Tanjuro nodded his head to the Hashira, as Sayuri hid behind his leg. "You were the Flame Hahira, weren't you? In case you don't remember, my name is Tanjuro Kamado. I as well as Tanjiro and Nezuko were ordered to come and assist you on this Mission. I brought my Demons along to help us." He explained, laying a hand comfortingly on Sayuri's head. The man eyed each of them with his red and gold eyes, before nodding, "alright. If this was a Mission from the Master, then I have no right to complain." He moved to take a seat, "sit down then Kamado" he said, though it sounded more like an order.
Tanjuro felt his skin prickle. He'd pretty much accepted that he was a Demon King by now, and while he was willing to take Missions, obeying direct orders still made something inside him rebel. But, he wasn't a confrontational man by nature, so Tanjuro sat across from him, in direct line of sight by the Hashira. His Sword, which was hidden in his Haori, moved slightly as he sat down. Shizu, Yukito and Sayuri all sat near him, looking between the two warily as they stared each other down. Tanjuro decided to share the information he'd gathered as a sign of goodwill.
"These Tickets. My Demons and I all noticed that they smell of Demon blood. It's faint, but we can sense it. I don't know where the Demon is, because it's presence on the train is too faint and spread out. But I've told everyone to keep their guards up" he explained. The Hashira nodded in understanding, "I see. Well, don't worry so much Kamado. The Master has accepted all of you, and you have done fine work since becoming a Slayer from what I've seen. As long as you, your Demons and your Wife never harm a human, we will have no problems!" he replied. "By the way! My name is Kyojuro Rengoku! I never dreamed that one day I would be working alongside Demons during a Mission!" the now named Kyojuro introduced himself.
Tanjuro nodded, "it's nice to meet you. My children are supposed to be on this train as well. I wonder- ah!" he cut himself off as Tanjiro and Nezuko hurried into their compartment, "Father! I knew I smelled your Demons!" his Son said with a smile. He didn't have Kie's box this time, so Tanjuro guessed she must have still been sleeping at the Love Estate. He smiled, as his two children hugged him, "hello you two. Glad to see you made it" he said, as the train began to move. Nezuko looked over the group sitting in the seats across from them, "so, you brought all of them?" she asked. "They all insisted, even Sayuri and Shizu. I didn't want to argue, so I just brought everyone" Tanjuro replied, watching with a smile as Sayuri gaped and laughed at how fast the scenery moved by in the window.
Tanjiro and Nezuko sat down next to Tanjuro and Kyojuro respectively. There was silence for a moment, before an exhausted-looking man entered the compartment, "may I- see your- tickets please?" he slurred exhaustedly. Tanjuro narrowed his eyes at the man. He had a Demon's presence all over him, but he was definitely human. He glanced over everyone else. Tanjiro and Nezuko hadn't seemed to have noticed anything wrong, while all of his Demons had looked over at the man as soon as he'd entered the train car. Kyojuro was seemingly relaxed as well, but as Tanjuro observed him talking to his children, the Demon could tell that he felt something was off. The man took each of their tickets and punched a hole in them. A few minutes later, the Kamado felt a wave of exhaustion engulf him.
He stood up, blearily noticing that everyone else had fallen asleep already, including Kyojuro. Tanjuro stumbled past them and into the isle, but tripped on the legs blocking his way. His vision blurred, as he landed on the floor. Tanjuro he tried to summon his flames to burn away the exhaustion engulfing him, but he had no energy to do so. He just felt- so tired-
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Tanjuro blinked his eyes open to a wooden ceiling. What had he been doing just now? He felt the soft Futon under and over his body, and he sighed. Just a dream. The door to his bedroom slid open, and he looked to see his Wife enter with food. "Good morning Dear. Do you feel any better today?" Kie asked him. Tanjuro opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly felt very confused. "Kie? I feel like- something's, different today" he said, as he pushed himself up in bed. Tanjuro paused and glanced down at his body. Why had that been so easy? Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he found that his chest wasn't tight anymore either.
"Kie?" he asked, as he looked up at her. His Wife had tears in her eyes, as she quickly put down the tray of food and rushed over to him. She wrapped her arms around him with a sob, "oh Tanjuro! You've recovered! It's a miracle!" Kie cried, as he hugged her back. There was something nagging at the back of his mind, but Tanjuro shrugged it off. He felt better than he had in years, and his Wife was in his arms. Why would anything be wrong? Kie pulled back, "we should eat! Then we'll tell the children, alright?" she asked with a brilliant smile on her face. Tanjuro smiled back, "sounds wonderful" he replied.
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Tanjuro lay asleep in the isle, his children, Demons and Rengoku all asleep around him. The Conductor ran back through the train, before slamming open a door and falling to his knees. "As ordered! I've put them all to sleep Sir! Now please! Do the same to me as well, won't you? Let me be reunited with, my dead Wife and daughter!" he sobbed, "please! I'm begging you!" a hand suddenly dropped to the ground in front of him. It crawled upright, "You've done a fine job! Now sleep forever" a mouth on the hand said. A blue wave hit the man, before he collapsed to the ground.
"Dream that you are with your family again" the Demon's hand spoke. "Excuse me Sir? What would you like, from us?" an exhausted-sounding girl asked from behind him. The hand turned around to reveal seven people kneeling on the floor of the train. They all looked exhausted, with pale faces and large bags under their eyes. "Those who are sleeping now, will fall even deeper. When they have, tie those ropes around their wrists. They will allow you to enter their dreams. But be very careful, that when you do so, you do not directly touch their bodies. Or you will be stuck in their dreams alongside them.
Once you have entered their dreams, you must find the Spiritual Core, which will be outside the dream world I've created. Once you destroy that, the owner of the dream will cease to be!" the mouth on the hand explained. "You all want peaceful dreams as well, don't you?" it asked. "Yes" the group replied in unison.
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Tanjuro smiled as he ate breakfast with his family. Of course all of their children were delighted by the good news, and breakfast was filled with happy chatter. "Daddy, can we play today?" Shigeru asked excitedly. "I wanted to help Tanjiro make some extra Charcoal today, just in case," Tanjuro began, before patting his Son on the head, "but we can play after I've finished" he replied. "Yay!" the little boy cheered. "You don't have to do that Father. You've only just recovered after being sick for so long. You should take this time to rest!" Tanjiro protested as he held a bowl of rice in his hand. "I'm fine now, really. I think I've spent enough time in that Futon for several lifetimes. I want to get back to work Son" Tanjuro replied.
"Just don't push yourself Dear. We don't want you to get sick again so soon" his Wife replied. Tanjuro blinked, staring at Kie in confusion. Something was different about her. But what? Her long black hair was done up in her usual bun, wrapped up in it's white cloth to keep it out of the way. She wore her normal purple and cream-checkered Kimono, with the white smock she would wear over the top of it when she was cleaning or cooking replaced with a sky-blue Haori. She frowned upon noticing his stare, "is something wrong Dear? You're not feeling unwell again are you Tanjuro?" Kie asked in concern.
"Ah! No, I feel fine." the Kamado Patriarch replied, as he looked back down at his food. Everything was fine. So why did he have the feeling that something was wrong? Tanjuro looked around at his family, happily eating and talking. Even Tanjiro, with his exceptional sense of smell was calm. He smiled, maybe it was just from being sick for so long. Everything was fine. His family was safe and he was well again. There was nothing to worry about.
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In the real world, one of the humans working for Enmu, the Lower Rank 1 tied Tanjuro's wrist with the rope she'd been given. She was a woman who'd lost her Husband and babies to a Demon attack, and had also lost one hand to them. Everyday she was haunted by her family's screams, so much so that she couldn't sleep. 'Once I kill this monster, I'll be able to see them all again! My Husband and children!' she thought determinedly. The woman glared down at the Demon man laying in the isle, his features softened by the forced sleep. But she could still see the fangs poking out of his slightly open mouth as he breathed rhythmically, the bright red tips of his hair, and the long and sharp claws on his hands.
The same went for the other Demons sitting in the other set of seats. Each of them looked peaceful and calm, but the sight of them made her stomach churn with revulsion. Why, then, was she working with another Demon? To be able to live in a world where her family was alive and Demons didn't exist, of course. She didn't want to live in this hellish world anymore. She was more than ready to live in her dreams forever.
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Father and Son worked together to make Charcoal from the wood that had been gathered by Tanjiro previously. "This should be the last load we need to make before we start delivering them Father" Tanjiro explained as he brought over another load of wood. "Good. With this much, we should have plenty to use and sell during the Winter" Tanjuro replied with a satisfied smile. "With as much Charcoal as we have to sell, we'll have lots of money to buy what we need for the Winter, as well as a few more things for everyone else this time!" Tanjiro said with a satisfied smile.
Tanjuro smiled at his Oldest Son. He was such a kind boy, and so loving too. He couldn't have asked for a better Heir. "Well, let's move all of this into the barn for later. Then I'm sure your Mother will want us to help get the baths ready" Tanjuro said, as he picked up the full baskets of Charcoal. Together they took them over to the shed, before entering the house. Kie greeted them with a smile, "good work you two. The baths are ready" she said. "Thank you Kie" Tanjuro replied, as they moved further into the house. Nezuko was sitting in the living area and sewing up some of their clothes when they walked in. "Hey Father, Tanjiro. Good work out there" she said with a warm smile. "Thanks Nezuko. Are you helping Mom with the sewing?" Tanjiro replied.
"Yes. Some of our clothes need a bit of work" the 11-year-old replied. Her Older Brother frowned when he saw Nezuko's Kimono in the pile of clothes she was fixing, as his Sister was wearing her sleeping Kimono. "If you need a new Kimono Nezuko, we can get you one. We'll have a lot of money from this year's Charcoal runs" Tanjiro said. "Now, now, your Sister likes this Kimono, and as long as she can keep it in good shape, she can use it. But I do think having some extra clothes would be good Nezuko, especially for Winter" Tanjuro said, placating both of his children easily.
"Maybe you're right. After all, just because it's my favourite Kimono, doesn't mean I can't have other ones too. Plus with the way the clouds look, it's going to be a bad Winter. It would probably be a good idea to get a few more sets of warm clothes for everyone else too, along with extra food" Nezuko agreed, placing the Haori she was sewing up down on her lap. "We can go shopping after this next Charcoal delivery" Tanjuro decided. "Ooh! Ooh! Can we come?" Shigeru asked as he came running inside. "Me too! I can help!" Hanako added. Tanjuro pat both of his children on the head, "we'll see. For now, why don't you help Nezuko by folding and putting away your clothes?" he asked them.
"Okay!" Hanako replied. Kie walked out of the bathroom, "Tanjuro! Tanjiro, your baths are ready!" she called.
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"Okay, we're coming Kie!" Tanjuro called from inside the house. The woman who had infiltrated his dream was utterly confused. This was not the kind of dream she expected a man-eating monster to have. Creeping up to the window of the house, she peeked inside to see the Demon man as a human, talking to a group of children. A toddler wobbled over to him and lifted his arms to be held. The man picked up the boy and cradled him gently, while the little boy with the shaved head talked energetically to him while bouncing on the balls of his feet.
The Demon said something to them before handing the toddler over to a woman that walked into the room, and then walked out of it with the boy who looked like him. She frowned as she watched all of this. What kind of a Demon was this man? Surly he was just another monster, like the one who had taken her family from her. He couldn't be anything but. Right?
