The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna quickly looked around, trying to find a place to talk to Maple. Soon, she spotted a small private room with a bed and a television, currently unoccupied. She led Maple inside, but didn't close the door. The bed wasn't covered with sheets, but there was a trolley in the room, suggesting that the person responsible for tidying up had only temporarily left.

She crouched down slightly, bringing herself to look the maple leaves in the eye. "Okay, okay," Sienna said. She felt she wasn't very good at handling these situations, but her mother was quite adept. Sienna hadn't been very good at expressing herself as a child, but her mother always seemed to know what was wrong with her.

It usually requires asking a series of "yes" or "no" questions, along with some reasonable speculation. Before she had to take care of so many younger sisters, Sienna didn't feel much gratitude for her mother's ability.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

Maple Leaf shook his head.

“Has someone threatened to hurt you? Or hurt me, or one of your sisters? Or force you to do something you don’t want to do?” Sienna asked. In that instant, some terrible thoughts flashed through her mind. Sienna didn’t want to be the bad guy, but if something that bad really happened, she wouldn’t mind making an exception.

Maple Leaf sniffed, swallowed, and then coughed lightly. "It's nothing," she said.

Sienna felt that something was definitely wrong, but she didn't want to force Maple to say it. "It's okay, it's okay. How about a hug first, and then you tell me what's wrong?"

This method had been used on Sienna a few times when she was little, and it worked quite well; it seemed to be working again now. Maple Leaf snuggled close to Sienna, who gently patted the back of her head, giving her the warmest hug she could.

“It’s those people,” Maple Leaf said.

“Those people?” Sienna repeated.

"People lying in bed. They are sick, they are old, and it's heartbreaking to see them like that."

“Oh,” Sienna replied.

“I told him I could heal them. I could do something to help, but the old man said it was normal. People get old, get sick, get weak, and then they die.” Maple Leaf was now sobbing uncontrollably; the embrace seemed to have the opposite effect Sienna had expected.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Sienna said.

"No, that's not true!" Maple Leaf complained, her voice trembling with tears. "Big sister, you'll get old too. You can't get sick, you can't become weak, and you can't die!"

“Uh,” Sienna replied. She was only nineteen, and although she considered herself level-headed and fairly intelligent, she hadn't really thought much about her eventual death. “I mean, I think I still have many years to live.”

“No!” Maple Leaf said. She shook her head from side to side, snot and tears smearing onto Sienna’s shoulder. “No, no, you can’t die.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Sienna said. She decided to talk to Silver Fox. Or maybe not. That man had a powerful aura, was incredibly charming, and loved to brag. So perhaps she should just silently say something very rude to him in her mind. “Okay, well… um… I’m really not good at comforting people.”

“I know people die,” Maple Leaf said, her tone a little defiant. “I’m not stupid. But it should be others who die, not us.”

Sienna took a deep breath, trying to find the right words, but knew she couldn't. "Life is... very complicated. And sometimes really unfair. But I think we have to try to make sure it's not us who die, right? That means listening to our older sister, eating vegetables, doing our homework, and if any of us really get sick, we'll deal with that then, okay?"

Maple Leaf nodded slowly. "If you die, I will bring you back to life," she said.

“Uh… well, okay,” Sienna replied. She wasn’t sure if she should agree. It felt a little risky, but at the same time, she didn’t want to hurt Maple’s feelings.

“I will make you bigger, with more arms to embrace us, and skin that is invulnerable to blades and bullets, so you don’t have to worry about the fragility of your flesh, because the machinery is stronger. You will also have a retractable bed, a refrigerator for snacks, and…” Maple Leaf continued, her voice growing softer and softer, as if she were murmuring to herself.

Sienna was no longer worried about Maple's earlier sadness, but began to worry about her thoughts.

"Next time I take a nap, please don't turn me into what you're thinking now, okay?"

“Okay,” Maple said obediently. She wiped her face with her sleeve until Sienna reached into her pocket and pulled out a small sealed bag filled with tissues, wet wipes, and band-aids. She took out a tissue, helped Maple blow her nose, and wiped her face clean.

“You’ll be alright,” Sienna said. “We’ll all be alright. I promise.”

Maple Leaf sniffed one last time, then nodded. "A promise?"

“I…yes. Listen…I think sometimes things don’t go the way we want. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. That happens…often. But I think the most amazing people, the ones who have gone through the worst and still keep going, are the ones who are hopeful. They believe that no matter what, things will eventually work out.”

“Oh,” Maple Leaf replied.

“Hope…or rather, hatred,” Sienna said more candidly. “Hatred can be very useful sometimes. Sometimes you just really hate all the bad things, so even if you really don’t want to keep going, you can grit your teeth and get through it. So, you have to have hope that one day you can overcome everything, and you also have enough hatred to keep going.”

Maple Leaf raised her head, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Hatred sounds like something a villain would have. I think I like it."

Sienna resisted the urge to frown. "Uh...maybe a little," she said.

"Hope and hatred. Okay, sister. I can do it."

Sienna gave her another gentle hug. "That's right."

The two remained silent for a while, and the tense atmosphere gradually dissipated. In the quiet, only the faint buzzing of the hospital and the occasional footsteps and shouts from outside could be heard. "I don't like hospitals," Maple Leaf confessed.

“It’s alright. I don’t think many people like it. But we’ll be leaving here soon. Do you want to come with me? Don’t follow Silver Fox anymore?” Maple nodded, and Sienna straightened up, putting away the small bag. “Okay. Trinity too.”

Sienna took Maple Leaf's hand and walked out of the ward. Just then, a nurse hurried by to tidy the bed. She saw Comforter and Silver Fox chatting at the nurses' station.

“Could you go and call Trinity over?” Sienna asked. She saw Trinity further inside, entertaining three elderly women in wheelchairs. She was letting the women pet her tail while… and eating from one of the women’s plates.

Sienna sighed, but said nothing.

“Hey, you’re back,” the comforter said. “Is everything alright?”

"Ah, it's probably nothing serious. If I had to take care of so many kids, I'd have a headache too. Doing this kind of thing at school is already exhausting enough," Silver Fox said.

“Yes,” Sienna replied, a hint of impatience in her voice as she spoke to Silver Fox. “She’s just… the hospital is a bit too much for her. She’ll be fine.”

“Poor child.” The comforter’s voice was filled with genuine sympathy. “Yes, no matter how old you are, it’s not easy. That’s why we’re here. It’s even harder to be in a place like this when you know you’re not only suffering, but you’re suffering all by yourself. If we can bring a smile to people’s faces, even if it’s just temporarily relieving their pain and giving them a little hope, then all the effort is worthwhile, isn’t it?”

Silver Fox chuckled. "Are you practicing a speech? There are no cameras around."

The comforter shook his head. "This isn't a speech. This is what I truly believe."

“That…that’s good,” Sienna said. Hearing this, she felt a pang of unease. The sincerity of the comforter was something she had never felt from herself before. At least not in matters of importance. Sienna wanted to be…well, not a hero, but considering the paths available to people with superpowers, being a hero seemed like the best option if she wanted a peaceful life.

She had initially thought that coming to the hospital was just a formality, and that she could do a good deed on the side. But looking at the person offering comfort, she couldn't help but wonder if there was any genuine goodwill behind it all.

"Are we leaving?" Trinity hopped over and asked. Her face and her constantly wagging tail were covered in pudding.

Sienna sighed, setting aside her philosophical thoughts, and took out her small bag again. "Give me a minute, Mr. Comforter."

“No problem,” he said with a smile. “I’ll finish my rounds on this floor quickly, and then we’ll go down. If you need time to take care of the girls, that’s fine too. Family is important too.”

"Thank you," she said.

This hero has made being a villain much more complicated than before.