it 'delicious' and without pause take another bite.

"Yeah, that's him," muttered Zenitsu while glaring hard at the back of his head, "I'd know that voice anywhere."

"Delicious!"

"I…see," Tanjiro said. He looked over towards Rengoku and took in a quick sniff. He could smell the anxious animosity coming from Zenitsu; Rengoku's own smell…it was strangely familiar. It was like the after smell from a campfire; comforting and warm. He could also smell that Rengoku was…extremely delighted at the moment. Clearly he was someone who—

"Such a glutton," quietly muttered Zenitsu, but not so quietly that Rengoku clearly could have heard it. Well, not the exact words he himself would have chosen, Tanjiro thought. He looked over at Rengoku to see if he had taken offence; If he had though, he chose to ignore it, still declaring every mouthful 'delicious'.

Tanjiro also remembered Rengoku's stance at the Hashira's meeting. While that still bothered him, the team needed to work together with him so despite everything, he had to put his own feelings aside.

"Um, excuse me," Tanjiro said trying to gain Rengoku's attention. It seemed however the man was still engrossed with his current—

"Delicious!"

"R-Rengoku," Tanjiro tried again, attempting to be as polite as possible.

"DELICIOUS," shouted Rengoku as he finally acknowledged the group turning towards them with a large grin on his face, and a cheek filled with food. The volume of his voice caused Zenitsu (who had latched himself onto Tanjiro in some small attempt to hide from the Hashira) to subconsciously dig his claws slightly into Tanjiro's sides causing him to quietly whine and flinch from it.

"I think we get that part," mumbled Zenitsu. It seemed he hadn't realized he had squeezed him yet, but since he wasn't hurt from it and he didn't want to cause anymore stress for him, Tanjiro decided to let it slide. He turned his attention back towards Rengoku and…he wasn't sure if he was fully looking at them. He had such unusual eyes but the way he looked at things…it was strange. It was as if he was taking in the full environment around him as well as what was in front of him; like he was gazing hard at what was in front of himself and yet at nothing at all. It was…intimidating, yet odd looking. However, when Rengoku finally set down his finished bento, he folded his arms and with the same smile he said in his usual (but thankfully softer) boisterous voice:

"So you three are the Slayers that were sent to assist me on this mission?" He said it as if it they weren't going to bog him down but be actual assistance.

"Yes," said Tanjiro, looking brightly at him. There was a slight pause in the conversation; Tanjiro was just about to say something when Rengoku spoke up again.

"You," he said looking directly at Tanjiro, "you were the one from that day at the Master's."

"Yes. I'm Tanjiro Kamado. And they are my fellow Demon Slayers, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira." Inosuke proudly placed his hands on his hips at his introduction, as if he were expecting praise, however Rengoku was currently staring his intense gaze towards Zenitsu. That was making him even more nervous. He nervously shuffled his feet and looked down for a moment, but when he looked back up, Rengoku was still staring at him with the same intensity and with that strange creepy smile as well. This man was very, very intimidating; he didn't quite know what he was going to do and that was making him nervous.

"I see," Rengoku said towards Tanjiro, finally shifting his gaze, "and inside that box…"

"Is my sister, Nezuko," Tanjiro said as he shifted his shoulder to look towards the box with a small smile.

"That's right," Rengoku said finally looking away from the group, "she's the first demon we saw in the garden that day; before the second meeting, with you," he looked back towards Zenitsu. In turn, he made a quiet squeaking yelp and tried to hide himself behind Tanjiro's box…not that he could do that all that well but it was the thought it counts. Rengoku shrugged his shoulders, and his smile grew slightly bigger as he looked away.

"Since the Master's accepted them, I won't say anything for now."

'That won't stop you from thinking it,' Zenitsu wanted to say out loud, but he liked living so he decided to keep his mouth shut. Tanjiro on the other hand instantly felt relieved, he didn't want any bad air with the group, so it was good that Rengoku was willing to put his feelings aside as well. Rengoku shifted to his right side and patted to the now empty space to his left.

"Come, have a seat with me. I'd like to talk to you." It was clear he was talking to Tanjiro, who for some reason or another, was more than happy to take off the box and sit next to him. That was more than fine with Zenitsu as there was no way in fresh Hell he was going to sit with his soon-to-be-murderer anytime soon. He found a seat that was relatively still close to Tanjiro, but not so close that he could still make a break for it if Rengoku for whatever reason, changed his mind about him. All he wanted to do now was try to relax as much as possible before they reached their mission. He was feeling extra stressed and that was making him feel nauseous, more so than usual. However, it seemed that Inosuke had other plans. He was standing next to the window, slamming part of the walls and window so intensely that it was cracking the glass.

"Being inside the Lord is so fucking mind-blowing," he cackled as he continued to bang on the wall, "I can't believe that—"

"You're breaking the glass," Zenitsu yelled while grabbing the back of the boar hide, pulling him away from the window, "Sit and calm down already will ya?! I don't want to explain to the conductor why the glass is broken and get thrown off the train!" He forced Inosuke down onto the seat (a bit harshly) next to him, however he didn't stay sitting very long as he popped back up and went right back to the window. It was like attempting to control an exceptionally large sugar-filled toddler; next to impossible. It was a struggle just to keep a hold of him. He was slightly aware that Tanjiro and Rengoku were talking about something important, but he couldn't listen along with Inosuke being a hyperactive jackass. Finally, out of frustration he stood up and untucked his tail (not really thinking about anyone seeing it he was so irritated) and wrapped it around Inosuke's waist and pulled him down and pinned him down into the seat.

"Sit. Down. Dumbass Pig," he yelled out louder than Inosuke was being in the first place, "you're making a scene!" Inosuke wasn't happy about being sat down like this and tried to get back up to get back to the window, but now that he was basically 'seat belted' to the seat he crossed his arms and pouted for a moment. After a moment of pouting, he did squish the boar hide back up to the window to look out of it and was content to quietly look out the window. Now that he finally wrangled in the wild boar for the moment, Zenitsu decided to listen in on the other two's conversation…not that he was eavesdropping or anything! Just curious!

"All right, end of discussion," Rengoku announced boastfully, making Zenitsu regret listening in.

'Dammit you pig-headed idiot,' Thought Zenitsu, 'you made me miss the entire thing!'

"W-Wait," Tanjiro fretted, desperately trying to get him back onto the topic, "can you try to help me a little more?"

"You should become my Tsuguko! My apprentice! It's decided, I will look after you!"

"J-Just hold on," Tanjiro fretted again, "I-I appreciate the—"

"I'm glad you agree!" Rengoku sounded pleased as he was loud; very.

"N-No wait, I think there's a miscommunication!"

'He's a weirdo,' Zenitsu thought to himself, 'then again, every high-ranking member is eccentric in some way or another. Makes me wonder what Gramps was like when he was—' His train of thought was interrupted when he felt a strong breeze and felt himself be pulled towards the window. He looked up to see Inosuke cackling and yelling something about "awesome" and "fast" while trying to crawl out of the now open window…wait…HE WAS WHAT?!

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?! That's dangerous, you idiot!"

"I'm gonna race the Lord to see who's faster," Inosuke said as he was nearly half out of the window, demon tail wrapped around him be damned, "I bet if I run fast enough, I can run up to the head! Then I'll challenge it to a fight!" Zenitsu grabbed Inosuke's waist to pull him back inside the train; forgetting to be gentle because he didn't want to be dragged out with the psychotic idiot boar that he forgot he had claws and gave Inosuke shallow cuts down his sides. If it did hurt him he didn't react to it what so ever.

"The train's not alive you idiot! You can't possibly be this stupid, can you," shouted Zenitsu as he tried again to pull in back into the car, but surprisingly he was having a hard time pulling him in. Inosuke seemed bound determined to race the train and no one was going to stop him.

"I wouldn't do that," Rengoku said not looking over at the two, "you never know when the demons may show up." That caused pause in the two boys. Being able to grab Inosuke's attention so quickly was an impressive feat in itself.

"You're kidding right," Zenitsu said letting go of Inosuke both with his hands and tail, "You really don't mean that demons show up on this train?!"

"Sure do," he said still looking ahead at nothing with a large grin.

"What?! They do," Zenitsu yelled directly in Rengoku's ear, "I thought we were going to where they were! Not being trapped with them?! Nooo!" Tanjiro was looking over at Zenitsu with a questioning look. Didn't he listen to the Crow earlier?

"Over forty people have disappeared on this train," Rengoku explained calmly, "The Corps sent several swordsmen; however, they have all gone silent. That is why I, a Hashira, am here." There was a pregnant pause, and Tanjiro could smell the shifting mood in Zenitsu, see how his lower lip quivered and his chest shallowly heaved as he was nearly hyperventilating. Tanjiro almost…almost sighed.

'And, three…two…' thought Tanjiro. Zenitsu screamed at the top of his lungs that even made Tanjiro squint. He quickly looked around to see if he was bothering or frightening the other car passengers, out of their own comfort and the fact Zenitsu wasn't hiding any of his…obvious demonic traits. But it seemed all the passengers were thankfully asleep, and in a deep one at that if they could sleep though Zenitsu's loud screaming.

"I want to get off the train," Zenitsu wailed as he flopped on the ground curling up into a little ball, "I don't want to be here anymore, I want off the train! I'm sick of my life!"

"I can help you," Rengoku said finally looking down at him with a large smile, "swiftly and without pain, and fulfill my pledge."

"YOU'RE-NOT-HELPING," Zenitsu squawked up at him while pointing at him from the ground, "You didn't pledge shit! I said I want off the train, not DEAD, you flaming dumbass!" Tanjiro was about to scold Zenitsu's behavior towards their senior, but he was interrupted when he heard someone approaching.

"May I…see your…tickets, please?" Tanjiro was confused, not only at the man's slow words but he wasn't sure what he wanted in the first place. Normally he'd ask Zenitsu about things like this, but he was currently in the middle of having a crisis. So he turned towards Rengoku. It was nice to look to someone older and close to his own age for help…it was an odd feeling. After speaking with Rengoku, even knowing him for such a short time; he was beginning to understand what being a younger sibling must feel like. To be able to look up towards the eldest for guidance…it was…a huge relief. Like he could put aside the weight of responsibility of the eldest's duty, even for a little while.

"What is that man doing," he asked.

"The conductor is going to check your ticket to see if it is valid," Rengoku said, still looking at the mysterious distant invisible thing, "and punch a hole in it." Inosuke seemed to want to be the first one to have his ticket punched for some reason. He quickly made his way over to the conductor, whisked out his ticket and presented it with a "ha!" with one hand on his hip as if he were doing something very impressive indeed. The conductor however said nothing and simply took the ticket and punched it. Inosuke seemed pleased with the outcome and snatched it back quickly, ignoring the blood on his knuckles from the shallow cuts on his sides from earlier. The conductor walked over towards where Zenitsu was still on the ground still whimpering about whatever popped into his head at the moment, however he did have the sense to dig into his pockets and pull out his ticket.

"Here," he whimpered to the conductor, reaching up his ticket towards him. The conductor took the ticket without a word and punched it. It was only now that Rengoku looked over towards the conductor and while he still had that same grin on his face, his eyebrow faintly raised up. It wasn't terribly often, even for humans who didn't believe in demons, to not react to one right in front of them in any way in the slightest. Not even to one that wasn't even attempting to hide its characteristics…very odd indeed. He still handed over his ticket towards the man, not seeing or sensing any demonic possession connected to the man. However, he did look exhausted, as if he hadn't slept in days. This was turning out to be an interesting mission indeed. Something was most certainly off; he just wasn't sure what as of yet.

When the Kamado boy's ticket was punched was when he finally sensed it, a slightly vague demonic aura that was different from the box and the wailing yellow one on the ground. The sound of a body hitting the floor made him quickly look over his shoulder to see the Boar Boy, who had been so lively and energetic only a few moments ago, was now laying still on the ground. Even the yellow demon's whimpering had ceased and had gone still. He went to rise to find out where the demon was but found himself suddenly so exhausted. He felt something gently slump at his feet and it took all he had to look down and focus on the black and green blob.

'We're all somehow falling asleep,' Rengoku thought to himself. He thought he had stood up to confront the conductor or better yet find the demon responsible, but after a moment he realize he was still in his seat. Even now he felt like he was slightly floating, suffering Hypnagogic hallucinations, something he had remembered Shinobu once talking about how that was usually experienced "before one falls asleep". He tried stabilizing his breathing; tried to use the Total Concentration Breathing to awaken himself, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The last thing he heard was the sounds of the conductor struggling to pick something up, and then soon he as well slumped his head down and was flung into a very, very deep sleep.

The conductor had a hard time lifting the demon off the ground. He still wasn't used to picking up sleeping people, it was never easy picking up so much dead weight and he was just…so…tired. It didn't help that it was heavier than it looked, and after he managed to put it in a sitting position; what little energy he had was all but gone and he still had two other bodies to pick up. He put the redhead boy next to the man in the cape, but by the time he got to the third, all his strength was nearly gone. He managed to pick up the other Slayer, but he was just too exhausted to do a proper job. He just simply laid him across the lap of the demon, legs hanging over the arm rests. It was good enough. He did his job. He used up the rest of his energy to run towards where the others were waiting. He had to get back to his family it had been over a week since he'd seen them or even slept. He burst though the final door, tripping and falling onto his hands and knees.

"I-I did as I was told to do," the conductor said looking down at the ground while weeping tears, "I punched their tickets and put them to sleep. Please! Hurry and put me to sleep too! Please let me be reunited with my dead wife and daughter! I can't stand being apart from them a moment longer!"

"Sure thing," said an amused, yet slightly condescending voice. Suddenly a dismembered hand fell from the ceiling of the car, however the conductor did not flinch in seeing it. He had seen it many times before and was now desensitized to its odd appearance of goat-like eyes, mouth and lettering. Its joints cracked as they unnaturally bent and shifted as it scuttled up into a crab-like position. It belonged to the demon named Enmu that had been on this train for some time now. At first, he had called for the aid of Demon Slayers to kill it, but every single one of them had been killed. He had thought that once it had found out he had been the one who had called them, he would have been killed as well. Instead, it offered him such a wonderful proposition; keep luring in Slayers and passengers, and he would show him beautiful dreams.

"You did such a good job," it said with another amused grin, "I think I'll give you a special dream, now: go to sleep." As soon as the hand said those words, the conductor suddenly fell asleep. If one weren't paying attention to his subtle breathing and eye movement behind his closed eyes, he could have been easily mistaken for dead.

"Have a wonderful dream where you can meet your family," the hand said out loud to the sleeping conductor, 'enjoy it while you can. I only wish I can be there to see your face when you lose them all over again.'

"Excuse me," said a female voice behind it. The eye on the hand looked towards the four teens awaiting on the floor of the car, "what do you want us to do?" The hand softly smiled, Enmu couldn't have found better minions than these four. They all suffered terrible insomnia and other terrible aspects of their own lives that they all wished to escape; to the point that they were desperate enough to literally do anything to escape reality.

"Their slumber will grow deeper in a little while," Enmu said gently, "wait here until then. Perspective Demon Slayers will sometimes wake up sensing the presence of bloodthirsty demons. I'm sure it'll be the same case with a threatening human as well. One of them is a Hashira, the highest ranked member of the Demon Slayers," Enmu's hand said while scuttling to the side, "one cannot underestimate a Hashira or Slayer. It's always best to treat every Slayer as if they are a Hashira; it's why I'm still alive, after all." The hand looked over at the four of them and became more serious.

"Now, when you tie the ropes to them, be careful not to touch any part of their bodies. You could trigger an instinctive response from them or worse, wake them up."

"We understand," one of the girls said.

"And another word of warning, as I've told you every time," Enmu said, "do not be caught within the dream, or have any harm done to you in the dream. While it may not hurt in the dream," the hand smiled, "it will have lasting affects in the real world. And the most important ones: Do not cut the ropes and do not linger inside the subconscious." They all nodded in agreement; Enmu always gave the same warnings every time but was very adamant about those last two.

"I have to stay in the first car for a little while longer, so wait awhile until everything is ready to go," Enmu's hand said with a grin as it started to scuttle away, "and if you do a good job, you can have blissful dreams too."

"Okay," the teens said as they watched the hand scuttle away. As soon as the hand was out of the car, the teens looked at each other and some of the sleeping passengers. Most of them had long since became numbed when it came to what happened to the sleeping passengers and to the ones that they personally had broken. As long as they were able to get sleep, they'd do anything at this point. It wasn't like they were the ones killing them after all…just, disabling them. It was getting harder and harder to sleep without Enmu's help anymore…next to impossible; when they did manage to sleep, it was so short and wrestles it was as if they hadn't at all. They were willing to follow Enmu for the rest of their lives if he was willing.

"How much longer to do think we should wait," asked the girl wearing yellow and purple, none of them ever bothered sharing their names with each other, they never wanted to become close…just in case Enmu ever decided to take them one day, "should we go now or wait a little longer?"

"We should wait a bit more," said the boy in the sage green iromuji, "then we'll go in and—" he paused then there was a muffled cough. The other three quickly covered their own mouths and scooted away from the source of the coughing.

"Let us know when you're going to cough," growled out the girl in the bright green kimono, "you know we can catch it when you cough!" The boy in the dark clothing was still coughing into his handkerchief, but red was starting to bleed though it. After a moment, he was finally able to stop and tucked his handkerchief away.

"Sorry," he mumbled to the others. One of them sighed in irritation, he wasn't sure which one, he didn't have the heart to look up.

"let's just go," said the other boy, "and just get this over with." When they got into the car with the Slayers in it, they paused to look at them. It was easy enough to spot which one was the Hashira, but the other three…

"He didn't say that two of them would be demons," said the yellow clothed girl looking towards Inosuke and Zenitsu. The others looked towards them as well just as shocked.

"I didn't think the Demon Slayers recruited demons," said the sick boy, "doesn't that go against their code?"

"Wait," said the boy in green taking a closer look, "this one isn't. Look, it's a mask, "he pointed at Inosuke's neck, "you can see where the gap is."

"Weird," said the girl in green, "why would he wear that?"

"Who knows," said the girl in yellow, "most Demon Slayers are freaks. Some of the things I've seen in their dreams I'll never forget."

"Yeah, they're practically murderers, if you think about it," the boy in green said, as he pulled out and gathered the ropes, "so, who wants who?"

"I'll take the Hashira," said the girl in green taking her rope, "I'm the most experienced in doing this after all."

"Fine," said the boy in green, he looked over at the other girl who was scowling at the demon and the weird pig-masked Slayer, "I'll take whichever one you don't want," he said to her, attempting to be nice.

"I'll take the weird boar guy then," she said looking over at him, "I'm used to getting all the psychos anyway." He grimaced but nodded in agreement. He'd never had gone into a demon's dream before, so he wasn't sure what to expect. They all took their ropes and carefully tied them to their respective body.

"We tie ourselves to them by the wrist," asked the girl in yellow and purple.

"That's right," said the girl in green, "and don't forget what he warned us."

"How do we fall asleep again," asked the boy in sage green, "it's so hard to fall asleep."

"It's part of the spell of the ropes," said the sick boy, "once we're tied, all we have to do is take a deep, slow breath while you count. Do that and you'll fall asleep. One, two, three…" Before any of them had reached ten, all four of them had fallen asleep and had successfully invaded the other's dreams.

"Takeo, could you go to the river to get some water," Kie asked over her shoulder as she was cooking.

"I can go," Tanjiro said as he put back on his scarf, "it's no problem."

"Are you sure," Kie asked, "you can stay laying down if you're not feeling well."

"Yeah, I can go for you big bro," Shigeru said.

"But mom asked Takeo to do it," Hanako said, "it's not fair to make Tanjiro do all the work!"

"If big bro wants to do it," Takeo said as he rolled over to face away from them, "then let him!"

"Don't do it big bro," Hanako said as she grabbed onto his waist, "let him do it."

"It's alright Hanako," he said as he patted the side of her head, "I don't mind doing it. I'm sure he's tired too." Takeo made a quiet stifled noise as if he wanted to say something but looked away blushing.

"I'll be back in a moment with the water," Tanjiro said to Kie.

"Be careful now," she said, "It's cold and slick out there."

"I will," he said as he left the house. As he walked, he looked around at the surrounding forest. While something was slightly bugging him, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He took in a deep breath and…it didn't smell like a cold winter's day in the forest.

"I must be getting sick," he said with a small smile, "if I can't smell anything. After this I'll lie down and get some rest." He fetched the water from the river and had just started his way back to the house when he saw someone. It was someone a few years older than he was. It was strange though, they weren't dressed for winter at all; they didn't have the right kind of boots, or a coat…nothing. He looked sick as well, his face was pale, and he even looked as if he had been recently crying.

"Are you alright," Tanjiro asked approaching him, setting down the water buckets, "are you lost?" The boy didn't say anything, didn't even make eye contact with him. Tanjiro was now more worried than ever, he could be suffering hypothermia or worse. He started to take off his own scarf and haori; that is when the other boy finally acknowledged him.

"You're so kind," he murmured. Tanjiro placed a hand on his shoulder to get him ready to put on the coat, that is when he realized how…warm he felt. Like he wasn't even standing outside at all. Oh no…he was running a high fever!

"Please, you need to put this on," he said shoving the scarf over towards the boy, "I'll take you to my home! You're burning up, at least I—"

"This isn't real," the boy said more solemnly now, looking very hard at him, "it's a dream you're having." Tanjiro didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps the fever was making him delusional.

"Please, you need to put that on and—"

"You need to wake up," the boy said sternly, "you and your fellow Slayers are in danger."

"Just…come with me," Tanjiro said as he tried to push him along, "and we'll help you." The boy's face softened and looked incredibly sad.

"I'm sorry about this," he said to him, "but you're leaving me no choice. Please forgive me, we'll talk when you wake up." Here is when the boy used the scarf given to him by Tanjiro, wrapped it around his neck and started choking him. Tanjiro was panicking, he didn't know what to do, and he was losing air fast. Every time he tried to squirm out of the hold, the boy simply moved along with him. He fell face first into the snow (why wasn't it cold?) and he felt so heavy and light at the same time…why did this somehow feel familiar? He tried screaming, but nothing came out, and his last moments were thinking about what his family were going to do without him…and then…

Tanjiro woke with a start and a scream, clawing up at the air as if he were still fighting the boy off himself. He reached up at his neck, feeling the scar that poked right above his collar. That was…some sort of weird nightmare…it started off so…

"I'm really sorry about that," said a tired, familiar voice behind him, "but I had to wake you up somehow." Tanjiro turned to look behind him and was surprised to see the exact same boy from his dream, still sad and sick looking.

"Who are—" he started to ask when he felt a rope. This rope was tied to his wrist. He looked over and saw that Rengoku was standing up, holding a girl up by her neck in his sleep. She was struggling to breathe, but it seemed that other than that…she would live. There were two others as well, both tied to the others. He went to go to them, but it seemed the boy knew what he was thinking.

"They won't wake up," he said plainly, "they're all in the deep state of the spell. It's impossible to wake them up at this point."

"Then how do we wake them," Tanjiro said turning to him, "what is going on?" The boy took in a deep breath (it looked like it was painful to do so) and looked like he had been caught doing something terrible and embarrassing.

"We're working with a demon who promised to help us sleep," he said to Tanjiro, "we were all willing to hurt others in order to escape our problems." Tanjiro simply nodded in understanding, he didn't want to interrupt him while he explained.

"Our job is to go inside peoples' dreams, enter the subconscious and destroy the spiritual core of that person; it effectively renders that person unable to fight back; they're mentally crippled for life."

"You've performed this on others in the past then," Tanjiro asked. The boy said nothing, only frowned, effectively answering his question. Tanjiro wasn't sure if that was or wasn't worse than killing someone…but he wasn't going to say anything yet, he needed more answers to help the others now.

"So how do I wake up the others then," Tanjiro asked.

"At this point," the boy said looking over at the others, "you would have to enter their dreams as well and do what I had to do as well. Either make them realize they are dreaming or kill them in the dream. You must be careful how you kill them in the dream though…" here he pulled out a tool that looked like a pick, Tanjiro sniffed in the air and realized it had a strong demonic smell to it, "I had this with me in the dream as well. If I used this on you though, I'm sure it would have killed you in real life as well."

"I see," Tanjiro said, "So how do I enter their dreams then?" The boy looked over at the others.

"We'll have to link up all of the Slayers together with some rope, there's extra rope, I'll go get it. Give me a moment, don't touch any of them until I get back." The boy left the car and while he was gone, Tanjiro looked hard at the others. They didn't look as if they were in pain or distressed…the only one that did was the girl that was being held by the neck. When the boy returned, he linked the others together by the new ropes.

"What you need to do now is close your eyes and take a deep breath, then count; you'll fall asleep and should enter the first body. If I'm right, you'll enter one by one as they wake up…believe me, this might seem like a long process, but it can happen quite quickly."

"Alright," Tanjiro said as he started to tie the rope to his arm.

"Before you go," the boy said, making Tanjiro pause and look up. He looked as if he was hesitant in asking, "I…I have a request to ask you. I think you'll find it weird or odd…but please…can…can I go back inside your subconscious?" Tanjiro didn't know what to say to that. It…seemed like the ultimate invasion of privacy, but he looked so desperate and he was worried what would happen if he said no.

"I…suppose you can. Hang on," he turned to Nezuko's box and knocked on the door. The door opened and out tumbled Nezuko. She sleepily looked around, then looked at the others, then gave Tanjiro a questioning look.

"Nezuko, I'm going to go rescue the others. I need you to keep an eye out here on the others for me. He'll give you some instructions on what to do and look out for, alright?" She nodded in agreement and understanding. He nodded and patted her head. He looked over to the boy and gave him a nod as well.

"Good luck," the boy said with a small smile. He nodded again and did as the boy said to do; closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and counted…one…two…three…four….fi..ve…opened his eyes and was suddenly was in a bright sunny garden.

Yeah, this has officially became the Tanjiro story arch! Zenitsu is being a ornery grump right now.

In the Manga, it was explained that the kids did have insomnia. That's why they're doing what they're doing. I didn't include the demon fights (one in the manga, two in the movie) because...I believe they were dreams. I think they were part of Rengoku's dream. Kinda like a mini dream before the big one. Didn't anyone else find it odd that everyone on the train was asleep, then the demons attack and they were suddenly awake? Dream.

Also, we'll have a bit more 'in the real world' next chapter...but not much...

Tanjiro's the dream man...That came from the old song from 1880, "Hush, Here Comes The Dream Man" and for those in the know, some modified lyrics were used in the video game Alice: Madness Returns. "The Dream Man's coming on a train of cars
With moonbeam windows and his wheels of stars~"