The girl in the green kimono had fallen asleep breathing slowly and counting upwards just like their master had told them to. She and the others were to infiltrate the demon hunters dreams and destroy their spiritual core. Once the spiritual core is destroyed, they die on the inside and become nothing more than withered husks with no soul. They would die in the sweet dreams their master had lured them in. She was so tired, so weak, and felt helpless. She wanted to be useful and her master gave her a chance to do something great. Something... powerful. If they all did a good job, he would grant them peaceful dreams of their own. She wanted to die in the arms of comfort, home, and peace. She won't let anything stand in her way between that, not even the Hashira whose dream she had infiltrated.
She had appeared right beside a home. Hearing the voices of men, she slowly peered her head out from around the corner but quickly drew herself back. That Hashira was training a small version of himself, a younger brother perhaps, and didn't seem to have noticed something was amiss. Something like not being on a train to hunt for her master. For having a rank as high as a Hashira, he was pitifully moronic. Even then, she needed to be careful. If his True Self saw her, he would wake up and destroy everything they had been working towards.
To even have a clue of finding his spiritual core, she needed to get to the corner of his dream and quickly! Her master had warned them the dream, the world created in their heads, wasn't infinite. It was one giant circle with the dreamer presiding at the very center. The realm of the subconscious existed just outside the dream and there is where she would find the spiritual core. Then, she would stab, puncture, and make a million holes in it to make sure it was dead with the ice pick she wields in her hand!
The girl ran as fast as she could away from the home and through the vacant town. She didn't know or understand the layout, she ran through twists and turns hoping she wasn't running in a circle. Her lungs burned, her legs ached, and her heart was skipping faster than it should've. Choking back the painful gasps and intake of air, she slowed herself to a manageable walk and began to feel all around her through the air.
With her hands pushed out in front of her, she walked one careful step at a time. Smashing into the barrier would wake the Hashira up and kill her before she could have a chance to kill him. Her fingers delicately moved through the air as she took care to make sure she didn't do just that. Then, a small gasp left her mouth when her hand made contact with the barrier. It sent ripples of energy all throughout but they died down before it could even get close to the sky. She knew she had made it to the corner; she could see the path continuing down and the trees that swayed softly in the breeze but she couldn't move beyond it. That's how she knew.
Without wasting any time, she stabbed her ice pick in the barrier and pulled with all her might! She will destroy his spiritual core and get her happy dream! She will do it whatever it takes!
The barrier, the veil keeping her from it, tore open like a large gash and revealed his subconscious realm. Her eyes widened and her face scrunched up at the sight. She walked through and was immediately hit with heat so hot it would burn the flesh off her bones. She padded on tiles made of concrete and every single inch of it, save a few small spots, was blazing with scorching fire. The red and yellow tips flared high into the air like snakes wiggling out of the ground, the heat crackled and burned, swaying ferociously, and had no intention of being extinguished. The smoke and ash that rose from it almost made her choke on her own breath.
Keeping her arm to her nose and mouth, she quickly took off in a run.
The realm of his subconscious felt infinite. She ran through trails of fire, avoiding them all if she could, but there was no way she was leaving without a few burns or singes in her hair and clothing. Sweat beaded down her fore-head, her hands started to become clammy, and her lungs felt like they were the ones on fire. The smoke that billowed out of the flames tainted the cloudy sky above her and it made it that much harder to find the spiritual core. Where the hell could it be?!
Then, she felt it.
Gasping, coughing out smoke that entered her lungs, she saw the bright ball floating just mere feet from her. She quickly made her way to it and stopped just short to admire it. It was red, glowing with the colors of fire that rampage and surged around her, and it momentarily took her breath away. Even though it was thing of beauty to witness, she will not let weakness keep her from having a good dream! A happy dream!
"DIE!" She screamed bringing her ice pick down on the ball-
Her entire body went rigid when her hand hovered just a few mere centimeters from the spiritual core. The ice pick fell and tumbled uselessly to the ground, clinking against the cement tiles. Her eyes bulged out of her head, her heart and lungs spasming erratically in her chest, and her hands shakily tried to grasp those around her neck. Except she couldn't feel them! The invisible and transparent hands that were wrapped around her throat were tight, so tight she could feel the large finger indentations forming on her neck, and forced her body to hover in the air for a few seconds. Then, she collapsed to the ground, a pint of spit spilling out of her mouth as she gagged trying to desperately breath.
She couldn't understand what was happening! The Hashira shouldn't be awake! She was still inside the realm of his subconscious and yet he was moving! Humans weren't suppose to be able to move while in that state!
What... What kind of survival instinct is this?!
The boy in the brown jinbei stood silently outside a small home in a snowy forest. He was freezing; the snowflakes fell delicately from the tree branches above him, his sandals getting soaked with clumps of snow, and the chilly breeze softly moved through the air and swirled lightly around him. He was silent as he listened to the giggles, laughter, and happiness that radiated from inside the home. The demon hunter with the hanafuda earrings had dreamnt of being with his family again. He could hear the demon hunter's brothers, sister, and mother starting a grill to make the rice crackers they loved to eat so much.
He was careful to stay out of sight when the demon hunter came out to chop down some trees. As if he had done so for years, he expertly chopped logs off the wood and lined them in a large woven basket beside him. When he pulled it on his back, he smiled and asked, "Nezuko, ready?"
The boy watched him curiously wondering if he had named the basket so but the demon hunter looked just as confused as he was. He glanced back at the basket on his back and stared for a small while. A look filled with some sort of realization was in his eyes before it quickly dimmed. He shook his head, as if he had been hearing or mumbling things out of context even for himself, before walking back inside his home. He listened to the small chatter and the anxious tone in his voice when the girl Nezuko was out in broad daylight. No one understood why it was terrible, only he did.
Tanjiro grabbed two buckets and began to make his way to the stream just down the path from his home. His mom had asked him to get the bath ready while she made the rice crackers for everyone. As he walked, he thought to the strangest things he had said. He was so confused on why he thought Nezuko was in the basket and why he was so scared about her picking vegetables in broad daylight. They didn't quite make much sense to him. Perhaps he was just tired.
Something appeared in the corner of his vision.
He swiftly turned and saw nothing. It disappeared just as fast as it appeared. He may have been seeing things but it seemed like a wooden box was sitting in the snow not too far from where he stood on the path. It couldn't have been. Why would he think he saw a box? What would a box being doing out in the forest?
"I wonder what that was just now," He mumbled to himself and knelt on the small pier. He gazed into his reflection and let out a small sigh. "I must be tired..." He grabbed a bucket and didn't expect to see and hear anything the moment the lip barely grazed the water.
"WAKE UP!"
Tanjiro gasped out in fright when he heard his own voice scream at him. Then, he saw his reflection inside the water but... he looked so different. The ripples and waves obscured the image but another terrified gasp left his mouth when something launched out of the water and grabbed the sleeve of his haori! He plunged in the stream but only expected it to be a few feet deep. Except he was horrified to find himself still floating downwards and being pulled towards the abyss by someone else! By... himself!
This person, he, looked so much different than from he looked then. He was older, the blemish on his fore-head was replaced by a weird jagged mark, his red hair was cut short, and he wore a different set of clothing. The only thing that resembled himself were his eyes, his haori, and the hanafuda earrings. Even then, those eyes weren't filled with pure, innocence, and naivete. They were filled with horrors he somehow hasn't seen yet, terror he hadn't felt yet, and hardships that will soon come to past. Those eyes were hardened and he could tell that version of himself wasn't joking with him. Not when it came to something this serious!
"We're in danger! You've gotta wake up!" He frantically screamed at himself tugging on his sleeve harder and harder. "All of this, it's all a dream! Open your eyes!"
So that must mean I'm still... onboard the train!
He caught a glimpse of himself sprawled across the bench, deep asleep, through the soft ripples of water. The vision was hazy and obscured but he was sure that was him! That had to be him! He remembered now! He remember boarding the Mugen Train with Kagami, Zenitsu, and Inosuke! He remembered meeting up with Mr. Kyojuro Rengoku to defeat the demon that was aboard the train! Except he already killed the demons targeting the innocent civilians. Was there another they missed? But how?!
"Wake up, and fight! You have to!"
A feeling of dread, fear, and shock spiked through him. Something unfamiliar coursed through him but he couldn't understand what! He needs to wake up! How can he wake up?! What if the others haven't woken up either?! He needs to save them!
"YOU HAVE TO FIIIIIIIIGHT!"
Tanjiro shut his eyes closed and tried to will himself to wake up! His eyes squeezed so tightly stars exploded in the darkness beneath his eyelids but he couldn't let up! He needed to wake up! The water that closed in around him, trapping him and suffocating him in the darkness, suddenly lifted away. He expected his eyes to open and reveal the train but he only saw his family sitting around him enjoying their meal. He... failed.
Damn... I'm still trapped in this dream. How do I get out? Even knowing it's a dream, what am I supposed to do?
When she realized everything went quiet and still, Nezuko opened the door to her box and tried to take a step out. A gasp of surprise was muffled against her bamboo muzzle when there was no floor for her to stand on. Her small, shrunken figure tumbled to the ground but it didn't hurt her. Immediately springing up on her feet, she looked down the aisle of the strange room on wheels she was in and saw something curious.
Standing in the center was a tall man with the fiery golden hair and a small girl in a green kimono. His hand was wrapped tightly around her neck and he seemed to be squeezing the life out of her but they didn't move at all. His face held anguish and anger, his eyes tightly closed, as well as the girl's, but they did nothing but stand there. It was as if they were sleep walking, or moving subconsciously. She turned her head and saw her other friends asleep as well. Zenitsu was drooling with a lopsided smile on his face, Kagami's head was leaning gently against the wall, and Inosuke was asleep on her lap making loud snores that should've woken up everyone around them.
She looked over at the next seat and her eyes landed on Tanjiro. They brightened seeing her older brother but quickly dimmed when she saw him panting, breathing with shallow breaths, and breaking out in a cold sweat. His body trembled when he voiced out loud, hoarse and frightened, "I gotta wake up."
He must be having a terrible nightmare. I got you, brother.
Nezuko began to shake his arm, grunting with effort, but he didn't seem to be waking up. It was as if he couldn't feel her. He must so deep in his dream that even touching him wouldn't work. She knew what to do! Her brother always patted her on the head, showing so much affection and admiration for her, and it made her feel whole, always. She picked up his weightless hand and smiled through her muzzle, closing her eyes as she placed his hand on her head. She let it rub for a few moments and opened her eyes to expect Tanjiro to open his. Except... he didn't. His hand fell again and he didn't move.
Brother... why aren't you waking up?
Huffing with determination and persistence, Nezuko's face scrunched up and she got in close to his head. She drew her own back and smashed it against Tanjiro's hard! Her brain inside her skull rattled harshly, making her momentarily dizzy, and she felt the vibration course through her entire body violently, but she didn't care. All that mattered was waking up her brother! She hoped to see him raise his head or groan in pain at the headbutt but he did nothing! Why... Why wasn't he waking up? She thought it would've worked...
The large gash between her eyebrows spilled blood and her eyes spilled tears that swelled larger and larger. Her heart was beginning to ache and her hands shook at her side. Her cries were muffled against her muzzle and she stared defeated down at her brother. No matter what she did he simply wasn't waking up... but she wasn't going to give up! No, she won't lose her older brother!
With a loud muffled yell, she pushed her arms out from the side of her body and bashed her head against his again!
Blood Demon Art, Exploding Blood!
Their entire bodies were instantly engulfed by hot pink flames that didn't burn anything in its path. None of the seats or humans that sat around or near them were harmed at all. She hoped the bright pink blaze of fire would wake her brother up-somehow! When the flames died out, her wavering eyes filled with tears stared hopefully at him. She waited for his eyes to open, to greet her, and thank her for waking him up, petting her head and hugging her close... but it never happened.
Brother, Tanjiro, I'm sorry...
Nezuko collapsed on her knees and began to release muffled wails in the air. No one can hear her. Not even Tanjiro!
Please come back to me! Please wake up!
Tanjiro sat with his family, a sad look on his face when he realized he couldn't wake up, when he was suddenly engulfed in a large blaze of pink flames! His siblings looked at him with despair and fear, their eyes widening at the flames that swallowed his entire body, but Tanjiro didn't fear them at all. At first he was surprised but knew they wouldn't hurt him. They swirled and cackled around him, the small heat swaying and surging, and brought him some familiarity. They didn't burn him a single bit, he didn't even feel a small tickle! Although it brought something that made his heart jump anxiously in his chest.
A scent of blood... I know it. Nezuko... It's Nezuko's!
He immediately jumped on his feet, his hands clenched into tight fists at his side, and screamed in the air, "NEZUKOOO!" out loud in such anguish it tore at his heart. It sounded like as if she heard him, wherever she was. As memories that he didn't realize he had forgotten went through his head, another blaze of hot pink fire swirled around him like a tornado made of flames. This time he wasn't afraid. He let it spiral and swish around him, tugging at his clothes and pulling his hair, until it finally revealed his Demon Slayer Corps uniform and his Nichirin sword.
My uniform. My sword. I'm waking up. I can feel it... little by little.
"What happened?" Takeo gasped out approaching him.
"We were really scared there," Hanako whimpered holding her hands to her chest.
"You all right?" Shigeru asked him with concern and worry in his tone.
Tanjiro looked at his family but he could only spare them a small glance. To see their worried and anxious looks on their faces for him, after remembering his last memory of them covered in mortal wounds and drenched in blood, he couldn't see them in the same light. Not when he needed to save Nezuko. "Sorry, everyone. There's no other choice," His words almost got caught in his throat and he swallowed the large lump. "I have to go," He forced himself to choke out, holding back the tears that threatened to fall, and ran out of his home.
His feet padded against the snow, crunching and breaking underneath his weight, his breath crystallizing in front of his face with every breath he exhaled, and didn't let the cold bother him. As the snowflakes rain down around him, he continued running and running. He needed to get out of his dream! His friends might be in danger as well! He didn't understand how he got trapped in the first place. One moment he was conversing and chatting with Mr. Rengoku and then he had fallen asleep as if exhaustion overtook him suddenly. Next thing he knew he was surrounded by his family. The family... that was supposed to be dead.
If the demon who's showing me this dream is nearby, I have to defeat it quickly! Time's running out. Where is it?!
Tanjiro continued running through the snowy forest, his eyes frantically roaming the white ground, trees, and sky but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He must keep searching. It had got to be around there somewhere-
"Where are you running off to? I picked lots of vegetables from the mountain."
Everything around him went completely silent except for the heartbeat that invaded his ears. He faltered in his step and abruptly stopped moving. He kept his eyes to the cloudy skies, watching snow fall delicately to the ground, and felt tears prick at them once again. That voice... He hadn't heard it in so long. It was just as light, pretty, and cheerful as he remembered. He almost couldn't even think of a time where words fell from her mouth, coherent words that weren't muffled or restrained against a muzzle. It was Nezuko's voice. She was standing behind him... in daylight. He could imagine the redness in her eyes, the fair complexion of her skin, and the smile she always wore.
When he thought of Nezuko, he thought back to finding her bloody and death-like on the ground. He remembered the agony of finding his entire family slaughtered but the heart-aching relief when Nezuko held the tiniest bit of warmth. To see ragged breaths leave her broken body and painful gasps escaping her mouth made him have a shred of hope. The feeling of her on his back as he trudged through the snowstorm to get her to safety and watching her become a demon and almost lose her humanity... Those memories will never leave him. They will always be a part of him and serve as a reminder of why he became a Demon Slayer, but she was standing right there completely fine. His younger sister... wasn't a demon there. She was human and she was happy just like she always should've been.
He didn't turn and face her. No... He couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to do it.
Tanjiro heard multiple pairs of footsteps approaching them quickly. By their smell he knew it was his family. He could even hear their voices speaking frantically to one another, their panted breathing filling the air, and heard them stop just short from him.
"He went this way! Come on, mom!"
"Brother just suddenly burst into flames!"
Their voices... Even hearing their voices was beginning to be too much to bear. Not when he knew their fate.
"What happened?" He heard Nezuko asked concernedly.
"Tanjiro, are you all right?" His mom asked him but he didn't answer. He kept his back to them all and didn't make a move to go near them. "What's the matter, dear? And why are you dressed like that?" His mom's worry voice turned to one of frantic. She sounded just like his real mom... and it made it that much harder to hear.
Tanjiro slowly tilted his head up and watched the skies get darker. Snowflakes cascaded through the air and kissed his cheeks lightly making his skin shiver. The sky was the only thing he could look at but even then his heart was being tore out of his chest. The tears that swelled in his eyes grew larger, they were beginning to sting, and the lump in his throat grew so thick he couldn't breathe. His chest was being raked with sobs but none of left his mouth. He forced it all down but even then he still felt sick.
"I wish..." He shakily started just barely above a whisper, "I wish I could stay. I do. I'd live with you all forever. Just like how it should have been... from the very beginning... right here." His eyes roamed the mountains he grew up in, the forest he ran through with happiness and glee, and the home he had come to love so much. The home he was born in and the one snatched from his arms. "If things had been as they should have, you'd all be alive. And Nezuko would be able to be in the sunlight, under the blue sky. That's how it'd be... how it should've been. I would still be here making charcoal. I would have never laid a hand on a sword. If only... If only it could have stayed that way..."
His voice was beginning to leave him. The memories of making charcoal, leaving to sell with good lucks and coming home to happy cheers and hugs, watching Nezuko show their siblings how to make miso cookies, and crossing the bright, clear stream in the summer and taking in the beautiful cool air, the green grass swaying in the breeze, and the trees that greeted them as they traveled. They did everything together and were a happy family. It could've stayed that way. It should've stayed that way.
Without ever looking at them, he dropped his head and began to walk away.
But now, they're all gone. I can never go back!
Then, he took off in a run. His tears ran down his cheeks like waterfalls, the wind whisking them away, as a small, heart-broken voice called for him desperately from behind, "Tanjiro! Please don't leave us behind! Please!"
Tanjiro won't look back. He can't look back! If he does, he know he'll crumble into pieces. His resolve to leave the dream would break and he would never have the courage again to do so. More than anything he wanted to be reunited with his family, to be with his mom and siblings, and stay with them forever. That had been his dream the moment they were taken from him... but he can't! Not then!
Rokuta... I'm so sorry. But we can't be together anymore. I promise I'll always be thinking of you. I'll be thinking of you all! There are so many things I have to thank you for and things to apologize for. But I'll never forget you. No matter what, you will always be in my heart. So please... forgive me! I beg you!
There was still so much he needed to do. He needed to avenge their deaths, he needed to turn Nezuko back into a human, and kill Muzan Kibutsuji. One day they will be together again. When that day comes, he knows he would feel whole again.
The boy in the brown jinbei had watched the entire thing. His heart sank in his chest when the demon hunter had begun to wake up but... it didn't compare to the feeling watching the him tearfully apologize to his family. Watching him run away from the family that was slaughtered by demons and to save the friends that were also held captive. He didn't know the boy's comrades were invading their realms of subconscious with the intent to destroy their spiritual cores, and he didn't know the boy was going to do the same. Such a kind heart and gentle soul the demon hunter has... but he still needed to do his duty. No matter how much he wanted not to anymore.
With heavy eyes, the boy stabbed his ice pick into the barrier and tore a large slit into it. He carefully stepped inside and... the breath was knocked right out from him. His feet splashed softly in the inch of water that covered the land and in the sky above him was nothing but a bright blue sky with small dots of clouds blowing by above his head. The water reflected the sky off clearly and shimmered like glitter. The horizon was thin line of turquoise blue and the sun shined warmly down on him. The breeze was fresh, cool, and gentle as it swirled around his body. It look and felt... so much like heaven.
This... This is what's inside his soul? How is it this beautiful? It's like it stretches forever. It feels... so warm...
The boy in the blue jinbei watched from the forest carefully as the girl whose dream he invaded started sparing with her father. The two of them were in a large clearing behind their home that bordered the forest he was hiding in. They both held wooden swords in their hands and he could hear the click and clack of the wood smashing against one another. Their faces were hardened with concentration and focus, their grips tightening more and more on the hilts of their sword, trying to one-up the other. The girl had the advantage, her father needed a crutch to move around, but she was beginning to lose it.
He cringed when her father clashed swords with her, shoved his weapon into her body to throw her off balance, twisted her own out of her grip, and aimed the point under her chin. Her sword clattered to the ground mere moments later and they both stood in silence for a while. She was breathing heavily, not daring a swallow, and her father's hard green eyes stayed trained on her.
"You clearly had the upper-hand in the beginning. I'm not as young or as strong as I used to be. You can't be afraid to take whatever advantage you can get. You could've kicked out my leg, smashed your sword into it, forcing me to either fall or surrender. It could mean your life or death, Kagami," Her father harshly said and let his sword drop at his side.
Kagami huffed out in anger and tore her hair free from her top knot. She felt it cascade down her back and fell to her knees. "How can I do such a thing to you, father? You're hurt and I won't ever take advantage of it."
"That weakness is what will get you killed."
"Killed from what? Raiders, kidnappers, demons?" She spat up at him through gritted teeth. "I'm trying my best! Mr. Urokodaki taught me everything I needed to know! I'm trying to implement everything he drilled into me!"
Urokodaki? Who... is that?
Her father glared down at her and scoffed, "I thought I told you to never leave the property!"
"I haven't! I don't know who Urokodaki is! The name just spilled out of my mouth," Kagami immediately pleaded and placed her hands against the ground, gently putting her fore-head against the dirt. "I promise, father, I haven't been leaving our home. I never have and I never will. Being with you, around you, is what I've always wanted. What I will always need. I will never leave you, father. I'm sorry for speaking so ill. Please forgive me."
Her eyes had squeezed shut and her hands trembled against the ground but she only heard her father sigh, "Don't let it happen again."
She picked up her head and nodded. "Yes, father. Sorry, father." Quickly standing on her feet, she declared, "I will continue training. I will live up to your expectations and make you proud!"
"Kagami, I've been proud since the moment you were born."
A small gasp left her mouth and her hands jolted to her head. A small spike of pain raked through her mind and those words flashed across her eyes. Her heartbeat was in her ear, skipping a beat every few times, and her hands trembled slightly. They were spoken aloud by her father. They were in his voice. But it couldn't have been. He was standing there with his sword resting on his shoulder raising an eyebrow at her. His mouth hadn't moved at all. So... why can she hear him in her head?
"What is it?" He asked her.
Kagami swallowed a lump in her throat and only said, "It was... nothing. I'm going to continue training."
Her father nodded and he began to walk towards their home. "I will put dinner on. I expect to see some sort of improvement tomorrow."
"Yes, father," She nodded but quickly took multiple steps forward. "Perhaps tomorrow I can use mother's Nichirin sword and perform a real sparring contest with you." Her father suddenly faltered in his steps and stopped moving. "I wanna show you the new forms of Dragon Breathing I discovered from her book given to me by the Demon Slayer Corps. I was only taught five but I've been looking at the other 8..." She had continued but her voice faded slowly.
What am I saying? Mother's Nichirin sword, Dragon Breathing, Demon Slayer Corps... What the hell does that even mean?
"I will put dinner on. I expect to see some sort of improvement tomorrow."
Kagami eyed her father weirdly when he repeated the same thing without a change in tone. Whenever she broached the subject of her mother, her father would always refuse to talk about her. He would flat out speak that they will not speak of her no matter what. He wasn't a man to dodge a question, dance around a subject, or ignore it. Her father said what was on his mind without any sugar coating. If someone couldn't handle what he had to say, that was their problem. For him to disregard the subject of her mother's "Nichirin" sword... it was so unlike him.
"WAKE UP!"
A horrified gasp left her mouth when she heard her own voice screaming back at her.
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S A DREAM! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!"
There was so much urgency in the tone it compelled her to move. She ran around the property of her home wondering where she was hearing that voice, her voice, and where it was coming from. At the side of her home, she came across the well sitting by itself. Hurrying to it, she peered down into the dark hole and braced her hands against its stone-lips. Droplets of water trickled slowly down its sides, clinking softly against the still water laying beneath, but she heard nothing. Maybe the voice was coming from somewhere else-
"KAGAMI, YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!"
The voice coming from within boomed so loud and so forceful the well vibrated harshly! In a moment of fear and terror, her hands slipped... and she began to plummet inside! A scream fell from her lips as the light from the sunset never reached the bottom and she splashed into the water. It filled her mouth, lungs, and eyes but she was shocked to see what looked like an endless vast of water surrounding her. As if she had fell in the middle of an ocean instead. The bright blue waters were dark, hazy, and filled with numerous bubbles rising towards the surface. How...? When did she... get there?
A muffled scream left her mouth when something grabbed her hand. Then, her eyes widened tremendously when she was staring back... at herself.
She was older, stronger, and... fearless. Her green eyes were filled with strength but dread, she wore a uniform she never seen before, a red glittery haori that looked almost identical to her kimono, and her black hair was pulled in a ponytail. She tugged and pulled at her own hand harshly, screaming, "You need to wake up! This is a dream! We're all trapped and can't get out! You need to save us! You need to save them!"
Kagami looked around her and realized three other figures were floating in the water. A boy with red hair and hanafuda earrings, a boy with yellow hair, and another with a boar-mask on his head. The last two were sleeping and floating, letting themselves fall deeper and deeper in the waters that went darker the farther they went, but the first one wasn't. He was screaming and thrashing like Kagami. He had reached the surface and was trying to grab something from above. His teeth grounded against each other, screaming out his heart, reaching desperately for something-or someone.
"T-Tanjiro... Zenitsu... Inosuke," Kagami suddenly gasped out.
Her other self looked at her, her eyes filling with tears, and pleaded, "You need to wake up! Something terrible is going to happen if you don't! PLEASE!"
I... I remember! I remember now! The Demon Slayer Corps, Muzan Kibutsuji, Dragon Breathing, and mother's sword. That means I'm... still onboard the train! Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Mr. Rengoku are all asleep, including me! But how? And why? Why can't I wake up? If I shut my eyes, maybe I can will myself to wake up! But what's going on? Why am I still asleep? It all feels so real... Does that mean father is... truly dead?
"WAKE UP!"
Kagami's eyes burst open and she found herself sitting inside her home. They frantically moved around and found her father sitting across from her eating dinner.
No! I'm still asleep!
"You need to eat if you're going to keep up your strength," Her father instructed her.
Father is dead. He isn't coming back. I just need to make sure. Kagami's eyes flitted to his and she drew in a strong breath. She steadied her hands and her steeled her core. Her face hardened when she said, "Mother was a Demon Slayer. She has a Nichirin sword and you've been keeping it safe all these years. She was also the Dragon Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps. Yes, I know everything, no thanks to you. Why haven't you said anything to me? I deserved to know. I deserved the truth!"
She hadn't realized her eyes were filled with tears of fury and her lips quivered with frustration. "I get you were heartbroken and devastated by her death, but tell me! How did she die? I was only a baby when she was taken from me! I don't even know what she looks like! What she sounds like! I don't even know how she was as a person! Did she even have a chance to hold me? To hug me? To kiss me? To sing me lullabies to lull me to sleep? Tell me how she died!" She screamed at him. Her voice was hoarse, a lump grew in her throat, and her heart pounded in her chest. "If you're really my father you would tell me everything right now!"
Her father watched her with steadied eyes but something lingered underneath. It wasn't pain or fear. It was uncertainty. Not because he didn't know how to explain it to her but because... he didn't know at all. That was all she needed. This dream was using her memories to conjure a world with only her and her father in it. He never told her how her mother died, how they were in the Demon Slayer Corps together, and much more. She learned everything from her mother's book. How can her "father" answer... when in her memories he never did?
"You're... a fake," She spat at him harshly.
Standing up from her zabuton, she hissed at the monster that was pretending to be her father. "How dare you wear his skin and call yourself my father? How dare you tarnish his name? Warp my memories? It's all I have left of him! I will never forgive you for it!"
Her body was suddenly engulfed in flames and she watched the fire cackle and slither along her arms and legs. Her hair was lit on fire but none of it burned her skin. She welcomed the bright red and orange light, the warmth and power that surged through her core, and unsheathed the red-bladed sword that appeared at her side. Her kimono had transformed into her Demon Slayer Corps uniform, her red haori shimmering in the fire, and her hair was pulled back once again. She felt taller, stronger, and more confident in herself.
"This is not my home. Not really," She mumbled glaring. "I will set it ablaze and wake up. I will find my friends... and my true home. Goodbye... father."
Kagami ran from her home and deep into the forest. She watched her shadow flicker and twitch against the ground but didn't falter when the building exploded in a sea of flames. Hot wooden debris rained down around her, hot wind blowing throughout the entire forest, but she kept running. She won't look back. Her father was gone, there was no getting him back, but she will save her friends no matter what. She needs to kill the demon that was trapping them in their dreams. But how?
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Mr. Rengoku... Just hold on!
The boy in the blue jinbei gasped when he heard a sudden loud explosion coming from behind him. He turned and saw the girl's home completely enveloped in fire! He had to hurry! She was beginning to wake up!
Frantically, he stabbed his ice pick in the barrier and tore it open with one large tug. He quickly stepped inside and his eyes roamed her realm of subconscious. He stepped from the mountains... into another set. Dark green trees rose high into the air, a snowy-capped mountain in the distance, and the green grass swaying lightly in the breeze. It was warm but cool at the same time. It was magnificent but something made all the peace and calm inside of him leave in an instant. His entire body broke out in a cold sweat, whimpers flying out of his mouth, as his eyes traced a large creature suddenly rose from the depths of the earth! The large reptile-like monster was about 65 meters long, every part of its skin covered in glittery dark red scales, wings that spanned almost 3 meters across each, golden fiery slit-like eyes narrowed on him, and large billows of steam harshly blew out of its nostrils.
"You... mortal... are not a descendant of the Flame of Dragons," It growled deeply in the air revealing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth that could tear him apart in one bite! "My spirit is not to be feasted on by mere human eyes!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The boy began to scream hoping to leave the realm of subconscious but the exit was suddenly blocked by a stream of hot fire that was boiling the earth underneath him! "Please don't kill me! AAAHHH!" He screamed running through the mountains feeling the trail of flames nicking and burning the heels of his feet! He dared a glance back and screamed louder seeing the monster flying through the air chasing him! Its mouth was wide open, fire exploding out of its throat, and right towards him!
What the hell is this thing?! Someone save me!
"No results yet?" Lower One sighed looking back at the train. He could still feel the Demon Slayers awake and alive, and their spiritual cores intact. "It seems that they're struggling to destroy the spiritual cores." He caught glimpses of a dragon, a boar-headed monster drooling with rage, and a weird maniacal boy with shears in his hands but nothing more.
He decided not to think too much of it. Instead, he grinned and sighed, "Well, they're buying me some time, so I guess it doesn't matter. They will all die... soon enough."