Blood in Flame and Water

Waking Nightmares

Trigger Warnings
Blood and Injury
Sickness
Possible Betrayal (?)
Mugen Train scenes/spoilers
Tanjiro's Nightmare scene
Blood
Mentioned Death
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"Akira, Akira Kei. " The boy mumbled quietly, voice hoarse but still wore a smile.

Tanjiro widened his own smile and patted Akira's head alongside Nezuko, "It's nice to know your name, also for not killing me. I'm Kamado Tanjiro. "

Akira smiled before blinking sleepily. Tanjiro grew worried and tilted his head, "You're sick, Akira. I think you should sit down and rest. "

Nodding, Akira sat on the bench next to the box Nezuko fell out of and set a hand on the polished wood. Mitski quickly followed after Akira, moving to stand next to the boy's legs and clutch his hands with their own.

Before Tanjiro turned away, Akira looked up at the burgundy haired boy and tearfully thanked him, "You brought kindness back to my soul. I cannot thank you enough. "

Tanjiro smiled and promised to be back safely before grabbing Nezuko's hand and turned towards the cart in front of their own. Akira bit his lip before shouting, "Wait! "

The eldest Kamado skidded to a halt before turning to Akira with a confused expression. Kei chewed on his bottom lip before sighing and revealing, "The demon you're gonna fight is Lower Moon One. Please be careful, their Art is powerful, and they'll use it to trick you. Also, their material body isn't the real thing. "

Tanjiro grew confused and urgent, "What do you mean? "

Akira sighed, "They fused with the train. They planned on consuming us all at the end of this trip since this was the largest capacity since two months ago. You have to find their neck within the train's systems, or you wouldn't have actually killed them. "

Tanjiro nodded, "Understood! So I can just cut the neck of the train now? "

Akira shook his head, voice going hoarse with use, "The demon will be protecting the neck of the train. You'll have to get through the fake body first. But once you slice the neck of the fake body, their power will transfer straight to the train; you'll need to be fast. "

At the end of his explanation, Akira fell into a fit of coughing and hacking. Blood splattered on his hand as Kei covered his mouth. Mitski gasped and quickly tore a piece of their shirt off, raising it up to wipe the boy's mouth of the droplets once he stopped and started to wheeze. Through his pain, Akira exclaimed they needed to hurry. The Lower Kizuki could feel if something was amiss and they needed to hurry before it became suspicious.

Obviously in turmoil, Tanjiro nodded determinedly and clutched Nezuko's hand before running out of the train cabin. Mitski frowned and continued to wipe away the droplets of blood before Kei collapsed against the seat with shallow and ragged breathing.

Mitski asked reluctantly, "Why are you helping us? "

Akira glanced at Mitski before fluttering his eyes closed and swallowing roughly, "I'm going to die anyway. I want to choose how I die, not for a demon to kill me in a false dream where everything was a lie, " he concluded. Mitski could only nod and silently pray for the boy to make it.

Pausing, Mitski gasped and reached into their lapel to grab the bead given to them by Yasha. Holding the bead out, Kei took it hesitantly and asked what it was. Mitski smiled brightly, "This belongs to someone special. They gave it to me so they'll always know where I am. They promised if I ever needed anything, say it to the bead and it would come true. If you ask to stay alive, I'm sure it will come true! "