☁︎︎ Third POV

"I did what I was told, I punched their tickets, I gave the 'mate' the drink, and I put them all to sleep," The conductor sobbed, "Please put me to sleep quickly. Please let me see my dead wife and daughter. Please, please."

"Sure thing you did a great job," a hand with a mouth said as it had the words 'dream' on it, "Now sleep. Have a good dream where you can meet your family again."

A small shock went through the conductor. He than collapsed onto the ground and into an eternal slumber. One where he can dream about his loved ones and could see them once more.

"Ano... what about us?" A young girl asks as three boys and another girl crouched behind her.

The hand smirked at the kids before it. It specifically smirked at a duo colored eyes boy who looked like he died a long time ago. This boy, will be concurring the mates' core, poisoning it so that the mate will fall in love with the mind behind the hand.

To Enmu, he was ecstatic to see the mate up close in personal. He, the demon who had put everyone to sleep, was the mind behind the hand.

☁︎︎ First POV | Y/n L/n

I panted heavily as I ran up the mountain that had m late home. I didn't care if I was going to fast or if the sticks on my back were falling, I just had to see my family again, alive. This-This wasn't like the nightmares I usually have about my family.

As soon as I made it to the top I saw Kai, my little brother. He was looking at me in questioning as to why I was panting so hard, but he smiled when he saw me either way. That bright smile... the one that was killed years ago.

"Nii-Chan!! Nii-Chan, how much did you sell today?? I bet it was lots and lots!!" Kai cheered as I stood there, shaking slightly.

I took a step towards him as I reached out my hand, "K-Kai...?" I muttered out.

"Eh? Nii-Chan? Are you okay?

Tears pricked my eyes as I ran at Kai. I engulfed him into a hug and tackled him to the ground. I made sure to protect his head once we landed. Kai let out a small yelp when I did so and his eyes were widened in surprise.

"Nii-Chan?! Nii-Chan?! What's wrong?? Are you okay?!?!" Kai asks me worriedly.

I held onto Kai tighter, "I-it's nothing Kai, I just had a bad thought."

"Oh... Nii-Chan, you shouldn't be daydreaming on the job! Otosan told us about this!"

"I know, Kai, I know."

When we departed from the hug I helped Kai up as he helped me get the sticks that I have dropped. We talked a bit here and there but Kai was cheerful, like nothing ever happened. I was thankful he didn't see my tears.

This wasn't a dream, this couldn't be a dream. Kai was too real to be a dream. This has to be real. Was demon slaying all just a daydream that I made up to myself? It has to be, because Kai is here with me now.

Me and Kai walked back to our house while he talked to me about all sorts of stuff he learned from Otosan today. I made sure to listen to him carefully, not missing a single word.

"Y/n! Perfect timing! I need help with cooking," Mio, my Okaasan, called out to me.

I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to not let out a cry and tackle her into a hug right then and there. Me and Kai went up to him and they both talked to one another before Kai went to go help Otosan.

"Come here, Y/n, let's make dinner for the two wild beasts," Okaasan joked with the motherly smile that I missed.

My eyes shined at the sight of it. I gave Okaasan a hug which made her slightly flinch at the sudden touch. I could tell that she was shocked but I didn't care, I just wanted to hold her right now.

Okaasan chuckled and began to pat my head, even though she never done that before, "What's wrong, Y/n? Are you okay? You seemed a bit in a daze when me and your Ototo were talking. You can talk to me."

I looked up at her and looked into her eyes. I only shook my head and than pulled away. I slightly stared longingly at her figure. However, there was a small flash of Tamayo-San that replaced my mother. I blinked and Tamayo-San was gone. Odd...

I shook my head at Okaasan, "I'm okay, Okaasan, I just wanted a hug, that's all."

Okaasan giggled a bit and nodded, "Alright, hon, lets get food for these beasts okay?"

I nodded and walk into the house with Okaasan.

She never called me 'hon' before though... Weird.

☁︎︎ Time Skip ☁︎

I was walking in the forest with a bucket on my shoulder. I was currently listening to one fo my Otosan's stories since he had came with me. Otosan was walking with me with a bucket on each shoulder, laughing about his childhood memories.

Otosan and I were going to get water for Okaasan for some home made soup. Which I thought was weird, she knew that Otosan wasn't a fan of plain soup, but than again Otosan didn't say anything against it.

Come to think of it, a lot of things were off about my family. They do and say things that they don't usually do, their style in their hair and clothing changed and how they acted were off a bit. It was like someone was trying to copy my family. It was unsettling but I brushed it off.

"Ah, here we are kid! I'll go over here, and you'll go over there!" Otosan stated as he started to walk off, "We'll get the water faster for the delicious soup for dinner!"

I watched as Otosan walked away. A few things he did were off. Otosan never left me nor Kai alone if we went out together, he never calls me kid, and - again - he hated soup. He was off, just like Kai and Okaasan.

I thought nothing of it, I was just happy that my family was with me now, honest it was nice to know that demon slaying was all just a daydream I had.

I walked over to the small pound and crouched down. I started to fill the bucket I had, it made the water ripple a bit. I looked at the water to see if it was clean. My eyes widened when I saw Yoriichi and Sabito in it, banging on an imaginary wall.

"Yoriichi-San? Sabito? B-but... demon slaying was all a dream... how...?" I muttered to myself.

I reached my hand out to the water. I saw Yoriichi's and Sabito's mouth moving as if they were yelling something at me. But I couldn't make anything out of it however.

When I touched the water, Yoriichi and Sabito both grabbed my hand. My eyes widened when I felt the coldness of the two dead males. I had flinched slightly forwards, engulfing my forearm in the water.

"WAKE UP Y/N!!" Yoriichi yelled.

"Y/N THIS IS ALL A DREAM!! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!!!" Sabito shouted.

"Wake... up...?" I questioned.

"THIS ISN'T REAL!!" Yoriichi cried out once again.

"PLEASE YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!!" Sabito yelled, tears pricking his eyes.

"WAKE UP!!!" The two spirits yelled at me together.

Suddenly I was pulled backwards. My eyes were widened in horror at what I just heard. This... Where I am is a dream, none of my family is still alive, demon slaying is still a thing, and I was trapped in my memories, or... was is a dream that someone else put me in with a fake reality.

"Kid!! Are you alright?! You were about to fall in!!" Oto - no - the fake Yuki asks worriedly.

I look up at the fake Yuki, blinking a few times to rest my horrid eyes. No wonder everything felt off, no wonder I couldn't see their aura, no wonder my family wasn't acting the same. Everything was a fake, this is a fake.

"I'm... I'm fine, just a little tired, Otosan..." I muttered out.

The fake sighed in relief, "Jeez, kid, how about we go home early. I'll have your Okaasan check up on you, alright?"

Another thing that was fake, Okaasan. She never was the best at medical care, it was Otosan who was the best at it. But of course, these fakes wouldn't know that...

"Alright... let's go home..."

The fake smile, "Alright, let's get you checked up!"

☁︎︎ Time Skip ☁︎

I sat on the ground as my fake family was eating the soup that my fake Okaasan had created. The laughter was fake, I could see that now. The fake Kai was being unnecessary shy around the fake Yuki, which was wrong since Kai loved Otosan with all his heart.

"Huh? Y/n, you haven't touched your food yet, are you alright, hon," The fake Mio asks.

"Kid, you've been acting strange all day, are you sure you're not coming up with a fever?" The fake Yuki asks.

"Nii-Chan? Are you alright?" The fake Kai asks.

So many people asking if I was okay, yet all of them are a fake and are just illusions someone had made up for me. I wasn't okay, this was all fucking bullshit, a hell hole that I was put in for no reason.

"This is all a dream," I said out loud.

The clattering of dishes stopped and I could tell that everyone, the fakes, were still. Maybe in shock, maybe in questioning, I didn't know but quite frankly, I didn't care.

"What are you talking about, hon?" The fake Mio questioned.

I slammed my hands on the table and stood up, "This is all a dream, isn't it? Don't lie, I know it is."

"N-Nii-Chan? What are you doing?? W-what are you saying??" The fake Kai stuttered out.

"This is all fake, you're all fake, you're not my real family," I stated as clouds seemed to form around me, "You are all fakes!!"

The clouds engulfed me and when they cleared, I was in my demon slayer uniform. I was looking at the fakes in horror and anger, I could tell that I was scaring them. It hurt, I wasn't going to lie, but I needed to do this.

"Y/N!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!" The fake Yuki questioned, yelling.

"O-Okaasan, wh-what is N-Nii-Chan t-talking about??" Fake Kai asks.

The fake Mio didn't say anything and held onto fake Kai for dear life as fake Yuki stepped in front of the two as if protecting them. They all looked terrified... Terrified of me...

"You know what I'm talking about," I said darkly, "This is all a dream and fucking illusion, you aren't real!! YOU'RE ALL DEAD!! AND YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN STAYING DEAD!!"

I grabbed my katana from my back and unsheathed it quickly. The pure fear and horror in their eyes when I raised my white, black, and glass blade at them was hurtful, but I paid no mind.

"THE DEAD SHALL STAY DEAD!! THERE'S NO GOING BACK FROM THE PAST!! NO MATTER HOW HARD I WISH!! I KNOW YOU'LL ALWAYS BE DEAD!!!" I shouted as tears pricked my eyes.

The last I remembered from my blind rage was the fake Kai crying out my name, begging me not to kill him as I did with the fake Mio and Yuki. His blood was still splattered on the floor and me, it was sickening.

I was panting heavily as I shakingly raised my hand that was covered in blood, but none of mine. My eyes were wide in horror. I knew that I killed a fake illusion of my family, I kept telling myself that, but it hurts so much when i heard them scream and cry. Was this how it was when the demons killed them?

Suddenly, my surroundings started to crack with a white light. My eyes widened when, like glass, the illusion was broken and I was standing on white snow that went thousands and thousands of miles.

The blood on my disappeared but my tears stained my cheeks as they fell. I looked around and noticed an orb in - what seemed like - the center of everything. It glowed a dull blue - almost white - color as it float or hovered in place.

Is this my core? I hate it.

☁︎︎ Third POV

A duo colored eyed boy looked up from his laying position on the snow he had landed on. His eyes slightly widened when he noticed that he was not in a dream world that Enmu said they will be put in, but instead he was right in the core.

The young boy looked around and noticed the orb floating in the middle of everything. He looked down at the syringe that had a purple liquid in it, the poison he was ordered to put in the core once he found it.

The boy clutched the syringe and looked straight ahead at the core. He gritted his teeth and made a dash for the core. He ran as fast as he could but once he got near the core, his steps faltered.

There was a sense of danger that surrounded the core, it was sickening and suffocating. The boy trembled slightly but pushed forwards.

The minute the boy stepped within a five feet of the core, the surrounds changed. It was now foggy and eerie. It was dark and it no longer looked light and bright as it did with the snow. It looked almost dead, but the core still shined brightly.

"Disgusting isn't it?" A voice startled the boy making him jump.

The young boy whipped his head at the person that talked to him. His eyes widened when he saw Y/n, looking at the core with bored eyes.

"This place, it's all dead. Unfortunate, isn't it..." Y/n muttered as he looked at the side of his eyes to look at the duo eyed boy.

The boy said nothing and only trembled. He was scared not that he got caught, he wasn't taught this by Enmu, this was all new, and he hated it.

"You seem like you've been through a lot. You lost a family member didn't you?"

The boy flinched but tears began to prick his eyes. He nodded silently as he looked down in shame of what he's doing to a person such as Y/n.

"You want to sleep, so you can see them again, don't you? But you're conflicted since there's someone alive that you want to stay with too. Am I correct?" Y/n asks, turning to look at the boy.

The boy shook in place, keeping his head down. He nodded nonetheless. Although, the area may look dead, it was warm and comforting, and not cold as the snow area.

Y/n lowered his eyes in pity, "You know that sleeping and dreaming of fake illusion wont' bring them back, right? Besides you have a partner waiting for you to stay awake."

The boy looked up at Y/n in slight shock. Tears feel from the boy's face as he sniffed every once in a while. Y/n's brows furrowed upwards, he placed his hand on the boy's cheek, caressing it. The boy leaning into the cold touch, it was just like his mother's.

"Stay alive, and move on from the past. It helps if you forget it sometimes. Besides you have a lover waiting for you, stay with him, and don't leave his side, you'll be happy once you stayed with him long till the day you both die."

"B-but what about you?" The boy spoke up finally, "You're cold just like the s-snow area, so that means deep inside you want to die because of this area."

"I don't want to die yet," Y/n stated, "I have a duty to fulfill, and once that is over, I have no need to live no more."

"But don't you have other's waiting for you-you too?"

Y/n lowered his eyes, "No, I don't believe I do. Once everything is done, I'll leave this horrid Earth and finally rest in heaven or hell or anything that lays in between. Yes, it is true I want to die, but I'm doing something that will be keep me entertained, keeping me alive for the time being.

"You however, have someone to go to. You have your partner, and you still have you sister who is still alive. She'll live even if she's bedridden, I know she will."

The boy's eyes widened, "How'd you know of my sister.

"You're at my core, I know and see everything," Y/n stated, he than gave a kiss on the boy's forehead, stinging it with coldness, "Now go, wake up."

Before the boy could say anything he blacked out. Cold arms wrapped around him as he fell forewords to wake up in the real world.

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