Arachne's Bold Confession
The people who stand before me all react the same way. The moment our eyes meet, their bodies go rigid. Then they let out a loud scream and turn tail, fleeing back the way they came. It seems my appearance inspires fear in others, so I long ago gave up on interacting with anyone. My only form of entertainment became sifting through the various magazines that washed into the dark sewers along with the trash.
It was not a common occurrence, but after someone screamed and ran away, groups of people in uniform would soon visit the area. Knowing this, I had been careful not to expose myself. That day, however, was different.
Just like before, a large number of people wearing the same uniforms arrived. But their uniforms were unlike any I had seen, and more importantly, they carried dangerous-looking weapons in their hands. There were far more of them than usual, and their encirclement tightened until I was suddenly attacked in the tunnel. Small metal fragments flew at me with a sound like hammers shattering stone, and they were threatening enough to leave scratches on my tough lower-body carapace.
The only fortunate thing was that I managed to lure them deep into my hiding place. I had hidden there so I would not harm anyone else, but I also did not want to be harmed by others. So, just in case, I had prepared plenty of hidden spider webs.
They seemed to be having trouble advancing, so I was planning to wait for an opening and escape far away through the maze-like sewers… when I met her for the first time. She was the first person who looked at me and spoke without any sign of fear.
“Want me to tell you how to get close to the Counselor?”
Even though she had charged in, slicing through my tough, durable webs, she said she could not bring herself to hit such a pretty girl and tried to capture me with obvious ulterior motives. In the end, she was the one subdued by me… and now we can call each other friends.
“I still think we’re plenty close already.”
“Are you playing coy? You don’t have to do that in front of me.”
“I’m not playing coy…!”
She waggled her eyebrows suggestively as if she knew everything, and though it annoyed me, I could not bring myself to dislike her.
“First, you confess. Set the mood a little, and since you’re good at cooking, prepare something special like a secret recipe, okay?”
“Just confess, just like that…”
“If you get an okay right away, then you pounce on him.”
…?
“Pounce?”
“You’re a virgin, right? If you give it to him for the first time, someone with his personality definitely won’t be able to pretend it never happened.”
“Ah… uwaah…! What are you even saying?!”
But sometimes… I wonder if it was really a good idea to make her my friend.
“Why? At this point, both your face and personality are fine, aren’t they? You’re not my type, but I think you’d like that sincere kind of guy.”
“I… never said I disliked him.”
“Hehe, yeah. What’s the point of holding back? Besides, you’re curious, right? About this and that.”
The crude hand gesture she made to illustrate male-female relations matched her crude way of speaking, and honestly, it was a little off-putting. Yet the fact that I could not deny it and was even going along with her made me feel even more off-balance.
“Well, if you get an okay, it’s fine to take it a little slow. But what if you get rejected?”
I flinched. Just imagining rejection made me feel depressed, and my shoulders slumped. As if she had expected that reaction, Elise laughed brightly and offered another answer—though it was not much different from the previous one.
“It’s okay. If you get rejected, you can just pounce on him anyway.”
“??”
“That guy is just as much of a huge pervert as I am, so something like your spider body won’t bother him at all.”
So she was at least self-aware that she was a pervert. But was it really true? That he was a pervert on the same level as Elise? Honestly, I could not believe it, yet part of me hoped it was true.
“…Really?”
“Yeah, I guarantee it. And so what if it is? Your dark, night-sky-like color scheme and that hardness that even bounces bullets off… I think it’s really cool.”
“Ugh, that’s enough.”
She ran her hand over my back carapace as if to prove her words, but since it was my own body and not something I particularly liked, the compliment did not really reach me. If anything… it just made her seem even more like a pervert, which was a little unpleasant.
“By the way, watching the two of you together so far, I don’t really sense any romantic tension. This is dangerous. I can already picture him rejecting you by saying he still sees you more as a friend than a woman.”
“Th-then what should I do?”
“Don’t worry~ You’ve got me.”
Elise pulled her hand away from my back and placed it on my chest, squeezing and wiggling her fingers.
“…Why are you touching my chest?”
“No reason. It was just in a convenient spot.”
“Anyway… what should I do?”
Well, she had always been like this, so it was not strange, but the movement of her fingers was a little unpleasant… and sometimes I could feel a strangely sincere intent behind it. Usually it did not bother me much, but whenever I saw that smirking face of hers, I got the feeling I was being subjected to something bad.
“If you get rejected, you speak up first. Ask if it’s because of your appearance.”
“But the Counselor…”
“I know, I know. I’m just saying you should say that. Then what do you think he’ll answer?”
“He’ll say no… right? I hope he says no…”
I was already grateful that he saw me as a woman at all, but hoping he would not dislike the features of this body that even I found repulsive felt too unreasonable. Even though I believed in my heart that he would never dislike someone for that reason, I still felt anxious for no reason.
“He’ll definitely say no. Don’t worry. Anyway, the moment he says no, you have to pounce on him right away.”
And then, even though Elise had said the words I wanted to hear and reassured me… the conclusion still felt strange somehow.
“Why… why?!”
“Ask him if he really means it and tell him to prove it. That’s your chance.”
“…!”
That moment… was my chance?
“But you have to think carefully, okay? Once you pounce, you have to see it through to the end. If you stop halfway, you might even lose the friendship.”
“I… I don’t really know. How do I pounce on him?”
I was surprised by my own words. Even at the risk of losing even the friendship, I had already been thinking about pouncing on him. To think I would actually ask Elise directly how to do it… had my true feelings been hoping for this all along?
“First, you have to tie up his arms and legs tightly so he can’t run away. Then you say this: If you really see me as a woman regardless of my appearance… hehe, then get it up for me.”
G-get… get it up…
“G-get it up means… that, right?”
“What else would it mean? When a male gets excited by a female, his head fills with nothing but the desire to do it, and he immediately gets an erection. It’s the most certain proof. Of course, you’ll have to provide a little service too, like rubbing your chest against his face or something.”
Service…
“Do men… like women’s chests?”
“Of course. I like them too.”
“…Elise, you’re a woman. And you have much bigger ones than me.”
Even I thought she had an incredible figure. Despite being busy with work, she never skipped exercise, and… well, aside from that, those ample breasts that looked ready to burst out of her shirt and her perky hips, combined with her toned body, gave off a healthy allure.
“People are usually not that interested in their own. Though it might be different if you touched them. Hehe…”
Feeling there was no point in replying, I simply ignored her and looked down at my own relatively modest chest in comparison. Then a memory suddenly surfaced.
The Field Team Leader… she had a figure comparable to Elise’s. When she asked him if he would touch her chest, he answered immediately and affirmatively. But when I asked him the same question, for some reason he had hesitated.
“Does he prefer bigger breasts even if they’re the same chest…?”
“Usually, yeah? But he likes you for who you are too. Even if your chest is modest, the feeling of holding it in your hand is really exquisite.”
I wondered if it was really okay to offer myself based on something like that, but when Elise said it, she somehow sounded like an expert, so I felt convinced.
“I’ve touched them plenty, so I can guarantee it. You won’t get tired of them.”
“…You really are a pervert.”
In the end, I could not hold back and let my true feelings slip out. But if that was really the case…
*
I had no choice but to admit that the reason my limbs would not move was because of Miss Arachne’s spider webs. On one hand, I felt betrayed—I never expected this sincere Miss Arachne to pounce on me. Yet on the other hand, the rising anticipation was something I could not help as a man.
“…Miss Arachne… mmph.”
“I’m sorry. Please stay quiet for a moment. If you resent me… I think my resolve might weaken.”
I tried to calm her down by speaking, but when she quickly stuffed a ball of thread into my mouth, I had to acknowledge that no one could match her versatility. In truth, if I used my ability, I could convey my thoughts directly into her mind, so blocking my mouth was meaningless… but ignoring her effort would be rude, would it not?
“Don’t worry… I won’t hurt you. It’ll be over in a moment…”
“Mmph… ooh…”
She raised both hands as if to remove her only piece of clothing, but the moment our eyes met, she suddenly stopped.
“…As expected, I feel a little embarrassed being the only one undressing.”
“?”
“So then—”
Whoosh…!
Slash, slash…
True to her ability to do anything, all the clothes I was wearing were instantly sliced into several pieces and fell away, leaving everything below my neck completely exposed.
“…Sorry if that was a little rough?”
“…”
Even though the clothes that had been touching my skin were cut away, not a single scratch appeared on my body. It was amazing. Of course… realizing that my body could be diced up just as easily as those falling scraps of cloth at any moment, I found myself becoming strangely compliant even though I knew she would never do such a thing.
If even the Field Team Leader struggled against this binding, what could I possibly do…? I should just stay still. Besides… if I stopped her now in this situation, she would probably suffer far greater mental damage than I would. Rather, it seemed better to let her do as she wished for now.
It was absolutely not because I wanted to satisfy my own selfish desires.
“Th-this is… your… bare body.”
‘A toned body without any excess fat… It’s similar to mine but different… I should say it looks more solid. Something about it makes my heart race… Is this what it means to be manly?’
The most noticeable change after accepting the mini Undine into my body was this. My physique had become far better than when I had only worked hard and abused my body. Even now, I felt a little guilty toward people who diligently exercised and managed their diets, but I was grateful that I could show my body to others without much shame.
“Gulp…”
‘And… that… wow… waaah…’
She had been staring at my upper body for a long time without looking away. Seeming unable to bring herself to touch it, she wiggled her fingers in the air before unconsciously lowering her gaze. And following that… due to the side effects and aftereffects of the witch’s vitality potion, it was not yet erect, but my manhood, whose impressive size was still evident, shyly greeted her.
Showing my body was fine, but showing this side of me was still a little embarrassing.
“It… hasn’t gotten up yet, has it?”
“Mmph…? Mmmph…”
Of course not…! I tried to say, but then remembered my mouth was blocked.
“I was the one who asked you to prove it in the first place… so I’ll help you with that. So…”
“…?”
“You have to… get it up for me, okay?”
‘Otherwise… I’ll really be sad.’
Just hearing her timid request for me to get it up because of her made me flinch a little. But soon, just as promised, she let her own clothes fall away, and I found myself intensely focused on her figure.
Whoosh.
And then… oh… this was…