Into the Silk
"G-Get your hand off right now...?!"
This time it wasn't an accident—my hand had deliberately slid beneath her heavy rear. She reached back toward me in a panic, but her flailing arms couldn't possibly reach that far.
"It must be very uncomfortable, isn't it? I didn't even realize and asked you to cook for me..."
"N-No, it's fine...! Just... take your hand off my butt...?"
Just below her rear, the smoother, less rigid plating along her abdomen caught my eye. A seam ran between the plates, the same one I'd noticed earlier. Without hesitation I shifted my hand there, and her voice cut off as if someone had hit pause.
"...Would you open it for me?"
I'd meant to press the advantage while she was flustered, but she simply stared at me blankly for a moment before whipping her head forward and hiding her face.
"...Your word choice..."
"Ah."
I realized the problem. I hadn't been considerate of how a woman might feel hearing that phrasing. She had already said she would have to open it herself, and I couldn't think of a better way to put it at the moment.
"Then... spread it... no, wait—"
That sounded even worse.
"...Could you relax it for me?"
"..."
...Right. After "open it" and "spread it," now "relax it." All three sounded like lines straight out of a bedroom. Even I was starting to feel less calm.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any experience with this, so I don't know how to phrase it properly..."
"Mmm... that's it, huh? Yeah, I get it..."
She understood that there was no polite way to ask someone to widen the entrance enough for an entire arm to fit inside her body. Still, my face burned.
"...It's really okay. Maybe we should just ask someone else?"
"Am I not able to help you, Arachne?"
"No...! That's not it. Ugh... it's embarrassing, that's all."
One thing was certain: whatever this "silk gland" was, it wasn't her actual reproductive organ or anything like that. Depending on how she perceived the hole that produced her thread, my request might have come across as extremely rude. If someone stuck a finger down my throat to remove a fish bone, I'd feel uncomfortable unless it was a doctor or family member. And here it was an entire arm...
If only I could figure out exactly why she was embarrassed. Maybe if I guessed wrong on purpose, she'd correct me and reveal the real reason in her mind?
"Is it because you don't want me touching the unladylike parts of you, or—"
She flinched.
Huh. Why did she suddenly go rigid again? Wait... did I hit the mark?
"...Of course I don't."
"...What?"
"It's already hard enough just trying to show you my good side. If I let you touch this disgusting spider lower half... as a woman, that would be the end of it."
So that was it. She was worried I'd be disappointed. Yet the way she said it almost sounded like...
"If it were you... would you show your complex to a woman you care about? Especially let her touch it?"
"A woman you care about?"
"...Ah."
She had turned her face away, so I couldn't see her expression, but the tips of her ears peeking through her light-gray hair had turned bright red.
"That... is exactly what you said, Arachne."
"..."
After going in circles, we'd reached another impasse.
"...Sorry. If it made you uncomfortable, I'll apologize. You're the first man who's ever treated me like a normal woman... so I must have gotten desperate."
"Why are you apologizing? It's natural for anyone to develop feelings for someone."
"You... No, thank you for saying that."
'But still... no man would actually be happy if someone like me showed interest...'
I hadn't expected this at all, but the timing made it awkward. Before I knew it, I was continuing the conversation while glossing over her accidental confession.
'The counselor is only being nice because of his soft personality. He can't reject me outright. I'm just selfishly relying on that kindness. I'm nothing but a burden...'
Hearing her inner muttering, I finally couldn't hold back.
"...It's not a burden. It could never be a burden."
"H-Huh?"
'Why?'
I'd already started, so I had to finish.
"Whether as a friend or as someone of the opposite sex, if someone likes you, how could that ever feel like a burden?"
"B-But...?"
"Like I said earlier, I know all the wonderful things about you, Arachne. That's why I said I like you, remember?"
I wasn't the type to lock someone away forever, nor did I demand she satisfy some twisted fetish every day, nor had I ever taken advantage of her while she was unconscious. Compared to the things I'd been through, her quiet affection was nothing burdensome at all.
"Besides... I don't think hiding a complex solves anything."
She couldn't hide her massive lower body anyway. But letting someone actually touch the hard plating, or even put an arm inside—that was a line she couldn't cross. That was why even a light touch on her abdomen had made her so flustered.
"I understand you'd worry about how the other person would react. But if you keep hiding it forever, you won't be able to relax even when you're with someone you like."
"I-I never said I like you..."
"Ah... right. You said you 'care about' me."
Honestly, "care about" felt more loaded than "like," but she seemed dizzy from me repeating the word and wanted to escape the unfamiliar embarrassment somehow. Thanks to that, my reply to her inner voice might slip by unnoticed.
"So this might be part of the process too—me understanding you better and getting closer to you."
"...Fine, fine. Just... give me a second..."
She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and cheeks, as if checking for a fever. How could someone this shy ever eat a person...?
"Take your time."
Silence stretched between us, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Her inner voice was so loud it filled the space, and we both needed time to prepare ourselves. The responsibility weighed on me—if I showed even the slightest disgust, it would hurt her deeply.
"...Then I'll let you in."
"...Ahem. Okay."
After another long pause, she'd finally chosen the phrasing "let you in." No matter how she worded it, it still sounded suggestive.
Then, after a little more time passed—
Crack...
The surrounding plates slowly parted outward like jaws opening. They looked solid, yet the sight was strangely alien to me.
"...Gulp."
The inside was dark and faintly damp. The opening was just barely wide enough for an arm. If she panicked and closed it, my arm could be severed. I had to be extremely careful.
"...I'd like to say 'be gentle,' but you'll probably need to use some force."
"Understood..."
I rolled my sleeve up as high as it would go, quickly sterilized my hand with Undine's help, and finally pushed it inside her.
Schlick... squelch...
It was a tight fit. To think I'd ever experience something like this... The thought of having my arm inside a spider's body made me shudder despite myself. I gritted my teeth and endured it.
"Hoo..."
My wrist was in. The outside was hard as stone, but the inside was... surprisingly soft. Sticky threads clung to the passage, making everything feel tacky and viscous. It was like plunging my arm into thick, stretchy glue. Not exactly wet, but incredibly strange.
"Nngh..."
She was trying to endure the unfamiliar sensation. I remembered how she usually spoke—cool and slightly commanding when she called me "Chef," or soft when she relaxed—and compared it to the thin, trembling moans escaping her now.
I had no idea how deep I needed to go to find the blockage. As I groped along the inner walls, more soft whimpers slipped out of her.
"...Hng, ah...!"
It sounded far too erotic. Was I imagining it?
"Arachne...?"
"I'm fine, I'm... I'm fiiine...?"
Thrust...!
I pushed harder, forcing my forearm past the tight entrance. The sudden stimulation made her voice crack, and the opening clamped down around me.
"...!"
The pressure startled me, but it wasn't painful—just a firm grip, as if someone had grabbed my arm tightly. She was consciously keeping it from closing completely. Surprisingly, the sensation was almost pleasant in its snugness. The plating around this area was especially soft and flexible.
"S-Sorry... If you go a little deeper, you should be able to find it..."
"No... that actually felt good."
"Huh...?"
"N-No, I mean—it didn't hurt!"
I covered my slip by pushing deeper, and soon felt the blockage she'd mentioned. My fingertips met something solid, like a wall.
"Ah... Is it around here?"
"Hng... y-yes... that's it..."
...Finally. Here it was. A dense knot of thread blocking the passage like a sturdy rope. My arm was already in up to the shoulder. Any deeper and I'd just be stirring around uselessly inside her.
"Nngh... hng..."
I found a gap between the threads with my fingers and gave an experimental tug. Her uncomfortable moan immediately followed. It was incredibly strong—no ordinary force would budge it. Using Undine's ability to dissolve it was risky; if I unconsciously rejected any part of her body, the power might dissolve something I didn't intend. Especially not while my arm was buried this deep inside her damp, sticky passage, with nothing but her massive spider body in front of me. The instinctive revulsion was hard to suppress.
Strangely, her soft, embarrassed moans were helping ease that feeling.
"I'll pull a little harder, okay?"
"Mmm... hngh. Please..."
Her silk was strong enough to support her entire body weight from a single strand. Normally she could control its strength and viscosity perfectly, but the stress she'd been under must have weakened this particular knot. That was working in our favor now.
When I put real strength into pulling, I felt the mass shift and tremble.
"It's starting to come out. Just hold on a little longer."
"Nngh... hng... ah...?"
But it wasn't moving as much as I'd hoped. I needed to change my angle.
"Excuse me—I'm going to use my other hand."
"Hngh...?"
Still gripping the knot inside, I leaned back and pressed my free hand against her outer plating for leverage. She let out a startled sound, but there was nothing she could do. I put my full body weight into it, aligning the force with my arm's angle.
Slowly, the knot began to give.
"Nnnngh..."
"Ugh...!"
It caught on other sticky threads on the way out, slowing the progress, but it was definitely moving.
"W-Wait...! Just a second... ah...?"
"Almost there. Just a little more...!"
Schluuuuurp...
Once enough of my arm was out, I moved my supporting hand onto the sticky mass and pulled with everything I had, using my body weight like a tug-of-war. The extra force made it slide faster.
"Hngh...!?"
Finally, the tangled clump of silk came free with a wet sound.
Pop...!
It was about the size of a melon. Before I could even admire it, a torrent of white, viscous fluid burst out and splattered across my face.
Splurt... splurt...!
"Wha—?!"
It must have been everything that had built up behind the blockage. The fresh, sticky spider silk was surprisingly warm. I knew because it had all landed directly on my fallen face.