I find myself in a very familiar dream....

It was late evening and I was playing on my bedroom. I'm currently 10 years old and have scarlet red hair in a braid with bangs framing my face and pink eyes that fade to purple. I'm wearing a sleeveless pink kimono shirt with a purple trim and pink skirt.

I was giggling to myself as I play with my toys when I suddenly hear the sound of the front door being knocked down. I look up with a gasp.

Fearfully, I jump to my feet and run out of my room towards the living room. I duck back to see a hulking figure slashing its claws deep into father's chest.

My heart stops as Mum screams.

"Minato!!"

I gasp, the sound alerting the demon of my presence as my dead father drops to the floor. Mum switches her fuschia eyes to me and they light up in horror. The demon smirks. It was seven feet tall and looks really strong.

"Oh, lookie here! It's desert!" He says. He starts towards me but Mum runs in between him and me and holds out her arms protectively. The demon pauses at the sight of the glare on her face.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

"M-Mummy! Wh-What's going on?" I stutter fearfully.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie," Mum says with a reassuring glance at me over her shoulder. She glares back at the demon, her voice turning hard once again. "You can do what you want with me, but spare my daughter. That's all I ask."

The demon chuckles. "Self sacrifice? How noble of you," He says. He lets out a dramatic sigh. "Very well. If that only means I get a meal."

I freeze as Mum looks back at me and orders, "Mika, run as far from here as you can. Run, and don't look back, okay?"

"But...! What about you?!" I gasp.

I stare at the closed eye smile she gives me and says, "I'll be alright. Just do as I say. Run, Mika."

"You'd best listen to your mother, girl," The demon tells me lowly. "Or I will eat you before you could blink."

"Go, Mika!"

I let out a sharp gasp as I whirl around and force myself to flee. I squeeze my eyes shut as tears threaten to break through them as I hear my mother shouting at the demon.

"I won't let you have her!"

I hear the spray of blood but force myself to keep going, choking on my sobs as I run out into the town street of Rouran.

I have to get away!

I don't know how long I ran for before I collapse on the road and lie there, breathing heavily. I attempt to get up after several heartbeats, but I couldn't move beyond my knees.

Tears drip down my face as I hiccup.

I've lost my strength after what I saw and all that running. I... I don't think I can get up from this...

I scream in rage and hatred up at the sky, studded with stars.

The hatred wouldn't go away, even after I let out that scream.

Before I could collapse on the ground, however, something pulls hard at my hair. I scream again as I'm pulled back to the demon's face.

"Don't think you can get away, girl," He says. "As punishment for your mother's defiance and your attempt at escape, I'll keep you for later."

"N-No!" I scream, tears in my eyes. "S-Someone, help me!"

I cry out as the demon hauls me back by my scarlet hair, to my house. When we get back, the demon knocks me unconscious. I wake up sometime later to find myself in a cage, my parents' bodies already gone. All the curtains and windows were shut to block out any light.

"Awake, are we?" The demon hisses as he comes into view. He crouches before me with a sneer on his face. "I'll take my time with eating you. So you don't have anything to worry about."

I whimper as he chuckles before he walks away, hugging my knees to myself.

For a whole year after that, I've been held prisoner by the same demon who killed my parents. I struggled to sleep at night as I fear the demon lurking in my own house. I was thankfully given water and enough food to survive.

One night, the demon stands before my cage, licking its lips. "I'll be eating you soon, child. Just you wait. Your suffering will soon be over."

"You're right," Says a slightly raspy female voice from behind the demon, "her suffering will be over very soon. Cherry Blossom Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Cherry Blossom." Then there's slash as a blurred blade slices clean through the demon's neck, lopping off his head. It hits the floor with a squishy thud, followed by the rest of his body.

I look up with a gasp at my saviour.

It was a beautiful woman.

They appear to be in their early fifties with blonde hair in twin ponytails and caramel brown eyes. Underneath her pink haori with dark pink cherry blossoms, is a pink tinted long sleeved shirt that has a few buttons open at the top to reveal the top of a large, busty chest, and she pairs it with a pair of hakama pants with white kyahan.

The woman slashes her sword again, this time cutting the wooden cage open. I stare with amazement as the wood falls apart.

"Wh-Who are you?" I stutter.

"I'm Kaori Haruno, a Demon Slayer. To be more precise, the Cherry Blossom Pillar," She answers. Kaori lets out a sigh, spinning her katana around expertly before sheathing it. "Though after this mission, I'm a retired Demon Slayer."

"Why? You took down that demon with ease."

"Because I'm getting too old for this line of work," Kaori tells me simply. "Do you have anywhere else to go?" I shake my head sadly.

"This is my house, but my parents..." I trail off as I look down.

Her eyes seem to soften as she murmurs, "I see. I wish I'd been given this mission earlier." A soft sigh as she turns and gestures for me to follow her. "Come with me, child."

I look up at the beautiful blonde woman hopefully before I quickly catch up to her.

                        🗡🗡🗡

I am now standing in a dark space who's only light comes from the tall, beautiful cherry blossom tree in the center, cherry blossom petals drifting down and covering the ground, along with the occasional blossom, but the tree is ever blooming in my mind, a bench underneath but I'm standing beneath the tree as I gaze up at it, a sad, distant and longing look in my eyes.

Until I sense an unfamiliar presence behind me.

I turn my head to see a young girl, no older than fifteen or sixteen, with long dark hair, gazing back at me with tears streaking down her eyes. She was also gazing at the cherry blossom tree.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I question, startling the girl a little. I harden my gaze as o turn to her fully. "You shouldn't be here. You don't belong here. This is my mind, and I'm going to give you one more chance to get out."

The girl just continues to gaze back at me with tears leaking from her eyes.

A shadow falls over my face as I whip up a dark glare at the girl, causing her to gasp with fright as she jumps out of her skin. A scarlet red aura swirls around me as my anger rises.

"You shouldn't be here. You don't belong here," I repeat as I stalk towards the girl, my bangs hiding my right eye as my left eye seems to glow vibrant scarlet from anger, both of my fists clenched tightly. "You need to get out before I make you!"

I was suddenly waking up back on the Mugen Train, sitting next to Kyojurou with my head on his shoulder and Tanjiro's on my shoulder.