Inside the infinity castle, Tomioka and Tanjiro are running through the doors, trying to regroup with more of their fellow demon slayers.
Above them, a crow flies overhead with a piece of paper on his head. He caws loudly, starting to speak. "DEAD! DEAD! A HASHIRA HAS FALLEN!"
'One of us has already died... Who could it be?..' He thinks as he glances around, looking for enemies.
"SHINOBU KOCHO IS DEAD!" The crow screeches.
Tanjiro and Tomioka are both shocked by this news. Tomioka tries to deny the fact: 'No... No, it's wrong. She can't be.'
The crow continues its bellowing. "SHE DIED AFTER A CONFRONTATION WITH THE UPPER RANK 2 KIZUKI!"
Tomioka pauses for a moment. "No.."
Tanjiro stops next to him, about to offer him some comfort, when the floor above them shatters as Akaza Upper 3 comes through, bringing his heel down at Tomioka's head.
Akaza starts talking, but Tomioka can't even hear what's being said. 'It happens every time... every time someone gets close to me, they die.'
Akaza rushes the pair, clearly annoyed from being ignored. Tomioka's body is moving on pure instinct, his mind still falling into despair. 'I should have been with you, Kocho..'
Tomioka finally returns to reality and sees Tanjiro's sword knocked up by Akaza. Without thinking, he throws Tanjiro out of the way and slashes at Akaza's neck. Akaza deflects the sword, grinning.
Tomioka's eyes fall to his gut, and he sees a hole punched clear through him. He coughs out blood. "TOMIOKA!" Tanjiro cries out as he grabs his sword back, rushing to help.
"Tomioka? So that's your name? You're weaker than the Flame Hashira. How disappointing. He says as he brings his free hand up.
Tomioka tries desperately to slash at his neck again. "TOO SLOW!" Akaza laughs as he punches straight at Tomioka's face. Tanjiro above Akaza is too late to intervene. Tomioka closes his eyes, accepting his death.
A few moments pass, and he doesn't feel anything. Something falls on his face. He shivers from the cold as he opens his eyes, seeing the sky as snow falls on his face.
He sits up, confused, as something wet drips down his face. He brings his hand to his face, looking at it after 'Blood? From that demon?' His eyes widen as he jumps up, instinctively reaching for his sword. 'Tanjiro needs my help-'
He looks around at the very familiar mountainside of Mount Sagiri. Several traps have been triggered, and there is a noticeable blood splat on one of the trees. 'Is.. Is that my blood?' This looks like it should've been fatal.'
He looks around at the bamboo traps clearly having been set there by Urokodaki. 'Was I dropped here by the castle? But then, why are there traps here? And where's Tanjir-'
"HEEEEY! WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!" Tomioka stops his breath, catching in his throat as the familiar voice rings in his ears.
'No... He can't be... He's…' He looks over to the voice as a peach-haired boy drops down in front of him with a worried look. 'Sabito?..' Tears well up in his eyes as he sees his old friend.
Sabito runs up to him. "Giyuu? Hey man, you okay? You're bleeding!" He looks over to see the same blood-stained tree that Tomioka saw earlier. 'Holy crap... How is he even awake?'
"You're really here!" Tomioka runs up and tightly hugs his friend, tears streaming down.
"Uhhh.. We should probably get your head looked at. You're being weird." He says as he pats his friend's back. "Besides, we don't want to take too long or else." A rustle in the trees cuts off his words, and another kid drops down.
"Hey! Oh? Am I interrupting something?" An unfamiliar girl's voice calls out.
Sabito pushes Tomioka off him, forgetting about his friend's injury momentarily. "No! No, you aren't! He's just being weird!"
"Whatever you say, Sabito!" she says teasingly, going over to Tomioka and holding her hand out. "Giyuu, he's not picking on you again, is he?"
Tomioka looks up at her hand, confused. "Who are you?" He asks bluntly.
The girl blinks momentarily before looking back and forth between him and Sabito. "Huh? W-what do you mean who am I?"
"Should I know you?.." Tomioka tilts his head, confused by her reaction.
The girl drops her hand, finally taking the blood on his head. "Ah.. are you okay Giyuu?" She leans down, checking on his head.
Sabito walks over, kneeling. "It looks like he hit his head hard.." He points at the bloodstained tree.
Makomo looks over, her eyes widening in shock as the color drains from her face. "That's from him?! How are you conscious?" She starts parting his hair, looking for a head wound.
Giyuu sits there apathetically, letting her do as she pleases while Sabito tries to calm the unknown girl down. 'I don't really understand what's going on..' He looks at his hand again, noticing the smallness of it and the lack of scars from training. 'I'm a kid again.. that was clear from seeing Sabito again. Is this a dream? The body's way of coping with my death? But if that's the case, who is this girl? I don't remember her at all.'
The girl comes to a stop, her mouth dropping open. "Uhh.. was that here before?" She motions for Sabito to come closer.
He does so, looking at the top of Tomioka's head. "No. Definitely not. How.. how is it healed already?"
"I don't know. We should get him to Urokodaki, just to be safe, " she says.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay.. let's do that." Sabito agrees.
"Urokodaki?.. That makes sense. We're on Mount Sagiri, right?" Tomioka asks as they let go of his head.
There's a bit of silence between the other two as they look at him momentarily.
"Am I wrong?" Tomioka asks.
"You remember all that?! But not me?!" The girl stomps her foot childishly into the ground, annoyed.
"Well, maybe that hit to the head knocked out all his memories of you." Sabito goes over to the blood-stained tree. "Is it possible to learn this, forgetting Makomo power?" He asks, looking at the tree carefully.
"Sabito!" Makomo runs and hits his head.
"Hey! Hey! I was just kidding!" He holds his head.
"So your name is Makomo? I.. I do feel like I've heard it before. But where was it?.." Tomioka stands up, stretching a bit. 'Oh, it was Tanjiro, wasn't it? He told me he was trained by the ghosts of Sabito and..' He looks over at the girl, realization dawning on him.
Makomo stops attacking Sabito and goes to him with a hopeful look in her eyes. "Do you finally remember me?"
"Sorry, no, I guess not. I thought I had it for a moment." He says, 'If this is the Makomo who trained Tanjiro, she shouldn't be here. She predeceased Sabito.' Makomo almost faceplants in disappointment while Sabito tries to comfort her.
Tomioka watches this while still trying to piece his situation together. 'Is it really a dream? It feels so real. But none of this happened. Sabito seems to know her. And by their reactions, I should know her too. If it's a dream, I'll eventually wake up unless I'm dead. Then will the world I'm in just shatter? I guess I have no choice but to move forward. If this is the last thing I experience, I'll at least be with my friend. There are worse things, I suppose.'
He clears his throat. "Weren't we going to see Urokodaki?"
"Oh! Right!" Makomo snaps out of her mood. "Hopefully he can fix this."
"Are you sure you're good to move on your own, Giyuu?" Sabito asks, concerned for his friend.
"Yeah. I'll be fine." Tomioka responds.
"If you say so. Just be careful and follow our lead, okay? We already know where the traps are now." Sabito assures him.
"Yeah! I was about to make it back when I noticed you two weren't behind me. Just follow me, okay?" She runs ahead.
Sabito looks at Giyuu for a moment before following Makomo. Giyuu nods and follows them. 'Maybe it's like that lower moon's blood demon art? The one Tanjiro told me about? But that wouldn't make sense for the upper moon to have used one me. He punched a hole clean through my chest. I have a hard time believing my head would've done much better. So, I guess that puts me back to my dying brain trying to comprehend its death. So that's why the world isn't the same?'
Tomioka holds his head, getting a headache. 'Or is it something else, a second chance?'
Eventually, the trio of students return to Urokodaki's little hut. Makomo knocks on the door, stepping back to wait with the others.
"How come you got to knock?.." Sabito grumbles.
"Because no matter what, I was going to be the first one back. So fair is fair!" She explains.
'At least me being last makes sense.. ' Tomioka sighs, relieved.
The door opens slowly, revealing his old teacher, who is still hiding his face behind a tengu mask. "So you've finally arrived back? Far too slow!" he chastises them.
"It's because we stopped and went back for Giyuu. Look at him, pops!" Sabito says, pointing at his head.
"I've told you to stop calling me that. I'm your Sensei!" Urokodaki says with no real conviction as he checks on Tomioka. He gently looks for a wound, finding the same healed scar. 'Perhaps it's an old scar? But I can tell from the smell how fresh the blood is. And Tomioka isn't the kind of child to fake an injury.'
"Very well. I won't scold you too harshly since you went back for a friend. Clean up and get ready for dinner. Your training will continue in the morning. Tomioka, be careful not to rest for a while, even if there's no visible wound. You could be concussed, Understand?" He asks, trying to convey the seriousness.
Tomioka nods. "I do."
"Then go," Urokodaki says, going to the other room to start dinner.
The trio bows and does as they're told. "I'll go first, and you two can go after me, okay?" Makomo says, going to get her clothes.
"Yeah, whatever." Sabito leans against the wall, waiting. "Hey, so you really don't remember anything about Makomo?"
Tomioka shakes his head. "No. Not a thing. Were we close?"
Sabito looks up, considering. "Close? Uh... yeah, probably. You two usually talk late into the night while trying to sleep."
"Really?.. Ah.. Sorry." Tomioka apologizes.
"It's cool. I mean, it's not me you should apologize to. Though I guess it's not really your fault you don't remember either," Sabito says.
Makomo comes out with her spare clothes, nodding politely as she walks by them and towards the bathroom.
"...I'll talk to her later tonight," Tomioka says, watching after her.
"Definitely for the best." Sabito agrees, going into their room.
Tomioka follows him, seeing the three beds. After spotting his old bag, he goes through it to find the red haori that used to be his sister's. He frowns a bit. 'It looks like some things don't change.' He sits down against the wall, closing his eyes.
"Hey, don't forget not to fall asleep!" Sabito yells at him.
"Don't worry. I'm not. I'm just trying to think, trying to remember," Tomioka answers calmly.
"Oh. My bad. But if I hear you snore, I will hit you!"
"Got it."
Tomioka spends a long time running through all the possible scenarios in his head, trying to get answers or at least a course of action. Only when he opens his eyes later on has he come to a complete decision. 'I'll treat this as a second chance even if some things differ. My information from the old world can't be useless. I have information on the upper moons.'
Tomioka cleans up his futon and fixes the blankets. 'And if I can get to Tanjiro before he loses his family. There's a chance one of his other siblings might be able to use sun breathing. But will we be able to develop a serum to weaken Muzan like we had before? Maybe the best option is to try and prevent that final encounter until they're older. Having Tanjiro and Muichiro be able to develop their skills. Wait... Didn't Muichiro have a brother? If they're anything like him. That would greatly help us. First things first, though. I need to make sure Makomo and Sabito live through final selection as well.'
Eventually, the pair of boys wash themselves in the bathhouse. Tomioka was sure to get the dried blood off his head. "Sabito.. How long have we been training on Mount Sagiri?"
The peach-haired boy paused, shaking his head, getting water everywhere. "I wanna say it's been a little over half a year. Maybe seven or eight months."
'Okay... So if that's the case, I have at least four months to get better than I was before..' He looks at his tiny hands. 'Even if I know all the forms and techniques. That doesn't mean this body can replicate them. I'll have to retrain it from the ground up.' Tomioka nods, hardening his resolve for the following days.
Later, after their bath and meal, Sabito goes to bed. Tomioka is about to do the same when he notices Makomo isn't there. He goes and looks around for her. Noticing the front door open, he goes outside and sees her sitting down, looking out to the night sky. "Hey?" He sits down next to her.
"Still don't remember me huh?" She asks, not looking at him.
"Sorry.." He says, looking up at the stars with her.
"It's okay. It's not your fault. I guess I could blame Sensei for that. He's the one who set the traps."
"That seems harsh... He's only trying to make us strong."
"Maybe... So how's your head?"
"Feels fine. I just have a headache. But it's... It's probably for different reasons.." He says sheepishly.
"Different reasons? How?" She asks.
"I can't really explain it. It just is."
"I see.."
The pair sit there peacefully as the cold mountain breeze echoes around them.
"I love the quiet of the night," Makomo breaks the silence.
"Yeah.." He agrees...
"It's hard to accept that demons hide in those shadows.." She says bitterly.
"Mm.." He nods. "Makomo?"
"Yes?" She looks over at him.
"I'm really sorry I can't remember you. But I really hope we can be friends again like we were before." He smiles at her.
She looks at his earnest face, a smile coming to her face. "Yeah! Me too."
Tomioka leans back, giving one last glance at the night sky. "I'm going to head to bed... Are you going to stay up?"
Makomo shakes her head, yawning. "Nope! I'd risk falling asleep out here. Let's go back to our room. I'm sure Sabito is lonely."
Tomioka sweat drops, listening to the snoring coming from their room. "Uhh.. Something tells me he's just fine."
The pair laugh before heading inside to join their friend. Tomioka lays down, feeling more at ease that he got to know Makomo a bit better. He closes his eyes, drifting off to sleep, wondering what this new world will bring him.