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19: Livid Rapscallion

= "For you who is precious, I'm willing to risk everything" =

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❄ - ⭐ - ❄

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"...Mizuki...?..."

Muttering her name with a low voice, Tanjiro wore an apparent shocked expression on his face.

Surely, this is a dream. Nevertheless, he never expected to see the girl in this kind of situation. Not to mention, the younger version of herself. The bland gaze of her amethyst colored hues became flooded with wariness.

Prying his hand off her arm, the girl took a few steps away from him, her expression guarded as she watched him with a narrowed gaze.

"Who are you?" Her voice resounded. Firm and blunt. Just like how she had always been. "Why do you know my name?"

"Well--"

Tanjiro tried to explain himself. But then, he realized that it wasn't the right time to do so. They were in a very precarious situation in the real world and he knew that he needed to wake up as soon as possible. Just as Tanjiro was about to tell her this, a strong gush of wind blew. Small particles of snow flew wildly in the air, hiding everything in sight.

The boy's first instinct was to get closer to the girl and shield her with his body. But the strong wind and snow isn't permitting him to move from his spot. He could only close his eyes and shield his face with his arms.

"Mizuki!!!"

Even with her name being called, Tanjiro got no response. This might be a dream, but there's just no way that he would let anything happen to the girl if he can do something about it. Alas, the harsh wind had finally calmed down. And when Tanjiro pried his eyes open, he found himself standing in the middle of the road. Particularly, in the middle of the road of the small town where he frequently sells his coals before.

Blinking, he looked around for any sign of the girl from before. But unfortunately, he found none.

"Tanjiro-chan! Thank god you came! I badly needed some coals. It's so cold right now!"

One older woman appeared from the comforts of her home. She motioned her hand, beckoning the burgundy haired boy to come over.

"Oh! I need some too, Tanjiro!"

That is only the time Tanjiro had noticed that the cart he usually used to sell coals was standing behind him. He was still wearing his uniform, but none of the people outside really paid attention to it. Especially to his nichirin sword that is in full view. Slowly, the people who are his regular customers surrounded him in a small circle. Making casual talks here and there.

He became very puzzled.

Just when he thought that he is about to wake up, something like this is happening.

"Really. This year's weather is so cold!" One of the woman exclaimed. Her face wore an expression of disbelief.

"That's right. It's a good thing that Tanjiro is such a very nice kid. He kept selling us coals eventhough it's very difficult to descend the mountains at this time."