The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

"Uh, hi." Aurora waved gently in greeting.

The large man stared at her. His expression… was calm, but still quite serious, and a little intimidating. If Aurora had bumped into him without warning, she would have been terrified.

At this moment, Trinity was using him as a living climbing frame, which, to be fair, made him look somewhat less frightening.

"Hi," he replied, "Are you the new girl?"

Aurora nodded. "Yes," she said. "Nice to meet you?"

He nodded. "Likewise. You look bigger than the others."

“I think physically I am a little bigger,” Aurora said.

“No, I have three bodies, so I age three times faster than you all in the same amount of time. I’m the oldest,” Trinity said, standing on the man’s broad shoulders.

He chuckled, then reached out and grabbed Trinity's waist, easily lifting her off his back and placing her on the ground. He patted her head. "Go play with the others, I'm going to chat with Aurora for a bit," he said.

Trinity perked up, and her two other bodies, which had been clinging to him, jumped off. "Okay, Grandpa Boss!" she gave a somewhat awkward salute, then ran off.

Aurora watched her sister skip and hop away. They were at a restaurant called "Huck and Cheese," a place Aurora wasn't sure if she'd like. The restaurant had some animated characters, mostly dressed like superheroes, and a large indoor climbing playground.

The music bothered her. It was loud and cheerful to the point of being jarring. But her sisters seemed to enjoy it, so Aurora kept her thoughts to herself.

"Would you like to sit for a while?" her boss asked. He pointed to the booth that a busy waiter with acne-covered skin had led them to earlier.

Sienna and her mother (the big boss) were behind the glass wall between the restaurant's regular dining area and the play area. Her other sisters were playing in the ball pit when Trinity jumped in and pinned Teddy under a ball.

Maple Leaf… Aurora looked a little worried as she watched the animated character staring at the robot hero statue, wondering what she was thinking.

“Okay, have a seat,” Aurora said.

“It must be tough being new here,” he said, squeezing onto the bench opposite her. He was a burly man, strong in every way, and had to suck in his stomach a little to get into the seat.

“I think it’s a little difficult,” Aurora admitted, “but everyone is very friendly. It feels good to be part of this family, right?”

“I think so.” He smiled slightly. “My daughter is a good girl. I never thought she would be the kind of… maternal type, or a good leader, but she handles things quite well. Fortunately, you and your sisters respect her.”

“She’s the boss,” Aurora said definitively.

“She is first and foremost Sienna,” he said.

Aurora didn't quite understand what this meant. "Is she first and foremost Sienna?" Aurora asked. She felt that as Sienna's father, he must know the eldest sister better than her sisters. However, Aurora still had some doubts.

“Yeah,” he said, glancing at the other end of the room. Sienna had already entered the room with the ball pit and was wagging her finger at Trinity and Teddy, signaling them to behave. Another child ran past her from behind, bumping into her bottom, causing her to shriek and stumble forward, landing on top of Aurora's sisters. They all disappeared under the balls. “She’s always been a…funny kid. Actually, I take back what I said earlier.”

"That part about her being a good leader?" Aurora asked.

He shook his head. "No. About that statement about her being a good girl. You know there's a difference between 'good' and 'good'?"

“You just said the same word twice,” Aurora pointed out.

"No, not quite. 'Good' has a different meaning. You know, when Sienna became... that word that starts with V, my wife was both surprised and a little shocked."

Aurora understood what he meant. Sienna had told her and her sisters to avoid using the word "villain" in public if possible. It was dangerous because people didn't really like villains.

"Are you surprised?" Aurora asked.

“No, I’m not surprised,” he said, leaning back on the bench. “Sienna has always been a quiet, studious child. She gets very anxious when it comes to communicating and socializing with others. I don’t know who she takes after. Maybe it’s my family. We’re all pretty quiet. It definitely isn’t from her mother; that woman is a real gossip.”

“Hmm,” Aurora said. “What about that word that starts with V?”

“Sienna is quiet. Quiet doesn’t necessarily mean good. But many people confuse the two. When someone is good at managing their own affairs and keeps to themselves, people seem to think they are not bad people. They are doing their own quiet things, not breaking the law, and not bothering others. But then you can’t see what they are thinking.”

"Can you read people's minds?" Aurora asked. Athena could do it; it was a really cool party trick.

He laughed. “No. But I can read my daughter. When she was little, she would blame the cat for knocking things over. She was quiet, but she used that trait. She always picked books from the older children's section of the library, but she wouldn't say a word when a teacher talked to her about it. I remember one day a teacher found her in the teachers' lounge. She had gotten a 96 on her test instead of a 100. The teacher just told her to leave, saying Sienna shouldn't be there, but Sienna was so quiet and well-behaved that nobody thought it was a big deal; they just assumed she was a lost child. Actually, she rewrote her test score, changing it to a 100. She told me about it later because the teacher had marked her wrong, and for her, sneaking into the teacher's office to change her score was easier than correcting the teacher.”

“Wow,” Aurora said, “How old was she then?”

"I think she was in third grade at that time? So she was under ten years old."

Aurora now admires her older sister even more than before, and this is no exaggeration. "She started doing... well, that V-related thing, earlier than I thought."

"Yes. She... has her own opinions, in her own way. I think if it weren't for her communication and social problems, my daughter would be a real troublemaker. Her mother was like that when she was young too."

Aurora looked at the big boss, smiling as she pulled Sienna out of the ball pit. "Her too?"

"Oh, right. She's fierce. She's the kind of woman who can instill fear in others. Let me tell you, no one can command her. She's not evil or anything, but she can be very ruthless."

"Is this a bad thing?" Aurora asked.

“No, I don’t think so. She’s not when she’s fierce for your sake.” He nodded. “That’s why I’m not too worried about Sienna and the villains as a whole. Sure, she’s a bit temperamental, like her mother, and maybe over time, with more power, she’ll grow into a more…frightening person. But at the same time, she’ll only act to protect herself and what belongs to her.”

“Oh,” Aurora said.

She's one of them, isn't she? It feels so good.

Sienna came out of the playroom and went to their seats, her mother close behind her. Sienna's hair was messy and her cheeks were flushed. She sat down next to Aurora. "Wow, that's quite a scene," she said.

"Are you alright?" Aurora asked.

"I'm fine. But my phone fell into the pool."

“Oh…aren’t you going to go look for it?” Aurora asked.

“I had Trinity and Teddy compete to see who could find it first,” she said. “I think they would either find it or clear the ball pit until the phone was obvious.”

The big boss sat down next to her husband, then leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He blushed slightly. Aurora thought they were both adorable. She wondered if Sienna would ever find someone too.

A waiter came over with menus, which drew her other sisters back to the table. Maple... with what looked like a small piece from the leg of that anime character, she shoved it under the table. The others found Sienna's phone and were arguing about who should return it to her.

The scene was chaotic, but not unpleasant.

“Ha.” Sienna said, picking up her phone. “Sam sent me a message…wait, I think I need to check this.”

For some reason, what should have been an ordinary moment suddenly felt a little dangerous.