Filial Piety!
The first thing I saw when I stepped into the house was a massive frame.
Father stood there—a hundred and ninety centimeters of mountain-bandit muscle.
"Son—ah, no. My daughter's home?"
"I'm back, Father."
He greeted me with the same face as always. Mother had been flooding me with video calls and family-group-chat messages for so long that, even though this was our first meeting since the gender change, nothing felt awkward.
"Wow. Becoming a daughter really did shrink you…!"
I used to be almost his height. Looking up at him now, I felt all over again just how big he was.
"Well, I may be smaller, but I'm dozens of times stronger. I'm satisfied."
"Still, aren't you a little too small?"
He rested a hand on my head and patted it as he asked. I mischievously flared a huge mass of demonic energy into my palm.
"Then take a look at this."
"Don't tell me…!"
Father stared at the black magi with wide eyes.
Yes. Our father had once been a martial-arts movie maniac. He was the one who put wuxia novels in my hands when I was little, and every time we watched external-style training scenes he would tell me to just build muscle instead—the root cause of my gym addiction. In short: a pure-blooded orthodox martial-arts enthusiast.
"You brat. You've taken the Demonic Path?"
"…Excuse me?"
"Pure inner energy always carries a clear, clean aura!"
Gazing at my black magi, he declared that only villains who had fallen to the Demonic Path wielded such evil, violent power. For his generation, demonic energy really did carry that image. From my side, having grown up reading a different era of novels, I hadn't paid it much mind—but when I carefully asked whether he knew of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult…
"You don't know the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?"
"Ah, so it was the Demonic Cult!"
The opposite of what I'd hoped for. He went on about how using magi instead of pure inner energy would eventually get me into serious trouble, and that I should learn a proper orthodox heart method even now.
Stuck in the entryway without even making it into the house, listening to a lecture that was, annoyingly, free of any actual holes, my mind went blank.
Wait… is he actually right? I've already suffered qi deviation once…
If not for my ridiculous constitution, how many times would I have already died?
They beat me half to death under the name of "trials."
Even the techniques I thought were advantages nearly killed me with side effects.
My identity as the Heavenly Demon was starting to wobble. I cut him off mid-sermon.
"W-wait a second."
I pulled out the trump card I'd prepared to redirect his attention.
"What's that?"
He eyed the small bottle of green liquid I'd taken from my bag.
"Curious what it is?"
"Just some health supplement, isn't it?"
The unimpressive look killed his interest; he was about to resume scolding. I made a show of looking around the entryway, fussing dramatically as I hurried the words out.
"This is a miracle elixir for hair loss…!"
I explained it was a potion that regenerated hair roots if you simply applied it. Father's eyes went round in an instant. Hands trembling, he carefully accepted the bottle as if it were treasure.
"Th-this? For real?"
"Yes. That's what the description said."
"How? How do you use it?!"
His whole life he had eaten black beans every morning and tried every folk remedy that claimed to help hair. The moment he received the elixir he cradled it like gold and jewels and demanded instructions.
"Just, uh… dab it on with a brush, I guess?"
There hadn't actually been any instructions, so I kept it vague.
"A brush?!"
He vanished into a room in a flash.
"Father! Where's Mother?!"
Even after coming inside I still hadn't seen her.
"She went grocery shopping!"
The answer floated out from the room. True to her generous nature whenever her child visited, she had gone to prepare a mountain of food.
Looks like I'm eating well today…
My stomach had been starting to empty; excellent news. A moment later Father came thundering back with a brush in hand, breathing hard.
"Haa… haa…! So I just apply this to my head with this?"
"Yeah, probably?"
"What do you mean, probably?!"
"I don't really…? Just put it on and it should be fine."
He shot off again like an arrow. I dropped my bags in my old room and came back out—only to hear roaring laughter from the master bathroom.
"Hair! I've got hair growing!!"
True to a potion's nature, the effect was immediate. Watching Father so happy made me smile too. Listening to that unrestrained laughter, a thought struck me.
…! I should have given some to Officer Ju as well!
Afraid he might use the whole bottle, I rushed over to check.
"Whew…"
Thankfully he had been so thrifty that only a tiny amount was gone—clear signs he had brushed it on drop by careful drop.
"Well? How does it look, daughter!"
My eyes went to Father's scalp.
"Oh!"
It really was growing. Soft new hair was sprouting like tender leaves on seedlings.
"Father, you're going to have a full head of hair."
"Really?!"
He looked even more delighted.
"That's my boy—ah, my girl."
Calling me the world's best filial daughter, he tried to scoop me up in one go.
"Urgh!"
Sorry, Father. My body, despite appearances, weighed nearly eighty kilos on the scale—not something even a sturdy man could lift easily. Relying only on my slender looks, Father had boldly tried to hoist me and threw out his back.
"Are you all right?"
"Nngh…"
I stuck a pain-relief patch on his lower back, and we began catching up on everything that had happened between father and child. Thanks to that, I finally managed to shed some of the Heavenly Demon's bad reputation.
Then, through the window, I spotted Mother coming home loaded with bags of groceries. I hurried out to meet her and take them.
"Mom! Why did you buy so much…!"
"My daughter's home?"
She answered with a smile. Vegetables, meat, fish—there was nothing she hadn't bought. The second she entered the house she headed straight for the kitchen.
"I'll whip up something delicious in no time! Sit down and rest!"
"No, at least let me help beside you."
"Forget it, you. You'll just get in the way. Sitting quietly is how you help."
Someone who can't cook hanging around only distracts, she said, and forcibly parked me on the sofa. Sitting there smelling the kitchen aromas, I finally felt like I had truly come home.
A little later we sat around a generously laid table and the whole family began to eat. The entire meal, Father kept showing off his new hair growth to Mother.
"Oh my, it really is growing."
"Right? I'm going to be thick and full again!"
Their laughter made for such a warm, happy picture that it was a joy just to watch.
"Here—this is for you, Mom."
"Oh my, what is it?"
I took out the Ogre's Heart and a bottle of wine. The Ogre's Heart was a heart only in name; in reality it was more like a jelly. Handing over the spiritual medicine and the wine, I said:
"They say eating this is great for stamina. Father's been saying his energy's been low lately, so this should be good for his health too."
And the wine, I added, was something for the two of them to enjoy together on a nice day. Father's face suddenly took a visible turn for the worse.
"Oh my, you didn't have to bring something like this…!"
Her words said one thing; her hands immediately swept both gifts into her arms. Father looked at me.
"Daughter."
"Yes?"
"I take it back."
Ahem.
I carefully avoided his resentful stare. The vitality that had been overflowing with joy only moments ago drained out of him in an instant. And so the noisy, lively dinner finished in quiet.
The next day.
"So this is the place…?"
Bleak, stifling surroundings. Everywhere I looked—shaved heads.
"Ugh, this is such a pain…"
"Hey! You became the older sister and you can't even do this much?!"
I'd come all the way for visitation and still complained, earning myself a scolding for nothing. But looking at my current state, it was hard not to. Since morning I'd been half-forced into dress-up and had makeup plastered on my face. I wanted nothing more than to get home as soon as possible and scrub my face raw with soap. On top of that, stares were gathering from every direction, sharp enough to sting.
They're staring way too hard.
From the clothes that stuck out to the attention pressing in from all sides—five minutes after arriving and I already felt ready to die of exhaustion. While I made a miserable face, my parents strode ahead full of energy.
"We go this way, right?"
"Yes, hurry up and follow."
It had been a long time since she'd seen her youngest, and Mother set an even quicker pace. Pushing through the surrounding attention, we finally reached the visitation room.
My long-awaited reunion with my little brother started off irritating from the first second.
"Whoa, you really got tiny."
"Shut up…"
"If I raise my hand now, you couldn't even snatch stuff from me anymore, huh?"
I wanted to plant a Heavenly Demon World-Shattering Fist in his solar plexus. For a full three minutes after we entered the room he kept needling me. Then the situation got even more unpleasant.
"Hey, you little shit—who are those guys?"
"Who?"
I pointed with my eyes at the people behind Dojun.
"I said who are they."
"Ah! They say they're your fans, big sis."
"What?"
They were his bunkmates from the same unit, he added, and they wanted autographs—plus they were subscribers to my NewTube channel. I forced a bright smile onto my face.
"You little bastard, you should've told me before we got here…!"
"Well, you ignored every single message I sent."
After I'd told him I'd become a Climber he had pestered me so much that I blocked him out—and now the kid had completely lost it.
This brat's forgotten my temper, hasn't he?
I ground my teeth.
"When you come home on leave, you and I are going to have a talk…!"
"Yes, yes~"
Even the answer was artistically cheeky. But Mother didn't seem to enjoy watching her children fight after so long apart.
"You finally see your brother again and this is how you treat him?!"
"No, I—!"
Smack!
A solid slap landed on my back. No allies in sight. The one person who might have taken my side—Father—had gone outside for a smoke.
"So? You gonna sign or not?"
"What's so hard about a signature? Just do it!"
Needled from both sides, I finally surrendered.
"Fine! I'll do it!"
And that was how I ended up holding an unexpected fan meeting in a military visitation room.