With a Flame in my Heart [Rengoku x Fem Reader] -DISCONTINUED-

Six - ろく

While everyone was sleeping silently, a severed hand with a mouth and an eye on the side dropped down from the ceiling onto the train car floor. It was pale white and had the kanji for 'dream' (夢) written all over it. Five adolescent children were kneeling in front of it. The hand spoke to them.

"Alright. They are now asleep. Remember, when you tie the ropes, don't touch them, whatever you do. All you have to do is to destroy their spiritual core, resting in their subconscious. The dream worlds I create aren't infinite, you know. There's always an edge. Just outside the dream, you will end up in the subconscious. There, the spiritual core will be found. Stab it with your needle, and it will be shattered," it said in a dreamy voice. "Don't fail me. If you succeed, I'll bless you with peaceful dreams for eternity! Any questions?"

"No, sir," the children said in unison. The hand smiled.

"Good. Now, go."

"Yes, sir."

The children left to tie their ropes to each of the five Demon Slayers. They fell asleep, and were now in the dreamworld of each sleeping Demon Slayer.

Tanjiro opened his eyes. He was in a snowy forest. There was a house that looked like his old house a few feet away. Two children were walking side by side, holding baskets of red beetroot and radishes. Tanjiro squinted, and his vision refocused. The two children, he learned, were his supposedly dead brother and sister! Tanjiro's family was murdered brutally by a demon like Umi, but here they were alive and healthy. Maybe it was a bad dream, he thought. He dropped his Nichirin sword in the fluffy snow. He ran towards his confused siblings, sobbing and hugging them.

"Shigeru! Hanako! You're back... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry! I won't let it happen again!" Tanjiro cried, making the siblings fall into the snow, dropping their vegetable baskets.

When Tanjiro was back in his old house, his scar was nothing but a pale scratch. His hair was long and tied back again. His Nichirin sword was nowhere to be found. Shigeru and Hanako explained to their mother what happened. 

"We were bringing the beetroots and radishes back to our house, then suddenly Onii-chan appeared. He was holding a sword, and his hair was really short! He was also dressed in strange clothes and his scar looked different too! Then, he saw us, and he suddenly started crying! He ran towards us and made us fall in the snow. He kept apologizing for something, it's like he did something wrong. I don't know if the vegetables are still good!"

Tanjiro's mother looked at her son, concerned.

"Tanjiro, what's gotten into you?" she asked, clearly worried.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm fine now," he replied, smiling. I guess it was a bad dream, he thought.

"Hey, Hanako, where's Nezuko?" he asked his younger sister, Hanako.

"Oh, she's picking vegetables in the mountains," Hanako said. Tanjiro gasped.

"In broad daylight?!" he said, worried. Then he stopped. "Wait... nevermind..."

"Why? What's wrong? Should she not go outside while the sun is out?" Hanako asked. Tanjiro shook his head.

"I-it's nothing."

'Why do I keep saying these strange things?' he thought.

That evening, Tanjiro's mother said that she'll be making rice cakes. Everyone chimed in, saying how they'll be helping. Tanjiro remembered that it was his favorite. He called being in charge of eating them, and all the siblings were arguing with him.

The next day, Tanjiro was chopping wood. When he was done, he put all the wood in his basket and slung the basket over his shoulders..

"Alright, Nezuko! Let's go!" he said, then realized something. Why did he say that?

"Tanjiro, can you go get some water from the river? Use those buckets over there," Tanjiro's mother told him. Tanjiro nodded and went to the river. As he was getting water, he saw his reflection. It was him, but not quite. It was him as a Demon Slayer. 

"Wake up!" he was yelling. Demon Slayer Tanjiro was yelling at him to wake up. This couldn't be the dream... could it? He fell in the river. Bubbles rising above him. Demon Slayer Tanjiro was explaining to him that this was the dream, not the Demon Slayer life. Tanjiro was shocked and swam up to the surface. He promised Demon Slayer Tanjiro that he would wake up. He ran home to deliver the water. On the way there, he saw Nezuko... as a human.

Back in the train, Nezuko was desperately trying to wake the sleeping Tanjiro up. She headbutted him, but since his head was so hard, her forehead started bleeding. She started crying and shook Tanjiro harder. Nezuko grunted and used her Blood Demon Art on him. Pink flames erupted around his body.

In his dream, Tanjiro was eating dinner, but desperately trying to think how to wake up. Takeo, the second oldest boy in the family, stood up and took some food from Tanjiro's plate. Hanako got annoyed and stood up as well.

"Hey, Takeo! Why do you always take food from Onii-chan's plate? You already got seconds!" she grunted. Takeo rolled his eyes.

"It's fine, he lets me!" he retorted, and continued to take food from Tanjiro's plate. He didn't notice, though, since he was deep in thought.

"Alright, children, settle down. Eat," their mother told them. The two siblings sat down, looking at each other angrily.

Suddenly, Tanjiro burst into pink flames. Everyone gasped and leaned away from him, but he was unharmed. He just changed to Demon Slayer Tanjiro.

Yes, I'm waking up little by little! he thought. He smelled the air and he detected Nezuko's demon blood. He held his Nichirin sword tightly, remembering the familiar feeling of the leather ito-wrap handle. He ran past his family and outside. He tried running as far away as possible as he could, but then he saw Nezuko... as a human.

"N-Nezuko...?" Tanjiro said, tearing up at the sight of Nezuko as a human. She was holding a basket of various wild vegetables.

"Onii-chan? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Nezuko asked, concerned. Tanjiro walked past his sister, not daring to answer. He held back tears and walked faster, which eventually grew into a run. Nezuko called to him.

"Onii-chan! Where are you going?" she said, turning around. Tanjiro said nothing, running faster than before. Tanjiro's mother and siblings ran after him.

"Tanjiro! Where are you going?" his mother called with a sad expression.

'I'm sorry, Mother!' Tanjiro thought. His family ran after him.

"Onii-chan!" Rokuta, Tanjiro's younger brother, ran after him. The poor kid was only a toddler.

"Onii-chan, come back! Don't leave us!" he cried. He fell face-first into the snow and looked up. With an outstretched hand, he yelled for his brother to come back.

'I'm sorry, Rokuta! I'll see you soon! I'm sorry, Nezuko! Don't worry!'

A million thoughts raced through his mind. He ran through the snowy weather, far enough that his family couldn't catch up to him. He stopped, panting. He thought to himself, 'How could I wake up?' He looked around, then his eyes finally landed on his blade. He realized what he had to do. With trembling hands, he lifted his blade to his neck.

'I have to! Come on, do it! Death in the dream doesn't mean death in real life... at least I hope...' he thought, and forced himself to push his blade through his neck. He saw the gray sky above and the snow falling lightly. Then everything went black.