I'm not Muzan Kibutsuji!

Chapter 10: Dreams(and ignoring your problems!)

"Masaru!"

....

"Oh come here." The woman walked into his room, before leaning down and hugging him tightly. "Masaru. You know better then to sleep late" An almost painful hand wrapped around his wrist, and Masaru opened his eyes. This was wrong.

Masaru looked at the woman in front of him. His mother. Dark eyes stared into his own. Her expression was of amusement, and perhaps annoyance. She let him go, a smile on her face. "Your father is downstairs! We are going to eat together, as a family!"

Masaru felt his heart plummet as he took a step back. This was wrong. His mother was never happy. Never this carefree. This was certainly a dream of his imagination...

And Masaru blinked.

Yurei stood in front of him, a fond expression on the usually stern man's face. Masaru's heart clenched seeing him like this. He looked similar to the day Masaru returned from the demon slayer exam, worried yet loving. He looked around, confused.

"Wasn't I just.. at my parents.?"

Yurei gave him a strange look, before nodding. "Of course! They brought you here for training! Did you not know?" Masaru did not, infact, know. He was very confused. His parents hadn't talked to him in ages.. so why would they have taken him to Yurei-Sensei's? Masaru was cut out of his thoughts by a loud shout. One he faintly recognized. Yes... that was certainly Inosuke! Masaru ran over towards where the shout came from, waving to Yurei as he went.

Masaru soon found that all of his friends were there. Inosuke and Zenitsu were supposedly training but Masaru was pretty sure it was just a brawl at this point. Tanjiro was trying to stop them, as per usual, and Nezuko was making flower crowns. She wasn't wearing her muzzle, looking perfectly content, sitting on a blanket. She was serene compared to the rest of them.

Masaru decided this was probably a dream.. for it was never so peaceful. He wondered to himself as he sat down next to Nezuko, who handed him a flower crown, how long it would take before they left him too.

———————-

Chiaki sighed, leaning against the wall. She hated it—her job. She'd go into the purest dreams of whoever that freakshow Enmu wanted and destroy their souls, then get her dream. It was all for that, her dream. A dream where she could see her again. That was all she wanted. It was immoral, certainly, but Chiaki couldn't help it. She'd do anything to be with her best friend once more, even killing.

She and the others tethered the demon slayers to the pole, and they all entered into the dreams. Chiaki walked towards the most plain looking one, a young man with a straw hat covering his features. She touched him, and soon enough, fell into a deep sleep.

When she awoke once more, she was surprised to see the small house besides her, and the yells and shouts of happiness. Chiaki looked to see the slayers she saw before running around, and slipped behind the house. There was a small forest surrounding them, and the whole dream was taking place in the early spring, so Chiaki admired the flowers as she walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

Soon enough she found the barrier, and cut unto the boy's soul. She wondered what awaited her.. but decided it was probably going to be boring.

———————

The sun was setting. For a dream, Masaru supposed that it was pretty accurate to real life. The five of them ended up lying on Nezuko's blanket on the little hill beside the training area. Tanjiro ended up stuck in the middle, while Inosuke and Zenitsu fought over most of the open space. Nezuko had her head in Masaru's lap, and everyone was adorned with a flower crown, courtesy of Nezuko.

Masaru knew that his desires were perhaps a little selfish—and far too domestic for a demon slayer... but then again.. to be completely fair, Masaru didn't really join the slayers just to kick Muzan's butt for being his evil clone (though that was certainly a plus). No, Masaru had joined the slayers because of something far more valuable to him—Family. Yurei was his family, more than the two who raised him, and The slayers he was traveling with now... well they were a bit like a family too. A very loud and chaotic family, but a family nonetheless.

Masaru blinked.

He was standing before a door. He opened it and his eyes widened. It was where he was when he had first woken up. His family home.

Masaru pushed the door further, opening up the eerily familiar halls. He took a few steps forward, walking slowly through the house in awe. He could recognize every nook and cranny, old stain, and the sound of his father's laughter intertwining with his mother's. His heart spiked at that. His parents.. yes.. they were acting like they did before. Before that day... the one where everything changed.

He slowly opened another door, revealing his parents, smiling happily around the table. They looked.. genuinely happy. Masaru had almost forgotten how that expression looked on his parent's faces.

"Come join us, Mas'!" That was surely his father. He looked younger, somehow. Perhaps it was the lack of tiredness in his eyes, or his genuine smile. "Masaru, please, let us eat dinner, as a family!" His mother's voice cut through his thoughts, and Masaru was reminded if the terrible foreboding feeling he had felt, realizing this was a dream.

But Masaru didn't mind staying in this false reality for a moment longer. It had been so long.. so many years since he had seen that look on their faces. Before the indifference, before the hate, before that demon-forsaken night.

Masaru sat down. Surely, a moment longer wouldn't matter, would it?

——————

Chiaki was mesmerized.

She had never seen a soul so beautiful, yet so deeply terrifying. The place was split in half—two halves that were constantly fighting. The Alive, which Chiaki had dubbed so as it was mostly made of nature, animals, and other such things, was currently winning. On the other side, a burning fire was raging, trying to burn away all of the life before it. What... was this?

A soul fighting itself, yet keeping balance. In between the constant fluctuation of fire and nature, there was his soul—a marble-shaped thing, with a yin-and yang symbol spinning lazily beside it. There was a small child, a little girl, napping in front of it. Chiaki took a step towards the soul, and both fire and vines reached out towards her.

She didn't get paid enough for this, did she? Chiaki reminded herself of the mission before her. She needed to see her best friend no matter what. So she sighed, before taking another step towards the soul. This time, the girl arose from her nap, and walked towards Chiaki. She said nothing, but in a flash, she had taken the form of.. a familiar young woman.

Chiaki felt her eyes water. She ran towards her friend, hugging her as tears ran down her face. Unlike the dreams she was given by that demon... her heart felt full, complete.

She didn't understand the how, or even why this boy's soul had given her this. But she... understood what it wanted. Surely, she'd want her to move on, wouldn't she? Her best friend hated waiting, dwelling on things. She would hate it, wouldn't she? Chiaki taking the lives of others just to see her once more....wouldn't she?

Chiaki let out a shaking laugh, still clutching the boy's manifestation of soul in her arms. She dropped her knife, and nodded to the soul.

She blinked, then suddenly, she could hear it—the train. She really had done it, hasn't she? Chiaki decided she'd had enough of the creepy dream demon, and decided before she died for disobeying him, she'd take a nap. A very good and long nap. So, she did, taking a nap below the table. Chiaki deserved a nap.

A/N: I was only a day late, so like, it could have been worse? 

I may or may not have forgotten February has 28 and/or 29 days, but we're ignoring that! 

Also, if anyone gets my reference in the blanket scene, ily <3

See you in three weeks :DD