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Tanya gulped back a bit, still looking at this version of Kyojuro wearing the old uniform of the Empire's ground forces. "I understand the battle looks desperate and lost, but you taking yourself out in the middle of it would only guarantee our loss!" Kyojuro yelled with a great volume of voice. The stand of hair sticking out of Tanya's hair bounced, it did sound exactly like him. But this had to be a trick, whether by the demon or Being X she was not falling for it. She pulled her hand away "don't you dare touch me." the two stared at each other, Tanya more so glaring.
"Mage major Degurechaff, I should get you somewhere safe, it might be best to order a retreat!" Kyojuro said more so as a suggestion, placing his rifle over his shoulder. Tanya felt weird about hearing her former last name come from his mouth and voice, but she still was not falling for it.
"Screw you Being X," she whispered as she grabbed her pistol. "Trust me, it won't matter soldier. Now go back to base and tell the infantry commander I ordered a retreat." she checked the pistol to make sure it was still loud, she needed a hard reset this time, prove to those self-proclaimed gods that their tricks will not work.
"But wait-" Tanya looked back at Kyojuro with intensity. "That is an order from your superior." The soldier and major did another stare-off. "May I ask why?" as Kyojuro asked this, gunshots could be heard coming from both the ground and air, but not too close to them. "Because it's an order" Tanya spoke as if it was fact, which it was. Kyojuro shook his head "may I ask why you want to take your own life? That was what I meant." Veins popped around Tanya's eyes, she seethed her teeth "do you really want to know?" Kyojuro nodded. Tanya figured, it was just a dream, so she could at least tell this version of Kyojuro Rengoku everything.
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Tanjiro ran through the snow, running through the grounds of the mountain he grew up on. "The demon has to be around here somewhere, I have to find them fast." he ran further down the mountain, passing someone by he got a familiar scent followed by a voice he had not heard spoken in a long time, even though it belonged to someone who was almost always with him. "Tanjiro?" he stopped and slowly turned his head. He stared in shock, seeing Nezuko, fully human. No traces of her being a demon. The girl smiled "look, I managed to pick a good bunch today." she held out the weaved plate filled with vegetables for everyone.
"Tanjiro we found you!" the rest of his family ran up to him. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Nezuko asked with a confused tone. Takeo looked ahead at Tanjiro "some kind of flame surrounded Tanjiro, he got these weird clothes. And then ran off for no reason." the others stared ahead at him, while Tanjiro looked away.
"This is how it should have been" Tanjiro grasps his fists hard. "If it was, everyone would still be alive. Nezuko wouldn't be a demon, she could see the sun and live a happy normal life." he started walking forward. "I am sorry everyone." he first walked slowly, soon turning into a quick sprint. The youngest walked forward "Big brother!" he fell into the snow, "Don't leave!" Tanjiro closed his eyes and kept running, saying quietly "I can't, I am sorry Rokuta" while he ran a boy was hiding being a tree trunk "I should do this quickly."
The boy, one of Enmu's recruits, touched the edge of the dream. He punctured it with his knife and walked inside. It was a long range of shallow water. "It feels, calm" he had never felt something so soothing like this before. Soon small shining beings came up to him. "Who are you?" asked but they just took his hand. He followed them while being led through the unconscious state of Tanjiro. He soon found himself by the spiritual core, the being who took his hand even pointed at it. "W-why did you lead me here?" after a bit they pointed at him, "because…because I wanted to find it." he suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He fell to his knees in the water. "What...what am doing?" tears flowed down his eyes.
As Tanjiro ran further through the cold forest of the mountain he found no smells that would indicate a demon was nearby. He stood there frustrated, he felt there was nothing he could do. "Tanjiro" Tanjiro's head went up, though he could not see them a man with Hanafura earrings like his own was right behind him. "Take up your sword, there is something you must cut. " the voice went away.
"Something I must cut?" Tanjiro slowly gripped his katana handle and took it out. He stared at the blade. "I…think I know what that is." he became a little nervous, but he had to force those feelings away. "Don't hesitate, if I cut this it will bring me back to reality." he got on his knees and brought the sword to his neck. "Ahhhhhh" he yelled as he tried to overcome the obvious hesitation to cut his own neck. The boy by his spiritual core suddenly felt the water below him move away, and he fell. As he did one of the shining spirit beings took his hand, once again, he felt calm and peaceful.
Tears went down Kanao's face, she tried to wipe them away but doing so clouded her vision just as much as the tears did. She made it through the forest surrounding the butterfly mansion, tripping over a root and tumbling to the ground. "Why did I have to have this dream?" it felt cruel to see everyone there, happy and alive. "Kanao!" she heard Kanae's voice. "I said leave me alone!" Kanao did not even look back at what should be her dead sister. "Please Kanao, listen to me."
Kanao still did not look, she feared she would fall back into her happy dreamy state if she did. "No, go away. I mean it!" she heard Kanae laugh and say cheerfully "you sound like a child having a tantrum, I am happy though, you never used to have any outward emotions." Kanao punched the ground "I SAID LEAV-" Kanae's arms went around her, and she said in a calming tone "you've grown up so much Kanao." Tears flowed further down Kanao's face. "I wish I could meet the boy or maybe girl that made your heart flutter, then I could have playfully teased you like I did Shinobu and Tanya."
An absentminded giggle escaped Kanao's mouth, and though still crying a smile appeared on her face. "Never forget Kanao, I may be gone now but I will always love you, and every member of our dysfunctional, but amazing family." Kanae kissed the top of Kanao's head. "Here comes the hard part Kanao, I am going to leave so you don't hesitate with it." Kanao whipped tears away "o-okay" she stuttered out. "I need you to take your sword…"
"Gaaa!" Tanjiro moved in his seat, almost pushing the still sleeping Kanao off him. He stared at her, his face flushed a little pink as he saw her leaning against him with his hand in hers. Suddenly her head jerked up and hit him in the face, both writhed back in pain. "O-oh my god Tanjiro I am so sorry!" Kanao said as she held the top of her head. Tanjiro was holding his nose and said "it is fine, I am glad you're awake." he wondered what happened in Kanao's dream, with them both having woken up.
"Mnnn!" they both saw Nezuko staring up at them, the girl ran up to Tanjiro and hugged him. "It's alright, see I am okay Nezuko." he patted her head, which cheered up the girl a bit. Kanao smiled a bit at seeing Tanya and Kyojuro. She saw there was a rope attached to their arms, and Tanjiro noticed the same. His and Kanao's were the same, along with Zenitsu and Inosuke. "They are all asleep," Kanao said, while Tanjiro took a good look at the cart, it seemed everyone inside of it was asleep. "Is everyone on the train asleep?" Tanjiro wondered how this could happen, he remembered something, how the conductor who clipped their tickets seemed a bit tired. He took it out of his pocket and smelled it "blood, a demons" he knew it.
Tanjiro and Kanao were about to cut the rope that was around Kyojuro and Tanjiro's wrists. "Wait, something is telling me we should not cut these." Kanao looked over at him "then what should we do?" Tanjiro rubs his chin, he remembers how flames surrounded him before he finally woke up to what his dream really was. "Nezuko can you burn these ropes?" the demon girl nodded. She burned the ropes that were around the wrists of Tanya, Kyojuro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke. But still, they did not wake up. "What should we do now?"
Tanjiro was not sure how to answer Kanao, but he saw someone move and strike for her. He grabbed Kanao and pulled her back, the girl's face went pink though she tried to look series as the girl who attacked her held up her sharp weapon. "What are you doing?" Tanjiro asked as now four others stood up with similar knives. "You are keeping us from having a great dream of our own!" Tanjiro was stunned, but then the girl continued, "get up as well, I don't care if you have tuberculosis, I'll tell him you weren't helping!" the boy that was attached to Tanjiro's rope stood up, but he had no reaction. Tanjiro's eyebrows lowered, 'he has tuberculosis? This demon was taking advantage of these people. How horrible.'
"I am sorry, but we have a mission to do," Kanao said while walking forward, of course not planning to kill them, but to knock them out. Tanjiro was the same way. The first four went for them, but the two of them easily knocked them out with a blow to the back of the neck. The final one hesitated out of fear but was knocked out by Tanjiro. They looked at the final one. "I won't stop you, thank you though." he smiled at Tanjiro, "I was willing to hurt others for the sake of having a selfish dream. But your inner self, well, let's just say I am glad I did not hurt you." Tanjiro smiled back before he and Kanao went to find the demon.
When Tanjiro and Kanao were in the in-between way of the carts and more towards the front of the train, he could smell the demon was close. He helped Kanao up to the roof of the carts, before joining her up there. After a bit of running across the top, they saw a demon, standing right there. "Were the dreams I gave you so bad?" both gripped their katana handles. Enmu smiled at them "maybe next I'll have one with father in perfect health, and yours with your sister alive well past when she should have died!" Enmu smiled when he saw the hanafura earrings Tanjiro had. 'If…if I can kill this boy along with those Hashira I can get more of master Muzan's blood. Haha, I won't even need Wakuraba's help!'
What Enmu said before angered both of the demon slayers. They rushed at Enmu, who smiled brightly as he held out the back of his hand. "Tenth form; constant flux!" Tanjiro shouted while Kanao shouted "fifth form Peonies of futility!" a water dragon strode alongside Tanjiro's blade, while a wave of pink peddles surrounded Kanaos. Enmu's hand mouth opened up, "whispers of forced unconscious hypnosis." the mouth said, "go to sleep." at first it hits the slayers, and they nearly fall off the edge. But they quickly wake up surprising Enmu. "go to sleep," the hand says again.
Once again the slayers hang their heads in unconscious states, before immediately waking up. This time Enmu had to move back from their attack, with Kanao almost getting his neck thanks to Tanjiro attacking right at his head. "Go to sleep!" once again they nearly fall over only to immediately get up. "Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep!" it repeated over and over, but both Kanao and Tanjiro kept getting back up quickly. He realized, they kept cutting their necks right after being inside their dreams. 'How…how can they so easily cut their own selves? What kind of slayers are they?'
"Go to sleep!" this time Tanjiro stood in front of Kanao so only he would get hit. "Why did you leave us behind to die?" Tanjiro saw his siblings covered in blood, with the wounds they had when he found them dead. His father splashed a drink in his face "get out of my sight, you are worthless." finally his mother said, "it should have been you."
Tanjiro woke up in a furious rage. Kanao had cut off the hand of Enmu, leaving him unable to use his demon art. "Never" Tanjiro came for him, "Never insult my family like that! They would never say that!" he slammed the sword on Enmu's neck and cut it clean off. The head rolled on the roof, while the body went limp.
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"...and now I am stuck here, reliving this damn day over and over again, trying to figure a way out." Tanya finally breathed, she had told this version of Kyojuro the full honest truth, something she has been unable to do with the actual one. 'Guess it's true what they say, the truth sets you free,' she thought jokingly, even if she did feel a little better venting all of that out. "I see, so three lives, and a bunch of….well" seemed poor soldier Kyojuro was having trouble swallowing all of that.
"Now if you can excuse me I need to kill myself before a random bullet does it for me" Tanya lifted the gun, she did not want to waste any more time. But Kyojuro grabbed her arm again. Tanya sighed "I just told you why I need to, nay, told you everything. This is barely an order, I NEED you to stop well, stopping me." Kyojuro's smile widened "I think you know I cannot do that." his gaze met hers, but she adverted hers to not meet his for long. "Besides, is it possible it is not you who has to end this dream?" Tanya gave him a confused look. "What?" Kyojuro then pointed at something.
"The hell is this?" Daisuke started outside his office, where what appeared to be an active war zone was beyond it. He adjusted his glasses "first some kid cuts a hole in reality, literally! And then after attacking me he suddenly disappears!" he looks back at the spot the kid was in, which was right by the odd orb that he noticed right before the aforementioned kid broke in. he picked up the knife the kid left behind. The Salaryman was very confused, "I…must be dreaming. I better not have fallen asleep at my desk. I fired two employees for that after they did it too often."
As Daisuke went back over to the space hole in his office, he saw two soldiers in view. One turns to face them, it was a little girl. The two stares at each other and both of their eyes widen. Everything zooms into the Salaryman, and soon, all that was left was his office. At first, he just stares where his old office was, the space hole gone. He looks at his hand, the knife was still there. A rare sight on the normally emotionless worker appears a smile. "Even I should thank you, Kyojuro Rengoku." he raises the knife to his neck.
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"You look confused," the head of Enmu said while Tanjiro and Kanao stared at it. Moments before they thought they killed the lower moon demon, he was very much still alive. A mound of flesh lifted the head in the air. "I can see now why he wants you dead, your very existence is an annoyance!" Enmu spoke down to Tanjiro specifically. Tanjiro was not sure what to do, he was very much confused about how the demon was still alive after the neck was cut off.
"I am not dead, because that is no longer this is no longer body," Enmu spoke happily, enthusiastically even. He continued to do so as he explained further, as he could feel his tendrils moving about in the train. "While you all were sound asleep, I fused myself with this train. Now all of it is my body!" after a large, he said "good luck protecting everyone, you demon slayers!" he disappeared into the train itself. The scent of the demon went through the whole train now. "We have to save everyone inside!" Tanjiro shouted as they ran along the rooftop. "But we will need more help to do it!" Tanjiro knew what Kanao said was true, but everyone was still asleep.
A large banging noise was going off, as soon Inosuke jumped out from a hole in the roof he made. "Your lord Inosuke has arrived! Hahahha!" he landed on the roof, Tanjiro and Kanao could not be happier to see him. "Inosuke! The whole train is a demon we have to protect the passengers!" Inosuke stood there, feeling large gratification. "Hahaha! I knew it! I was right all along, now to deal with the beast." Tanjiro was not going to question it, just so long as Inosuke actually going to protect the civilians. Inosuke jumped down into the cart he came from, in mid-air, between at least seven tendrils he shouted "fifth fang, crazy cutting!" he cut in all directions around him, cutting away all the tendrils without hitting any humans.
Tanjiro and Kanao went back on a cart, trying to get back to the front of the train. But demon tendrils appeared out from the roof. They quickly dove into the car through the windows and stood back to back while tendrils filled the cart. "Ready Kanao?" the girl nodded, and they split off to protect people on both sides of the cart.
Nezuko was using her claws to cut away the demon's tendrils but to no avail. Soon one of them wrapped around her arms, and then another. "Rnnn!" Nezuko grunted as she tried to pull out of them. Suddenly a flash of electricity went by and the Tendrils were cut into many pieces. The demon girl turned to see Zenitsu, who breathed in "first form; thunderclap and flash." he cut away every bit of the demon inside the train, he landed back where he started "Nezuko, I will protect you." to the demon girl, he kinda looked cool. Or did until he went limp to the side and the sound of snoring was heard.
In the original cart the slayers started in, the two Hashira's looked at the flesh that surrounded the cart. "To think all this happened while we were asleep" Tanya pulled out her sword, and Kyojuro did the same "yes! As a Hashira I am quite ashamed!" Tanya smirked, "well you can apologize to the master after we take care of this issue." Kyojuro nodded, he jumped up while flames went around him. Purple flames went around Tanya. A circle of red and purple went around all the carts, cutting away massive amounts of flesh. Enmu gasped, as he felt all of it.
Tanjiro and Kanao went flying back as the cart jumped due to the large attack. "What was that?" Kanao asked with her head on Tanjiro's chest. "Was it from the demon's attack?" Tanjiro said as he tried to adjust himself up from the floor. Tanya and Kyojuro suddenly appeared in front of them. "HELLO YOUNG KAMADO AND TSUYURI!" Kyojuro shouted loudly, while Tanya rolled her eyes, yet still seemed to be smiling. Tanjiro and Kanao stood up, Tanjiro asking the two hashira "what do we do now?"
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Zettour swallowed a mound of flesh, it was Enmu's flesh from the train. "This tastes terrible," he said while Wakuraba rolled his eyes "I still can't believe you are eating it." Zettour sighed and swallowed one more bit of flesh. "I don't have any other way to get his blood. Also, that attack earlier, I am certain it was the hashira." he approached Wakuraba "give me your eyes." the lower three demons backed up a bit "what? Why?" A dark grin appeared on a face that used to belong to Rokuro, "you will…see."
Meanwhile outside, watching as the now fleshy train moved around a rocky track line. "Wow, seems the action is starting Akaza-sama~," a voice said, pissing off upper 3, Akaza. "When master Muzan said someone would be joining me, why did it have to be you? Also, he said only one, why is he here?" Akaza pointed at a third demon, who wept "w-why is my presence so hated just for b-being here?!" the first voice laughed, "I invited him just in case. You never know!" his voice annoyed Akaza, "whatever, I heard there were two hashira on that train." upper three grinned widely, two others were behind him. "I hope they are strong so that I can fight them once they kill the weak lower ranks."