This one takes place between chapter 22 and chapter 23.
To answer the question in one of the reviews, Sayori is 100% human. She doesn't remember anything after day 1, but that's it.
Natsuki's POV.
I wake up with the now familiar stiffness in my joints. I can feel something crawling around in my head, but I know that it's nothing to worry about. They're just doing their job. It should be done in two days, but apparently I'll need a few weeks to fully recover. That limb Yuri snapped off has already been rebuilt, but comparing them is pointless. Limbs with no digits are obviously easier to fix than something as expressive as one's face.
I stretch out my limbs and move my head arou-
"M-Monika?! What are you doing here?" - I ask the girl lying right next to me, her face inches away from mine. It looks paler than usual.
"Isn't that obvious? It's my house and my bed." - Monika replies.
"What's with that expression?" - I ask. I'm not quite sure what to think of it. It looks like there's something bothering her, but she still keeps smiling.
"It's going to sound really awkward, but...Let's just say that I stopped breathing a few hours ago thanks to a certain bookworm...Bookwyrm? Either way, letting you two sleep on this bed was a huge mistake." - she replies...Wait, what?
...Anyway, I sit up and look around the room. Nothing really catches my eye aside from a huge lump under the blanket right behind Monika. Out of curiosity, I remove th...Oh...Well, now I can see what Monika was talking about. That lump turned out to be Yuri. Her left wing, arms, tail and even legs are wrapped around the club president. If it wasn't for that genuinely happy smile on the white-scaled girl's face, I'd think that she's trying to crush the poor little thing in her grasp.
"I'll just pretend I saw nothing." - I say before getting up from Monika's bed and leaving the room...Wait...
"Is something wrong?" - Monika asks.
"Aren't you two supposed to go to school with me?" - I ask in response.
"Ah, well, you see, I have some...matters to attend to and Yuri certainly needs to take a break. If you want to, you can stay too. Nobody is going to stop you, right?" - the club president replies. Now I leave the room.
Man, this house really is too big for its own good. This isn't the first time I'm here, but it still baffles me. I can't really complain about it though. I don't know when Kazuki is going to wake up or if he's even going to wake up in the first place, so, I'll have to get used to it. Hopefully everything will be fine.
After a few minutes, I finally find the bathroom. Alright, let's do this.
One rather awkward, but still refreshing shower later, I leave the bathroom. I decided not to brush my teeth since my spiders can get it done faster and better than I ever could. It's not like I would be able to do anything about teeth in my throat. Sure, they are not always visible, but leaving them without maintenance might be a bad idea. For all I know, my throat could get inflamed. Wouldn't that be just great? Then again, if I can survive a shot to the head, I'm sure that it's not going to be that much of a problem. How much damage can I take anyway?
Eh, I'll leave those thoughts for later. Now then, it's time for breakfast. Unsurprisingly, Monika has a lot of food here and there's a large selection of it. For some reasons, meat is also there despite her being a vegetarian. Maybe it's for us? But that doesn't make much sense. It was already there when we came and Monika never left us before that.
Whatever. I don't want to think about this shit only to get a headache from it. I should just pick something to eat and be done with it. But before I do anything, I should take a look at the clock...
Shit, I'm going to be late! There's no time to cook anything, so, I'll just have some toasts. It's not going to be enough, but it's better than nothing.
I really wish I could just use my extra legs to carry me all the way to the school, but then they are going to be a nuisance when I actually get there. Plus, with these appendages hidden under my clothes and my large backpack, I look almost like a human. Almost. My hands are still clearly visible and that abdomen thing isn't completely hidden under my backpack. Maybe I should uncurl it and wrap the tail around my thin waist?...Nah, that's not going to work. There would still be a few parts sticking out. Not the whole thing becomes a tail after all.
I can finally see our school in the distance. It won't be long before I get there, but I'd better run unless I want to be late for classes.
I enter the classroom, breathing heavily. I'm really not made for this kind of shit. I feel like collapsing onto the floor and staying there for a good hour or two, but I've got things to do and so I go to my desk and sit on my chair.
"Hey, Natsuki, where have you been and...what's up with those bandages? Did something happen?" - a girl to my right asks.
"Mind your own business, Misaki!" - I reply. I'm not about to tell them everything that happened and get me, Yuri and Kazuki in trouble.
"I-I'm just worried, that's all. No need to yell at me." - she mutters dejectedly.
Whatever. Mr. Akinari will be here in a few seconds, so, it's not like I could tell her anything anyway. I'm sure everyone else got the message and will leave me alone. I have enough stuff to worry about like writing in my exercise book without shredding it. I've been practicing, so, I should have better results, but that doesn't make it any easier. I have to hold that damn thing with my elbow while holding my pen with the tips of my fingers so that there's no way it can damage anything.
Maybe I should make spiders built to do this for me and perfectly mimic my handwriting? It will take some time, but then I won't have to do anything aside from giving them orders! Yes! Brilliant!...Then again, I really doubt any of the teachers will take it well...except for Ms. Itsumi. She would probably get all giddy with excitement. I'm really not looking forward to her lessons or her reaction to...well, me in my current state.
...Fuck, I'll have to explain why I was absent for so long. Monika said that she had told everyone that we were ill, but that's not going to work again. Me turning into a freak of nature isn't going to work well as an explanation either because I had already attended school in this state last week.
Where is Monika when you need her?! Her ability to lie without anyone noticing would be really useful here.
Finally, that blessed school bell rings out and we are free. It went much better than I expected it to. I only made a few scratches on my exercise book instead of tearing it to pieces. That's good progress right here. Taking books out of my backpack using my elbows is still a pain in the ass though. There's no other real alternative here.
Fortunately, no one aside from Misaki asked me anything about what happened. Not even any of our teachers. I bet Monika has something to do with the latter. I wouldn't be surprised at all.
Monika's house isn't far from our school, so, I can afford to walk there on foot. Since I don't have a time limit, I don't have to run and exhaust myself. However, that leaves me alone with my thoughts.
As much as I dislike her attitude at times, I'm still worried about Yuri. After everything she said that day, I really don't know what to do with her. Out of us two, she got the short end of the stick, that's for sure. I haven't thought much about it before, but complete immortality really fucking sucks. Whoever wants to achieve that simply doesn't think far ahead into the future. Eternal youth is fine in my book though. I'd rather not deal with all that shit that comes with aging. Then again, it might not be a problem for me. If I can just get whole body parts rebuilt in a matter of days or weeks, then m-
My whole body freezes. It's him. It's him. He's there. I can see him. He's inside that store, talking to someone. I should have expected to run into him at some point, but I don't think there's any way I could have prepared myself for this. I can feel thousands of spiders crawling frantically and squirming in my body. They can feel it. They can feel my fear, but they can't understand it. They know who he is, but the idea of a parent attacking their child without a reason is completely alien to them.
...I can't just stand here...Yes...I'll just...I'll kill him...Tear him limb from limb...Eviscerate that bastard...Pay him back with interest...For everything...Nobody is going to find out. Nobody is going to care for that piece of shit. Nobody will judge me even if they find out. They will understand...They will...And yet...I can't do this. I know that he's no match for me, but I still can't help but think that he's going to kill me instead. It makes absolutely no sense, but I'm sure of it. There's no other outcome.
I must take a different route and run. He must not see me. If he sees me...I will die. There's no other outcome. I must run.
I collapse onto the floor as soon as I close the door behind me. I don't care about the pain in my legs from overexertion. I'm safe now! That's all that matters! Nothing can harm me here! I can't help but laugh. The thought of it is so relieving!
"Um, hey there...Mind telling me what happened?" - I hear Monika ask. I don't even move to face her.
"Nothing...It's nothing...Just let me rest for a bit..." - I wheeze out, too exhausted to say anything else.
One day, I will have to confront him...But that day is not today...That can wait...
"Do you want to eat anything?" - Monika asks and I simply nod in response.
A few toasts is certainly not enough for this kind of shit.
