Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hinokami Flames

Chapter 24: Nightmare Turned Reality

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Tanjiro screams as he wakes up from Enmu's dream. 'I'm alive. I'm actually alive.' He looks behind him seeing a startled and tearful Nezuko. "Nezuko?" She hugs Tanjiro tightly out of joy. "I was so scared! I thought you were never gonna wake up!" Tanjiro hugs her back. "I'm sorry. I'm very sorry." He then notices a burnt rope tied around his wrist. "How did this happen?" "I don't know." Nezuko replied. "It was tied to you when I found you. When you weren't waking up, I had to use my blood breathing technique to wake you."

"I smell traces of demon on this rope. It feels like the mission is far from over." Tanjiro remembered the ticket. He grabbed his and smelled it. "Hmmm! This is coated with demon after it got punched! They must've been doing this to other demon slayers before us! Blood Demon Art can appear in many different forms. I guess there's some that work too..." Tanjiro see Rengoku standing while holding the girl by the neck. "Mr. Rengoku! Zenitsu! Inosuke! How did this happen?!" "It's their tickets! I guess I wasn't infected because my ticket was never punched." "That first demon from before saved you." 

Tanjiro was about to sever the rope but stopped millimeters away. "Something's telling me that I shouldn't cut this rope. Nezuko, do what you did to me on everyone else!" Nezuko used the Mental Sensation on her comrades burning the ropes off. For if Tanjiro cut them, those who aren't dreaming will never wake up again. Enmu neglected to explain this to his pawns, for he saw them as nothing more than food. "Thank you very much Nezuko." They try to wake their friends up, but to no avail. 

Then suddenly, they were attacked by the girl that infiltrated Rengoku's dream. "Damn you! It's because of you that we can't have happy dreams!" Zenitsu and Inosuke's attempted killers join her. The siblings couldn't believe it. They're doing this out of their own decision. They notice Tanjiro's attempted killer has woken up, but he isn't trying to kill him. "What the hell are you doing?! Get your ass up and fight! I don't give a shit that you have tuberculosis! Get over here and help us! Or I'll go tell 'him'. And you'll never have any more dreams!!"

They were shocked. Enmu was using their fears to manipulate them. An unforgivable act. But it strengthens their will to fight. "I'm sorry but we have to go, and we'll fight." They knock out the assailants with a swift chop to their necks. Tanjiro turns his attention to the ill boy. "Are you alright?" "Yeah." he replied. "When I was in your dream, I could only see the eternal kindness in your heart. You gave me hope." He was now smiling. "Be careful. He calls himself a 'Twelve Kizuki'."

Tanjiro nodded. Going outside the car, Tanjiro can feel the horrifying smell Enmu was emitting through the wind. He felt disgraceful falling for his spell. Tanjiro leaps up on top of the car. "Nezuko, I can handle this! Wake the others up and defend the passengers!" "Just don't die!" Tanjiro nods to her before going ahead further to the front where Enmu was.

"Oh. So, you've woken up. Good morning." Enmu greeted Tanjiro. "You could've just stayed in the dream. I showed you what you heart yearned for the most. I could've shown you a dream where your family was never attacked by demons. Or maybe one where your father never succumbed to illness. *sigh* In truth I love introducing human to horror filled nightmares after showing them happy dreams. When they feel happiness at first hand, I love savoring their faces of despair as they are in pain. I was very cautious with this plan. I mixed my Blood Demon Art with the ink. The moment the conductor punched the ticket, the spell will make them fall asleep. As exhausting as it is, it's one of the greatest techniques. It's very impossible to notice. But, without knowing that their reality was a dream until it was far too late, you however woke up and knew how to escape."

Enmu quickly notice the hanafuda earrings on Tanjiro. "Wait a second. Those earrings. It's you." He began to laugh chaotically. "I can't believe it! Fate has brought you right before me on a silver platter! If I kill you, then Lord Muzan will give more of his blood! With his lend strength, I can apply for a Blood Battle and rise to the Upper Ranks! And I slumber even more into their deepest dreams haunting them until they wish for death!!!"