2 Chapter 2: Questions

It was cold. That was all Jaune could feel at the moment before 'he' opened his eyes to see the world.

Snow and dried out tall trees was all he could see. Beautiful yet deathly-chilling piles of snow covered the entire ground before him as a snowfall continues its fall from the sky.

'Where...am I?'

There was heavy breathing, 'he' was breathing heavily. He suddenly felt heavy, exhausted; and many negative emotions that would surely attract any grimm in the area and hunt him down: despair, shock, confusion, sadness, and hurt.

'What the hell's going on? Where am I?! And this smell...'

He could smell a thick scent of iron assaulting his nostrils, making him gag yet his mouth didn't copy what he was feeling. He just continued on trekking through the freezing snow-white forest.

Jaune wanted to shout out his confusion and fear, praying for anyone to hear and help him but he was soon further stupefied when he heard someone else's voice in his head.

"How... How did this happen?"

'This voice...'

"Nezuko, don't die! Don't die on me! I'm gonna save you no matter what! I won't let you die!"

'Nezuko? Who is she?'

"I swear your big brother will save you no matter what!"

Jaune was completely confused as to what was going on. Why was he trekking through a freezing forest covered in snow? Actually, is he actually in his own body right now? Also, who's this Nezuko? Though he figured that the body he was currently inhibiting is her big brother. But, why?

Jaune's questions were soon answered as he soon witnessed the true origins of the boy that had been painstakingly training in the mountains, Kamado Tanjiro.

He saw bits of his childhood, the day prior to today: coming down from the mountain and into the village, staying at an old man's hut for the night, come morning to come back home only to witness the gruesome dead bodies of his family with the only remaining survivor being his little sister, Kamado Nezuko. Unfortunately however, she became a demon.

It was on this cruel day, that he met the demon slayer and water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. Who had almost killed Nezuko but spared her after he had come into some kind of realization that the siblings were different and both a key to an uncertain future.

It was he who first helped and sent Tanjiro into the path of becoming a Demon Slayer.

'Woah. Tanjiro is so amazing!' Jaune shouted in awe and respect for Tanjiro's determination, stubbornness, wit, and kindness.

As Tanjiro reached Mt. Sagiri and began his training to become a Demon Slayer, Jaune Arc woke up.

....

"Uun..." Jaune blinked opened, his deep blue eyes staring blankly at a white ceiling.

"Hey, I don't know that ceiling..." he subconsciously mumbled, he was still feeling a bit doozy so he didn't realize he said them out loud.

"Jaune?!" A familiar voice called out for his name filled with worry and anxiety.

Immediately, Jaune opened his eyes wide to see one of his older sisters, Sapphire, the second oldest sister of the children of Johnathan Arc and June Arc; their parents. Like him and his other siblings, Sapphire has long straight blond hair draped completely over her back and blue eyes. But even though she was older than him, she's just as tall as he is(5ft 9) and she has a bit of a sore spot about her height.

Sapphire was knelt beside him over his right side with her hands over the iron railings, her sobbing face leaned over him.

"T-Thank god... You're awake now, little bro." She muttered with a relieved smile.

Out of all his seven sister, Jaune had the closest bond with Sapphire. Not only is she the most kind hearted and loving but the coolest as well.

"H-Hey sis." Jaune winced and stuttered out a reply. He felt guilty in making one of his sisters, especially one of his favorites, upset. Hell, making any one of his family members would make him feel bad! He moved his arms around, trying to sit up.

"H-Hey... It's alright." Sapphire held his shoulders with a panicked and worried expression. "Hey. You don't have to get up, you just woke up! And that's all that matters. I was just so, worried." she slowly said as she touched his cheek and smiled.

"..." Jaune blinked his eyes and complied with his sister, laying back down on the bed. "How long was I asleep?" he asked after a moment of silence passed between them.

"Three days."

'Oh, shit. Well, the whole family is going to be upset for sure.' Jaune inwardly let out a sigh. 'Now mom and dad, especially dad, is going to be more reluctant to let me go and chase my dream to become a hero like my ancestors.'

"What happened?"

"You tell me. Amber had found you on the back, blood seeping out of your mouth and a wooden sword by the side. She suddenly started screaming from the backyard and, obviously, Saphron and her friends noticed. They went to the backyard, saw you on the ground unconscious and bleeding, sis immediately dialed 911 and us soon after. We've been with you since then." Sapphire explained, her hand still on Jaune's cheek, her thumb stroking his skin softly.

Jaune closed his eyes and tried to remember what happened before he woke up here. All he could remember was training with his swinging his wooden sword over and over, and then...nothing.

"I don't remember anything." Jaune admitted, feeling embarrassed.

"It's okay, Jaune. Just rest, we'll figure it out together." Sapphire assured him with a gentle smile. "I'm going to head out for a moment to get the, okay? They just went out to get lunch."

"Okay."

Jaune sighed and nodded, feeling exhausted and frustrated with himself. He hated feeling weak and helpless like this. But he knew he had to rest and recover first before he could even think of training and becoming a hero again.

'...Still, what was that dream I had?' He wondered thoughtfully, feeling bewildered about dreaming the life of Kamado Tanjiro. Was he his ancestor or something? He once heard a story about someone seeing some memories from their ancestor, but that wouldn't be it because the people in his dreams or memories were mostly Mistralian—or Japanese from what they called themselves in the past from Kamado Tanjiro's memories.

Was he part Mistralian then? It could be possible... but his father had traced the family's ancestry all the way back to the founding of the four kingdoms and he'd never mentioned them being part Mistralian.

Though he did mention the family had distant relatives from his father's grandparents side, who had taken root respectively in Vacuo and Atlas. But their family roots still firmly remained in the Sanus continent.

"..." Jaune quietly grumbled for a while before giving up and closed his eyes. He didn't have any further information to help his dream situation so he'll just follow his sister's advice and just lay down to rest.

...30 minutes later

"I'm bored." Jaune proclaimed with a blank expression. Although he was feeling mentally drained, he could feel his body was fine and probably even more... stronger than before?

What's going on? Was it because...

Jaune quickly had a guess as to what was going on, his Total Concentration Breathing! But, how? It was supposed to give the user a temporary effect of boosting his physical and mental prowess to his very limits.

His brows furrowed. '...My body collapsed because my muscles and bones couldn't fully handle the physical output I was performing by subconsciously following after Tanjiro-san's hellish training, something an ordinary 14 like me without proper physical conditioning to try and copy!'

'But just like how a person exercises and gains a stronger body, my body became slightly stronger after some time of sword training.'

"...Could I recover quickly with the breathing technique?"

Jaune looked up at the ceiling in thought and started to use Total Concentration Breathing, not realizing that his body started to emit with a blue outline around his entire body.

[❄️❄️❄️]

patreon.com/FroztDouluo