Odd, there was a girl’s voice squealing in delight with the sounds of her rolling in her bed while hugging a pillow. A very specific description of a sound, I know.

But I should note, that sound was definitely not being made by me. Nope. No way. Nuh-uh.

After a short debrief with Fractal and a quick discussion, he had sent me home for the day after the hotel incident. And on my way, I most certainly hadn’t realized that I’d finally met Iron Pack! Aaaaaa!

Ahem… and I thought I made a pretty decent impression. After all, I’d defended her! Yup, hopefully, that had negated all of the dumbass points I had accumulated.

Also… I assure you, when going over what had happened in my head, I had not begun feeling disproportionately ecstatic to realize that Iron Pack had remembered me! Aaaaaa!

The rolling in bed and squealing intensified for some reason.

So… moving on to the much less important part… I had, uh, “fought” heroes in my, uh, “villain” costume. Quite ridiculous, to be honest. Even more ridiculous was that I’d actually won…? Under a certain definition of win…?

The thing was, the heroes now recognized me in my Aster outfit… which kinda sucked. That meant I couldn’t wear it outside anymore. Ugh… and I’d promised I would wear it to the next LGBT meet-up. I guess I would have to find something else to pretty myself with.

Just… uh, because I promised. Not because I found it really nice… yeah, I was doing it for everyone else. And if I happened to enjoy it? Well, that would be a nice bonus, right? Right.

Anyway… as I had mentioned, before sending me off, Fractal had a little discussion with me.

Apparently, I was going to get a powersuit. After the hotel incident, Fractal figured I needed protection if I were to act alone again. And really… who was I to argue with that? I had nearly died there if it wasn’t for Iron Pack. And, umm…  also for… my powers?

Haha! Nah, no way. I didn’t have powers. I just had the dumbest luck imaginable. It was too stupid to actually be a superpower.

So, powersuit. I vaguely remembered Fractal explaining the various features and design, but it had all gone over my head since I’d still been dazed from the whole hotel incident. Maybe that’s why he had sent me home early? He’d seen how out of it I’d been?

Damn, I really had the best boss imaginable, didn’t I? Nothing like the villain mastermind stereotype who gets rid of people who had failed him. Despite my new job being infinitely more dangerous than my old one, the people I worked with were much better. I wouldn’t go back to the retail store even in a million years.

“Hey… have you heard? Some abandoned hotel building got demolished the other day.” Troy grinned. “Your girlfriend was on the scene.”

Ever since our little roleplaying session, Troy had gradually gotten back to his old self.

On one hand, I was glad the alien programming had worn off and I had gotten my friend back. On the other, I wouldn’t have complained if the aliens extended the trial period for just a little longer. Troy was a pain to deal with.

“Uh, yeah… I heard.”

Still… it felt quite odd to be hearing about the news I personally was a part of. Was that how heroes and villains felt all the time?

“And I also heard there was someone else with her who held off the heroes. Kinda weird. Thought Iron Pack was…” He smirked. “A lone wolf.”

I groaned. Yup, Troy was back to his annoying self alright. No aliens would save me from his terrible jokes and teasing now.

“Maybe she found a girlfriend?”

I choked on the piece of pizza I had been chewing. Dammit, don’t surprise attack me like that! W-we weren’t girlfriends… y-yet…!

“Hey, easy there! I was just joking. You still have a chance with her.”

Oh, right, Troy didn’t know that was me… which made it even more awkward! Was I supposed to be jealous of myself?! Stupid Troy!

“Although… having a crush on a supervillain is kinda crazy. I hope you aren’t planning on seriously pursuing this?”

Been there, done that. Too late to stop me now!

“Why not?”

“Come on, Aster. You tend to be reckless, but this could really get you killed!”

And it almost had already. But I was determined! I couldn’t give up now!

“I mean… even if you do somehow start dating her… what then?”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, will you become a villain with her? A minion? Will you try to convince her to retire as a villain?”

I blinked.

I… hadn’t thought about that, had I? I simply charged ahead with the sole goal of asking her out. But what then? Becoming a fellow villain was an option… but then there was Fractal… and I didn’t really want to face heroes again… and…

I found an arm around my shoulders.

“There are more fish in the sea, not just this particularly dangerous piranha.”

I stared at my roomie. A piranha?

“Okay, maybe a bad metaphor, but you know what I mean!”

I continued to frown and looked down at my anchovy pizza.

More fish in the sea…

Well, he was right, but that didn’t mean I had to like it! The meeting with Iron Pack was what had started all of this! I wouldn’t give up!

I stood up and drilled my stare into Troy.

“I am not giving up! If I just gave up then I wouldn’t be a--” man.

The word got caught in my throat. What was it that suddenly screamed at the back of my head to not say it? Just a week ago, I’d kept calling myself a man without any qualms, but now… I not only hated the word, but also hated how I’d tossed it around before as if I hadn’t known what it meant.

God… I really was an idiot. It was just a word and yet, it carried so much significance with it now.

“... then I wouldn’t be Aster!” I finally shouted triumphantly into Troy’s confused face and then turned around and left.

Oh god, why was I trying to be so dramatic? I just ended up looking like an idiot again.

Nothing new here, I guess.

BottledChaos

Obligatory reminder that you can read up to chapter 23 right now on my patreon.