A little perspective change and some mild swearing ahead. I might go back to this chapter to fix some things.


In...and out...In...and out...In...and out...The pain...It's finally gone...I've never felt anything like this before...I try to get up from the floor and...something...is not right...My vision is still clearing up, but I can already tell that everything is just...Off. Even breathing doesn't feel right. With some effort, I sit up and take a deep breath. Uh, this headache certainly doesn't h-

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" - I yell, startled by the sight of a clawed hand with long segmented fingers. Refusing to believe that this...this thing belongs to me, I move my fingers and guess what? They move the way I want them to! I put my other hand in front of my face and it matches! As if that wasn't enough, I look down and see my legs. They aren't much better. I don't even care about my ruined clothes.

Wait, should I even care about any of this? It's not like any of this is real. This is nothing but a nightmare. I don't remember falling asleep, but I could have passed out again. Yeah, it's just a stupid little nightmare. All I have to do is wake up and I'll be back in the literature club...or my sorry excuse for a bed. Either way, I'm just one little pinch away from normalcy. Let me just roll up a sleeve aaaaaaaaand it doesn't work. No matter how many times I try to repeat it, it still doesn't work, but it can't be real either! It...It just can't be! Yeah, maybe I'm just seeing things! It wouldn't be the first time. I should just ask others, completely ignoring whatever the fuck is going on with Yuri. There are no wings or a tail protruding from her body. Wait, was Kazuki standing so close to me this whole time?

"Natsuki? Are you alright?" - he asks.

I back away to put some distance between us, doing my best to ignore what feels like extra limbs helping me move faster.

"Yeah, sure, just tripping out...or at least I think I am," - I reply. My mouth feels kinda weird, but it's nothing to be worried about.

"...Tripping out?" - he repeats. Yeah, maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase it, but I'm not in the best state of mind if I can clearly see Yuri knock over a desk with her tail. As usual, she apologizes.

"Oh, looks like she's in denial or something..." - says Monika. Looks like she finally came back. Ten minutes m-

"W-Wait, denial? I-I'm not denying anything!" - I reply without a single doubt in my mind.

"Yeah, you totally don't have spider legs growing out of your back or a spider's abdomen sticking out of your skirt." - she says, sarcasm very clear in her voice. I look back just to humor her and, just as I thought, she's wrong. Well, the spider legs are there and there's something weird on my rear, but there's no abdomen!

"Oh, in case you don't know, spider's abdomen is that large bulbous part on their rear," - she says before I can point out her mistake...or what I thought was a mistake. That describes the...thing very well.

"So...let me get this straight: I've just had the most painful hour-"

"Minutes," - Kazuki interrupts me.

"...The most painful minutes of my life and now I'm some kind of a human spider thing with absolutely no way to explain how the hell it happened? - I correct myself and finish my line of thought.

"That's pretty much it, but I'm not quite sure about the spider part," - says Monika.

"What do you mean by that?" - I ask in response.

"Well, you see, spiders are not supposed to have antennae or thousands of eyes." - she replies.

"...what?"

Suddenly, she reaches out for loose strands of my hair and I feel a twinge of pain as she yanks them.

"This is what I'm talking about." - she says before releasing them. Oddly enough, they keep their form and...start moving?

Wait wait wait wait...if they can see this and I can feel it...

"No...no..."

This...This really is happening, isn't it? There's no way to deny it now. Whatever the cause is, now I'm a fucking freak of nature and I really doubt anything can be done about that. Can I even go outside like this, let alone go home? What will HE do when he sees me like this? I can already picture it in my mind: my father beating me to a bloody pulp with a newspaper and throwing whatever is left out of a window like it's nothing unusual. It's almost funny to think about. Not that it would be much different from what happens when he doesn't ignore me.

"Is she...crying?" - Kazuki points out oh-so-helpfully. Can I even do it at this point? I don't feel anything wet on my face. My eyes don't even sting. Maybe I should just-

No. This isn't right. I've been through worse. This is nothing. Weird? Sure. But it's not the end of the world or anything. Maybe it will end up being a fun ride. Maybe not. Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll have an interesting story to tell later.

"No...I'm fine, just a little surprised and all," - I say with a little less certainty than I'd like.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," - says Monika. "But I think we should discuss something...more important. We still have to do something about these two."

I almost forgot about Yuri. Now that I look at her, she's...not much better. Speaking of her...

"W-Well, I think we can rule out going outside for now. I don't think I'd want to see them be taken away by some secret organization," - Kazuki replies, saying something that would sound silly under normal circumstances, but "normal" no longer applies here.

"Maybe we should wait until everyone leaves and then go home?" - Yuri suggests and her voice sounds...off, but that's not what bothers me the most.

"But I...I can't go home!"

"Huh? Why not?" - asks Kazuki.

"I don't think this is something we should ask her about...but I know what we should do," - says Monika with a smile.

"What do you mean?" - I ask. Something tells me I'm not going to like her idea.

"Well, isn't it obvious? You can't stay here, but you don't want to go home either, so, you have nowhere to go...unless SOMEONE lets you stay in his house."

Confused, Kazuki points at Monika, but she only shakes her head. Then he points at himself and she nods...oh...

"W-W-What kind of suggestion is that?!" I yell indignantly. The other two seem to be against this idea, but Monika's smile doesn't even falter.

"Um, well, I guess I COULD afford that, but...Can't you do it? It would probably be less awkward and...and..." - Kazuki's protests die out as Monika suddenly leans forward, decreasing the distance between them in less than a second.

"I'm sorry, but I'm too busy as it is. I'm not going to leave you alone to deal with them, but I'll have to find another way to help you."

I-I suppose that makes sense, but...really?

"Oh, and Yuri? You'll have to join Natsuki."

"Wha-Why sh-I have my o-I mean I-Shouldn't y-" - Yuri tries to reply and fails to form anything coherent. I'm not so sure about this plan either.

"I mean...Wouldn't it be a good idea to have them both close to you in case something happens?" - adds Monika. It sounds reasonable, but Kazuki of all people? N-not that he's a bad person or there's anything wrong with him trying to help us, but...

"I suppose that makes sense? I'd gladly help them either way, but that does sound like a good idea. I can't be sure about anything anymore," - says Kazuki.

"Okay then! With that out of the way, I think it's time for me to leave. I am not looking forward to trying to explain what caused this mess, but I'm sure I'll have it all figured out. See you tomorrow!" - says Monika before leaving the classroom. Unfortunately, it's still too early for us to leave. We still have a few hours left before we can safely leave this place. Well, time sure does fly past pretty quickly when you have something good to read, so, why not go back to where I was before...um, this happened? Apparently Kazuki and Yuri have the same idea as they are back at their desks with their identical books. I think I was reading the Mundane Activities? I need to take a look at it just to be sure.

I sit down, adjusting my posture with my new body in mind and look through the torn paper and chunks of wood on the floor in search o-

Is this...

It...

What the hell...? What the hell?! Is this a nightmare? It...has to be. This isn't real. There's no way this can be real. The manga collection I've built up throughout all these years...It's gone forever now, torn to pieces by my own hands. Nothing I do can bring it back. The shreds I hold in my hands can never be stitched back together. I can never read it again. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never...