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Hero Work Study! Into the Forest of Spirits

That weekend, Leonidus hiked towards the Butterfly Mansion, the home of the Pillars of Hope.

"I hope that Mr. Rengoku got my message, I don't wanna walk all the way out here just to get told they had no idea about this." Leonidus muttered.

Leonidus soon approached the Butterfly Mansion, he saw Akua Tomioka standing outside of the mansion.

Alyx waved at her, "Hey! Ms. Tomioka!"

She looked over and waved back at him before looking back at the horizon. Leonidus entered the mansion, he found his way into the main corridor, he slid open a door and saw Mr. Ubuyashiki with Kasai Rengoku, Hotaru Kocho, and Kasumi Tokito.

"Ah, Leonidus, I was wondering when you'd arrive. Come, sit down." Ubuyashiki greeted.

Alyx walked over and sat down next to Kasai. Mr. Ubuyashiki attention returned to everyone else in the room.

"As you've been made aware, Alyx will be staying here to conduct his Hero Work Studies. We've been granted permission by U.A. High School to house him until the Work Studies are complete in three months. I've already informed the others, but I wanted to tell the three of you being that you'll be taking him on your mission." Ubuyashiki continued.

"Indeed! I hoped you would say that, Master, thank you very much!" Kasai beamed.

Ubuyashiki nodded at him as he dismissed them. Rengoku led Alyx to his quarters that were set up just for him.

"Say, Young Leonidus, how come your last name isn't like that of your Grandfather's?" Kasai wondered.

"Oh, that's because somewhere down the line, one of my family members married and took his wife's last name. Or well, that's what my Dad told me. Alyx Kamado kinda has a nice ring to it though!" Leonidus chuckled.

Rengoku stopped in front of a room and opened the door, the room was decorated with various artifacts from the past.

"This is your room! I'd like you to change into whatever you feel would be comfortable, this mission is only a few feet away!" Rengoku told him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Leonidus questioned.

"Our mission was to make sure you make it through the Forest of Spirits, a trial that all of us had to go through before becoming a Pillar of Hope. You'll be here for three months, if it was only a week like your internship, we would've disregarded the trial. We won't be helping you through it, we're only there to observe whether or not you make it out." Rengoku explained.

Leonidus began to get nervous, "W-What exactly is in there?"

"I have no idea! It depends on the spirit of the person!" Rengoku beamed.

"T-That's... Nice." Alyx gulped.

[Several Minutes Later...]

Kasai, Hotaru and Kasumi stood on the outskirts of the forest. Leonidus approached them, Rengoku's eyes widened with surprise as he saw Alyx wearing a familiar green and black checkered haori.

"Ah, I see you've decided to honor your Grandfather! Wonderful!" Rengoku grinned.

"I must inform you, once you enter the Forest of Spirits, do not look behind you. Keep progressing forward until you reach the center of the forest." Hotaru warned.

Alyx nodded at her, "Okay, I'll keep that in mind!"

Leonidus looked over at Kasumi, he was staring off into space, not saying a word to anyone.

"Try not to die." Tokito finally spoke.

Leonidus blinked a couple times before nodding. He began his trek into the Forest of Spirits, after a couple minutes of walking, he felt a darkness shroud around his back. He quickened his pace as he traversed through the dense woods. Leonidus found himself at the center of the forest after what felt like hours of walking. A mist slowly surrounded him and he readied himself for whatever came from it.

"Young man, lower your blade." A voice echoed.

Alyx saw a man walk out of the mist, he wore the same earring that Leonidus did, he too had a scar around his left eye. Alyx let go of his Nichirin Blade, a feeling of safety washed over him, a feeling he's never felt so much of before until now.

"W-W-Who are you?" Leonidus stuttered.

"Yoriichi Tsugikuni. You're one of Sumiyoshi's children, correct?" He asked.

"Sumiyoshi? Who's-" Leonidus pondered.

He stopped speaking and looked at his earrings, "...These earrings, you gave them to him, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. To my luck, he seems to have passed them down to his descendants." Yoriichi confirmed.

Alyx quickly bowed before Yoriichi could speak another word. He gently smiled as he chuckled.

"Giving respects to someone who's long deceased? You truly are one of Sumiyoshi's descendants. Come, walk with me, child." Yoriichi continued.

Alyx stopped bowing and followed Yoriichi, "May I ask, is that your haori? It's quite peculiar."

"No, it's actually my Grandfather's haori, he gave it to me as a gift when I completed my Total Concentration Breathing training. I never take it into battle, it means too much to me for it to get ruined." Alyx responded.

"Ruined? Your Grandfather would've worn that in battle, you shouldn't worry about tearing it, he would most likely be alright with you wearing it. You wear those earrings in battle, don't you? Why wouldn't you do the same with this haori?" Yoriichi wondered.

Leonidus looked down at his haori, "I dunno to be honest, I guess I'm just scared that this'll get destroyed beyond repair."

Yoriichi stopped walking as they got to a small bonfire, the two sat down across from each other, the fire warming their souls.

"Judging by your demeanor, your scared of more than just tearing your haori, is my assumption true?" He questioned.

"W-Well," Leonidus hesitated, "I'm scared of what tomorrow brings, I don't want to lose any of my friends or my family. There's this girl I really like, Momo, I'm scared that I won't ever see her again. The reason being is that my Grandmother, Daniela, she's tormented me my whole life. She's also the one responsible for killing my other love, Laura. The only reason I train my Quirk to the fullest is because I'm scared."

"And there's nothing wrong with that." Yoriichi replied.

Leonidus looked surprised, he didn't expect a man like Yoriichi to agree with him.

"It's alright to be afraid, but you have to remember, you can't let it control you. You've felt it before haven't you? That cold blooded rage due to fear... Due to losing that loved one... You've succumbed to those urges. Then, those feelings of regret follow each and every time." Yoriichi further elaborated.

Alyx sat there and thought about his encounter with Gorgophone. He remembered the seething rage he felt towards her. Leonidus looked into the flames of the bonfire as the memory danced around in his head.

"But what happens if you don't feel those regrets? What if that anger was deserved?" Alyx asked.

"Wrathful anger should never be deserved, regardless of who it might be, anger that isn't constructive is destructive. You're young, you have more than enough time to figure that out for yourself." Yoriichi answered.

Yoriichi stood up and walked towards a field, "What is your name, young man?"

"I'm Alyx Leonidus, Mr. Yoriichi." He told him.

"You came to this place for a reason, right? Then come forth, Alyx Leonidus, prove to me your worth." Yoriichi challenged.

Leonidus stood up as the bonfire blew away, Yoriichi pulled his blade out, Alyx stood there not knowing what to do.

"I will test whether or not your worthy of being the heir to those Hanafuda Earrings, Alyx Leonidus. I'll allow you to make the first move." He continued.

Alyx firmly held his Nichirin Blade out, he calmed his breathing, then locked eyes with Yoriichi. He jumped high into the air, flames of the Hinokami Kagura coming out of the sides of his mouth.

"๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข... ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜š๐˜ฌ๐˜บ!" Leonidus thought.

Mimicking that of the Waterfall Basin form, flames rain down from Leonidus' blade, right where Yoriichi was standing. Alyx froze as he felt someone right up close to him. He glared over and saw Yoriichi looking straight at him.

"๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ... ๐˜-๐˜๐˜ฆ'๐˜ด... ๐˜–๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ!" Alyx thought.

Yoriichi struck at Leonidus who was barely able to defend himself. Yoriichi darted towards Alyx from the sky, unleashing a Fire Wheel at speeds beyond Alyx's comprehension.

"๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ?! ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ! ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด? ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜? ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜?!" Leonidus panicked.

"๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ! ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง! ๐˜Ž๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต, ๐˜›๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ! ๐˜Ž๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต!" Tanjiro's words echoed in his mind.

Time came to a standstill, Leonidus looked over and saw his Grandfather Tanjiro fighting for his life. As he blinked, he found himself looking back up at Yoriichi, he tightened the grip he had on his blade and swung it backwards.

"๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข! ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ!" Leonidus thought.

His blade connected with Yoriichi's, the countering force of Alyx's blade sent Yoriichi flying backwards, he landed on his feet with a astonished look on his face.

"I'll prove to you... That I'm worth it! I won't ever... I won't ever back down! Not now, not ever! I will ๐’๐’๐’• yield! My name is Alyx Leonidus and I will defeat you!" Alyx shouted.

[Meanwhile, Moments Prior...]

On the outskirts of the Forest of Spirits, Kasai stood there alone, waiting for Leonidus' return.

"Haven't given up on him, have you? That's wonderful!" A voice chirped.

Kasai looked to his right, he couldn't believe who was standing next to him, he was too stunned to even speak.

"That boy, Alyx Leonidus, he's doing just fine. For now that is! This place has given him quite the challenge!" The man smiled.

"G-Granduncle Kyojuro...? W-What... What do you mean?" Kasai sputtered.

"He's in there with the greatest Demon Slayer in our history, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, he's about to challenge him to a fight." Rengoku explained.

Kasai's heart sank, "He'll... He'll surely..."

"I'm afraid so, my relative, I'm afraid so." Kyojuro nodded.

Kasai stared back at the forest, hoping that it wasn't the truth.

[Back in the Forest...]

Yoriichi zoomed towards Leonidus, unleashing a strike that seemed to miss him, Alyx immediately recognized this technique. As it slashed him, Alyx disappeared, utilizing the Fake Rainbow technique. Leonidus appeared right behind Yoriichi, who stopped Alyx's blade before it could do any damage.

"๐˜๐˜ฆ'๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ... ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ... ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ. ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ..." Yoriichi thought.

He pushed Alyx's blade aside, "You're still leaving yourself open in spots unimaginable. Every inch can be exploited!"

Yoriichi slammed down onto Alyx's left shoulder, numbing his entire left arm, he sent Leonidus flying backwards with a kick. Alyx was sent crashing into a tree, he coughed up blood from the impact, he struggled up to his feet at Yoriichi approached him. Tsugikuni rammed the hilt of his sword into the back of Alyx's neck before tossing him aside. To his surprise, Leonidus was getting back up.

"You have to improve your craft, Leonidus. The key to defeating someone stronger is to get stronger, faster, and smarter than them. That is the goal." Yoriichi told him.

Leonidus stumbled towards Yoriichi, swinging his blade wildly, Yoriichi easily dodged the half-hearted attacks. He stood several feet away from Alyx, who was now standing shakily in place. Yoriichi stared at Leonidus as he saw tears fall down the boy's face.

"I'll... I'll beat you... I'll fucking do it... I swear..." Leonidus fumed.

Yoriichi saw his brother, Michikatsu, just for a brief second after witnessing Alyx's demeanor.

"You're harboring jealousy, for what reason?" Yoriichi asked.

Leonidus didn't answer as he ran towards him, his blade sparking back to life with flames, Yoriichi effortlessly countered Alyx's attack with Burning Bones, Summer Sun. Leonidus' sword was flung out of his hands and into a nearby tree. Alyx fell to his knees, staring down at the ground as tears ran down his face.

"May you answer my question the best you can, Alyx?" Yoriichi gently questioned.

Leonidus was silent for a bit as he thought, "It's... Why is everyone stronger than me? Why is Deku so strong when he just got his Quirk? When I've been training all of my life with mine just so someone can walk in and be stronger? Why can someone like you be so strong... Why?! Why am I never good enough?! Why can't I be as good as Dad..."

Yoriichi knelt down and placed his hand on Leonidus' shoulder. Alyx looked up at him and saw his reserved expression.

"Let me tell you something I told someone forever ago... Those who master their trade all arrive at the same place. Even if the times change or the way to that place changes they are certain to reach the same place. You seem to think I'm someone that's special but I'm not. I cannot protect anything that's important to me and I was unable to accomplish even one thing that I should have in this life. I am a man without any value. Like you, I failed to protect what was important to me, but you cannot hang yourself up on that failure. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต is what can help you master your trade. So, stand up and grab your blade, you've passed." Yoriichi advised.

"I... I passed? But... But I... I didn't beat you..." Leonidus responded.

Yoriichi smiled at him, "You didn't have to, I already knew you were worthy from the start, Alyx."

Leonidus stumbled up to his feet to grab his blade, he hobbled over to it and used it as a crutch. He gave hug Yoriichi a hug, Alyx smiled at him as tears remained in his eyes. Yoriichi patted Leonidus' head before disappearing into the mist. The sunrise broke through the trees, Alyx looked over towards the sunrise and waved towards it.

"I'll see you around, Mr. Yoriichi." He muttered.

Leonidus left the field and made his way back to the edge of the forest. The Pillars of Hope all stood at the edge of the forest, accompanied by Mr. Ubuyashiki. Kasai let out a sigh of relief as he saw Alyx exit the woods. He made his way over towards Mr. Ubuyashiki, he let go of his sword and hugged him.

"Thank you... Mr. Ubuyashiki..." Alyx gently spoke.

He placed his hand on Leonidus' back as he smiled.

[Later That Night...]

Alyx laid in his bed next to his phone, Yaoyorozu eventually picked up.

"Hey." Momo answered.

"Hey." Leonidus replied.

"You sound tired, how's your Work Study going?" Momo asked.

Leonidus turned to look at the ceiling, "It's been... Eye opening... I've learned a lot about myself today, that's for sure. I need to talk to Izuku about something as well, I guess something I've been holding in for a while now."

"Oh? What would that be, if you don't mind me prodding." She responded.

"I've been jealous of him, of how strong he is, and of how much I wish I could share his heroic nature. I just want to be able to save people without getting scared mentally, you know? But I've realized that it's not a good thing to be jealous over other people." Leonidus admitted.

"I never took you as the jealous type, honestly. But I do understand why after everything you've been through." Momo told him.

Alyx sat up in his bed, "Hey, I'm gonna go outside and meditate, I'll talk to you tomorrow, Momz. Talk to you later!"

Momo said her goodbyes as Leonidus hung up the phone. He left the room and walked outside, activating his Quirk to fly up to the rooftop of the mansion. Alyx sat there cross-legged, taking slow deep breaths in and out.

"๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ด, ๐˜”๐˜ณ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜'๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜›๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜‰๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ต, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜'๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข." Leonidus thought.

Alyx envisioned himself in a calm body of water, "๐˜”๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด... ๐˜•๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต'๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ... ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜น ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต'๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ."

After sitting in silence for about half an hour, Leonidus got up and looked over towards the Forest of Spirits, he flew down towards the entrance of the forest. He placed his hand on the front of a tree before closing his eyes.

"Mr. Yoriichi, thank you once again." Alyx mumbled.

"Leonidus? What are you doing out this late?" Mr. Ubuyashiki asked.

Alyx turned around and saw him standing behind him.

"Oh, Mr. Ubuyashiki, I was just meditating. I have a question, you don't plan on having me join any of the Pillars on their missions anytime soon, do you?" Leonidus replied.

"Not currently, I'm awaiting the arrival of three more students sometime tomorrow afternoon, they too will partake in the trial. I'm assuming this is because of what you experienced in the forest?" He answered.

Leonidus nodded his head, "Yeah, it was rather eyeopening to me. I've gotten a whole new definition of strength."

"That's wonderful to hear! The training courtyard is always open to you, Leonidus." Mr. Ubuyashiki bubbled.

Alyx smiled at him as he looked down at his side. Mr. Ubuyashiki then guided Alyx back to his room.

[The Next Morning...]

Leonidus stretched as he began to wake up. He felt a bit heavier than normal.

"Good morning, handsome~" Rei cooed.

"Oh... Good morning, Rei..." Alyx yawned.

Leonidus quickly realized what he said and shot up out of his bed.

"E-E-EH!?!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HOW'D YOU FIND ME?!?!" Alyx screamed.

"I'm doing my Work Study here! Plus, I know what you smell liiiike!~" Rei giggled.

"YOU WHAAAAAAAT?!??!!" Leonidus yelled.

"Quit being so loud! It's only 9 in the morning!" She told him.

Alyx calmed down a bit, "Rei... You know that it's kinda weird to show up unannounced in someone's bed, right?"

"Okay and? What's your point?" Rei wondered.

"Y-You're... You're serious, right? Never mind... I guess everyone else is here as well?" Leonidus sighed.

"Yep! We were actually waiting on you to get up so we can head out." She smiled.

Alyx followed Rei out of his room as he grabbed his kimono and his watch. As they rounded the corner into the main gathering room, Leonidus saw Kasai sitting next to Kaminari and Bakugo.

"Ah! You're finally awake! We've just been debriefed on our next mission! I'll be heading with you four to the Kasheak Farmland, they're having a bit of trouble with parasites!" Kasai beamed.

"The fuck? You're telling me we're going all the way out there to play exterminator?" Bakugo scowled.

"I have no idea!" Kasai chirped.

[One Hour Later...]

The heroes arrived at the farmland, Kasai led the group towards a large house, cows were scattered about in the field several feet away. Kasai knocked on the door and an elderly woman answered it.

"Hello ma'am! We've received your call that you're having trouble with some parasites!" Regoku greeted.

"Oh, yes, come on in." The woman replied.

She let them in, they all sat around in the living room as the woman brought them photos.

"These were what my grandson took pictures of late last night while he was out tending to the cows. They look horrifying!" The elderly woman remarked.

Kasai took a look at the pictures, although some were a bit blurry, he could tell that these parasites were large, fleshy appendages.

"Do these things come out at night?" Alyx asked.

"Yes, they do! They make a horrible ruckus, it's like they're buried underground!" She confirmed.

Rei looked at the photos, "I guess that means we'll have to wait 'til then. Is there anything unusual that happens during the day?"

"Now that you mention it, I do notice a rather strange looking man standing about on the hill towards the east, although I haven't seen him at all today."

"Great, thank you for pointing us in the right direction! We'll start our investigation right away!" Kasai bubbled.

The heroes left the home after being told they could come back and stay at the woman's house in case they needed to stay in the area longer. They split off by themselves to cover more ground, each making sure to stay in contact in case they spot a Villain. Leonidus found himself in front of an old shed, he noticed smaller appendages were sunk into the ground around it.

"Gross... This must be the place." Leonidus cringed.

He walked into the shed, pushing open the doors, the shed was completely empty! Alyx became very visibly confused, he left the shed and looked at the appendages on the ground.

"These are kinda like big 'ole worms!" Alyx noted.

He stood up and sniffed the air, "I'm not getting any trail from these, so whatever's going on, it must be underground?"

Alyx scoured the rest of the area but came up short. He eventually regrouped with the others back at the house as noon came.

"Honestly bro, what if these are just super big worms?" Kaminari theorized.

"Could be, that's what I was thinking as well, but that doesn't explain the weirdo she's been seeing." Rei replied.

Alyx laid down on a bed, "Regardless, Mr. Rengoku told us that we should get some shuteye since we're gonna be out all night. Once the sun's down, we'll be able to get answers."

"Who made you the boss?" Bakugo questioned.

"I'm not! I'm just saying we should listen to what he said!" Alyx responded.

Downstairs, Kasai sat in a chair, looking over the evidence that was gathered by other Pro Heroes. He began to doze off as he heard a rather soothing hum, the elderly woman collapsed to the ground into a deep sleep as Kasai passed out. Upstairs, the students were fast asleep. Leonidus woke up in his old home in Nevada, dazed and rather confused, he pinched himself to see if he was dreaming. Then, he smacked his forehead afterwards but didn't wake up.

"Woah... Was that all some weird dream?" Leonidus wondered.

His door opened and Darren walked inside his room, "Hey, I was just about to wake you up, Mom's made breakfast for us!"

Alyx felt himself begin to tear up, he raced out of his bed to hug his Father. Outside of the farmhouse on top of a hill stood a man dressed in a dark overcoat alongside an eyepatch on his left eye.

"Good... They've all fallen asleep, wonderful... Now I can go in for the kill...!" He lightly cackled.

He slowly descended the hill towards the farmhouse. Meanwhile, Bakugo was snoring away contently in his bed.

"GRAAAAAAHHH!" He shouted.

In his dream, he was blowing up hundreds and hundreds of Izuku Midoriyas! He cackled intently as he continued his explosive spree.

"HA HA!! DIE SHITTY NERD! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME!" He grinned deviously.

He stopped in his tracks as the whole world around him seemingly began to shake. An overcasting shadow loomed over him, he slowly turned around and saw a gigantic Izuku standing over him. He licked his lips with delight as he kept his wild smile on his face.

"Oh hell yeah! I'm gonna fucking mess you up real good!" He boasted.

Bakugo lightly laughed in his sleep and he rolled around in his bed. Rei had a hold of Leonidus' hand as she smiled in her sleep. In her dream, she sat on a throne of gold next to Leonidus as Mineta waved a fan over her.

"Darling, when shall the other servants arrive? I'm growing rather bored of this mundane tapestry, it's growing to be quite the eyesore." Rei huffed.

"I'm sure they'll arrive soon, my love. I do have to agree with you, I would change the look of this room in a heartbeat! Those pieces of furniture they gifted us look rather horrendous in here!" Leonidus answered.

Mineta scurried over to Alyx before slipping and falling on his face. Leonidus and Setsuko couldn't help but laugh at his mistake.

"Goodness! If I would've known better, we would've made you the Court Jester instead of the fan-bearer!" She laughed.

"Lord Setsuko! Lord Leonidus! A man and a woman have arrived for the both of you!" Kirishima announced.

"Ah, thank you, Monoma. Allow them in." Rei smiled.

Monoma opened the door, allowing Ojiro and Hagakure to enter the throne room. Both Leonidus and Rei smiled at them.

"Why hello, it's a pleasure to see you! Please, state your business." Alyx bubbled.

"W-We've got a bit of a problem, your majesties, it's a... Uh... We're having a bit of trouble with some thugs who are trying to force their way onto our land." Ojiro told them.

Rei slightly chuckled as she put her hand up to her face, "Oh heavens, I'm assuming you're on the outskirts of the Musutafu District? We'll have them executed at once!"

As she slept, Rei held her smile as she subconsciously rubbed her thumb on the top of Alyx's hand. Kaminari awoke in the Class A classroom, he looked around to notice that everyone was sitting in their desks, taking a test.

"๐˜๐˜ถ๐˜ฉ... ๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ๐˜น? ๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต'๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ." Denki thought to himself.

He picked up his pencil and begun to take the test. Meanwhile, back in Leonidus' dream, he sat with his family feeling a genuine wholeness once again.

"Some dream you must've had, sweetheart. You were asleep for quite some time, you passed out around 7 last night!" Marie informed him.

"Yeah, it was! I'm just glad that none of that stuff actually happened. Although, the people I met were really nice. Are you sure we aren't going to Japan, Dad?" Alyx agreed.

"No, we aren't, I'm not sure who told you that one." Darren chuckled.

Kariya scratched his head with confusion, "You said I left for Japan too? Seriously? Then I fought you as some sort of villain? That's... Definitely a strange dream."

"Yeaaaah, that's one hel- I mean heck of a dream!" Annie quickly replied.

Marie glared over at her daughter but resumed her positive face as she corrected her near slip up. As the Leonidus' finished up their breakfast, Alyx went upstairs to his bedroom to look around his room.

"๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ." Leonidus thought.

On his desk resided his Hanafuda Earring, he glanced over at his desk but saw nothing besides what was originally there, his Manga alongside his notebooks and lamp.

"Huh... I guess I'm seeing things. What was that?" Alyx muttered.

Alyx shook it off as he went to grab one of his Manga from the shelf he had. Downstairs in the farmhouse, Kasai was asleep in a chair with a scouting report open in front of him. He awoke to the sounds of a bell chime, after a few chimes, the sound had stopped.

"Hm? Wasn't I...?" He questioned.

His train of thought was interrupted when the sliding door behind him opened up. He turned around to see a bright, smiling face standing behind him.

"Great Granduncle? But... How?" Kasai wondered.

"It seems as if you've fallen underneath a spell of sorts. Nonetheless, I'm glad to see you!" Kyojuro smiled.

"A dream? I guess that would make sense, could I possibly ask you a question however?" He asked.

Kyojuro nodded at him, "Of course! What would you like to know?"

"That boy, Alyx Leonidus, is he truly a Kamado?" Kasai responded.

"Indeed he is, Tanjiro Kamado is in fact his Great Great Grandfather, although many 'Greats' follow after the two. Tanjiro was an incredible swordsman, not to mention the heart of gold he carried within him. It seems as if that trait carried onto Leonidus." Kyojuro confirmed.

"Okay, thank you, I'll protect him with my life. I'm assuming you did the same as well?" Kasai nodded.

"As the Flame Hashira, it was my duty not only to protect the younger Demon Slayers, but the civilians of whatever place I was stationed at as well. I died fulfilling my promise that I made to my Mother, and Tanjiro alongside his sister and friends were kept safe." Rengoku continued.

Kasai looked down at his hands as flames slightly sparked from them.

"I see..." He muttered.

In Leonidus' dream, he finished washing his face, he grabbed a towel to dry his face off. As he looked up into the mirror, he saw himself in his hero costume with his hands pressed against the other side.

"Wake up! Wake up damn it!" He shouted.

The glass shattered and Leonidus was pulled into the mirror, the two floated in the nothingness as the real Leonidus pulled on Alyx's shirt.

"Please, you have to wake up! You're being attacked by a villain! This is all just a mirage! It's just a dream! So please! Wake up! Fight this, Alyx! Fight it!" He urgently demanded.

"๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ต, ๐˜... ๐˜•๐˜ฐ... ๐˜๐˜ฆ'๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต... ๐˜'๐˜ฎ... ๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ! ๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ!" He remembered.

"Fight it! Please for the love of God, wake up and fight!" Alyx shouted to him.

Alyx closed his eyes and shot up out of his bed. He looked over towards his bedroom door.

"This is all... Just a dream. How do I get out of here? What do I need to do?" Alyx wondered.

He quickly shot up out of his bed to reveal that he was wearing his hero costume. He burst out of his room and down to the front door.

"Alyx? What are you wearing?" Annie questioned.

His family sat in the living room as Alyx looked at them with sorrow in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." He replied.

He hurried out of his front door and out onto the empty street. His family got up and followed after him.

"๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ! ๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜˜๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต'๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ?! ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ?!" Leonidus thought.

He ran down the street, occasionally stopping to look for anything suspicious before moving forward. As he made one more stop, he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder, he quickly turned around and his eyes widened slightly.

"Aly? Whatcha doing? Also, what are you wearing? I mean, it does look cute on you." Laura questioned.

His family finally caught up with him as well, "Alyx! Why'd you run off like that?"

He stayed silent for a bit as he took a shaky breath in, he walked a couple feet away from them as he looked up to the sky.

"If only... If only I could stay here for the rest of my life." He lamented quietly.

"๐˜'๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ. ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ... ๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ. ๐˜'๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ. ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ข ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ... ๐˜๐˜ฆ'๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ." Alyx thought to himself.

He took a deep breath in before beginning to run again, "๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต... ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต'๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ...? ๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜บ, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜'๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ! ๐˜'๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ต!"

He ran deeper into the urban streets of Nevada as they sat there and watched. Laura and his family soon faded away as he got farther and farther from them. Alyx found himself lost in the middle of an empty town square.

"What do I do? Where do I even go to get out of this dream?" He wondered.

A gust of wind blew right through him, the silhouette of Tanjiro Kamado appeared in front of him. He saw him get down on one knee with his blade and cut his head clean off!

"This has happened to him too? But... I don't have a sword, unless..." Leonidus muttered.

He looked at his right hand, his finger tips began to glow, he started to sweat as he realized exactly what he had to do.

"In order for me to wake up I... I have to... Shoot myself in the head with a Stardust Shoot beam!" He concluded.

He got down on one knee before placing a single finger on his right temple. His breathing started to quicken as he prepared himself.

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" He screamed.

He let off a Stardust Shoot beam, Alyx shot up screaming out of the bed he slept in inside the farmhouse. He clutched his right temple to make sure there wasn't any damage. He quickly got up and placed his hands on Rei's shoulders.

"Rei! Please, wake up! You need to get up!" He pleaded.

He looked across the room, "Bakugo! Kaminari! Please!"

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get them to wake up. He quickly left the room and bolted downstairs to notice that everyone else was fast asleep.

"๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ต... ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ! ๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜'๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง!" Leonidus thought to himself.

Alyx ran outside and hopped off the porch, he looked around for the villain but couldn't find them anywhere! A mass grew behind him, reared back, and shot towards the back of Leonidus' head. He instinctively dodged out of the way as he sliced it with his Nichirin Blade. It withered away as the tall corn stalks in front of Leonidus all blew to the ground.

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Confronting Enmu ~ Constant Flux" from Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train)

"Hmm... You've managed to awaken? That's rather impressive. I wonder however... How is it that you're awake? I'd love to know~!" He smiled.

Leonidus stayed silent as he stood ready to fight. The man chuckled to himself as he shook his head.

"The strong, silent type? It's a pleasure to meet you, Leonidus! I'm Yume, I'm sure we'll be the best of friends~... Did you enjoy your dream, by the way? I couldn't help but tear up a bit when you ran away from your loved ones." He continued.

"Don't you dare bring them into this, got that? I suggest you leave. Now." Alyx retorted.

The parasitic appendages rose to Yume's side, "Leave? That's rather bold of you to declare, child."

Yume's eyes looked over towards Alyx's ears, his eyes slightly widened as he saw the Hanafuda Earrings he wore. His memories flashed back to a previous life he lived, seeing Tanjiro in Leonidus' place.

"๐‘บ๐’, ๐’Š๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’๐’š ๐‘ฐ๐‘บ ๐’š๐’๐’–... ๐‘ฒ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’‚๐’…๐’..." Yume thought.

He launched his parasitic appendages towards Leonidus, he quickly cut them down using his Nichirin Blade. He darted towards Yume and slashed at him, but he was fast enough to dodge Leonidus' attack. Alyx turned around and saw Yume's hand extended out in front of him.

"Sleep now, child!" He shouted.

An intoxicating wave washed over Leonidus, he fell back a bit before quickly regaining consciousness, zooming towards Yume with his arm reeled back as he slashed through another appendage. Yume looked stunned at how fast Leonidus had recovered from his Quirk.

"๐‘ต๐’... ๐‘ฏ-๐‘ฏ๐’๐’˜ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’‰๐’† ๐’…๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ... ๐‘พ๐’‚๐’Š๐’•, ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’๐’š... ๐‘ฏ๐’†'๐’” ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’”๐’–๐’Š๐’„๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’†๐’‚๐’„๐’‰ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š ๐’•๐’Š๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‰๐’† ๐’†๐’๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž, ๐’‹๐’–๐’”๐’• ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’†... ๐‘ต๐’... ๐‘ต๐’, ๐’๐’, ๐’๐’! ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’˜๐’๐’'๐’• ๐’‰๐’‚๐’‘๐’‘๐’†๐’ ๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’Š๐’! ๐‘ฐ ๐‘พ๐‘ฐ๐‘ณ๐‘ณ ๐’“๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’• ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’˜๐’“๐’๐’๐’ˆ!" Yume urgently thought.

Yume ducked, dodged, and jumped over Alyx's attacks, he held his hand out once more and put Leonidus to sleep. This time, he made sure to have Leonidus be strapped down in his dream instead.

"Ha ha! Not so fast, not so fast, Kamado~! Now... Allow me to-" Yume laughed.

Alyx regained consciousness once more and sliced off both of Yume's hands. The parasitic appendages instantly replaced them and pushed Yume away from Leonidus. He continued to put Leonidus to sleep but he kept pushing forward! Each and every time Yume put him to sleep, he kept popping right back up!

Yume's arm was slashed by Alyx as he put him to sleep once more, "๐‘ฏ๐’†'๐’” ๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’–๐’‘?! ๐‘ฏ๐’๐’˜?! ๐‘ฏ๐‘ถ๐‘พ!?!? ๐‘ต๐’... ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’…๐’‚๐’Ž๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’‚๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’…... ๐‘ฏ๐’†'๐’” ๐’†๐’™๐’‘๐’๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’“๐’• ๐’†๐’‚๐’„๐’‰ ๐’•๐’Š๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‰๐’† ๐’†๐’๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’๐’๐’˜! ๐‘จ๐’๐’ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’๐’‘๐’๐’˜๐’†๐’“ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’…๐’†๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’†๐’” ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“ ๐‘ฒ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’‚๐’…๐’... ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’• ๐‘ณ๐’†๐’๐’๐’Š๐’…๐’–๐’”... ๐‘ฏ๐’†'๐’” ๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’‚๐’๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’ ๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’”! ๐‘จ๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’†, ๐’‰๐’†'๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‚๐’Œ๐’† ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’…๐’๐’˜๐’ ๐’‚๐’• ๐’‚๐’๐’š ๐’„๐’๐’”๐’• ๐’Š๐’‡ ๐’‰๐’† ๐’‰๐’‚๐’” ๐’•๐’!"

Yume pushed Leonidus backwards into the ground with an appendage. Leonidus cut the appendage off and rebounded back to Yume.

"๐˜’๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ! ๐˜Œ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ! ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด... ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ... ๐˜“๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ!" Leonidus thought.

Alyx cut through an onslaught of appendages as Yume desperately tried to keep Leonidus away from him. He blocked one of Leonidus' slashes before placing his hand out once more. He laughed at Alyx once more as he kept put his hand out towards him.

"You're an embarrassment, just like your Father!" He grinned.

Alyx scowled out of pure rage from this comment, seething with anger, Yume's Quirk didn't put him to sleep!

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TALK DOWN ON HIM! HE'S BETTER THAN YOU'LL EVER BE, YUME! YOU GOT THAT ASSHOLE?! NEVER INSULT... MY FUCKING... FAMILY!!" Alyx screamed.

Leonidus burst through a parasitic wall that Yume put up, he crossed both of his arms and unleashed a thunderous cross blow of flames that discombobulated Yume completely! The sheer force and unrelenting power of Leonidus' attack had killed Yume on contact! Yume laid on the ground, completely lifeless, Alyx stood still as he stared at Yume's body.

"๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ'๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜บ. ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ต." Alyx thought.

He turned around to head back to the farmhouse, "I applaud you... Kamado..."

Alyx quickly turned around and saw Yume's body dissolve into the ground, he became a hulking parasitic mass, it formed around his body with his head still visible.

"I took precautions just in case I lost... I remember everything so clearly now... You ๐˜ˆ๐˜™๐˜Œ related to him, aren't you? That look on your face... It's intoxicating!" He bubbled.

"N-No way..." Alyx muttered.

"I bet you're thinking how I'm still alive after that flashy attack of yours? It's rather simple, I've been here for the past week and all I've been doing... Is fusing my subconscious and conscious being into the entirety of this farmland! Every last inch of this place is my body, mind, and soul! There's 40 people living on this land, do you think you can save all of them on your own?" He boasted.

Yume sunk into the ground and left Leonidus standing there, trying to figure out what to do. Could he defeat Yume on his own now?