There had been a long talk at breakfast with the whole family. The warning signs that had been going off on her head the day before were mostly exaggerated, since there wasn't much pressure hanging heavily on them in the first place. They asked Issei all sorts of questions ranging from the mundane such as asking her about the day earlier, what she ate that morning, and about her best friend Shidou who was the motivation behind Issei's escapade the evening before. Then, they went to the more unsettling, like what it felt like to walk around with male genitalia, and to assess Issei's knowledge of women's anatomy, lacking it may be from not actually covering that much yet so far.
The latter two were sarcastically suggested by Gorou the evening before. It came up anyway to his horror once he realized that his beloved wife would actually go ahead with it. His logic being that a sloppy imitator would probably have to know about this kind of crap, or something. This remark was paraphrased, since all was said under his breath. The heavy blushes possessed by son-turned-daughter when Issei had to answer those questions were interesting, to say the least.
It didn't quite occur to Issei at first that there was a 'gap' between her crotch, until her nervousness made her move her thighs together unconsciously. When she first addressed it, mother and father looked at each other for a moment before the mother began to explain. "Issei... women don't have penises. You know that right?" Nobunaga declined to answer some of the questions asked to Issei upon her request, her reasoning being that making Issei seemingly clueless about them, which she was, was more realistic than her suddenly knowing the ins and outs of a woman's body, which she had seem the day before but didn't think much of in the first place.
Moving on, although Issei's memory was not bad per se, Nobunaga still had to interject the answers she needed to remember that were forgotten sometimes. Her lack of knowledge regarding certain subjects (hint hint) were sufficient enough to conclude that yes, the girl was Issei, and they had so much to do in order to make up for not believing her, or at least her father did. Mother raised her fist in triumph, finally winning one of her many arguments with Issei's father. Noticing the looks of confusion and indignation from the rest of the family, she lowers her hand, coughing into it, and motioned to continue the discussion.
After her interrogation and subsequent tearful apologies from her parents, the conversation moved into a more awkward direction. Even if Issei had transformed into a girl, unless her records had magically changed as well, there would be issues regarding paperwork and so on, and they couldn't be changed so easily. Until Issei was twenty and above, there was nothing that could be done legally to change her gender on all legal documents. When they raised the extreme option of surgery, Nobunaga took control in order to shut the option down. She rather liked her body, and she would be damned if imperfect surgical techniques modified her body in any fashion.
The observation of her parents was that (Nobunaga speaking as) Issei disagreed with the surgery option because it would have complicated things too much explaining why they would need to fashion a penis onto their daughter to avoid changing legal documents when they could have listed her down as female in the first place, or otherwise questioning the legal and moral accountability of turning a young innocent little girl into a man without either consent or being of age, and a maybe a few more issues that would turn this into a mess that I wouldn't touch in any fashion. On the other hand, changing her documents when she was already listed down as a boy in just about everywhere, and explaining to the government or officials why their son was suddenly a girl and avoiding the very real possibility of a private or government organization taking interest in such a biological conundrum and putting her under the knife anyway, was best avoided. If their son could spontaneously turn into a girl by walking into a definitely magical circle, then yes, there were probably secret organizations all across the world, a higher likelihood of them being magical in nature, and they really didn't want to know what they were like. There was still a whole lot more to go through, and both mother and father concluded that the hilariously comic book scenario was preferable than just about anything else. They began rubbing their developing headaches, while Issei and Nobunaga watched with morbid fascination as their moods change rapidly from all sorts of different emotions.
Although in a more practical sense, surgery would've impaired Issei's ability to fight, if anything. Even if there wasn't any immediate need to defend herself at the moment, Oda Nobunaga's mana signature was so distinct that any of the local wildlife would be attracted to her like moths to a light. If they were to attack her while recovering from surgery, there would be a very real risk of them dying. Thus, if it were up to Nobunaga to make a decision, she would try her best to teach Issei the spell she learned to turn herself into a man in her youth instead, the one she had mentioned just the day before. It wouldn't last for very long with Issei's lack of expertise in magic—in fact, she doubted she knew what magic spells were like to begin with—, but it would be a sufficient enough disguise so long as no serious damage broke the illusion.
As a young child, Issei didn't really understand the difference between boys and girls. To her, boys were boys, and girls were girls. Becoming a member of the opposite sex was more disturbing to her simply because she looked like a clone of Oda Nobunaga more than her original self. Without experiencing puberty and thus defining her gender in the complicated fashion only puberty could do, she didn't have much of an attachment to the little tube dangling from her former body. With Nobunaga's body, she barely looked like 'Hyoudou' Issei to begin with, and that to her was far worse since at least Saotome Ranma for example held some physical resemblance to his original form. It was like she was a completely different person.
Speaking of Nobunaga, another problem involved the fact that, again, Oda Nobunaga only held a very passing resemblance to Hyoudou Issei. They looked like each other slightly, sure, the features of an effeminate Hyoudou Issei bleeding in from time to time whenever she looked in every other direction, but no sane man would connect the dots and conclude that she was actually Issei to begin with a hundred percent of the time. Her red eyes were also not natural or acceptable at all in the majority of circles, though thankfully contact lenses could rectify it to a non factor.
Issei herself had no idea what her parents were talking about half the time. The stressed expressions on their faces stopped her from interrupting the two grown ups, though anytime she asked her mother or father, they would just tell her to not worry about it. She didn't feel ready to ask Nobunaga any more questions either, as the risk of her parents, already occupied with their discussion, looking at her talk to herself being high enough that she wouldn't even try.
The sword lay on the center of the table after her parents asked her to get it, and the topic turned to what they should do about it. The discussion had gotten so tense that Issei's parents sent her to her room, trying to shield her from the topics they now discussed. Issei laid back on her bed, listening to the muffled echoes of her parents arguing with each other. Her Game Boy reminded her heavily of the events that had occurred the previous day, still embittering her palate with the knowledge that she held onto it as she slowly fell unconscious the moment she entered the circle's inner world and she didn't feel like reading a book or manga, so there wasn't much of anything to pass the time with. She suddenly recalled that she saw an eerie image as her vision blackened, and wondered who that person was.
It occurred to her then that Nobunaga didn't tell her the exact method of gaining strength, only encouraging the concept to her. She tried out some pushups, and was surprised to find they were easier than when she first tried them in her Physical Education classes for the 3rd Grade. Back then, she nearly blacked out around the 10s but this time they were so easy, she quit not out of fatigue but boredom, losing count somewhere in the hundreds and hadn't even broken a sweat. Sit ups, stretches, and any other basic workout regiment was far too simple for her and did not pressure her to do much beyond them. They would be useful for warm ups, but not much else.
She kept on doing them not for exercise, but to keep her mind from wandering to the previous day's events, the mental scarring still too tender for her to handle. She didn't do all of it consciously, however, and a part of her suggested that Nobunaga had a hand in making sure that her mind didn't think of any traumatic events while she recovered. She could ask about that later.
Lunchtime arrived late for Issei, and Issei found her new appetite to be simply insatiable. Food and drink disappeared down her throat like a black hole, and always let her be ready for seconds no matter how much she had eaten. There was no motivation created by hunger, however, as none of the food she swallowed gave her the feeling of fullness that would normally occur. Afterwards, a certain familiar feeling struck her nethers, and she made her way to the bathroom at a brisk pace. Her mother, noticing this, ran towards the bathroom to avert the disaster that would have occured, as she begins to elaborate more on the discussion they had earlier about women's anatomy. Her father noticed it as well, covered his face with the newspaper on hand and began to ignore the traumatizing lecture that echoed from the bathroom.
"Now Issei, I need you to understand what a woman's vagina is, what it does and especially how you urinate with it. You can't just stand up and squirt it out, you need to sit down on the toilet bowl and let it flow from there..." Clearly, Missus Hyoudou was giving the newly minted girl part 1 of 'the talk', if the growing blush on her face was evidence enough. She guides Issei to sit on the toilet seat, helping her remove the newly made girl's pants. Issei asked Nobunaga her thoughts in their shared inner mind, her response being a deadpan, I didn't need to go through this, saying with an imaginary face with no discernible emotion.
***
Dinner was gloomy, but a sense of optimism shone through regardless. It was silent in the Hyoudou household, each of the eaters lost in their own thoughts. Issei left after the meal, still thinking of ways to become stronger, knowing that the typical motions would mean nothing to her. She flipped through some of her favorite manga, looking for inspiration from the hot-blooded Shounen protagonists. Sometimes Nobunaga would take control, pausing to reread an interesting page. Issei let Nobunaga do so sometimes, answering the curious questions that came from Nobunaga's mouth whenever they came. At least they had some similar tastes.
Taking a bath was surprisingly sane, except for the hair products given to her that her mother insisted she use. Not much had changed as far as her usual bathing went like, but afterwards was the problem. Drying and combing her hair was a questionable offer, although her mother helped to fix it, but it still took far longer than washing did. It had been a very messy tangle with long strips of hair covering just about every portion of the bathroom floor, but once all had been said and done she looked even more like Oda Nobunaga. Taking a close look at the mirror offered by her mother, she couldn't resist saying that one phrase that came to her mind.
"Pretty..." Issei said in a daze. Realizing what she had said, Issei put her hands to her face and covered it in shame. Seeing the child retreat into herself, her mother jumped into action, embracing the young girl. "Accepting the fact that you're a girl now doesn't change who you are, Issei," Mother said. A muffled 'that is' met her ears, and she responded warmingly. "You're still yourself, and nothing could possibly change that. What you are on the inside is what counts, and we love you for what you are at all times, even looking like this." Processing the words her mother said, Issei felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders, as she began to cry softly on her mother's arms, a moment that seemingly lasted forever.
Her body was close enough in size to her previous form that she could simply wear the clothing in her closet. They were a little baggy, but they fit just right all the same. Pulling her pants up and sloppily putting on her shirt, she jumped on top of the bed and closed her eyes.
She fell asleep after hours of tossing and turning again, slowly gaining rest by listening to her parents in the other room. Hugging one of her pillows, another between her legs, and one elevating her back, Issei finally lost consciousness. She dreamt anxiously of the future she held, suspense filling just about every motion to be had.
***
The house was silent, its occupants resting peacefully. In the early hours of morning, something scratched against the front door. When no response came, the sound of scrabbling against a lock came, and the door opened slowly. A monster with eight limbs entered the home, hungry for prey and pulled in by the very distinctive magical signature. Hyoudou Issei's body itched for some action, sensing the aura of the demon that sneaked around their household. Oda Nobunaga braced herself, and prepared to fight.
***
Omake
Issei didn't know if it was a conscious decision on her part, but she wanted to resist the urge to bring the distinctive black cap that Oda Nobunaga always wore. It's not like she didn't like the hat, oh no, she loved it as much as Nobu did. She was going to the beach with her friends, anonymously on her part, not cosplaying in a convention or something. It also brought the small possibility that an enemy could recognize this distinctive feature and move to potentially attack her.
Judging it silently, she surrenders to her instincts, and hastily stuffs the hat into her duffle bag. It wasn't like a random stray would attack her out of nowhere, anyway, with how dangerous she and her friends were. Looking around the room, she pauses to reflect her life leading up to this point. The ups and downs, puberty, an old friend, and the boisterous demon king sleeping soundly inside her mind. She wondered what life would have been like if she hadn't met Nobu that day in the park, since as clear as the sun during the day she was destined for something else before, looking at the red gauntlet she had materialized on her arm. She dispelled it and moved on.
Twirling a hand on her red locks, a mirror reflecting more European features and a more mature appearance, she thought she looked great. The Demon King skill she inherited from Nobunaga didn't necessarily possess the ability to modify her facial features, but some more magic tricks (that I won't elaborate on) helped to make the image before her. Hearing the shouting of her mother downstairs that her friends were waiting, she picks up the bag, and gets ready to jump down. Looking back one last time, she finally relents upon hearing her mother's voice shout her name one more time, she jogs down the stairs with a smile.