Chapter 15.5 A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

I'm sorry to inform you all that the story has been discontinued.

April Fools!

Hello, my wonderful, dear readers! I'm SO SO SO sorry that this chapter (half chapter but we'll get to that) has been so late! To those who don't know, let me explain. Back in January, I was going to post the chapter, but while I was just finishing up my final wrap-up (spell checking) I had accidentally deleted the wrong version of my files. I (used to) label my chapters like this [Chapter 15 – Correction] [Chapter 15 – Finished] The correction was the one I accidentally deleted….whoops… I LOST EVERYTHING…even the notes on it. I now write my notes by hand rather than digitally. I now write my chapters like this [Correction – Chapter 15] so that never happens again.

But when that happened…I just lost ALL motivation to write. It was depressing. It was a BIG chapter. It wrapped up the Train Arch. (Not to mention all the real-life problems I kept having, nothing really bad but they just. kept. happening...) And I was legit worried people would be upset with me that I kept promising that I was going to produce the chapter, and miss the deadlines…

Now I know I have no fear of that. You guys are the best. EVERYONE has been so understanding, patient, and very polite when asking about it. My readers are the example of what great readers should be! Now you see the 15.5 in the title; well, I'm not making you guys wait any longer. I'm going to work on the rest of the chapter, and once it's finished, I'll merge the chapter as well as post the next chapter along with it, so the next update will be a chapter and a half.

I truly hope this chapter is up to snuff as I have been mulling over it for over three months and I'm not fully satisfied with it. (it'll probably go through changes as well with the next update so…yeah I'm still salty with my stupid ass)

Again, any questions, comments, spelling errors you happen to see, DO let me know~ :D

It was uncomfortably quiet. Normally, listening to the muffled click-clacking of the train wheels on the tracks was one of the few comforts he had while riding the train…it was a good distraction to everything. Now, it was making him jumpy. There was the slightest possibility that Enmu could suddenly turn up and learn of his betrayal…perhaps he already knew, for all he was aware.

He started to feel another coughing fit building up, so he pulled out one of the many, many handkerchiefs he carried with him. He'd already bloodied three of them today alone. He tried not to breathe in too deeply, all that'd accomplish would make him cough all the faster. Instead, he nervously looked over at the sleeping Demon Slayer in green and black. He seemed to be doing okay so far, his face was still relaxed, peaceful even. Even the sleeping Hashira's sleeping expression seemed more relaxed than it had been only a few moments ago. He looked towards the others and saw that his companions weren't doing so well. Their faces were furrowed either in a grimace of fear or pain, and the boy was sweating profusely. Something must be going wrong with—

After subconsciously taking in a deep breath, it triggered the coughing. He quickly covered his mouth so he wouldn't spread the illness, but it made it all the harder to get air. He hated coughing; his chest already hurt so much, and it made it hurt all the more. Lately, even his back started to hurt, and even started having long-lasting headaches…how much longer did he have to live? Probably not much…maybe a few more months at best, he was so exhausted anymore. That wasn't due to his poor sleeping either. Finally, he stopped coughing and lowered his now bloody handkerchief, and tucked it away into the same pocket he kept the other soiled ones. He sighed, looking hard at his knees in deep, troubled thought. There was a loud thump that made him jump and look towards it. The boy in green and black must be doing well, as the Hashira had dropped the girl and somehow managed to find an empty seat to silently slump down into. He stood up and went to see if the man was now awake but felt something tug on his arm. He made a small sound of surprise and looked down. He'd nearly forgotten about the other demon; she was so quiet. She was so small but glaring hard up at him for getting near the man. If he hadn't known any better, it'd have been comical to think she was a threat of any kind.

"I wasn't going to do anything," he said to her in a raspy voice as she continued to glare up at him, "I was just checking to see if he was awake." She only glared all the harder at him and shuffled towards the boy in green and black to check on his condition. Looking at her, he quietly wondered what the connection between her and the boy was. They did look like they could have been related by blood. She kept glaring at him and when he tried to get close to anyone to check their condition she'd push him away; eventually herding him back to where he had been sitting, right behind the boy in green. It was evident she didn't trust him to be near anyone, especially her own companions. He smiled a little bit at her, he wished his…well…they weren't truly his friends, but he wished he and the others were like that. He chuckled at the thought, but all that did was make his chest hurt more. Placing a hand on his chest, he decided there was no point prolonging it any further: it was time.

He took the same rope that had been used to link himself and the boy in green and black and tied it to himself on the same wrist. However, as he stood up and went towards the boy, he felt a small body collide with his legs. Although it felt like he ran into a padded rock if that made any sense. It hurt, and he was sure she had been very gentle. He looked down and saw the same glaring face, and now heard the smallest warning growl coming from her. He even could hear her grinding her teeth on that bamboo muzzle…he half wondered why she didn't simply remove it herself, her hands weren't tied, nor was it fastened tightly to her head…what a strange group of people. The smallest ghost of a smile came across his face as he looked beyond her as he took hold of the rope in both hands.

"I can understand your mistrust in me," he said as he gently wrung the rope in his hands, "I haven't been the best…person for a while now…if I can even be called that anymore," the girls' expression changed from defensive to now a quiet, slightly inquisitive one as she listened to him, "for all the pain and death I'm indirectly responsible for. Maybe I don't even deserve this—but," he looked back towards her as he lifted the rope slightly up, "your…um, friend…brother," he said as he wasn't quite sure, "said I could do something." He saw her eyebrow raise ever-so-slightly in disbelief; he couldn't help but smile at it himself.

"I can understand your doubt when I'm holding a demon-art-infused-rope," he said, "but I need you to trust me…and," he said as he kneeled in front of her and looked at her very sincerely, "I also need you to do something for me as well."

The tension was unbearably intense. The silent standoff was still going on, and it seemed it wasn't going to end anytime soon. Tanjiro gripped his sword all the tighter, feeling the silk of the Tsuka shift ever-so-slightly. He was at a loss at what to do. Should he attack? What would happen if he landed an attack? Would there be lasting, permanent damage to Zenitsu's psyche if he did? WAS he connected to him? He must be, why else would he be here? Furthermore, he still had to tend to the boy on the ground. He stood out brightly on the 'ground', worryingly still. He couldn't let his feeling get in the way of this, he had to act and get him out of harm's way and somehow wake Zenitsu up. It seemed that he was the only one who was stressed about the situation as this Zenitsu looked absolutely bored, annoyed even. He even sighed at Tanjiro's battle stance; lowered the hedge shears and started running his right hands' fingers through his tangled hair; mostly out of nervous habit.

'Maybe,' Tanjiro thought as he slightly lowered his sword, 'maybe there's a chance I can reason with him?'

"Listen," Tanjiro said calmly, "I need to wake you up," that made Zentisu slightly tilt his head in confusion, "but I have to make sure that this man is with me out of the subconscious before that happens." Tanjiro waited for Zenitsu to ask 'why' but other than slightly raising an eyebrow, he said nothing. Although he seemed he didn't believe Tanjiro.

"I need to find a way into the dream, but I can't leave him here. The risk is too great. He could be left behind."

" 'Left behind'," Zenitsu quietly repeated as he looked away, then looked back hard at him, "what do you mean by that?"

"If the invading person's soul is left behind inside the subconscious of the sleeping person when the sleeping person awakens," Tanjiro said with increasing urgency, "then that soul will become trapped within the subconscious forever of—"

"Wait," Zenitsu interrupted, "so if…" he turned away from him, tapping his chin with his finger, not finishing his sentence, just quietly mumbling to himself. Tanjiro was half tempted to try to get his attention back but seeing how…quietly hysterical he was starting to become, perhaps it was best to not. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tanjiro quietly sheathed his sword and slowly made his way toward the boy on the ground. Only moving when he wasn't looking towards him. It was hard not to listen to Zenitsu's quiet mumbling; it was becoming slightly frantic as he started to scratch a little too harshly at his scalp. Deciding to ignore the mumbling, Tanjiro started to gently gather up the boy, relieved he was still alive. His stomach twisted at looking at the amputated legs and fingers…how were those shears capable of cutting through bone like that? Never mind, this wasn't real…in the real world, the boy's limbs were still intact; he'd be fine…right? Quietly lifting him up and adjusting him in his arms, he gave one last quick glance back towards Zenitsu to see if he had noticed him; thankfully he was still distracted, now facing away to the side from him still muttering to himself. Quietly sighing in relief, he picked a direction and ran as quietly as he could.

It was disorienting running in the dark, empty space; he could hardly tell if he was even moving away from anything. It was only now that he noticed how…loud his clothes were as he ran and annoyingly loud the sound of his sword was as it clanked gently inside its sheath. Even his earrings that had been a source of comfort in the past were now a loud distraction. Was it like this for Zenitsu ALL the time? Never mind that there was something else that was more distracting than the hearing. It had been hard to breathe properly normally, let alone from running, but the air somehow seemed to get even thicker. It felt like he was having the worst asthma attack of his life.

'Just focus on finding a way out,' he told himself as he continued running, 'don't focus on the burning, just run.' As he ran and tried not to hyperventilate, he kept looking around in vague hope of finding a way out of the dark. He also kept looking behind him in paranoia that Zenitsu was now chasing him; why he got that feeling was beyond him but he wasn't about to ignore it. Perhaps that's why he tripped. He fell hard and fast; it happened so fast that he didn't even make a sound as he hit the 'ground'. The boy that he had been carrying went tumbling away from him; the sounds of his body hitting the 'ground' and grunts of pain were deafening. Tanjiro slowly sat up and looked around to see what he could have possibly tripped on. It couldn't have been his own feet, and there was no way he could have tangled his legs in the other boys…they weren't there anymore. So what? As he looked behind him, he swore he could hear the faint sound of something made of glass gradually rolling towards him.

It gently bumped into his leg; if it hadn't he probably wouldn't have even seen it. It was almost the same color as the inky darkness, but there were the slightest hints of dim colors faintly making it stand out. Tanjiro reached out and touched the object. The surface was lukewarm to the touch and what was probably once a perfectly smooth surface now felt like crackle glass. He gently picked it up to get a better look at it. Other than that, he couldn't decipher anything else from it; it was just as dark as the surrounding…no, looking closer at it, it wasn't completely devoid of—

"What are you doing?" Zenitsu's voice was very monotone and very right in his ear. It made him nearly drop the object in his hands. He didn't even hear him approach. After making a quick mental note to train his spatial awareness skills after this, he quickly and gently set down the object. He still wasn't sure if this version of Zenitsu was a Guardian or not, so if he thought what he had held was what he thought was, then he wasn't about to rile him up any further. Besides he still had to think about the boy in his charge. It was best to keep him calm so he wouldn't hurt the boy any further. Both of them looked at the sad object: it was an orb, but unlike the previous ones Tanjiro had seen, this one looked damaged.

"Oh, there it is," Zenitsu said as he looked down at the orb. He looked at it like he was looking at a dead animal. He didn't seem to be one bit concerned about the state of the orb, if anything he looked like he wanted to kick it. Tanjiro knew he should be focusing on finding a way out as soon as possible, but for whatever reason, his reaction to the sad state of the orb had upset him. He picked it back up out of fear that Zenitsu would try to break it but was slightly saddened that he didn't make a move to take it back from him.

"Isn't this your Spiritual Core," Tanjiro asked as he stood back up, glaring at him, "shouldn't you be more concerned that this is nearly broken?" Zenitsu slowly shook his head and said with a slightly droll smile.

"Why would I be," he said with a shrug, "It's not my responsibility to watch that."

"What do you mean," Tanjiro asked as he tried to not cush the very fragile orb in his hands, "aren't you the Guardian?"

"What makes you say that?" asked Zenitsu, genuinely annoyed with the question.

"Well Zenitsu, if you aren't that, then what are you?" There was a pause. Zenitsu looked shocked at him; like Tanjiro dared to say such a thing to him. Then, very slowly, his face morphed into an angry scowl. This wasn't uncommon to Tanjiro. He'd seen it dozens of times with the real-world Zenitsu; whenever Zenitsu would throw a tantrum over Inosuke's antics. However this time it felt different. There was a flash of real anger in his eyes, and it almost felt like whenever he approached a demon.

"That's NOT. My. NAME," he said glaring hard at him, squeezing the hedge shears' handles so tightly that Tanjiro could hear the wood creak, "that's NEVER been my name. How dare you compare me to that….ohh—" he was so frustrated that he didn't finish his train of thought, just stamped his feet and started pacing up and down. That was also familiar to Tanjiro, but there was no way he was going to point that out now. As he watched him seethe and pace back and forth, he kept ahold of the orb. He just wasn't sure what would happen if he let it go. Zenitsu, turned back towards him, angrily jabbing his chest.

"All I know is," he said as he kept jabbing his chest, "is that…is that I've never been…" he fumbled over his words, clearly frustrated, "I am…I've always had my own thoughts; my own feelings. As far as I'm concerned that's good enough for me and it's good enough for him."

" 'Him'," Tanjiro said taken a little off guard, "him who?"

"I've been promised. If I do if I was told I—If I could," he continued, ignoring the question and looking at the orb, "I'd crush that stupid orb into oblivion, but for whatever reason, I've never been able to even touch it. Stupid lucky bastard. But no, all I've ever—"

"You didn't answer my question," Tanjiro said more firmly. There was another stand-off, but this time Tanjiro was more confident only because he had a slight idea of who he was talking about. Strangely though, Zentisu started to relax, as if he was calming down. There was a soft, nostalgic look in his eyes even though he looked like he wanted to punch him.

"I can't stay mad at you," he said with a soft smile looking away, "look, I… as I said, it was never personal. If you leave, you'll just end up dead, either through another demon or…why not just stay here?"

"What are you even asking," Tanjiro said, genuinely surprised, "I could never—" He was interrupted by a soft moan to their side. Both of them looked to see the source to see the boy who had been forgotten once again, and had been trying to crawl away but had somehow hurt himself in the process. This for some reason or another rekindled Zenitsu's anger.

"Can't you see we're having a conversation here," he said raising his hedge shears back up. He started to walk towards the boy, murderous intentions clear as day in his eyes. He went to stab the boy with the shears but was stopped when Tanjiro jumped on his back, wrapping his legs tightly around his waist. Tanjiro started to pull harshly on his hair with one arm and with the other pulled on his arm to try to pull the shears away from the boy. A loud yelp pierced Tanjiro's ears as Zenitsu screeched and started to thrash and spin around. He did manage to pull his arm free from Tanjiro and grabbed the handles again and started to snip randomly at the air. After about four or five snips in the air, there was a sharp grima sound then a bright light blinded both of them, making them pause. Rapidly blinking to get back his vision, Tanjior looked over towards where the light was and slightly gaped at it, getting off of Zenitsu. There in the air, was a clean cut, like a cut in a tapestry. Beyond it was a bright sunny day. Even Zenitsu seemed awed at what happened as he nearly dropped the shears.

"Do you know what that is?" Tanjiro asked although he did have a pretty good idea what it was already.

"I…I've never seen anything like it before," he quietly replied as he first looked at the cut, then slowly at the shears, "if I had known…" Tanjiro slowly approached the cut that hung in the air, half afraid that it would suddenly disappear as quickly as it appeared. Reaching out and grabbing the hanging darkness that hung over the opening, he half-expected to feel a cloth-like texture to it but as he moved it, it felt like nothing was in his hand. Rubbing the material together in his fingers, it simply disappeared, like rubbing away ash. After that, he tried reaching out towards the new area, but his hand was blocked by something. It felt like glass, the clearest glass he'd ever seen. He knocked on it; it felt thin, but also very strong. Looking around the area beyond the glass he saw what appeared to be some sort of meadow surrounded by…peach trees? Interesting. He could tell by the heat from the glass that it was a warm, perfect day just beyond. It only made him realize how cold it was in the dark. There was some movement in the middle of the meadow, but before he could properly take a look, he was pushed out of the way.

He looked over to see that Zenitsu had his hands and face all but smooshed up to the glass looking around for…something. Eventually, he seemed to have spotted it but all it seemed to do was make him look bitter. He was mumbling to himself as he glared at whatever it was.

"Look at that," Zenitsu mumbled loud enough that Tanjiro heard clearly, "does he honestly think that's romantic or something?" Tanjiro took the opportunity to look back into the windowed area again to see what he was talking about. He couldn't help but smile with relief at what he saw: it was Zenitsu, the dream one, the one he knew in the real world; albeit human but regardless the one he needed to get to. He looked quite happy; cheeks flushed pink with blush as he made a flower crown with what looked like white clover blossoms. There was something else that he couldn't quite see at the angle he was at but…then he saw her. Nezuko came back with several white clover bundles in hand, smiling gently. She was laughing at something, making her cheeks blush into a deeper rose. He hadn't seen color in her skin in over two years. He could feel his face contort as he tried to blink away the tears in a bittersweet smile. He knew if he had seen her within his own dream, he'd probably not have ever woken up. Only when her eyes opened was when a bit of a wake-up call hit him. He couldn't help but chuckle at it: her eyes were the wrong color. They looked just like they currently did; the misty, rose quartz instead of the deep magenta they had always been. Zenitsu couldn't have known otherwise, so it only made sense that he thought that was her eyes had always been. He was a bit annoyed that Zenitsu was sitting a bit too close to Nezuko for his liking. (It was only proper to sit at bare minimum of one person's length away from each other.)

"You know he just wants to fuck her, right?" Zenitsu said very uncomfortably close and loud in his ear. Tanjiro didn't even attempt to hide his annoyance when he turned toward him. This Zenitsu had a slightly smug look on his face as if he was waiting for his response.

"Please don't curse," was all Tanjiro said trying to stay calm, "I don't like it when people curse when there's no need to." He didn't want to get into another standoff or argument with this person again. Who knew what was happening in the real world while he was stuck here in this place. It might only be a few moments in the real world, but all it took for a life to end was just seconds when it came to demons. He didn't have the luxury to waste any time. He needed to figure out how to get out of here and into what he assumed to be the dream beyond the glass.

"I just would prefer that he would keep a larger sitting dis—"

"You're not denying it," Zenitsu said a bit more serious turning towards him. Tanjiro turned towards him. As soon as he looked at him, he made the smallest smirk, "Trust me, out of both of us, I know what he," he gestured toward the window, "thinks about the most." Tanjiro wanted to defend Zenitsu's honor; he wanted to say 'no he'd never think thoughts like that' but even he knew that was a lie. He found himself rubbing the callouses on his fingers angrily in nervous thought as he tried to think of the best way to put his feelings the best way possible.

"I know," he finally said, "I've known—that—for some time now, but I've never had any doubt or fear that he would do anything to hurt Nezuko or myself, ever. He has remarkable self-control, maybe even better than my sister; he's never even hurt someone as a human or—"

"You sound so sure," Zenitsu interrupted, "but how do you know for sure? You know how demons are when they first turn," he said looking hard at him, "you told us and Inosuke how your sister was when she first woke up…so how do you know for sure he hasn't?" Tanjiro only stared at him. He didn't want to let him know that he hadn't thought of that, and now he had planted a seed of doubt in his mind. This Zenitsu was staring hard at him, almost wanting him to give him a defensive answer. He almost relaxed when he replied:

"Why are you so eager to talk down yourself?" he asked, he put it that way on purpose just to see his reaction. He fully remembered how he reacted earlier, but he had to see something else. Not surprisingly, Zenitsu instantly got angry.

"I already told you, I'm not—"

"Well then," Tanjiro said as he folded his arms in defiance, "if you're not Zenitsu; who are you then?" He was expecting a quick answer, but this…person paused. He almost froze, had a very blank look on his face for a moment, then looked away with a puzzled contemplative look on his face. It seemed he had always insisted on being separated but had never thought past it. He even started to walk away from the window in quiet deep thought. Now was Tanjiro's time to get the real Zenitu's attention and possibly wake him up. He turned to the window, and not to get…who-ever-he-was…attention back, he started to gently bang on the window pane. Thankfully it seemed that this doppelganger didn't have Zenitsu's excellent hearing, and that's what he was banking on.

Everything was going perfectly so far! The weather was perfect, the atmosphere was perfect; he hadn't embarrassed himself as of yet. She had laughed at all of his jokes like genuinely laughed; not the kind of laugh he was used to hearing from his old girlfriends…if he even could call them that. Not one eyeroll, nor the murmur of annoyance that was covered by a feigned smile. She even asked him questions! If everything continued to go well, maybe he could even hold her hand again! He couldn't help but chuckle at such a naughty prospect, (maybe that was asking too much, too fast) and almost over tightened the flower stem onto the crown he was working on.

"What are you laughing about?" Nezuko asked with a soft smile as she turned towards him.

"Oh—OH, um…no-nothing," he said as he nearly dropped the crown, blushing hard and fast, "nothing at all. It's stupid, really." He swore that his cheeks felt like were all but melting off his face; he HATED how he always blushed so easily. (Not manly at all.)

"You sure," she said with a tilt of her head, (making him somehow blush even deeper) "you know you can tell me anything, I won't think it's stupid." She spoke softly, voice and eyes full of understanding and patience. Something he wasn't used to hearing or seeing from people very often. He could only think of three people off the top of his head. He couldn't help but nervously twist the flower in his hand in knots as he looked away from her, too shy to look her in the eyes.

"I uh," he fumbled, "um, uh…no, no it really is stupid. But you know, th-thank you for um…for uh, fo-for saying that. I—It means a lot to me." She gave him a slightly disappointed look (again another genuine look) but she didn't want to push him past his comfort zone and didn't push him any further on the subject. She simply smiled and gave him a nod and continued on her work preparing lunch for the two of them. He looked at what different kinds of dishes she had spread out and began to separate for the two of them: Edamame, Umeboshi Onigiri, Morokyu, Inarizushi, Hiyayakko, and Watermelon. Watermelon?! Wa-Wait a minute…did…did he pay…he must have. Oh boy, going back into debt again.~ However, he did see that she did give him the bigger slice…which was nice. (The last time he spent money on a melon for girlfriend number four, she didn't even share with him.) He also made another observation about something else, but the knocking sound broke his train of thought. He looked around to see if he could see what it could be. He didn't see anyone or anything that could make that kind of sound. It sounded like someone knocking on a windowpane.

"Do you hear that?" Zenitsu asked Nezuko as he continued to look around.

"Hear what?" she asked as she set down her plate of food.

"Well, it's kinda like a knocking sound," he said still looking around, "but it's really quiet." She paused and tilted her head in the same direction he had his own tilted towards in an attempt to hear what he had heard. After a moment, she shook her head and shrugged.

"No, I'm afraid I don't hear it," she smiled fondly, "but nobody has such amazing hearing like yours though." That was all it took to make him a blushing mess again. He fumbled with the crown in hand and shyly presenting it, he stuttered:

"I-I-um, I finished it," Her eyes lit up as she looked at it, "do you want me to put it on you?"

"Of course," she said clasping her hands together, "I just adore your crowns! Come over here and put it on." Well, you didn't have to tell him twice. He scooted over towards her and gingerly placed the crown on her head. She wore another soft smile as she gently felt the flowers and adjusted it better on her head. After she had it in the right place, she gave him the brightest smile he'd ever seen.

"Does it look good on me?" she asked. Well, it was now or never. He shyly reached for her hand and gently took it in his and gave it a gentle squeeze and to his surprise, she squeezed back.

"You're the one making it look good," he said with a soft smile, trying to sound confident. Seeing her blush and look away from the compliment was a good sign but the mood was slightly ruined when the knocking was back, only louder and this time there was something else:

"OI! Three! *knock* Feet! *knock* Apart! *knock* The minimum distance between her and you is three *knock* feet! *knock* Are you holding her hand?" Zenitsu instantly let go of her hand causing her to make a sound of surprised shock when he did, "Don't think I didn't see that! We're going to talk when you wake up."

"I—I wasn't doing anything," he started to whine out loud as he started to look around, "and wait…Tanjiro? Wha—did you seriously follow us out on our date?"

"No I—" Tanjiro started, but then there was a pause as if he was reconsidering his words and trying to calm down. Zenitsu still couldn't pinpoint where he was. It was odd, it was like he was talking behind something and was muffled, but also his voice was coming from…everywhere. It was freaky. "—look, I shouldn't even be mad. This isn't even real. I'm sorry for losing my temper. Of course, you'd dream of something nice like this. Look you need to wake up, we're all in danger. Remember we were on the train?"

"What are you talking about?" Zenitsu asked, starting to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. He stood up, trying to ignore the look Nezuko was giving him like he had lost his mind. He paused when he thought he saw something faint in the distance. He didn't dare go any closer to it, but he swore it kinda looked like…no, just ignore it. He reluctantly sat back down and nervously started to fidget at the hem of his haori.

"What did he mean by that," he mumbled to himself, "this can't be—I mean, what do you think?" He paused when he looked over towards Nezuko and his heart slightly sank. She was staring off into the distance having ignored him, her skin once again pale with the bamboo muzzle in place. He couldn't help but slightly chuckle as he roughly rubbed his arm as he looked away (for some reason he didn't want her to see the tears building up in his eyes even though he knew she wouldn't have cared) and for some reason, the world seemed less real than it had been a moment ago. Of course, he should have realized this had all been a stupid dream. Although…it was kinda nice to pretend to be loved back…even for a little while.

Tanjiro was relieved that he had managed to get through to the real Zenitsu and get him to start waking up. Now though, he realized he had to somehow get past the barrier and fast. He wasn't sure what would happen if he stayed here but he was sure it wouldn't be good at all. He backed up from the barrier and looked at it, throwing discretion to the wind he unsheathed his sword and decided to try the Seventh Form of Water Breathing. As he prepared to strike, he felt someone wrap themselves around him. It could only be one person.

"Let go," he said as he tried to wiggle out of the grip, "I need to get him and myself past the barrier quickly, there's no time for this!"

"I meant it earlier," Zen—well, the being that preferred to not be called that, "I meant it when I said that if you leave all it would do was lead you to your death. I was also serious when I asked if you would stay here. It would be somewhat bearable if someone would be here," he almost sounded desperate, like he was begging him not to go, "and it'd be killing two birds with one stone! You'd be staying alive, and I'd eventually get what I want," Tanjiro looked back over at him giving him a weird look, "and—don't worry, I'll—be good to your sister." Well, that was all he needed to hear. He took the sword and hit him with the pommel hard right in the abdomen. While he was winded, kneeling on the ground trying to catch his breath, Tanjiro refocused his attention back on the barrier. He performed the Drop Ripple Thrust, only to see that it did no damage—no wait…there was a small, pinhole crack in the glass-like barrier. He huffed, prepared his stance again, and performed the Seventh Form; this time the pinhole cracks spiderwebbed across half of the area. He huffed again in frustration. He was running out of time, he could see that the world beyond was quickly fading fast. He went to perform it again when he heard another quiet crack. He paused, he hadn't moved and he had been watching the barrier, nothing changed, but the world was quickly dimming.

Damnit he was out of time. He put his sword away and ran over to the boy on the ground, quickly scooped him up in his arms (he didn't have time to see if he was still with him), and charged towards the barrier. Thinking he would (hopefully) burst through to the other side, all that happened unfortunately was he bounced off of the barrier and stumbled back. Thankfully, it did manage to break the glass further. He readied himself for another charge when he heard the garden shears quickly open. It was now or never. He charged, praying that this would be the one. He rammed it as hard as he could, feeling something in his left shoulder shift and crunch. He didn't even have time to register the pain as he felt the barrier give way, felt the sensation of falling, and woke with a strong hypnic jerk.

Taisho Secrets:

All the food listed are vegetarian, I think you can guess why~

If it wasn't clear in the story, the quiet cracking sound Tanjiro heard was the orb cracking again…

White clover flowers symbolizes promise, happy and long marriage, virility (Wink Wink), joyfulness, good luck, prosperity and protection. It also stands for joyousness and lightheartedness, as it holds the promise of a true love. The secret message conveyed through this flower is 'Think of me'. Once I learned this I thought that was really sweet.

Now, this isn't Taisho Secret-related, but I've seen my story posted on other sites without my permission. I really don't have a problem with it but know the only sites I have this "Officially" posted at are on AO3, Wattpad and Fanfiction. There is/was supposed to be a fan translation by EmmaPie13, but I think they're waiting for the story to be complete for that. Other than that, other posts aren't mine. Don't harass anyone who may have posted my story though, I don't mind.

Also…a lot of people seem to think my story is a ZanTan fic…it's not officially one, it's a NeZen, but if you wish to see it that way, please do. (That's the beauty of fanfiction :) ) You mayyyy have seen something in this chapter~ If you did, then feast my ZanTan children.