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chapter 12
“Aaaargh!!”
Of course it hurt.
What could hurt more than having a handful of hair ripped out?
I deliberately pressed my knee against the space between his chest and stomach while grabbing his hair like riding a horse, shaking him violently.
Crack, crack.
With each swing, I could feel another handful of hair being torn out.
“Woaaah! Alopecia has arrived~!!”
Crunch.
Finally, when a proper handful came out:
“Kyaaah! That hurts! You damn…!”
Bam!
As he swung his arm, my body flew through the air like a sheet of paper.
“Ugh…!”
The next moment, along with the pain from rolling across the floor, I felt my cheek throbbing.
“Y-you, you tiny brat!!”
“And you, who are you calling tiny? You’re insanely short! What are you, a mushroom? I’m the same height as you!”
“Wha…!”
“No, even a mushroom would be bigger than you! And your hair looks like a mushroom too. Ha, now you even have a bald spot on your head. Guess you’re done for!”
“……!”
I opened my hand, letting go, and shouted.
Thud-thud.
A good handful of blonde hair fell to the floor.
“Hahaha! No one will like you now, with that hole in your head! When you go out into society, you’ll be famous for your circular bald spot. Too bad. They say hair pulled out like that never grows back—roots all dead!”
“…….”
Of course, the hair would grow back eventually, but I said it just to mess with him.
Was he really just a kid?
The sharp upward tilt of his eyes slowly drooped, tears starting to glisten.
Elliot glared at me with tear-filled eyes.
“Y-you… you…!”
“What, now you stutter?”
Sob, sob.
Watching his watery eyes, I grinned deliberately with my disheveled face.
‘Am I being too childish with a kid…?’
A promising tree shows its sapling—this brat was clearly going to grow into a rotten tree.
‘If he had a bigger head, he’d have openly disrespected Dad.’
Thinking about what this kid did to me and my father as an adult, honestly, this was barely enough.
‘How can I fix him to the bone?’
I narrowed my eyes and glared.
Suddenly, feeling a presence, I collapsed onto the floor.
“Hwaaah…!”
And began to cry.
“What on earth is going on here!”
At the same time, Grandfather appeared, raising his voice.
“Hic….”
From flying earlier, I had rolled on the floor, my clothes and hair completely messy.
Grandfather’s sharp eyes swept over Elliot and me.
Surprisingly, compared to Elliot, I looked worse.
Elliot’s hair was slightly messy, but his clothes were neat, whereas I looked somewhat shabby.
‘Well, it was old clothes anyway.’
I lowered my eyes and hiccuped, swallowing.
‘Cheap and cowardly…’
I knew how to turn the crowd’s sympathy to me. After all, I had sixteen years of experience.
“My Dad isn’t trash!”
As soon as I said it, Elliot’s eyes widened.
“Who said he isn’t trash! Everyone calls him Uncle Trash! They say he’s a disgrace to the family! That he’s been abandoned!”
“…….”
That hurt.
Someone so precious to me could be seen that way by others.
‘Just… born with one wrong ability…’
All because he had a power to make plants grow faster. Big deal.
“That useless power is worthless! Grandfather hates your father intensely too!”
I froze, staring at Grandfather.
“……!”
Grandfather’s wide-open eyes showed pure shock.
Elliot, flustered and huffing, clenched his fists tightly.
“What… is happening here?”
People began to gather as the commotion spread, and someone started making their way through the crowd.
A tall man with black hair, red eyes slightly furrowed.
“Hrk….”
Elliot’s expression changed.
“Dad—! Waaah!!”
“Elliot!”
The man ran and scooped Elliot into his arms.
“What happened? Why are you in such a state? And what’s wrong with your hair?!”
“Waaah! D-dad… my alopecia… hhhuuugh…”
Elliot began crying bitterly.
‘Guess it was a shock.’
I slowly got up from the floor.
‘If that’s Elliot’s dad… must be the second son of the Tigreto family.’
His name was probably… Rune Tigreto.
‘I heard he’s a psychokinetic user.’
Where’s a dad when you need one?
I snorted in disbelief.
Something ran down my nose.
‘Is that… snot?’
Panicking, I quickly wiped under my nose.
‘Huh.’
I looked down and gasped.
It was blood.
“No….”
I tried to cover my nose and tilt my head back.
“Don’t tilt it back. You need to bend forward.”
A large, calloused hand pressed gently against my nose.
“Elliot!”
“Hic!”
At Grandfather’s shout, Elliot jumped.
“Who told you to raise your hand against someone weaker than you!”
“N-no….”
“Who dares touch my niece! Not a single hand shall rise!”
Terrified, Elliot trembled.
“When did I ever teach you to hit someone weak? Your sister is fragile—how dare you strike someone who’s hurt!”
“No! It’s not! She… she hit me first! Grabbed my hair first… hhhuh…”
“This kid hit you?”
Grandfather lowered his gaze to me, frowning.
I relaxed and shook my head mournfully.
“Balux, tell us. Who started this?”
Oh no. The question was turned to Balux. I frowned.
‘Of course he’ll take Elliot’s side…’
They were so close.
‘Any lie will be exposed here.’
I clicked my tongue in frustration. Balux tilted his head.
“I don’t know. I stepped away for a moment.”
Balux, who had been in the same spot all along, said it plainly.
Glancing down, he met my eyes, smirked slightly, then turned away with an indifferent expression.
‘Did he side with me…?’
Balux Tigreto?
Over his beloved cousin?
Surprised, I watched carefully, then decided to go along with the flow.
Pouting, I said:
“He called my dad trash first. But Dad’s not trash…”
Honestly, if he hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t be stuck in such a childish fight with a kid.
“See! Everyone said so! Even the youngest uncle…!”
“Elliot! That’s enough.”
Bang.
The door opened.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the main entrance of the mansion.
Naturally, mine did too. I was shocked.
Standing at the entrance was Dad, his clothes all disheveled.
“Ready.”
“Dad!”
I broke free from Grandfather’s grasp and ran to Dad. Seeing his face, the sorrow finally hit me.
“Hhh….”
Crying into Dad’s arms, my tears poured out.
Even though it was just a fight with a kid younger than me…
Seeing Dad being humiliated even by such a small child made my chest ache.
‘Dad’s so pitiful….’
He just existed. He was born, just like me.
‘I won’t hold back anymore.’
I opened my eyes wide, turned my head sharply, and shouted:
“Hey, if you apologize to Dad for what you said, I’ll make your alopecia go away.”
I had wanted to keep it secret from Dad, but there was no choice.
“You don’t want bald spots for life, right?”
Now was the perfect moment to use my ability.
