A/N: This is a commission for BulletstormX. Commission info can be found on my Twitter.
There have always been many odd occurrences throughout the many worlds. While they could be similar, almost identical to a dangerous degree, each and every world is unique. However, there has been one interesting event that occurs throughout the infinity expanding multiverse.
The ability where dreams can cross.
I have observed this strange happenings many times throughout my journey, with one in particular being quite amazing. It had brought together two from different worlds, Ragna the Bloodedge and Velvet Crowe, saving them from their painful destinies.
Now, I'm about to tell you another story, this time between two kind slayers.
My name is Tsukasa Kadoya, the Destroyer of Worlds, or more commonly known as Kamen Rider Decade. And this? This is the story of Kamado Tanjiro and Asuka of Hanzo National Academy. Let's begin, shall we?
It was an odd experience for Tanjiro, to say the least.
He had just put his siblings to bed and went to sleep himself, only to wake up in a bright sunlit forest. It was very different from the forest where his family lived. He smelled the air, but couldn't find any traces of home.
He started to panic slightly, but calmed down. Panic would be the last thing he wanted. Taking another deep breath, this time he smelled with more focus and a clearer mind.
"Eh?" Tanjiro could smelt a different scent, something else. Followed his nose, he got into a clearing of trees to find a girl lying down in the grass. She was wearing an odd set of clothing he had never seen before, though he noticed she had a red scarf. Rushing over, he knelt down.
Not touching her, instead he tapped the ground next to her ear to try and wake her up. The girl groaned, before opening her eyes. Seeing Tanjiro, she quickly got up and scooted back.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you." Tanjiro reassured her.
The girl looked around. "Where am I?"
Tanjiro sat down with her. "That's what I'm wondering too. I had just gone to bed before I found myself in this place."
"That was what happened to me too." The girl said. "Maybe this is a dream?"
Tanjiro just shrugged. "Though, what's your name?"
"My name is Asuka."
"I'm Tanjiro! Nice to meet you!"
Seeing as the two of them were seemingly stuck there for quite a while, conversation seemed to be the logical way forward. Asuka liked Tanjiro's presence, since he was quite nice.
"You sell coal?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah." Tanjiro said. "I help out for my entire family."
"A family that large sounds like quite the handful, but quite wonderful as well."
"It really is!" Tanjiro said with a grin.
"But selling coal..." Asuka had a hand under her chin. "Tanjiro, are you from the twentieth Century?"
"Eh?" He raised a brow. "Yeah, that's right. Why?"
"This might be somewhat absurd to say, but... I'm from the twenty first century."
"EHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Tanjiro fell backwards on the grass at the words, before raising his head. "Really?!"
"Yes, really."
"How is this possible?" He asked, sitting up.
"I'm not sure myself, but I'm surprised that you're not doubting my words."
"Well, it's because I don't think you're a liar, Asuka."
Asuka let out a small cute laugh at those words, though she was thinking to herself if it was truly safe to talk to Tanjiro about her past, considering that he was someone from an age long before her own. Then again, time travel was never something that was truly fluid, not that she even knew how it worked. And besides, Tanjiro seemed so nice that she'd feel terrible for lying to him. So she told him her story.
"No way! You're a ninja in training?" He asked, stars in his eyes. "That's so cool!"
"Well, I still have a lot to learn." Asuka said, rubbing the back of her head at the praise. "It's more of a tradition in my family. It's not that special."
"No, it really is amazing!" Tanjiro said earnestly. "You're so cool!"
Asuka laughed. "I'm glad to see you think that."
"Though, I can't help but wonder if our meeting was fate or something." Tanjiro admitted. "I mean, we're both two people from different times."
"It could possibly be, but it was really nice that I could meet you." Asuka said.
They saw that the forest they were in started to fade.
"It looks like this is goodbye though." Asuka said sadly.
"Asuka!" Tanjiro asked. "Can we be friends?"
Asuka smiled and held out her hand. "Of course we can, Tanjiro."
Tanjiro shook the hand, slightly blushing. "I hope I get to see you again!" He said, fading away.
"Me too Tanjiro... me too..."
The forest around them faded, as they were both slowly being pulled into the waking world.
Several years have passed since then. Asuka had grown into a fine (and well endowed) woman attending Hanzo Academy. She had formed irreplaceable friendships with her classmates, that she would never give up for anything. She found more often than not that they would end up in some... steamy situations, but none of the girls really said too much about it.
However, even after all these years, Asuka still remembered Tanjiro. Despite the promise they made, they had yet to see each other once more. Whenever Asuka went to sleep, she did dream, but felt that there was some sort of emptiness or a blockage of some sort. She'd often think about him, wondering what he was doing.
"Tanjiro..."
"Tanjiro?"
Asuka was brought out of her trance, as she was face to face with a friend of hers. Ikaruga had a concerned look on her face, as did Yagyū and Daidōji. Hibari and Katsuragi had more interested expressions on their faces though. She remembered that they had just finished training when she spaced out.
"Is something the matter?" Ikaruga asked.
"No, not at all." Asuka reassured. "I was just thinking about someone."
"Oooh, Asuka's got love on the brain?" Katsuragi grinned.
"N-No!" Asuka said with a stammer and a bit of a blush. "It's nothing like that!"
"Then what is it?" Daidōji asked. "It's not healthy to keep thoughts like that bottled up."
"Like I said, it's nothing."
"Come on Asuka, tell us!" Hibari asked, grabbing her hand. "Tell us! Tell us!"
"I'd honestly like to hear about this as well." Yagyū said.
"Likewise." Ikaruga agreed. "Though I'd say it's for your sake. It's always better to get things like these out of your system."
"...you just wanna hear who Asuka's talking about too, don't you?" Katsuragi deadpanned.
"...No."
"And that just confirms it. Aaanyways." Katsuragi grins. "Come on girl, you're outnumbered in opinion. Let us know!"
Asuka was about to protest again, before sighing. She would never be able to convince them to not pry into her own business. Probably her fault since she had said Tanjiro's name aloud. But regardless of whose fault it was, she decided to speak.
"Okay, I'll tell you. But you have to promise me that you won't laugh." She said seriously.
The girls all nodded, promising that they wouldn't. They were friends after all. ... Sure, they had just poked into Asuka's private business, but this was mostly out of concern for her (and due to their own curiosity).
"Well, the guy I mentioned... he was someone that I met in my dreams." She said, blushing at how embarrassing and almost childish it sounded.
"Wow, literal dream guy, eh?" Katsuragi said. "Dang girl, didn't know you thought up stuff like that."
"Please don't interrupt me." Asuka said. "Though you wouldn't be too far off, considering who he is."
The girls all raised their brows.
"His name is Tanjiro Kamado." Asuka said. "But here's the odd thing, he's not from our time period."
"What do you mean?" Hibari asked, curious.
"He comes from around 100 years. The last century."
"...eh?" Was the only reply all the girls had.
"That's the same thing I thought as well." Asuka admitted. "But going on, we didn't talk too much in the dream, but we became friends. He's a very kind boy."
"Well, I feel happy for you... in a weird sort of way." Yagyū said. "But I am a bit confused why you are acting like this over someone you saw in a dream."
"I mean, you do you." Katsuragi said. "If it helps, I also dream up people and then start touc-"
"NO THAT DOES NOT HELP." Ikaruga said, placing a firm hand on Katsuragi's mouth. "But going off what Yagyū said, why are you taking a dream so seriously?"
"I know it sounds absurd, but the dream where I met Tanjiro just felt so... real." Asuka said. "I haven't seem him again and all of my other dreams feel completely different. It's almost as if there's some sort of... some sort of mental block or barrier."
"That is quite odd." Daidōji observed. "You think of him often, but don't have any more dreams of him? That seems very unlikely."
Asuka nodded. She couldn't help but start to feel a bit worried as well. She kept thinking as Katsuragi struggled to get the hand off her mouth. Why hasn't she seen Tanjiro in so long? Did something happen to him? That thought would no longer leave her mind.
It was only a few minutes after Asuka had laid down and gone to sleep.
Opening her eyes again, she found herself in a forest. The ground was on a slope, and snow was everywhere. While the clouds were covering the sky, Asuka could tell from the angle of the sunlight that seeped through that it was fairly early in the morning.
Was this another dream? It felt... different. She didn't feel cold at all.
Hearing footsteps, she made her way through the trees and snow to find a path leading up into the mountain. The footsteps got closer, and she saw a familiar face. A young teenager with a green and black checkered coat, with a burn scar on his forehead. He was carrying a basket full of charcoal on his back.
"Tanjiro!" She called out, waving.
Tanjiro didn't react at her words, and Asuka raised a brow. She walked forward, only for him to walk right through her. Quite literally, in fact. After the initial shock, she tried to put a hand on Tanjiro's shoulder, but passed right through him once more. It was almost like she was a ghost.
It felt odd, how close she was to Tanjiro now, but the fact he couldn't see her. She didn't pay too much mind to it however, though now she knew Tanjiro was safe. However, that would all shatter soon.
Tanjiro smelt the air and picked up something. Asuka couldn't tell what it was, but Tanjiro started running faster. What just happened?
She got her answer when they saw a small house come into view. She saw red stains on the walls and started to feel some dread. The full house came into view, and Asuka put a hand over her mouth. The scene was absolutely horrifying, blood splattering the wood and snow, with corpses of even children laying about. Tanjiro ran over to the bodies of who Asuka could only presume were his family.
As Tanjiro mourned, Asuka's horror turned into anger. Just who did this? Who would commit such a horrendous act? She cursed at her current state, as she couldn't even help, much less comfort Tanjiro.
She turned back to him, and saw that he was putting a girl on his back, who she presumed was his younger sister. Nezuko was her name, if she remembered what Tanjiro told her long ago. Getting closer, Asuka put her head by the chest and heard a heartbeat. She was still alive. Tanjiro was going to try and get her help.
"Keep going Tanjiro." She encouraged, even though he couldn't hear her. "You can save her."
Even if he couldn't hear the words of encouragement, Tanjiro kept on running down the mountain, holding his younger sister. Asuka ran alongside them, before noticing something odd occurring with Nezuko. The girl seemed to regain consciousness, but something was wrong. She leaned back and almost roared, with the sudden movement causing Tanjiro to lose his balance and fall down the side of the mountain. Asuka cried out Tanjiro's name and swiftly made a careful descent. Thankfully, Tanjiro seemed to be fine as the snow cushioned his fall.
But what about Nezuko? Asuka looked around for the girl and saw her stand up. Tanjiro called out to his sister, but Asuka was on her guard. Nezuko charged right through her at Tanjiro, swiping at him.
What? Why is she attacking him?!
Nezuko pounced on her brother, who defended himself with the shaft of the hatchet he had. Asuka looked closer and saw that Nezuko's nails were sharp and her teeth had become fangs. Veins were pulsing throughout her body.
Did she... did she become a Yoma?
She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Tanjiro begging and pleading for Nezuko to snap out of it. Whipping around, Asuka picked up the sounds of rapid footsteps, before hearing a huge jump. Looking up, she saw a man with a sword drawn about to attack, though Tanjiro had pulled Nezuko out of the way just in time.
Who's this new face? Asuka wondered.
As Tanjiro sat up, holding Nezuko close, the man kept his sword at the ready. Asuka noticed the unique blue tinge on the katana.
"Why are you protecting it?" The man asked.
"She's my sister!" Tanjiro said. "I was taking her to get help!"
Nezuko began to act up, but Tanjiro kept her seated. The man's expression didn't change.
"You call that thing your sister?" He asked.
The man rushed forward. Asuka lost track of him. In almost a split second, the man was already several feet away, restraining Nezuko by the arms.
Such incredible speed. Asuka noted. I couldn't even keep track of him!
"Nezuko!" Tanjiro said, getting up.
"Don't move!" The man ordered.
Tanjiro stayed in his spot, as the wind blew.
"My job is to slay every demon I find." The man said. "Which means I have to decapitate your sister here."
A demon? Asuka wondered, as Tanjiro and the man continued to talk. What is that?
"-I don't know why she's changed into something like this! But still-!" Tanjiro said.
"It's really quite simple." The man stated. "She's turned because her wounds were exposed to demon blood. That's how the man eating monsters multiply."
"Nezuko would never eat a human!" Tanjiro declared.
"You must be joking." The man said. "If I hadn't gotten here when I did, she would have devoured you."
"You're wrong! She wouldn't hurt me, she knows I'm her big brother! And I won't let her hurt anyone! I'll turn her back into a human! I will heal her!"
"She can't be healed." The man said bluntly. "Once you become a demon, no one can ever turn back."
Tanjiro continued to plead, as Asuka tried to read the man. His words were confident and experienced, as if this was a situation that he had been in many times before. The knowledge of demons proved this, and was also somewhat interesting to Asuka.
She saw that the man had aimed his sword at Nezuko, and Tanjiro was now on his knees, bowing and begging the man to stop. But this notion didn't seem to make the man change his mind, it only caused anger.
"Don't grovel like that and give your enemies the change to kill you!" He yelled. "All you're doing is making yourself vulnerable. If it were even a little bit effective, your family would still be alive right now!"
Tanjiro leaned up at the harsh words.
"How can a weakling like you, have any hope of healing his sister, or hunt down a demon?!" He yelled. "Don't be ridiculous! The weak have no right, they don't get to make choices! All they can do is get relentlessly crushed by the strong!"
Asuka didn't react at the tongue lashing the man was giving. She had heard many, receiving several of her own.
"Now, maybe the demons know of a way to cure your sister. Maybe." He said, bringing Nezuko in front of him. "But don't think for even a moment that any one of them is going to respect your wishes. Just like I have no respect for you. That's reality! And why the hell did you throw yourself over her like that. Was that your way of protecting her? Why didn't you swing that hatchet? And why would you ever turn your back to me? Those mistakes, are what led to her capture!"
Nezuko kept on struggling and growling, kicking the snow.
"I could have easily just skewered the both of you and have been done with it!"
As Tanjiro was left in stunned silence, Asuka looked into the man's eyes. They weren't the ones full of malicious intent. They were ones of wisdom. One that was almost trying to teach Tanjiro. Eyes full of some regret at the possibility that if he had gotten here sooner, he could have saved Tanjiro's family, but even he knew there was no way to turn back the hands of time. He raised his blade.
"No!"
The man stabbed Nezuko in the shoulder. Not thinking, Asuka drew her blade and slashed at the man. She would have taken his hand off, it not for the fact that she was intangible. Regretfully, she sheathed her weapon as Tanjiro got up.
"Don't you touch her!" Tanjiro screamed.
He threw a rock at the man, who easily deflected it with the grip of his blade. Tanjiro grabbed the hatchet off the ground. The snow kicked up as Tanjiro threw another stone at the man, who easily moved out of the way. Tanjiro yelled as he charged at Giyuu, but Asuka saw the mistake. Tanjiro let his emotion drive him to charge at the man.
"You are a fool!" The man yelled, echoing the back of Asuka's mind. He slammed the other end of his sword into Tanjiro's back, sending the boy unconscious. Nezuko stopped struggling and stared at her fallen brother.
Asuka then realized that Tanjiro wasn't holding the hatchet. The man asked the same question to himself, before looking up. He quickly tilted his head, letting the hatchet embed itself into the tree behind him. They both realized what had happened. Right before Tanjiro went behind a tree, he threw the rock, and at the same time, tossed the hatchet. He kept his hands behind him and only pretended to attack the man, so he wouldn't realize he was unarmed. Tanjiro knew he had no way of winning, so he devised a plan of bringing the man down after getting knocked out.
Breaking free from the grip, Nezuko kicked the man away and went for her brother.
"Tanjiro!" Asuka yelled.
But her expression reflected the man's, as Nezuko didn't attempt to harm Tanjiro, but rather held her arms out protectively. She recalled Tanjiro's words.
Nezuko didn't do it. She'd never eat a human!
Nezuko ran at the man, swiping at him, though he simply dodged the readable attacks. Asuka wondered if the man saw the same thing she did. Perhaps Nezuko was different from every other man eating demon out there. Nezuko jumped into a tree and pounced at the man. He sheathed his blade and knocked her out with a simple chop to the neck.
Asuka knew that he man wouldn't kill now. He had sheathed his blade before the battle was over. She watched as he put the two siblings next to each other, wrapping Nezuko in a clean cloth and created what appeared to be a muzzle of bamboo and tied it around Nezuko's mouth. He then leaned against a tree, waiting. She didn't know what to think of the man, but was glad that he had stayed his hand.
Tanjiro's groans indicated he was waking up. He gripped his sister's hand.
"You awake?" The man asked.
Tanjiro quickly pulled Nezuko into a protective hug.
"Get to Mt. Sagiri as soon as possible." He instructed. "Look for an old man named Sakonji Urokodaki. When you find him, tell him Giyuu Tomioka sent you."
So Giyuu is his name? Asuka noted.
"It's cloudy, so she seems to be alright at the moment, but never let her be exposed to sunlight."
Giyuu disappeared in yet another burst of speed. Asuka really had to take notes on skills like that.
She continued to watch over Tanjiro and Nezuko, as the two went back to their home to bury the bodies of their deceased family. Asuka tried her best to comfort Tanjiro, wrapping her incorporeal hands around him. She had never felt so useless in her entire life. Her friend was suffering, and she couldn't do anything about it.
Tanjiro took Nezuko's hand, as the two started the long journey to the mountains to find the man Giyuu instructed them to seek out.
The world faded from her, as Asuka sat up in bed.
Tears began to fall, after seeing everything that had happened.
Tanjiro... please... wherever you are... I hope you're safe.
