Issei fell backwards on herself like a fisherman losing his grip. She regretted the action, as the veritable blanket of hair behind her slid underneath, pulling her head backwards as she fell face down on the paved floor. The cape behind her didn't help any as it just pulled her further backwards. Slowly pushing herself up, she processed what had transpired as she began to cry slowly, heaving heavy breaths.
After all, even knowing the ghost's noblest of intentions simply didn't want any of this to happen and tried to make the most out of a terrible situation, she was still a child. A child that had just returned from experiencing betrayal and one of the most traumatizing experiences in her life, who could blame her? She cried harder and harder with her face down, ignoring the murmurs of the pedestrians that passed by.
She could still feel the flames that burned her alive, the boisterous laughter of the girl that ruined her already horrid day even more. Not even the call of her mother could rouse her from her tears. The voice grew closer and closer to her until she was right beside her. All those who passed by ignored her, except her mother who had just arrived to pick her up. One did not simply help an upset cosplayer lying on top of a demonic circle, after all, and anyone curious enough to come close didn't wish to test if the blade she held was real or not.
"Excuse me, Miss", her comforting voice came, hand patting her back to help her in this hour of need. "Are you feeling okay?"
"M-Mommy," she said, pushing her face to her stomach, arms slowly moving to her waist in an embrace. A few more desperate sobs moved her body in sync. Despair formed in her stomach, wondering if her own mother could even recognize her in this state. Realizing this, Issei cried even harder, as the iron grip clutch tightened on her mother even more.
Mrs. Hyoudou could only stand silently as the stranger buried her face onto her chest. She frowned as she assessed the ominous looking circle on the ground. The paint and blood comprising the once intricately and carefully made circle of magic was smudged and smeared was most likely caused by the young girl before her, boot prints and other imperfections damaging the image. As she moved her eyes across the ground, her eyes widened as she noticed a discarded object, a Gameboy Advance. Though it was far away from her, she was sure of its identity. The scratchy Issei Hyoudou on the back written with a black permanent marker was a very familiar sight to her.
To her dismay, the strange little girl was still clamped around her waist and had little intention of letting her go. She idly considered the looks of the few who strolled along during the evening, all thoughtful or otherwise meek and sheepish. She waved at them to move along, then considered what brought her here in the first place. Issei hadn't come home in time. It was far from his normal return around 4 o'clock for an afternoon snack, and completely missing his dinner at six in the evening. His meal still sat cold on the dinner table, waiting for the cheerful child to come and eat it.
She narrowed her eyes at the girl, who most likely knew something about him, then shook her head in disbelief. She didn't want to consider the most insane option in her mind. That the little girl bawling her eyes out on her could possibly be their one and only child. It couldn't be. And to begin with, what would even make such a thing happen to him in the first place? She took a momentary look at the magic circle once more, and sighed, wondering what could possibly inspire this theory of hers besides her old history... If anything, it would at least be worth a shot. She didn't have anything to lose, did she.
Hesitantly, she asked the girl politely to confirm at least part of what was in her mind. "… Issei?" she asked to the girl. Issei's breath hitched and thought that maybe, just maybe she had a chance to at least make her listen to her. She slowly craned her head to face her mother's face, snot and tears making her even more like a total wreck. It was at this point that her mother gasped, the pathetic state of Nobunaga Oda's host pulling her heart strings.
"I-I found this circle mom, a-a-annd I fell in and there was—!" Issei's jaw hangs open, and suddenly she finds herself wordless. This gave enough of an impression to the Hyoudou elder, her eyes moving in confused acknowledgement. Learning that part of her brain dead theory was apparently true, which scared her more than the how, she motioned for the child to continue.
"KID! You can't just say that; she won't believe it!" was Nobunaga's response to her attempt in explaining the current situation. Though it was said under Issei's bated breath, it was as if her mother didn't hear it at all as she tilted her head in uncertainty. A look of confusion from her rushed speech was the only expression on her face rather than fear or wariness.
Issei realized as much, and with a rush of adrenaline she told her, "I-It turned me into a girl mom, I don't know how or why, just please believe me!" Her voice faltered with each word, and yet there was a certain level of determination regardless. "It's me, ma. It IS—" Issei was cut off by her mother brushing the hair off her face.
"Issei, you don't to be like that..." the mother responded in kind, her face confused but understanding. "I believe you." Issei's eyes widened at her name, and with it the hope that she could finally go home after all of this mess. There was a moment of pause before she couldn't handle it anymore and bawled all over again, pushing the mother to the ground as onlookers watched, amazed. The mother once more told them to move along with their lives then took the time to consider what she just learned. Before continuing, she took the opportunity to take the discarded Game Boy next to her before moving on.
Although she had her own reservations about the concept, she knew, just knew somewhere deep inside that there was no reason for the girl to lie about what she was saying. You can't fake raw emotion like that, it simply cannot be done. And there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her to take the risk anyway. With all that in mind, she takes a moment to wake the girl who cried herself to sleep.
"Issei…" She said, catching her attention. She smiled weakly and told her, "Let's go home." Mrs. Hyoudou helped get Issei to stand up, who could only limp and lean on the side of her mother. They walk home together, Mother and son-turned-daughter—though she still had her reservations about that—leaving the circle that caused all of this madness behind.
Though Issei thought her mother fooled, Nobunaga knew better. People walking into a magic circle one gender and coming out transformed was not accepted in modern society as a viable excuse without sufficient evidence, and even with. Memories could be extracted, mannerisms imitated. Although it may seem as if Issei's mother was at least willing to listen to their reasoning, the mind of Nobunaga Oda, very familiar with treachery and betrayal, had every reason to be cynical about their situation. The public wouldn't simply believe that magic was real, and even if the Hyoudou matriarch did, she would know something was wrong just by being near her. A servant bound in mortal flesh was no trifling thing.
If Issei, poor traumatized Issei, tried to justify his original arguments, and explain why he was now a long haired girl wearing military clothes, he would've dug himself a grave so deep that there was no chance of recovery from the situation. He would learn over time, however. With these experiences, the boy would grow more cunning, more vicious, and more brutal. Although 'she' was more appropriate from now on, there was no going back at this point. Issei was no longer a man, a boy. He was her own spitting image, a successor, even if knowing that all of it was done unwillingly.
But even before he became her host, she saw in him a spark of greatness so similar to the monkey that she trusted with her life in her time. The knowledge the grail would normally give servants came despite the nonexistence of such a thing around. Even though the knowledge was incomplete, given the obviously magical nature of the world she was in now, she knew just enough to tell that something was very wrong. A ghost of a mage, no grail, the drive that made her possess Issei, and her icing on the cake, another abnormality within her very own host and master.
Nobunaga didn't consider this a coincidence. A boy capable of hosting heroic spirits walking straight into a magical circle in broad daylight in the middle of a public park was far too conspicuous to be mere coincidences alone. In Nobunaga's experience, these coincidences did not exist; something or someone had to be moving the pieces around in such a manner. Luck was just another factor in the grand scheme of things, and as such could be faked or mitigated.
She had been granted a second chance. A new destiny in life was ripe for the taking. And thus, she would make the most out of it. Not for conquest or bloodshed, oh no, she had enough of that in her time. Her dream of a unified Japan had been fulfilled long ago, and Japan had become one of the world's most prosperous countries. United and glorious enough that she didn't need to interfere with it so directly anymore. She was free to do whatever she pleased, and that was fine.