The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

The morning after summoning Maple Leaf, Sienna felt nervous about going to class.

The main reason was that she didn't know how Ms. Hydesen would react to the addition of a fourth... or rather, a sixth new student in the class.

Fortunately, Maple Leaf is usually as quiet as a little mouse, and seems extremely anxious about any social activity.

Finally, I have a sister who hates conflict just like me. Maybe Maple Leaf can influence the other sisters and make them all a little quieter.

Class time seemed to drag on. She couldn't help but look back throughout the lesson, only to see two students a few rows away who weren't paying attention at all.

Instead, she watched videos on those masked news websites—videos showing her and her sisters fighting heroes just days before—and almost couldn't resist the urge to run straight out of the classroom.

How come no one recognized her? Her clothes only covered the upper half of her face.

Her hair color, gender, and physical characteristics—a skinny girl with little muscle—are enough to narrow down the population of Auclere Town and point the finger at her.

But nothing happened, and she breathed a sigh of relief before leaving the campus to pick up her friends.

She was extremely grateful to Ms. Hydesen, who said her sisters were exceptionally well-behaved.

She then gathered the group of mischievous children together and took them home.

"Did you learn a lot today?" she asked.

“Yes!” Trinity said. “We learned arithmetic, which was really fun. Then we learned history, which was no fun at all, so I didn’t listen to that part.”

Sienna shook her head. "You should try to listen carefully to everything. You'll use some of the knowledge you learn later. And you, Maple Leaf, did you like your first day of school?"

Maple nodded. "It's pretty good," she said. "Sterphie was a bit scary at first, but it got better later."

Sienna couldn't imagine who Steffi could scare, but then again, she was all grown up now and didn't care what children thought of her anymore.

At least, that's what she told herself, "Steffe seems like a good friend, so I'm glad you two get along well."

Not to mention that Steffi is mentally sound, something her sisters should definitely emulate.

According to Sienna's observation, Athena excelled academically and was very clever.

Teddy had the worst grades. It wasn't that she was stupid; she just had little interest in any subjects except history.

Trinity is worse than Teddy in some subjects, but much better in others, especially math, where she is even better than Athena, and she is also good at drawing.

As for Maple Leaf, Sienna will have to observe her further. However, based on initial indications, Maple Leaf learns quickly but is not good at teamwork.

They chatted idly along the way, about nothing important, until they were almost at their dormitory.

There, they saw a familiar face sitting on the ground near the entrance, looking at his phone. Sam looked up at them and jumped up.

“Hey, old Sienna,” she said.

“Hi,” Sienna said, “what’s wrong?”

Sam grinned. "Something's happened. We can't get in. How about we go for a walk?"

Sienna weighed the possibility that Sam was lying to her and then dismissed the idea.

So far, Sam has proven to be trustworthy, and Sienna has all her sisters with her.

In such a short time, she has made as many preparations as possible to deal with trouble.

"What's going on?" Sienna asked as she followed Sam.

“Someone’s been loitering around your dorm,” Sam said.

Sienna felt a jolt of electricity run through her body. "Someone's there?"

"Yes. Most of them were girls, about our age. When I asked them what they were doing there, they didn't want to explain at all."

"Do you think they're with those heroes?" Sienna asked.

“Possibly, but I’m not sure,” Sam said. “I bet if you showed up with these kids, they’d sense something was off. You might be able to pretend you’re not the leader, but these six…Sienna?”

“Hmm?” Sienna responded.

Sam kept staring at her sisters. "Did some random kid accidentally join your group?"

Sienna blinked, then suppressed a laugh. "Oh right, I should introduce you. Maple, come here for a second, okay?"

Sienna reached behind her and let Maple take her hand. Maple took her hand, but seemed reluctant to get close to Sam. "Maple, this is Sam, she is..."

Sienna racked her brains trying to figure out how to introduce Sam without scaring Maple Leaf.

To be honest—to say that Sam is an overconfident extrovert who lacks tact and common sense—would only scare Maple Leaf even more.

In the end, she chose a less complicated explanation.

“Sam is my subordinate.” Maple’s shoulders relaxed. “Sam, this is Maple, my newest little sister.”

“You just summoned them like that,” Sam said. She either didn’t notice or didn’t see Sienna’s blush. “Hi, Maple Leaf, it’s Sam, nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” Maple Leaf replied.

"So, what will Maple Leaf do?" Sam asked.

This is a very simple question. "We haven't tested her abilities yet," Sienna said. "And then again, we haven't tested the abilities of the animal family either."

However, Maple Leaf is quite skilled at making little gadgets, and I think she can help us tinker with quite a few things.

“Oh!” Sam said, “A gadget maker is like an ideal force multiplier.”

Given enough time and materials, they can be a powerful asset. I dare say you'll be a fantastic member of the team, Maple.

Maple Leaf blushed and gripped Sienna's hand even tighter.

“So…where are we going?” Sienna asked.

“Hmm, I was thinking we could divert people’s suspicions by making it obvious that you’re not the boss,” Sam said.

"But...I am one, aren't I?"

"Yes, that's right, you are. But if you're discovered with this group of people, others will recognize you immediately."

What I'm thinking of is using some kind of disguise to make you look unlike how you appear as a hero.

It's a rather unconventional look; imagine the kind of glasses Rack Ent wears in comic books.

Sienna thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I think this might work. But what about my sisters?"

"To the barracks? The place Aleya found?" Sam asked. "I'm planning to go there now."

I brought my makeup bag and some other necessities. She patted her bag, which did indeed look very full.

"How can you hide the boss just by wearing makeup?" Teddy asked.

"That's easy. We'll just change her figure a little. I'm planning to put a dress on her, use lipstick to make her lips look fuller, and then put on a few more layers of clothing."

Sienna, you're quite thin. You looked really cool in that suit, dressed as the boss.

We can easily make your waist look thicker. We can't do anything about your hair, but you always wore a hat when you were the boss anyway.

“Okay?” Sienna said. She suddenly felt less confident about the matter.

“At the same time…” Sam began, “Have you made contact with the man who shook hands with you?”

“Oh, not yet,” Sienna said. “I was going to call him yesterday, but—” But she completely forgot. “Something came up, so I had to put it off for now. I’ll call him later if I have time.”

“Okay,” Sam said, “I’ve started making a list, listing all the places we can go to collect protection money. You know, there are quite a few places.”

We need to get started as soon as possible. Our little inventor needs some operating capital, right, Maple Leaf?

"Hmm?" Maple asked. She looked up at Sam, then immediately looked down at the ground. "I...I don't even know how much these things cost."

Sienna felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. "It's alright. We'll figure something out as we go. Sam, maybe you could take... um..."

“Wow,” Athena said, “I’m really good at reading people’s minds. And I just need to practice my new skill.”

Sienna had almost forgotten about this. Athena's mind-reading ability would definitely come in handy. "That's a good idea. Perhaps you could bring Aleia Iakta along?"

Having more adults... or people like Aleya Iakta who are practically adults, would always be helpful.

They quickly reached the overpass and filed into a concrete shelter hidden behind a graffiti-covered wall. As soon as they were inside, the sisters began running around excitedly.

Meanwhile, Sam pulled Sienna into the bunker's bathroom, where the embarrassed Sienna changed her clothes on the spot.

Sienna usually felt most comfortable wearing loose jeans, but Sam made her wear a knee-length skirt to "change her figure," and then made her wear a loose knit sweater over her shirt.

“We should buy those body wraps that actors use to make themselves look fatter,” Sam said.

“I don’t think I need that,” Sienna said.

After stuffing several socks inside my sweater, my stomach started to bulge out a bit.

She is one of those lucky people who lose weight when she is stressed or anxious. Because she is often in these two states, she has always been relatively thin.

“Alright!” Sam said, giving Sienna a light pat on the butt. “Let’s go check it out and make the whole world think you’re just an ordinary person, okay?”