Volume 2 - Arachne Attack, Chapter 8 - An Unwelcome Guest

Haru and Yuisu stepped out of the bathing room and spread out to opposite corners of the laundry room.

I asked her out. Oh my god, I really asked her out. What was I thinking? Yuisu thought frantically.

They turned away from each other’s nudity and an awkward silence blanketed the room until they were both dried off and fully dressed.

Yuisu spoke first. “Let’s get cozy in the living room and talk.” As soon as she said it, her mind was filled with the image of her cuddling into Haru’s warm feathers. “I mean, cozy on the chairs of course. Not on anything else.”

Haru raised an eyebrow but only gave a nod in response. They started down the hall to the living room, with Yuisu in the lead.

Yuisu continued rambling, like she often did when anxious, “And I don’t want you to feel pressured one way or the other, or anything. I mean, there is a law that says we’re not supposed to be in a relationship, but that law is pretty outdated and I heard they can make exceptions, and Agent Will said he was pretty lax about enforcing it, anyway.” She took a much needed breath and added, “And since we live alone, way up here in the mountains, it’s not like anyone would find out…”

When they reached the living room, Yuisu darted forward and sat down in a plush chair. She clasped her hands to hide how nervous she was. Don’t muck this up. Don’t scare her away. Let her figure out her thoughts on her own. Waiting for Haru’s response was the hardest thing she could imagine, and now her inner voice wouldn’t shut up. But what if she needs a little push? What if not acting is the wrong move?

The living room had a ski-lodge aesthetic, including a vaulted ceiling with rafters and a stonework fireplace. Haru stepped into the room and she was immediately glad for the shag carpeting. It was nice to have some real grip after the difficulty with the wet tile floor.

Despite the distraction of the soft carpet, something about the room felt off. Her feathers ruffled up and she swiveled her neck to scan the room.

“What’s wrong, Haru?” Yuisu asked.

Haru’s keen predator’s senses were on edge, but she couldn’t pinpoint the issue. “I’m not sure. Something feels wrong, like we’re being wa—”

She was cut off when a pink ball the size of large dog hit her square in the chest. It had dropped suddenly from the rafters overhead, where it had been lurking… waiting for the moment to strike. Haru fell backwards and thankfully landed safely on the soft shag carpet.

The pink ball unfolded a surprising amount, becoming a many-legged creature that straddled the prone harpy. “Eeee! You’re so fluffy! I love, love, love it!” a young-sounding voice squealed. “You’re like a Swablu or an Altaria! But you’re kind of an owl… Owltaria!!”

Eight pink legs, each about the size of Yuisu’s arm, supported what looked like the upper body of a young girl. She appeared perhaps fourteen years old and she wore a dark blue strapless dress with matching frilly arm covers. Her face was currently hidden, as she was busy nuzzling into Haru’s feathers.

Her dress was quite short and it made no attempt to cover the large spider abdomen that extended behind her human-like upper body. As she buried her face in Haru’s wings, her abdomen was held in the air, and it wagged a bit like a happy puppy’s tail.

Since Yuisu was still sitting in shock in her chair, this offered her the unusual sight of the bottom of the spider-girl’s body. She was unsure of the anatomy on display here, but when she caught sight of the distinctive blue-and-white-stripes of panties at the front of the abdomen, she averted her eyes and spoke up, “Uh, miss…? Miss… spider girl? What are you doing here?”

The spider butt lowered and the girl executed a strange pivot in place. It reminded Yuisu of a tank turning by rotating its treads in opposite directions. She was still standing over Haru, which gave Haru a close-up of the striped panties that Yuisu had just glimpsed.

For the first time, Yuisu saw the girl’s face and she wasn’t sure how to react to it. The girl had bright magenta hair of a similar color to her spider-like parts, partially pulled up into twin pony tails high on her head. She had very large and entirely black eyes, which was odd. She also had six of them, which was stranger still. Yuisu had skimmed reference material about a variety of liminal species in preparation of being a host, and now she finally recalled the name of this species: Arachne.

As Yuisu could now see, all arachne had the upper body of a human on a spider-like lower body, including eight full legs and two smaller pedipalp legs at the front. Like their legs, arachne forearms and hands were covered in a strong carapace, making their fingers very strong and sharp. I guess that explains why she wears those sleeves on her forearms, Yuisu thought.

The spider girl skittered forward, finally freeing Haru, and gently clasped Yuisu’s hands in hers. Despite the fact that Yuisu was sitting down and the girl was at her normal height, their eyes were level. “You must be Yuisu! Can I call you Yui? I love characters named Yui.” She dropped Yuisu’s hands to rub her chin thoughtfully. A couple of her legs mimicked the motion, seemingly unintentionally. “Though I don’t think it can compete with Owlteria, which is clearly an S-tier nickname.”

Haru pulled herself up from the floor and met eyes with Yuisu. They shared a baffled glance, then Yuisu looked back to the pink mystery girl.

“Yes, I am Yuisu. Can I ask who you are?”

“Oh sorry! I’m no good at introductions. I get so excited about meeting people that I forget to let them meet me.” She stuck out her tongue, tipped her head, winked with all three left-side eyes, and bonked herself on the head with one little fist. Again, a couple of her legs involuntarily copied the motion of her arm. The resulting pose was very cheesy and somehow even more adorable.

“I’m Mara. It’s short for Maratussa, but I don’t like that name because it’s not very cute. Agent Will said I live here now.” One hand and two front legs pointed down the hall towards the front door. “I rang the bell a lot and waited at the door, but no one came. It was cold outside, so I broke in through that crappy plastic wall.” She smiled, showing a lot of very sharp teeth and reminding Yuisu of the arachne’s carnivorous diet. “I put the tape back up, but you should really get that fixed. Shady characters could walk right in.”