The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

One of the things Sienna least wanted to do was explain to her mother how she—though it wasn't her fault—became a villain.

Furthermore, he would have to explain his actions and the reasons why he might indeed deserve the title of villain.

The problem is that Sienna has never been comfortable lying to her parents, and even if she wanted to, there were five pairs of little eyes watching her as she recounted her experiences over the past few weeks.

Teaching my sisters to lie would be absolutely... a terrible idea.

Mom sat in Sienna's chair, her hands on the armrests and her handbag on her lap.

Her gaze passed over Sienna's shoulder, fixed on a certain spot, and she fell into deep thought.

She listened attentively, responding appropriately and even asking Sienna to clarify certain points, but so far she hadn't offered much of her own opinion.

This offered Sienna some comfort.

In the past, when Sienna had a bad day at school, she would often confide in her mother when she got home, and her mother's reaction was usually the same.

"So... what do you think?" Sienna asked.

"Give me some time, honey, I'm digesting this." Mom took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

“You know what? When I came here, I imagined all sorts of terrible scenarios, oh, and some not-so-bad ones. But what I'm seeing now? It's really beyond my expectations.”

Sienna twisted her fingers. She wanted to sit down, or even hide under the covers, but that would be too embarrassing.

So she just stood in the middle of the room, while her sisters sat on the bed or on the floor watching her, saying, "I'm sorry, Mom."

Mom bent down, placed her handbag on the ground, then stood up and hugged Sienna tightly. "Don't apologize," she whispered. "You really have nothing to apologize for. You did your best in a situation you weren't prepared for."

"Thank you, Mom."

“Mom is right,” Athena said. “You did a great job, sister.”

As soon as Athena spoke, Sienna felt her mother's body stiffen slightly.

They released their embrace—after her mother gave her one last reassuring hug—and then it was time to talk about the important issues that needed to be addressed.

"Okay, obviously, these past few days have been tough, but you've done your best. Now... well, now the question is, what are you planning to do?"

"I was hoping to minimize the disruption. I got some documents from Sement, and I'll take a look to see if there's anything urgent in them."

If not, then I think the best course of action right now is to keep a low profile and try not to attract attention.

Mom nodded slowly in response. "That's a good plan, honey, but how feasible is it?"

"Feasibility?" Sienna asked.

The mother gestured to her sisters.

"These five little ones seem quite lively. I think they are much more active than you were at their age. And even though you used to be quiet, you were sometimes quite a worry."

Not to mention, this place is too small; it's too crowded for six people. There's also the issue of money; food and clothing aren't free, and they still need education.

"Oh yeah," Sienna said, a heavy feeling washing over her. "Maybe I should find a job?"

"I think you need to find a job that's more than just part-time, honey. Raising a child is very expensive."

“We can think of ways to make more money together,” Athena suggested.

Sienna quickly turned around, but it was too late to stop the idea from popping up; the others had already started offering suggestions all at once.

“Living a comfortable life requires enough money, and that’s everyone’s responsibility,” Teddy said. “So we can collect everyone’s money and then distribute it equally.”

“We can go steal things,” Trinity said, her three raccoon-eared heads nodding in unison, “like last time, we can break into someone’s house and take all their things.”

“I bet I can scare people into handing over all their money,” Athena said.

"No, absolutely not. We need to find a more legitimate way to make money." Sienna ignored everyone's pouting and anger; she had to maintain her composure first.

“Money is certainly a solution, but it’s not the most important issue.” Sienna’s mother began pacing around the room. Sienna was quite familiar with this movement, but her mother walked with much more grace.

"We need to find a suitable place to live and a stable source of income before we can take care of anything else. How are your studies going?"

"Ah, so far? I've been diligently completing my homework, but exams and such won't be until a while. We're still learning the basics," Sienna said.

"That's good, that's good. I know how excited you were when you first started learning, and I don't want your dreams to be shattered because of these things."

"Thank you, Mom."

Sienna's mother smiled. "You're welcome. I wasn't planning on driving all the way home tonight anyway, so I booked a room at a guesthouse."

I can help look after the children for the next few days.

“That’s…good,” Sienna said, “but it’s a bit tight to get all this done in just two days.”

“But that’s enough to make a wise choice,” Mom replied. “You don’t have to face all of this alone. Didn’t you mention before that you wanted to train with the heroes and all that?”

I'm sure if you told them about your situation, they would help you.

Sienna shrank back.

In fact, this is a reasonable, even wise, choice. On the surface, the heroes are all good people, and if she went to them, they should be willing to offer some help.

She wasn't quite sure, but she felt that her superpowers were quite powerful, or at least quite useful.

She essentially possesses five slightly weaker superpowers, representing the same abilities as her sisters, and from a promotional perspective, this potential should not be underestimated.

Her sisters were little devils, but they were all very cute little devils.

There are so many hero-themed products on the market. Sienna can imagine printing Teddy's face on pet grooming products, or using Athena to sell glasses, or Trinity to... sell... garbage bags?

She shook her head.

The problem is that she doesn't trust those heroes, and even if they do offer help, she'll definitely demand something in return.

“I’ll find a way to solve it,” Sienna said.

She wasn't entirely without resources; she had her sisters, some questionable information from the villain who used to live in town, and a few contacts among the superpowered and masked people.

More importantly, she has become increasingly confident in her problem-solving abilities. It's not that she's completely confident now, but she's definitely much stronger than she was at the beginning.

"If you could help look after them for a day or two, I will do my best to handle everything, I promise."

Her mother looked her over carefully, then her eyes welled up with tears. She pulled Sienna into her arms and hugged her tightly. "Oh my, my baby has grown up so fast!"

“Hey!” Teddy said, “The boss isn’t a little baby anymore.”

“She said ‘my darling,’ you idiot,” Athena said.

"So what? The boss doesn't belong to her either."

Sienna sighed. "Girls, please don't be rude to my mother. Just treat her like I do and listen to her, okay?"

After a while, she received three (or rather, five) affirmative answers from the girls. “So, what should we call the eldest’s mother?” Teddy asked.

"Grandma?" Athena asked.

“You’re not my daughters,” Sienna quickly said.

Mom laughed out loud, "You bet, I don't think I'm old enough to be a grandma yet, it's not my time, please."

"Uh, how about calling him 'Big Boss'?" Athena asked.

“That’s a name that would suit a villain,” Trinity said.

“Please don’t give my mom a villainous name,” Sienna said.

Teddy shook his head and rudely pointed directly at Sienna's mother, saying, "She's your mother, which means she's very important."

"And you're the most powerful villain around here, so she at least needs to have some hidden villainous traits."

“Teddy, my mom isn’t a villain.”

"Yes, I've had some less-than-kind thoughts before too."

"mom!"

“If the eldest is our sister,” Athena said, “then the eldest’s mother is our mother too.”

“I…I don’t even know how to look at this anymore,” Sienna said.

Teddy looked at her. "But you said it's important for sisters to share with each other."

"I think these are completely different things."

Mom smiled and patted Teddy's head. The little bear girl rubbed against her mother's hand.

“I don’t mind being called Mom by you. I’ve been called even worse names before.”

And then again, what they said isn't entirely wrong. If they were your sisters, then I guess I'd be more of a stepmother or something like that at most.

“The eldest,” Teddy said, her tone certain, as if she had just answered an obvious question.

Sienna closed her eyes. So much had happened that day, and it was far from over.