Gyutaro ran down the mountain, trying to find a way out of the dream. But snow was starting to fall and a freezing wind was picking up. He clutched himself and shivered, how was it getting colder than it already was?! He hadn't thought he'd still be in the dream this long. "Shit, this is bad! If I-I fre-freeze to death he-here, will I wake u-up in the, r-real world?" Gyutaro wondered. He thought of all of his Siblings, of Ume, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Hanako, who were all on the train. He clenched his fists, "I refuse to die here! I will get out of this dream and protect my family! I'll protect everyone!" Gyutaro cried, before coughing harshly from the cold.

'Damn it! What do I do?' he thought, looking around. 'I have to go back! My real family needs me! Ume and Nezuko need me! I have to turn them back into humans! I have to protect my Siblings! There has to be some way to wake up!' he thought frantically. "Gyutaro!" a familiar voice called, before he felt like his Father was right behind him. "You can get out of this! Take up your Sickle. There is something you must cut" he called. Then suddenly his Father's presence vanished. Gyutaro's hand went to handle of his Sickle, "something, I have to cut- does that mean-" he gulped, trembling hand going up to his neck. "No! Don't think about it! Hanako needs you to protect her! Along with all the other passengers! You don't have any time to hesitate!" he cried.

The Oldest Kamado knelt down in the snow, sickle positioned at his throat. 'Just do it! You have to wake up right now!' he thought in furious determination. In one quick motion Gyutaro stabbed the blade into his neck and pulled. There was an agonising pain-

*Real world*

And then Gyutaro woke up screaming on the train. His hand went up to his throat as he gasped for breath. "I did it. It worked!" he muttered, trembling. "Gyu-taro" a familiar voice said in relief.

The green-haired 27-year-old spun around to find a smile Demon Ume standing behind him. "Ume! You're still a Demon! So this is real! It worked!" he cried, lunging up and hugging his little Sister close. Ume hugged him as well, "Brother, something is coming. Something dangerous-" she began, before they heard Tanjiro suddenly call out from the top of the train: "the whole train has turned into a Demon! There's nowhere on it that's safe! I repeat! The entire train is a Demon! Anyone who's awake and can hear me, help protect the passengers, please!" he begged. Just as he said that, the walls and floor started to transform into flesh. Demon flesh.

Ume growled darkly around, while Gyutaro got his Sickle and chain ready. Nezuko was still next to them. "Nezuko, keep waking the others up! We'll cover you! The Hashira need to be first! Kyojuro and Mitsuri!" he called back to her. Nezuko stopped growling, and nodded, moving to start burning everyone awake. And wasn't that a strange sentence. "Alright, are you ready Ume?" Gyuatro asked as he got into his fighting stance and Ume got into hers. "We have to protect everyone we can, as well as guard Nezuko until she can wake everyone up! Let's go!" he cried.

Ư*Ğ.Ķ

Gyutaro and Ume hacked and slashed at all of the flesh tentacles around them, keeping them from getting near any of the sleeping humans. But they couldn't be everywhere at once. A mass of tentacles went after some people in the next car down. "Shit! No!" Gyutaro cursed, knowing he wouldn't be able to make it in time. Suddenly, a voice breathed: "Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunder Clap and flash plus Sixfold!" and a yellow blur shot passed them, taking out all of the tentacles in the other car in an instant, before returning to their car. Everyone was shocked by who it was. "Zenitsu?!" Gyutaro shrieked, completely taken off guard by the sudden calm proficiency the perpetually terrified teen exuded.

The three Kamado's just stared for a moment, unable to understand what it was they'd just seen. "Focus on the battle" the blond said, voice a low monotone. "Wait! What about Hanako!" Gyutaro cried, turning to look at the seat where their youngest Sister was sitting. Mitsuri had been sitting next to her, and Nezuko was currently busy waking the pink and green-haired Hashira up.

Suddenly the woman sat up, wide awake. She looked around in shock, "are you telling me all of that was a dream?!" she cried in dismay. "Uh-" both Gyutaro and Ume replied in dumbfounded unison. Suddenly Hanako shot up with a scream, gasping desperately for air. "Woah, Hanako, what's wrong?!" Ume asked worriedly. The 12-year-old looked down at her trembling hands, "I'm, alive? And I d-didn't drown?" she whimpered. 'Drown? Did she drown herself in the river to wake up or something? My 12-year-old baby Sister drowned herself in her dream to wake up? She has some mental strength!' Gyutaro awed. But it seemed like Hanako had used up all of that strength to wake herself up, because she was now sobbing in terror, looking traumatized.

"I-I really thought I was about to die! But all of that was a dream after all! I was so scared!" she cried. Suddenly a flesh tendril nearly ate her, but Nezuko ripped it in half with her claws. "Ahhh! I wanna go home! I wanna get off this awful train!" the little girl sobbed. "We'll go home as soon as we save everyone!" Gyutaro called, before turning to the Love Hashira, "can you take care of her! Please, I can't leave her here by herself" he pleaded. "Of course! Climb onto my back little Hanako!" Mitsuri called. "H-huh?" Hanako asked, tears fading. "I'm stronger than any woman! I promise you'll be safe with me!" the young woman swore. Hanako looked over at her Older Siblings. Ume nodded with a smile, so the 12-year-old climbed onto the Hashira's back. "Don't worry about holding onto my neck, my muscles are too dense for you to choke me!" she said cheerfully.

Hanako wrapped her arms tightly around the woman's neck and, like she said, she didn't even react. "Now, hold on tight and keep your eyes closed little one" Mitsuri said. The Kamado clenched her eyes shut and buried her face into the Hashira's white Haori. In a flash, Mitsuri was off, tearing apart the Demon flesh with brutal precision. Gyutaro looked to where Nezuko had been waking Kyojuro up, to find the younger man gone and a burst of flames left in his wake. When he turned back to the Demon flesh around them, he found it all to be disintegrating from being cut by a Nicherin Blade. "The Hashira are really amazing" Ume said, before turning back to her Brother, "Let's go Gyutaro!" she said firmly, attacking the flesh once more. Gyutaro nodded, "right! Let's go!" he agreed, the oldest two Kamado Siblings raining attack after attack on the healing Demon flesh.

Suddenly Gyutaro noticed an eye growing right in front of him, but was too far away to do anything as it used the Demon's Blood Demon Art on him. 'Damn it! I'm gonna fall asleep again! I can't stay- awake' he thought as his eyes slipped shut, the last thing he heard was Ume crying out to him.

*Gyutaro's nightmare*

Gyutaro woke up standing on a dark street. He blinked, confused, and looked around. His eyes widened as he recognised the place. It was the Entertainment District. Then he noticed a horrible burning smell at his feet. He looked down, and his eyes widened with horror. Ume's small body was laying in a shallow hole. And she was burned to a crisp, her hair was just ashes and her black skin flaked off with every movement, leaving behind large, bleeding patches of flesh. He stared at her in horror. What was happening?! Ume- Ume wasn't burned. She was alive! A Demon, but alive!

"This isn't real! It's not real!" Gyutaro shrieked, tears blurring his vision. Not real- that's right, a nightmare! They had been fighting that Demon that could make you fall asleep and have dreams! And, apparently nightmares as well. "I just have to kill myself, and I'll wake up! Ume is alive! She's alive!" he gasped. But he couldn't tear his gaze away from his dying little Sister. 'It's not real! This isn't real! I have to do something! I have to wake up! Wake up!' he thought desperately, slicing his stomach open with the Sickle in his hand.

*End nightmare*

Gyutaro gasped as he opened his eyes to the sight of the Demon train. "Gyutaro!" Ume cried, shielding him from the flesh protrusions, and hacking away at them with her claws, but they grew back too fast. "Ume!" he cried, noticing that he was slumped on the floor against one of the seats. He grabbed his weapon, which was lying at his side and stood up, "fuck, I got caught again, didn't I?!" he snarled, attacking the Demon flesh with renewed vigor. 'This is weird. I assume that the Bastard fused with the train so he could eat all the passengers. But it hasn't even eaten any of the ones that aren't being protected as much.'

Gyutaro came to the conclusion moments later, as a tendril slowly moved towards an elderly couple, before he cut it in half, 'the shithead is playing with us! He's making us run around like headless chickens in a desperate attempt to save everyone, and use up all of our energy! He's trying to tire us all out! Fucking Bastard!' he thought with a snarl. Gyuatro glanced around the train, 'I hope our Siblings are okay. Please be okay' Gyutaro thought desperately. He gained a determined expression, 'we won't let you win. No matter what it takes, we will save every person on this train! We won't stop, even if it kills us!' he thought.

To Be Continued