While it should be Yuri's turn, I couldn't do much when she has no one to interact with. What I originally wanted to write is still a thing, but now it happens off-screen and the results will be revealed later. All things considered, it might be better that way.
With that said, it's Kazuki's POV again.
I wake up with a severe headache. All I see is a mass of blurry shapes of different colors, but I know my bed well enough to recognize it. Unless someone moved it outside, this means that I'm back home. I don't remember walking back here and I still very clearly remember what happened before the festival even began. Aside from the softness of my bed and my blanked, there's something else I register. It's faint, but I can hear it. It's something between the sound of chattering teeth and a growl.
My vision is clearing up, but it's not good enough for me to tell anything yet. All I can see is that the room is very dark and there's something in front of me. It's above the floor, but I don't see anything connecting it to the ceiling either. Then again, it might be too thin for me to see it until my sight is restored completely.
"AH! YOU. ARE. FINALLY. AWAKE. DARLING! WE. THOUGHT. WE. WENT. OVERBOARD. WITH. THE. POISON. AND. YOU. WERE. A. GONER! YOU. ALMOST. BROKE. OUR. POOR. LITTLE. HEART! DO. NOT. DO. THAT. EVER. AGAIN. YOU. HEAR. US?" - I hear someone say as that weird sound stops. The voice seems familiar, but the way everything is pronounced is completely wrong. Rather than forming sentences, it sounds more like they simply spit out words and then say the last word properly.
...Darling? We? Went overboard with it? What the hell is going on here? I thought I had enough when Yuri suddenly went mad, but whoever this is, I should probably get away from them as soon as...
Wait, I think I can see it now...I recognize this marking of a screaming skull...This hair...This outfit...
"N...Natsuki?" - I ask with some difficulty. My face still feels numb.
Now I can clearly see her, but something is obviously not right. I can see her face, but the rest of her body is still upside down and if I can see the back of her hands and abdomen, then...what the fuck?! I've seen enough horror movies to say that this is wrong! All wrong!
"IS. SOMETHING. WRONG? IT. IS. THE. SWEATER. IS. IT. NOT? WE. DO. NOT. LIKE. IT. BUT. IT. WAS. THE. BEST. THING. YURI. COULD. OFFER. US." - she says, but I'm more focused on her eyes than whatever she is saying. Her eyes were somewhat disturbing before, but now no attempt to imitate human eyes is made. Only pulsating pink rings where her irises used to be remain. The rest of it remains pitch black.
I think it's obvious at this point that something is wrong with Natsuki as well. She never talked like this or did anything with her body as creepy as...as this! Just to avoid looking at her, I look around the room and what I see isn't much better. There are spiders crawling everywhere and they changed too. Now instead of Natsuki's hairclip, the marking on their abdomens matches what she has. They also look bigger and nastier.
"No, it's okay! Um...could you bring me some water? My throat is killing me..." - I ask. I'm not lying, but my main objective is getting her out of the room. After seeing what Yuri did, I can't afford to be so careless.
"OH? SURE. THING! - she replies cheerily as she descends from the ceiling. I try not to cringe when I see her body move around while her head stays in place. The sound that accompanies that motion isn't much better. I'm not sure if it simply sounds like cracking bones or that's exactly what happens. Either way, I don't want to hear it.
Once she leaves, I start searching for Monika's little gift. If I remember correctly, the gun should be hidden in my bed. Only I know about it's location, but I don't know for how long I've been out. She could ha- No, it's here. Thank God it's here. I don't want to use it, but if something goes wrong, I can at least point it at her. Hopefully it won't get to that point.
...Damn it, it's too big to fit in my pockets. Looks like I have to keep it here for now. I guess all I can do for now is wait for her to come back.
Right as I put my head back on the pillow, she enters the room with a glass of water in her ha- Jesus Christ, when is it going to end? The way her human legs dangle as she walks using her spider legs is just not right.
"HERE. YOU. GO. OUR. LITTLE. SWEETHEART!" - she says as she gives me the oh-so-refreshing cup of water. I don't even take my time to make sure there's nothing wrong with it.
"Thanks...How did I get here anyway?" - I ask once I'm done drinking water. I'm also no longer wearing my school uniform, but I'm not going to ask anything about it.
"AH. WELL. YOU. SEE. WE. WANTED. TO. MAKE. SURE. NO. ONE. ELSE. CAN. HURT. YOU. AND. SO. WE. DRAGGED. YOU. ALL. THE. WAY. HERE. WE. KNEW. THAT. YOU. ARE. NOT. GOING. TO. TAKE. IT. WELL. AND. SO. WE. HAD. TO...UM...IMMOBILIZE. YOU. WE. REALLY. SHOULD. THANK. MONIKA. FOR. LETTING. US. DO. IT! WE. THOUGHT. SHE. WAS. GOING. TO. GET. IN. OUR. WAY. BUT. SHE. WAS. OKAY. WITH. IT! AND. BEFORE. THAT. SHE. WAS. THE. ONE. WHO. FOUNDED. THE. LITERATURE. CLUB. AND. CONVINCED. YOU. TO. JOIN. US!...HM...BUT. HOW. SHOULD. WE. THANK. HER?...OH! YES! WE. WILL. MAKE. HER. ONE. OF. US! ONE. OF. US! ONE. OF. US. ONE. OF. US. ONE. OF. US. ONEOFUSONEOFUSONEOFUSONEOFUS!" - she replies, but it quickly devolves into mad rambling. While I'm not okay with what Monika did, I don't think I want to know what Natsuki meant by that. I should probably g-
Before I can do much, one of Natsuki's extra appendages pins me to my bed. Fortunately, it doesn't pierce my body like it should, but the force applied is still enough to make it hurt. As soon as I stop trying to get up, she retracts it.
"WHERE. DO. YOU. THINK. YOU. ARE. GOING? YOU. STILL. HAVE. NOT. RECOVERED." - she says, her tone still just as cheerful as it was earlier, but I can tell by her twitching antennae and subtle movements of her jaws that she's not pleased.
"I-I just want to stretch me legs out, that's all!" - I reply. I simply can't catch a break, can I?
"...FINE! BUT. REMEMBER! WE. ARE. ALWAYS. WATCHING...Don't get caught." - she says as she points at something in the corner of the room. When I look at it, I see another spider, but this one looks different. Numerous eyes cover its head. It also has some kind of weird flat protrusion on its head. She's been practicing a lot with these guys, hasn't she?...Did she see me search for my gun? It's still wrapped up, so, she certainly doesn't know what it is, but this is still a problem. I don't know what to expect from her and I don't want to find out what will happen if I upset her.
"Oh, one more question: why is it so dark here?" - I ask. Right now, the only sources of light are Natsuki's eyes and something in the hall.
"AH. YOU. SEE. WE. WANTED. TO. CHANGE. SOME. THINGS. HERE. AND. THERE. SO. IT. WOULD. BE. MORE. COMFORTABLE. FOR. US.. IT. IS. NOT. LIKE. LIGHT. IS. HARMFUL. TO. US. OR. ANYTHING. BUT. WE. PREFER. TO. HAVE. IT. LIKE. THIS!" - she replies. Great.
Needless to say, I'm not fond of...this whole thing, but I can't say it out loud.
"ARE. YOU. HUNGRY? YOU. PROBABLY. ARE! IT. HAS. BEEN. A. FEW. DAYS. SINCE. THE. LAST. TIME. YOU. ATE. ANYTHING. BUT. DO. NOT. WORRY. WE. ARE. GOING. TO. PREPARE. SOMETHING! YOU. MUST. EAT. IF. YOU. WANT. TO. BE. STRONG. AND. HEALTHY! NOW. THEN. FOLLOW. US." - she says as she leaves the room again and she is right, I am hungry. Hopefully she won't make me eat spiders...Wait, a few days? That's...concerning.
As I follow her to the kitchen, I notice that there's something covering...pretty much everything aside from furniture and the floor. Is this something she did with her spiders? It looks like it's made of hundreds of armore- Is that an eye?! The thing covering the front door has a giant eye and it's staring at me! How did she even make them? These spiders are supposed to be coming out of her body, but there's no way she could produce all of them in such a short amount of time!
"WHERE. ARE. YOU. MY. PRECIOUS. LITTLE. HUMAN?" - I hear her call out from the kitchen. I'll leave whatever the hell those things are for later.
When I enter the kitchen, I am relieved to see that it remains almost unchanged. Not sure why she didn't turn this room into a mess, but I'm grateful for that.
"NOW. THAT. YOU. ARE. HERE. WE. ARE. GOING. TO...WHAT. SHOULD. WE. COOK. ANYWAY?...UM...WHAT. DO. YOU. GUYS. THINK?" - she asks...someone, clearly lost in thought.
"...How about cupcakes?" - I suggest. Might as well get something good out of this situation.
"...NAH."
"Then what a-"
"LET. US. THINK. YOU. DUMMY!" - she interrupts me as she grabs my cheeks and squishes them together. I can feel her fingers dig into my flesh and it hurts like hell.
...Can I survive even a single day with her in this state?
