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magnolix · 1 year

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The Road Home | a kny isekai { 1 }

Synopsis: Once upon a time, you were just a normal girl taking a normal trip with your normal friends. But one day, after a shrine offering gone wrong, you find yourself in Taishō-era Japan.

+ warnings: gn!reader, adhd!reader, insomniac!reader, cursing, violence, mentions of nudity, mention of trauma, pain (inflicted/received), weapons, mentions of taking sleeping medication, mentions of taking medication,

+ word count: 4.2k

+ categories: gn/m, gn/f (partially), isekai, fanfiction

+ hashira, hashira family, kagaya ubuyashiki, kamaboko squad, made up slayers

✩ author's note: this fic is heavily inspired by @kingkyoujurou's "Another Era, Another Universe". please go give it a read because without them I wouldn't have any idea of what I'm doing

chapters: one, two, three, four, five

Compared to others, you had a good life. You were almost done with college, you had a loving family, and you lived in a cute little town in the countryside. But today was different, today, you and your friends were traveling through Japan. And as much as you wanted to go and keep exploring, the sun was setting, and you couldn't risk the wrath of all your friends.

"Come on, just two more stores! I can see a ramen store right there!" You whined as you and your friends all walked into the hotel lobby. They all laughed as you got into the elevator with them.

"Come on Y/n, we went across half of the entire city. That's a lot of walking!" One of them said as she yawned. "Besides, you almost went bankrupt, it's day two and you've already spent two-thirds of your spending." Another commented, wrapping his arm around you to lean on.

You sighed as the elevator doors opened up with a ding. The four of you begrudgingly all walked down. But, nevertheless, you steeled yourself, grabbed your raincoat, your hiking boots, your bag filled with all of your necessities, and your old froggy umbrella. You smiled as you took in a deep breath and opened the door.

You made sure to lock your door and pull against the handle a few times just in case before you took your shoes off. The rest of your friends all undressed as you looked at your phone to see what you had done.

"Maiden Road, raccoon cafe, anime store, maid cafe, oh!" "What is it?" "We missed that shrine near the forest! Can we go now? They say it's best at night!" "Hell no! It's gonna start raining soon and I don't wanna get swept away!" Your other friend said as she let her hair down and snatched up a towel.

You hummed to yourself as you thought about what you all would do tomorrow. But the promise of the shrine visit was killing you. You wanted to see it, no, you NEEDED to see it. You looked back at your friends. You were still in your clothes and had the location up on your phone but you had to come up with a good excuse. After a few minutes, finally, one appeared.

"I'm gonna go downstairs to the little convenience store and buy some food. I'll be back in a second!" Your friends all waved you off as you grabbed your hotel key and made your way downstairs and hailed a taxi. This was gonna be fun.

Ever since you were little, you had always wanted to go to Japan. The food, the culture, the colors, and the people. Anything and everything made you so excited. But most importantly, you wanted to see the shrines. Of all the books you read about Japan, they always mentioned the unique and mystical shrines dotted across the country. And you were gonna try your damndest to visit every single one, no matter what it took.

You paid the driver and got out near a street lamp so you could get your barrings. You slowly began to follow your map which led you through a massive, and eerily quiet, forest. The lack of noise creeped you out and made you wish you had your headphones.

Finally, after what felt like hours, you spotted a paper lantern with the kanji "参道" on it. You followed it until it led to one lantern after another and then, in all of its glory, was the shrine. It was a tall pillar of white stone that was surrounded by smaller statues and beautiful wisteria trees. Each flower was a beautiful purple and seemed to almost glow in the moonlight.

You sighed and took a moment to catch your breath, silencing your phone and rolling up your sleeves. You walked up, bowed, clapped your hands twice, and went to reach for your--

oh,

oh no,

"HOW DO I NOT HAVE ANY COINS?" Your scream caused a stir in the forest. You panicked and patted down all your pockets. Surely you had at least one 10 yen coin, but none were found. "I can't turn back. I'm not gonna turn back." You thought about what you could offer. Paper money wouldn't be okay, nor your credit card, and then you thought about a different offering.

You walked over and pulled off a wisteria flower. You knew it was wrong and not the right offer, but you were desperate. You placed it down and yawned. You were more than ready to go back to the hotel and get some sleep, but you still had one more thing to take care of.

As you turned your heel to walk out, a twig snapped somewhere in the dark forest. How cliche, You thought to yourself. You scrambled to get your phone and turn on your flashlight but it was knocked out of your hand by a hand full of claws. You looked up and were face to face with a...a...

"HOLY SHIT IT HAS TEETH!" Your fight-or-flight instinct kicked it, and you chose flight. You ran into the forest, not caring about staying on the path, you just needed to get away. You ran past trees, jumped over rocks, and eventually tripped over a large root before landing on your face. The creature grew closer, breathing heavily and making noises like a wild animal. You turned over to meet your fate, but before you could, sleep clouded your vision and a moment later, you were out.

・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・

As you started to stir, you could hear voices and a soft, flickering noise. You opened your eyes expecting to be surrounded by your friends and hospital equipment but instead were surrounded by empty beds, a few strangers, and the stench of old bandages. Your nose stung from the smell alone. You did your best to sit up but felt a pair of tiny hands push you back down.

“No no no! You need to stay down Miss L/n!” The little girl whined. She looked as if she was going to pass out, her little worried expression was precious. But that still begged the question…

“How do you know my name?” “Oh no, Miss L/n have you forgotten?” “And who are you?” “I-I’m Terauchi, don’t you remember? I work with Nakahara-chan and Takada-chan. Oh no, do you really not remember?” Terauchi looked as if she were about to cry. All of the others in the room looked at you with concern. Some even looked with pity. Could these be your friends? Did you just wake up from a coma? Have you been living in Japan the entire time? Was life a simulation? You did your best to remain calm but couldn’t.

Terauchi ran out of the room and came back with two others who you could only assume were Nakahara and Takada, following behind was a slightly older girl with big blue eyes and short hair. She walked over and held your hand as your breathing returned.

What felt like only a few minutes ago, you had been running for your life in a forest from some sort of thing. And now, you’re waking up in a whole new world surrounded by people you didn’t recognize. Even worse, these people somehow knew you. You needed to calm down.

You took in a deep breath as the girls around you all smiled and let you take your time. You did what you could to calm down as your heartbeat slowed and your pulse went to normal. Terauchi hugged you while she and the other little girls left, leaving behind the older girl.

“Can you really not remember anything?” Her voice was surprisingly stern for someone so young. Like a mom but…teenier.

“No, I can’t. And who are you?” “Aoi, and you’re in the butterfly mansion.” “That’s a weird name.”

Aoi groaned and reached into her apron, pulled out a small paper bag, opened it, poured out some medicine into a small cup next to you, and mixed it thoroughly before handing it back. “Drink this three times a day, morning, noon, and night. Don’t move around too much, you’re still too weak to be walking. And for the love of God if you need help just shout and someone will come.” As you drank, your eyes wandered around the room.

It was large enough to fit at least 8 patients but small enough to still be manageable. It was bright as well. All of the windows were wide open letting in a nice, cool breeze. The smell of the gravel and the sound of the trees reminded you of your home. You managed to take a deep breath as Aoi gave you a nod and left.

After that, it took you a while to realize this was no dream. Actual weeks went by. So much so that you had to start training. You had only ever picked up a sword to do cosplay or just to drool over the idea of having a big piece of metal in your hands, but this was new. This was going to be your life now. You were a demon slayer, more specifically a Kanoe, just like one of the other inhabitants of the mansion. Her name was Kanao from what you remembered. This meant two very important things.

First and foremost, this was not your first injury. You had been here before, fighting demons and kicking ass. Secondly, it meant that you had survived. Somehow, you and your dumbass self had survived a dozen or more demons, multiple times. However…

It also sucked.

The others around you that you had come to learn were your friends all started to leave you out of sessions. Your memory loss wasn’t enough to prove to them that you weren’t the same person they thought you were. You were left to figure out what you could do on your own. And, surprisingly, you were able to figure a little out. You learned how to block and how to swing. That was it. Just enough so you could defend yourself and run like hell away.

But even if you had learned a lot, you still had the issue of going back to the butterfly mansion at the end of the day to sleep in a room that wasn’t yours. Your phone was gone and you were slowly going insane. Plus the infinite amount of books you could find wasn’t gonna be enough for you.

But finally, after a few weeks of training and getting yourself back together, another one of the demon slayers approached you. He seemed excited as he approached you in the hallway.

“L/n! L/n! Guess what?” “Hmm?”

You struggled to remember his name before pronouncing it slowly. “Ez..ume…right?” The boy’s eyes lit up and nodded. A smile appeared on both of your faces as you listened.

“We’re heading to Swordsmith Village! We’re finally gonna get our Nichirin blades!” You raised one of your eyebrows in confusion.

“Don’t we already have swords?” “The training ones? No! Those are wooden, they could never kill a demon.” He hit the back of your head in a friendly manner. “Come on, L/n, you need to keep up.”

You let out a chuckle and rubbed your head. “Well, when do we leave?” “Before daybreak, tomorrow. Your crow should be here any minute to give you more info.” Ezume looked back down the hall at a smaller group of slayers who were waving for him to join. He smiled and waved at you before running over to join them before they all disappeared further into the mansion.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, your crow arrived practically screaming at you about your mission. As it did, you took your uniform off and cleaned it up for tomorrow. You left your room to go and eat before you and Ezume chatted for a bit; even going outside to practice your skills before you both parted ways.

The moon above you glowed in the middle of the night sky as you finally entered your room. Your face was washed, your uniform was cleaned, and even your crow was fast asleep. You pulled the covers up and held them close as the sounds of crickets and the trees waved. Yet, you couldn’t sleep. Usually, you have the option of taking some meds to help you out. But now you were forced to lay awake as the moon’s glow filled your room.

Hours went by and you continued to lay awake in your room. You didn’t have a clock but considering how late or early it was you got up and readied your uniform. But you couldn’t help but hear the faint noise of conflict a few doors down. You walked over and pushed open your door before sneaking off and creeping down the hallway. The two voices were entirely different. The first one was soft and gentle with a sad undertone, a female’s voice. The second was husky and filled with anger. A male voice.

As you approached a corner you paused and stuck your ear out to listen to the two.

“Please, Y/n just needs more time. I’m sure that they’ll be back to their duties very soon.” “You don’t understand, they’ve never been like this. Ever! Something happened in Akigawa \valley, something bad.” You could feel the house shake as you heard what sounded like a punch to the wall. “They’re practically a different person!” “Y/n has been learning, they’re getting better. It’s a memory issue--” “Repeating it to me won’t change my mind Shinobu! They had enough skills to become a Hashira!”

You let out a small yawn, it was barely above a whisper but somehow caught the attention of the two. You felt a big hand grab your wrist and pull you into the light. The man holding your wrist was tall and had white, spiky hair and surprisingly pretty, pale purple eyes. The other was more familiar to you, Shinobu, the head of the mansion. A little ravenette with purple eyes and short hair. She frowned at seeing you listening in but instead walked over and pulled the man away.

“Sanemi, that’s enough. You’re hurting them.” Shinobu smiled at you as she looked over at you. “You’re healing, that’s good! Are you excited to go to the village?” You nodded at her words only to get shouted at by Sanemi.

“Don’t speak to them as if they’re a child, they’re a demon slayer. They’re practically a Hashira--” “I am a Kanoe and I fucking enjoy it!” You said with a strange sense of pride. You stared the white-haired hashira dead in the eyes as a sadistic smile crept onto his face. He grabbed your collar and lifted you up with ease. His eyes burned red like burning hot daggers.

“What did you just say? Did a weakling just speak back to me? I must have misjudged you, maybe you aren’t ready to be a Hashira. Maybe you’re dead meat.” “And maybe you’re a bitch.” You could feel your heart racing as you said those words. A sick comeback you would only think of in the shower, you couldn’t wait to tell the others. If you were still alive at that point.

“Why I outta--” “Caw! Wake up, wake up! Caw! You must leave for Swordsmith village!”

Your crow screamed from your room as you heard several others wake up and scurry to get their uniforms on. Shinobu separated you from Sanemi before you fell down, bowed to both of them, and ran to your room, putting on your uniform and getting a small bag ready. You followed your crow out to the gates of the grand estate where you met up with the others and set off on your journey.

“Hey L/n, you don’t look so good, are you-” “Later, Ezume. Later."

.・。.・゜☂・.・☽・゜・。.・。.・゜☂・.・☽・゜・。.・。.・゜☂・

The trek to the village had been long and rough. You all had tried to stay happy and kept morale up but it was no use. The mountains you had to climb over, the valleys you had to walk through, and the stupid paths you kept getting lost on made you want to rip your hair out. Sure, it had been pretty, there were birds and stuff but it was still almost a full day of traveling.

So by the time that you arrived at the village with your company in tow, you were ready to rest. The entrance was a tall group of houses that led to a long narrow road. The sound of clanging metal and the scent of steam was almost too much for you but you went on. The others all seemed to have a designated location to go to. Some of the smiths opened their doors and gave them their blades almost immediately. Others welcomed them with open arms and offered them food and drink. Ezume walked to a small house and was led in to go and see his swordsmith, leaving you alone to stand awkwardly for all to see.

You walked around the rows of buildings, listening to the sounds of laughter and work mixed together. The smell of sake and steam drifted through the air making your nose twitch, you never really enjoyed alcohol. And as you rounded the corner, you felt an oddly familiar hand touch your shoulder.

“Y/n! It is very good to see you! How are you?” Standing next to you was a tall man in a clown mask, you hopped back a bit as you didn’t recognize him. He tilted his head and lowered himself, holding up his hands in a friendly manner. “Y/n? Are you okay?”

“Ah- Uhm..” “L/n lost their memory!” Ezume shouted as he walked up to you, at his hip was a long sheath which you assumed held his new sword. “They what?” The man shouted in a rageful voice. He looked between you and Ezume. “When did this happen? Was it a demon? Where is your sword?”

You put your hands over your ears as the man went on, expressing not just anger about what had happened to you, but also anger about his swords. Some of the other villagers had to practically come out and hold him back while he calmed down. As he did, another stranger appeared. He was much older, and frailer too.

“Ah, young L/n,” He said with a bow “I see that you have come for your blade, yes?” “Yes sir?” You offered him a weak smile, he let out a soft chortle and walked over to the screaming ball of rage.

“Hotaru, you are an esteemed sword maker, please act as such.”

“Yes, Chief Tecchin.” Hotaru managed to calm himself down, stand up and took your hand to lead you to his home. He opened up the sliding doors and you were met with the sight of a busy workspace. A barrel of water, a large anvil, and several sticks of Dango everywhere, both clean and unfinished. He let your hand go and reached up to a tall shelf before pulling down a long, elegant blade.

Your eyes sparkled as you looked at it. It was long and completely black with a unique hilt. It was a lavender-colored oval-shaped hilt with a dark purple rim, on the top was a detailed etching of a familiar-looking tree next to what looked like a statue of sorts. Hotaru took a moment to admire his work before carefully handing you the blade. You took it with a grateful bow of your head before holding it in both hands. As you did, the blade began to take a beautiful greyish-pink and purple color, much like the trees that had surrounded the master’s estate when you had visited last.

“The handle is a mixture of wisteria and cork as per your request. I understand that your hands tend to sweat during battle so the cork will be able to absorb the residue until you clean it next.” Hotaru reached over and pointed at the hilt and opened his hands as if asking for it. You gave it to him and he reached into his pocket to pull out a long piece of fabric. He set the sword down and tied the fabric across the hilt in a unique pattern before handing it back to you once more. “Try holding it.”

Because of how it had been wrapped, the blade fitted perfectly into your hands with ease, familiar and comforting ease. You stood up and twirled it around a bit, smiling and laughing like an idiot the whole time. Hotaru cleaning enjoyed seeing his work admired.

“Welp, that does it for us. I’m delighted to have seen you and hope your memory returns.” Hotaru gave you a nod as you gathered yourself and walked out, offering him a wave before walking toward the rest of the slayers.

“Yep, me too…”

.・。.・゜❋・.・⍋・゜・。.・。.・゜❋・.・⍋・゜・。.・。.・゜❋

Darkness had fallen faster than anticipated forcing the slayers to run. They still had a while before they were close to the roads but that wasn’t their main worry. Their main worry as of now was surviving, and Y/n wasn’t helping. So, with blades held tight and their minds focused on getting the hell back to the butterfly mansion, they ran as fast as they could through the tall brush, unable to see if they were heading the right way.

“Keep going, I think I see a clearing up ahead!” Shouted Ayako, one of the others in the group of five. Sure enough, she was right. Just ahead you could see a small space surrounded by massive trees. You pulled your shit together and ran up to the open space, looking back and watching for both the others to see if anything was chasing you.

Ezume was last to follow, heaving and collapsing once he made it to the clearing. Ayako was having none of it. She kicked his side, forcing him up.

“We need to keep going,” Ayako shouted. “We need to take a break!” Ezume shouted back. “We need to get our bearings.” Yelled another. “We NEED to Shut the fuck up!” You screamed. The others went dead silent as you listened to the forest. This felt all too similar to something else.

The moon was in the middle of the sky and the forest was eerily quiet. You held up a finger to your mouth, having the others quiet down and taking up defensive positions as Ezume got himself up as well. The lack of noise creeped you out and made you wish you had your headphones. Headphones… Headphones.

“What’s the nearest landmark to us right now?” “What?” “Ayako, listen to me, where are we?” “The uh- the valley.” “WHICH FUCKING VALLEY?” “DON’T SHOUT AT ME!”

“Akigawa!” Ezume screamed as he looked around frantically. “Why? What’s wrong?” His question was answered by a twig snapping and a clicking of some hollowed mouth sounded out from the dark forest. You turned to face your enemy. A tall and gangly demon with long limbs and a tongue hanging loosely from its mouth. Its eyes were glossy as if it had been blinded and its body was covered in sparse hairs and battle scars. You went dead quiet, moving ever so closer to your group and whispering as quietly as you could.

“Everyone, don’t panic. I think it can’t see us so whatever you do, don’t-” "HOLY SHIT IT HAS TEETH!"

Your fight or flight kicked it, and you chose flight. You ran into the forest with your comrades, not caring about staying on the path or out of danger, you just needed to get away. You ran past trees, jumped over rocks, and eventually tripped over a rock before landing on your back. A loud crack broke some of the silence and you felt your leg come undone. The footsteps grew closer, breathing heavily and making noises like a wild animal. You turned over to meet your fate, not sure if you were ready to die or not.

You could hear the others running past as you locked your sight on the demon. It approached slowly, sticking its long arms out and waving them like it was using a cane. You had an advantage this time and a good one at that. Your fight or flight kicked it yet again, and this time, you chose to fight.

You managed to get up and got into a battle stance, doing your best to remove as much weight from your broken leg as possible as you held your sword, took a deep breath, and listened to what was around you.

Silence.

Heavy footsteps.

Distant screams.

And a strange sense of power coursing through your body.

You opened your eyes and spoke quietly.

“Wisteria Breathing. First Form: First Spring.” Your body lunged forward and you side-slashed the demon from the right to the left at an angle, taking its head off with a satisfying and clean cut. The demon fell to its knees, turning into ash.

You let your guard down for a moment, stumbling back and falling down, your injury getting worse as you landed on your ass. You let yourself roll onto your back and let out a deep and heavy sigh as the night air washed over you.

“sleep now, young one”

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✩ author's note pt2: HOLY CARP! FOUR THOUSAND WORDS! I guys, it's ya girl, Magnolix. I first off want to say thank you to everyone who's supported me, liked, commented, reblogged, and all of that stuff. It means the world to me ♡ In the future, I'll be doing smaller stories as well as continuing this larger story. I've never written Isekai before so this had been fun. I hope you all enjoyed this fic and I'll see ya later,

~Ciao

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