Kagami desperately ran through the forest searching for the aura of the demon that was holding her hostage in a dream. Her breath left in quick gasps, her legs pushing harder and faster through the forest clouded with thick tendrils of smoke she's never seen before, and continued running from her nightmare. A nightmare she wished that never came true. It flowed like calm waters but pierced her heart like poison-tipped daggers. She had been so happy to see her father, so relieved that he had not been taken by sickness, and that everything that had happened to her had been some sort of awful dream. She had been lied to, and she will kill that demon for toying with her emotions.

She felt the aura of the demon but somehow couldn't pinpoint its exact location. It was as if it was all around her, suffocating and overwhelming her senses, but she couldn't see it at all. It was as if a thick veil was clouding her sight and her other senses. She needed to wake up not just for her sake but for her friends'. They were all asleep and in big trouble! But asleep she would not be able to use Total Concentration Breathing.

My darling girl...

Kagami gasped at the sudden voice that swept through her mind. It was unlike any she had ever heard before. This... voice was light and dreamy but strong and stern. It was feminine and sounded much like a woman's. A woman's voice that filled her with warmth, power, energy, but, strangest of all, the feeling of home and love.

Then, she saw her. Among the trees, their shadow flickering by the flames scorching the remnants of her home in the far distance behind her, was the manifestation of what appeared to be a woman. She wore the standard Demon Slayer Corps uniform but had her mother's sword strapped to her side. She was tall, strong, and held herself high with such poise and confidence it left Kagami reeling with shock. This woman appeared to her suddenly and commanded her with the tone of someone she felt she knew. If only... she could look upon her face. Dark shadows flickered across her body from the neck up leaving her face to be desired. It was as if her mind couldn't conjure her beauty because... she had never seen it before.

My darling girl... You must take up your sword, She spoke again only her mouth didn't move but her voice was so clear and crisp it must've came from inside her own head. The forest swayed violently and uneasily around her, as if haunted and confused by her sudden appearance but she didn't falter one bit. What you must cut is within your reach.

Then, as quick as she came, she disappeared in a flash of fire. Except she didn't scream out in fury or pain. Her skin crawled with fire as hot as the sun and let it engulf her until her feet no longer touched the ground. Kagami stared wide-eyed as it dimmed to nothing and left her completely alone in the forest. Her shaking eyes then slowly shifted to the hilt of her sword sticking out from her waistband. She grasped it tightly and pulled it sharply out of its sheath, hearing the steel ring as it went. She needed to cut something that was within her reach. It would wake her up and send her back into the real world, but... what is it?

Kagami's hand touched her neck and trailed the smooth skin with a flick of her finger. A large lump grew in her throat and she forced herself to swallow it in one gulp.

She... understood what she needed to do but she was afraid. As the edge of her blade shone against the beautiful colors of the raging fire behind her, reflecting the vibrant red and deadly orange, she grew even more terrified. What if the effect inside the dreams took place outside of it as well? What if the figure that appeared to her was, in fact, a foe instead of a friend? But that didn't feel possible. Kagami felt safe, love, and strength from her. She came to her in her time of need and gave her a clue as to what she needed to do. Kagami had a feeling she knew who it was... but how could it possibly be her? For 15 years Kagami had been looking for signs and answers, and she finally shows up out of nowhere?

There was no time to debate and cry whether the blood she would spill would or would not effect her in the real world out there, or why the woman suddenly appeared after being gone for so long. She and her friends are in trouble. She has to help them, no matter what, and exit the forbidden dream. Even if it meant... slashing her own throat open. It's a sacrifice she must, and is willing, to make for the sake of the ones she cares about.

Don't hesitate! Do it! You have to! Kagami's hand trembled violently when she brought the edge of her sword up to her neck. She refused to back down or cry from what she had to do. Placing a hand on the other side of the sword, she let the metal touch her with a cold kiss and drew in a large breath. She just needs... TO DO IT!

"AAAAAHHHH!" Kagami screamed out so harshly she burned her throat but she didn't care! She added tremendous pressure against her sword and watched as crimson red blood poured out of throat, dripping out in waves and spilling onto the grassy floor beneath her. Even though her throat had been slit, cutting the precious skin and deep into the organs that lied underneath, she kept screaming and screaming. The echoes of her cries and the vibration that shook her neck continued spill out in painful waves.

Those screams echoed in her head until her entire vision went black. It was then she realized she had never stopped screaming even as the world exploded in dull but warm colors of maroon, green, and orange. Her hands grasped her neck frantically trying to find the gouge she embedded and her mind raced to remember where she was.

"Kagami! You're awake!"

A gasp choked out of her when someone wrapped their arms around her. The touch and affection rose panic inside her belly. She nearly pushed them away, fear and fright beginning to overwhelm her, but behind the mysterious person sat someone on the ground looking both curious and worry. It was Nezuko. She was sitting in the middle of the aisle between train seats filled with various sleeping people. In the train seat behind her was Zenitsu fast asleep with a stupid grin on his face. Beside her in the aisle grasping the neck of a small girl holding an ice pick in her hand was Mr. Rengoku. Even though he had stood from his seat he still looked deep asleep but the contortions of his face spoke he was in some sort of nightmare. She could feel someone's head laying on her lap and knew it to be Inosuke.

Kagami's heart steadied when the person holding her moved back. "Tanjiro," She gasped out seeing his relieved smile.

"You figured it out. How to escape the dream," He spoke almost tiredly with a small grin. He timidly touched his own neck and quickly drifted it away from his body.

She lifted her own hand to touch her own neck but stopped when she noticed a small piece of rope tied around her wrist. The ends appeared to have been singed off with fire or flame. Looking around she then realized five children were sitting around them with rope tied to their own wrists. Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Mr. Rengoku wrists were bounded to three of the children but Kagami's and Tanjiro's had been burned off by-something. What confused her even more was she didn't remember her wrist being wrapped or the children approaching them at all before then.

Tanjiro lifted his wrist up and took a whiff of the rope. "The smell-! I recognize it," He gasped out and quickly whipped out his ticket from inside his haori. "It's subtle, but I can tell it's the same one," He explained taking another whiff of the ticket.

Kagami took out her own ticket and felt the same aura from inside her dream on it. "So we were put to sleep when these were punched. A demon must be behind it," She explained crumpling it in her fist. The aura of the demon was on it and it was very strong. Its Blood Demon Art was very powerful but also very discreet. Neither she or Tanjiro caught the scent/aura of it when their tickets were first punched, and they were so engrossed with fighting the two demons raiding the train they didn't give a second thought to it.

She gently sat Inosuke's head on the seat where she sat and almost drew her sword, her eyes staying on the rope tethering him to a small girl, but Tanjiro gave her a sharp shake of his head. He had been standing in front of Mr. Rengoku who still grasped the neck of the girl with his hand on the hilt of his sword but didn't do anything. "I have a feeling we shouldn't sever the ropes with our swords," He merely spoke.

Tanjiro turned his head to Nezuko and said, "Nezuko! Can you burn the other ropes?"

Nezuko gave a small nod and confirmed grunt. Kagami watched as she delicately and carefully burned Zenitsu's, Inosuke's, and Mr. Rengoku's ropes off with blazing hot pink flames that momentarily lit up the dull colors of the train car. She must've been the one who had burned off Tanjiro's rope but Kagami had a feeling when she confronted her "father" her own flames of fury burned off her own rope. Now that they were free hopefully her friends would awake just as they!

Kagami placed her hands on Inosuke's shoulders and screamed, "Inosuke, wake up!"

"Zenitsu, wake up! Can you hear me? You've gotta wake up!" She heard Tanjiro frantically speak to Zenitsu shaking his shoulders.

"Inosuke! Please wake up!" She continued to scream shaking his shoulders roughly and fidgeting with the boar mask on his head. "Someone said you weren't the toughest Demon Slayer! That you are the weakest among us all! Teach them a lesson!" She added hoping his pride and ego would wake him... but it didn't. "Inosuke... Please wake up," She softly begged placing her fore-head in the middle of his chest, "You need to wake up... or you'll never see the light of day again."

Behind her, the grunts of worry and concern filled her eyes. Kagami picked up her head and watched Tanjiro gently caress the top of Nezuko's head. He gave her a reassuring smile and gently spoke, "There, there. It's fine. Sorry for worrying you. You did a great job."

Kagami couldn't help but let the feeling of hopelessness settle in the pit of her stomach. Neither of her friends were waking up even with their ropes burned off from their bodies. She doesn't even know who the children were and why they were tethered to them! They must be working for the demon who put them asleep-but why? Why would they work for a demon who does nothing but cause harm and pain to mere mortals, to humans? None of them looked well at all, they looked just as sickly as the train conductor, but it still didn't make sense as to why sick children were near them. It doesn't matter. If they don't find a way to wake up their friends, they'll be good as dead.

"Tanjiro, what do we do-?" Kagami began to ask turning her head but immediately stopped.

A flash of bright steel shimmering in the light of the train car caught her eye. A small yell followed the screech of steel rushing through the air. She immediately dug her heels in the ground and pushed herself backwards as hard and as fast as she could. The wielder of the weapon flew by in between her and Tanjiro missing their target.

"What are you-?!" Tanjiro began to scream pulling Nezuko to safety but stopped.

Standing in the aisle a few seats from them, breathing heavily with a savage look on their face, was the girl in the green kimono aggressively holding an ice pick in her tight grip. She had been the one mysteriously held captive by Mr. Rengoku. She awoken and freed herself-but how? When Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Mr. Rengoku haven't, she somehow did. Why would she attack them when they were just trying to find the demon responsible for putting them to sleep? Unless she is under its control. Though, the thought didn't seem likely.

"You're all interfering!" She hoarsely and angrily screamed at them. "Now that you people are here, we won't get any happy dreams!"

No, she is not under the demon's control. Her concern for her own well-being and none for the people around her confirmed it for Kagami. Not to mention the other children awoke from their dreams and fell in the line with their own ice picks. Their expressions held anger and annoyance. The only one that didn't move from their seat was the sickly boy in the brown jinbei kimono.

The girl in green didn't like that one bit. "What are you doing? Get off your ass, and come help us out!" She seethed at him. "I don't care if you have tuberculosis. If you don't do your job, I'll go tell him, and then he won't show you any more dreams!"

The boy in brown must've been connected to Tanjiro's dream but... he had tears in his eyes and his hands shook at his side. He couldn't look at them. It seemed he had been overcome with grief. That girl said he has tuberculosis. If Kagami remembers correctly, it's an awful contagious disease that swept through the nation leaving little to no survivors for those infected. No remedy or cure for it was found and those who had been diagnosed were subjected to painfully short lives. For a small kid like him to have a fate worse than death... it was heartbreaking to witness. Even more so to know the rest were just as sick and the demon was taking advantage of their vulnerability! Unforgivable!

Tanjiro didn't look proud or determined to fight. He held a sympathetic gaze to them all and spoke, "I'm sorry, but I have no choice but to fight back."

Quickly, Kagami and Tanjiro dashed forward and drove the side of their hands against the children's neck. The boys in blue and green as well as the girl in yellow immediately collapsed to the ground unconscious. When the girl in green charged for them, brandishing her ice pick, the two of them simply side-stepped around her and drove their hand at the back of her neck. She fell to the ground leaving nothing more than a choked grunt behind.

She stared at their crumpled bodies on the ground and the troubled looks on their sleeping faces. They wanted to experience happy dreams the same way she and Tanjiro had a few minutes before. She couldn't blame them. Not for a second because in that brief moment Kagami was truly... happy. Ever since the death of her father, there had been almost nothing but pain, suffering, and heart ache watching demons prey on the innocent, leaving the bodies of their discarded victims behind, and the families of those lost crying in agony. It was her job as a Demon Slayer to prevent such grief but even then she still fail sometimes. She couldn't protect her fellow aspired Demon Slayers during Final Selection and she barely had the strength to defeat the Swamp, Tamari, Arrow, and Tsuzumi Demons, but not enough to rescue Inosuke and herself from the Father Spider Demon. She wished everything that had happened to her since then... was a bad dream. What she'd give to wake up and be back home with her father...

Kagami couldn't help but let a small grin spread across her lips watching Nezuko run up to Tanjiro and engulf him in a hug. The little sister concerned for her older brother will always bring a smile to her face.

Then, they noticed the boy in brown standing just a few feet from them. "Are you all right?" Tanjiro gently and sympathetically asked him.

The tears that still lingered in the boy's eyes had become one of joy and relief. "I am now," He shakily answered with a smile. Sniffing, he set his kind eyes on them and mumbled, "Be careful."

Kagami and Tanjiro gasped softly. The boy wasn't going to stop them from attacking the demon that promised him and all the other children happy dreams. He was willing to give up the happiness, the sweet relief of peace, that could hide the pain of his illness. It was a selfless act that she would not be forgetting any time soon. They thanked him warmly and dashed away through the train car in search of the demon. They must kill it and rescue their friends once and for all.