Senjuro was in a state of both shock and panic as he looked at his older brother, who seemed to be completely and totally alive despite him knowing for a fact he was supposed to be dead. "This is insane," he thought to himself. "I saw my brother's body. I saw all the wounds he took before he died. How is he standing here?! Is this what James-san was talking about earlier regarding invasive projections?!"

Kyojuro said to him, "You seem quiet. Are you frozen in place? I can see why you're shocked, Senju-"

He was cut off by Senjuro running up to him and giving him a tight hug, tears rolling down his eyes as he began to cry. "Ani… Ani…" His cries turned into loud sobs as he tightened his embrace. He knew that this Kyojuro was not the real one, but he could not help himself.

Kyojuro smiled and told him, "It's good to see you, too, Senjuro." He seemed very happy to see his younger brother again.

"I… I thought I'd never see you again…"

"I know. I'm right here, Senjuro." He maintained a warm smile as he comforted his younger brother.

Senjuro then split from him, asking him, "Why are you in this dream, Ani?"

"I have occupied space inside James' dreams for a while now," Kyojuro replied. "What are you doing here?"

"He has been teaching me how to go inside people's dreams for a mission."

"A mission? What kind of mission?" Kyojuro was confused. "Are you a demon slayer now?"

"No," Senjuro replied. "James-san was contacted by a businessman and hired to extract information from a rival businessman, and he wanted help to do it, so I offered."

Kyojuro seemed to not entirely approve of such a thing taking place. "I find that… Odd. Technically, such an act is stealing."

"He's not stealing," Senjuro tried to reply. "He's…"

"Senjuro," Kyojuro asked him. "Do you really want to do this?"

"He's paying me to do it. I stepped up so Tanjiro-kun and his friends wouldn't have to do it. They all got hurt pretty badly on a mission at the beginning of the year."

"I see. Well… I'm not so sure about this one, Senjuro. It just doesn't sit right with me, and I'm not entirely sure why. I know it's only between two businessmen and he isn't stealing from the weak or poor, but still… Also, what do you mean Kamado got hurt?"

"Tanjiro-kun, Inosuke-kun, and Zenitsu-kun all got hurt while hunting down an Upper Moon," Senjuro replied. "I don't know the full details, but they did manage to kill them and some American demons, too. James-san was there, too, and so was Uzui-san. They all got hurt, but they're expected to recover."

"They killed an Upper Moon together?" Kyojuro smiled and nodded. "I'm impressed. That's not an easy feat to pull off, especially when they're dealing with other demons, too."

They then both heard James calling for Senjuro in the distance. "Hey, Senjuro! Where are ya?! We're gonna head outta here soon!"

"I have to go," Senjuro replied. "It's good to see you again."

"As to you as well," Kyojuro replied as Senjuro left the room. Once he was gone, Kyojuro said to himself, "This whole businessman and dream thing doesn't sit right with me. I just can't shake the idea that James is doing something wrong…"

Back in the real world, Reiko, Tokuhei, and Tsuyoshi were all practicing with their swords in the rear yard of the Rengoku Estate. As they did, Shinjuro watched them from the porch. James soon joined him and sat down next to him. "They all remind me of my own two boys," Shinjuro told James. "This takes me back quite a bit."

"It's good to see you in good spirits again," James replied. "Kyojuro would be very proud of the progress you've made since he died. I know for a fact Senjuro definitely is."

"I know," Shinjuro nodded. He then asked James, "By the way, do you ever think that there's something going on between those three out there?"

"Huh? What do ya mean?"

"Like… Do you feel like those two boys are both interested in that spider girl Reiko?"

James now understood what Shinjuro was getting at. "I see… Hmm… Well, the issue with Reiko is… Well, you know what happened to her last year, right?"

"Oh, right," Shinjuro replied, remembering that Reiko had been raped the year prior. "I almost forgot about that."

"I ain't sure if Reiko's ready to commit to either of 'em," James observed. "I'd hate to see what happened to her affect her love life to the point that she can't have one."

"Do either of those boys know what those bastards did to her on the ship?"

"I ain't sure, actually. They're both gonna have to find out one day about her bein' raped, though."

Shinjuro then told James something very personal that he had never told anyone else prior to then. "So, there's something I want you to know, and it's somewhat relevant to this whole conversation."

"What is it, Shinjuro?"

"It's about Ruka," he replied, referring to his deceased wife and the mother of Kyojuro and Senjuro. "You see, before we were wed, and even before we met, Ruka was…"

James was shocked. "No way… That happened to Ruka, too?!"

"Yeah," he replied in a somber tone. "Ruka told me before we were about to, you know… She told me that she was not a virgin, and that she had it taken away from her forcefully. She felt so guilty about it."

"That fuckin' sucks. I can't imagine havin' to go through that. I've been through some really bad shit in my life, but I've never had anyone force themselves onto me sexually, and I hope I ain't never have to go through that."

"I agree. So, with Ruka, I had to learn to support her when she was at her lowest. I comforted her when she suddenly had a flashback one day to what happened all those years ago. She began to see these visions, almost like ghosts appearing in front of her that looked like the man who did those things to her, and I talked her through it to help her until the flashback stopped. I also listened to her whenever she wanted to vent about it."

James smiled and told Shinjuro, "You truly are a good man, Shinjuro. I know you've had your ups and downs, and we haven't always gotten along, but don't let anyone tell you you were a bad husband. Sadly, a lot of men would have left someone like Ruka behind if they knew that about her, or worse, blame and shame her for what was done to her. It takes a real man to stick with your woman even after she's been violated by some piece of shit who's nothin' but a waste of life. The fact you stayed shows you truly loved her for who she was."

"Thank you," Shinjuro replied. "And I still love her, even after all these years following her death. Maybe if one of those two boys out there falls for her, they'll learn the same things I did when I was a young man."

Out in the yard, Tsuyoshi and Reiko clashed with their swords as Tokuhei watched from nearby. "You're holding your own pretty well," Tsuyoshi told Reiko.

"I've already beaten Tokuhei-kun," Reiko replied as she pushed forward and caused Tsuyoshi to take a few steps back. "And I can beat you too!"

As the two continued their practice fighting, James sighed and told Shinjuro, "This'll be a good day."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Mitsuri was checking over some mail she had received. As she looked at one envelope in particular, she found that it was addressed from the Ubuyashiki Estate itself. "Hmmm… This must be official corps business."

Obanai looked over and asked her, "What is it?"

"Something from the Oyakata-sama's office," she replied to her husband. As she opened it, she began to read aloud the contents of the letter.

Kanroji Mitsuri

You are requested to attend a mission in the city of Osaka that will take place on February 27th. Due to your current condition, you are requested to respond as the lead corps photographer, though you should still bring your weapons with you for self-defense. Also attending this mission will be Mist Pillar Tokito Muichiro and at least ten other slayers. They will already be in Osaka by the time you arrive for reconnaissance.

Send a message back by crow or by telephone to confirm that you will be present for this mission. Good luck, and stay safe, Mitsuri.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya

Head of the Demon Slayer Corps

"I'll be going as a photographer," Mitsuri said.

"Still," Obanai pointed out. "It's dangerous, and you're getting a bit close to your due date. I wonder if I can go too."

"Assuming you don't get any other missions assigned to you," Mitsuri replied. "I assume you could."

As soon as she said that, Obanai's crow returned with a message, perching himself on a windowsill and squawking to make his presence known. "Iguro Obanai! Iguro Obanai! We have a mission for you!"

"Well," Obanai replied, noting the amusing timing of his crow. "That's convenient."

Mitsuri chuckled before giving her husband a kiss. "Stay safe, dear. When you come back, we can have a little fun if you want."

Obanai eagerly replied, "I look forward to that."

As Obanai walked out to hear more details on his own mission, Mitsuri set the letter down and found two train tickets inside the envelope, both with printed dates of February 25th. "Looks like the trip itself was already planned." Also inside the envelope was another piece of paper with a coded message written with numbers. "These must be directions." She pulled out a book and a blank sheet of paper from a drawer and looked through it to decode the message on the paper, writing them down on the separate sheet of paper to decode what had been written. When she was done, she was given an address in Osaka, presumably one to visit upon her arrival. "Aha. This must be where I have to go." She then remembered in her head, "My mother's family is from Osaka, actually. I wonder if I'll run into anyone I know on the way down or while I'm there aside from Tokito-kun…"

February 15, 1914

In another practice dream, James and Senjuro were infiltrating a prison together while wearing the uniforms of prison guards. As they walked along a row of cells late at night, Senjuro whispered to James, "It's pretty odd that we're breaking into something in prison as opposed to breaking out of prison."

"Yeah," James replied with a smile. "Then again, we'll have to bust our way outta here once we find what we need. Let's see, where did Reiko leave that little box she said she put in here…?"

As they climbed up to the second floor and began to walk down the other row of cells, Senjuro noticed something in the distance on one of the cell doors. "Hey, look at that."

"Huh?" James shined a flashlight at the cell door in question and found that the lock on the front was different from all the other doors. He also noticed that one of the bars was painted red instead of blue like the rest of them. "Well… That was a bit too easy, but then again, she is a beginner at this." James then pulled out a set of keys and after trying a few of them, he found one that worked and opened the cell, which was empty except for a small wooden box sitting on the bed inside. "Here we go…"

They then both heard a voice shout, "Hey!"

Senjuro shines his flashlight over and saw a guard running towards them. "Shit, we got someone coming for us!"

"Alright," James replied as he grabbed the box. "Don't stand there! Shoot 'em!"

As the guard running towards them raised his gun, Senjuro raised his first and shot him once, sending him down and tumbling over the railing onto the ground below. He then apologized to James with, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," he replied. "Come on. We gotta go!" The two then dashed for the stairs on the other side of the cell block. "I gotta tell the others to make their dreams harder than this! This was too easy!"

"I don't see anyone else behind us," Senjuro told James as they raced down the stairs. He was beginning to feel a little more confident in himself, and as they raced out of the cell block, he thought to himself, "A few more of these sessions, and I think I'll be fine. James is right, though. This did seem too easy…"

As James ran through a set of doors, he told Senjuro, "Stay back here! Get some practice killin' projections, okay?!"

"Are you sure?!"

"Yeah, now go!" James then shut the doors, leaving Senjuro behind as several other prison guards came running for him.

"Get them! They can't escape with that box!"

Senjuro cocked his gun and fired at the guards, striking all three down with five shots. He felt that he was getting more comfortable using lethal force in dreams, but even so, his heart continued to pound in his chest. As he reloaded his gun, he said to himself, "Okay, calm down, calm down…"

Then, he heard Kyojuro's voice call out from down the cell block. "Senjuro! Senjuro! Are you down there?! Hey! Senjuro!"

"Oh fuck," Senjuro said to himself. "He's gonna chase after James-san, isn't he?" Not willing to kill his own brother, even if in a dream, Senjuro instead pointed the gun at his right temple and pulled the trigger to kill himself inside the dream and wake up back into reality. "Even if he's not real," he thought to himself. "I still can't bring myself to kill my brother. I hope I don't get put into a situation where I have to."