The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Isabella: Hello?

Mel: Hmm?

Isabella: I'm Sienna. We met yesterday, and I was thinking we could meet again?

Mel: You've come at the perfect time.

Mel: There's a coffee shop at the intersection of Main Street and Sixth Avenue. I'll wait for you behind it.

Isabella: Okay, see you in a bit.

Sienna stuffed her phone into her jacket pocket and took a deep breath.

The air outside is much cooler and less stuffy than indoors, but it has that... well, that unique smell of city air.

"Where are we going, boss?" Teddy asked.

She held Sienna's hand with one hand, turning her head dramatically to look around, mainly because her hoodie blocked her view.

“Main Street,” Sienna said. “We have to take the bus there.”

"I've never ridden a bus before."

Sienna looked down and smiled at Teddy.

It had only been a few days, but she was already getting used to having this little bear girl around.

Although she still enjoys being alone and chatting—even with Teddy—is a bit tiring, it feels like...like chatting with Mom and Dad right now.

It's easier than chatting with other people.

She pondered this as she walked toward the nearest bus stop.

Is it simply because she's used to Teddy, or is it the kind of control she has over this little bear girl that's at play?

Her newfound dominance seems to have made it easier for her to like Teddy.

Sienna had never controlled anyone before, which was quite interesting.

She shook her head, dismissing the idea.

This idea is not good, and it doesn't quite fit the style of a hero.

Controlling others actually means taking on responsibility.

Teddy might have been summoned by her, which means Teddy will obey her.

But this also means that Teddy's happiness and well-being are Sienna's responsibility.

They arrived at the bus stop and sat down in the least sticky spot on the bench.

Sienna took out her phone to check the city bus timetable.

These buses run every half hour in certain areas of the city throughout the day.

However, this is on the premise that there is no construction or roadblocks on the road, but in reality, construction and roadblocks can occur at any time.

"Are you alright, boss?" Teddy asked. She looked at Sienna with concern.

Sienna shifted her backpack slightly. "I'm fine."

“Okay,” Teddy replied, sounding uncertain but not like she was about to press for answers.

In fact, Sienna only realized this after the bus stopped in front of them at the stop and they got on.

My condition wasn't actually that good.

If it weren't for the fact that one of my hands was being held tightly and reassuringly by Teddy, I wouldn't have been able to feel safe.

Her hands were probably trembling slightly, and she felt her heart churning.

She has never been good at dealing with uncertainty. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

Now she's going out... to do something.

There was no plan, no clue, and no idea what would happen next.

Sienna had to constantly restrain her imagination.

Because it constantly anticipates the situations she might encounter, or makes increasingly frightening predictions.

“It’ll be alright,” Teddy said a little while later, when the two of them sat down in a quieter spot at the back of the bus.

Sienna bought two tickets with cash.

The cash came from Aleya Iqta; she counted it and found it to be about four hundred dollars in loose bills.

The amount wasn't very large, but it was enough for her to live on for about a month.

Teddy doesn't cost much, but it does mean you have to buy more food.

Perhaps if they did more volunteer work, they could save money on a few meals, and she could receive a few more free lunches.

Clothes will be a problem sooner or later, but you can buy them one by one gradually.

So now the remaining problem is... figuring out how to get Teddy to go to school?

Sienna felt that this would not have been possible without the assistance of relevant departments.

That means registering Teddy as a... citizen? Is that even possible?

Sienna knew nothing about this.

If she goes to a large hero organization, she can confess that Teddy was summoned by her.

She was convinced they should have precedents in this regard.

Sienna doesn't recall any hero summoning humanoid creatures, but there have been some heroes who have summoned strange creatures before.

Another famous anti-hero is Stray Cat, whose ability is to summon a group of cats.

But it all depends on whether she can make herself look more like a hero in a short period of time without arousing suspicion.

Or could she wait until next year and then pretend that she gained the superpower then?

But that doesn't seem to work at all.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she almost missed her stop. Just as the bus driver was about to close the doors and drive off, she quickly apologized.

After getting off the car, Sienna arrived at a wide commercial street. She took a moment to re-establish her bearings before walking along the street.

There were more people here, some shopping, some peering through the shop windows.

There are even occasional mascots that loudly hawk their wares to attract people's attention.

Sienna saw many posters promoting the upcoming new hero.

This means that in a few weeks, new related products will fill the shelves.

New products mean new books, movies, toys, and cartoons for children to watch.

New heroes often become the focus for a month or two after Superpower Day, but are soon replaced by established popular heroes.

That's about all she knows about marketing.

After searching for a while, she found a dollar store and pulled Teddy inside.

Walking into such a place with a backpack always made her feel strange, as if she were going to rob someone.

Although she never had that thought.

She quickly walked around the children's area at the back of the store and found that an entire wall was filled with hero-related items.

From counterfeit toys to ordinary clothing, and—just as she had hoped—the mask.

The masks here aren't anything special; they're just oversized plastic domino masks and full-face masks, made to resemble some popular male and female heroes.

She recognized Silver Fox's goggles, Meraton's bright red mask, Vifro's oddly shaped mask, and several others.

“Look, a bear!” Teddy said, her arm reaching into a shelf full of ordinary masks.

“Can I—can I see?” Sienna asked.

Teddy nodded repeatedly and released her hand so he could better take out the mask he had found.

It was a cartoon-style bear face mask, brown and black, with some paint fading around the edges.

Teddy put the mask on his face, looked up at Sienna, and asked, "How do I look, boss?"

“Very intimidating,” Sienna lied.

"Cool, we should buy this."

She nodded, and then picked out a few more ordinary cloth domino masks.

Since she was already there, she browsed around the store and bought some other things she really needed for her dorm room.

It mainly consists of tableware and sealed containers, which will eventually end up in the trash.

Sienna didn't want to just go to the cashier with a mask on; that would be too suspicious.

After paying, they left the store and, a few meters from the entrance, stuffed everything into Sienna's backpack so as not to obstruct passersby.

"Alright, I've bought everything for this. Now, um..."

"What do we do now, boss?" Teddy asked.

“Now I think we should go find Mel and see what we can do about… that person.”

"Do you mean Homi?" Teddy asked.

Sienna sighed and nodded. "I didn't want to say his name."

"Oh." Teddy finally realized, "You were doing this secretly."

I can do that sometimes too. Bears are very stealthy predators.

So nothing dares to attack a bear. Because we are cunning, if anything dares to come, we'll eat it.

“I believe you.” Her outstretched hand was almost immediately grasped by Teddy. “Come on. I think we should get this over with quickly.”