"Aya—What the hell are you doing?!"

A masculine voice pierced through the dense atmosphere, yet it sounded protective. He had only met the girl just a few minutes ago, and he had grown attached to her.

"Whattt?? Whatchu worried about?”

The tiny girl whined with a playful, and carefree tone. Compared to the absolute behemoth next to her, she looked like a fragile toy. The eight-legged spider completely obstructed one side of the tunnel.

"Hey... This ain’t no game, can you back away from it?— Slowly." He urged, growing impatient.

"Stop whispering! I can’t hear you properly, mister.”

She turned towards him, exposing her back to the creature. Its glowing red eyes fixated on the boy, as if telling him not to move.

The spider’s tentacle-like limbs slowly slithered toward the girl, threatening to grab her small frame. Haruki watched in horror while she was utterly clueless, he needs to act now before it was too late.

"Aya! Get your ass over here now!"

He shouted, causing spittle to explode out of his mouth. He dropped to his knee’s with open arms, so that when she runs toward him, he can scoop her up and run for their lives.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Oh, that’s right, you’re human. Just calm down and let me explainnn!”

"What are you even saying?! Are you stupid? It’s about to grab you! Do you even have any survival instincts?!"

"A 'survival instinct?’ What’s that? Anyway, you probably offended it! Hmpff!"

She crossed her arms and pouted at him, Haruki couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only was she refusing his help, but she was also blaming him for the situation.

Before he could respond, the spider’s limbs had wrapped around the girl tightly. She let out a small yelp as it lifted her off the ground with ease. Afterwards, the giant arachnid retreated to the opposite direction of the tunnel. Imprisoning the girl in it’s grip.

“I-I told you! Now you made it mad!” The girl cried out.

“Tsk.” Haruki instinctively got to his feet and began following the spider. As it increased its pace, so did he.

“Don’t worry I’ve got you, Aya! I promise!”

Despite having met Aya just a couple minutes ago, he was willing to risk his life to save her.

The target he was pursuing in the dungeon abruptly made a turn, leading to a dead end. However, it extended its long limbs and began scaling the walls. Attaching itself to the sides of the concrete walls.

He looked up and realized the tunnel didn’t really end. Rather, it changed direction. There was a connecting tunnel that extended upward to the surface.

“How the hell am I suppose to...?”

He muttered to himself, watching the spider climb higher with Aya still in it’s grasp. He didn’t know what to do next. Grinding his teeth, he was furious at himself for being so utterly useless. If only he had acted faster, he might have prevented this.

“Damn... If... if I had—had I just—”

Then, his eyes noticed something. Stones of various shapes and sizes sticking out of the rocky walls. They acted as stepping stones, and there was an abundant of them.

“No way... Not doing that. Why would I? I’ve already tried everything I could... There’s no way I’m gonna...”

He tried to look away, but the weight of guilt wouldn’t let him. Slowly, he began walking back in the direction he came from.

“Yeah, after all, I just met her not even an hour ago... There’s no need for me to go this far—”

He sighed deeply.

“But, she’s so young.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“Aya-chan! Where are you?”

He shouted. Though his voice was weak and out of breath, with sweat dripping from his forehead uncontrollably. Nonetheless, his voice still echoed throughout the forest.

“I can’t believe I did that... Why?”

His legs trembled with each step, threatening to give in any second. His legs was covered in bruises and dirt. He clenched his fists tightly, but his efforts in suppressing the pain was futile.

“Can’t feel my legs no more... That was a stupid idea.”

He thought to himself. Then, he shook his head and remembered what he was here for.

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“That’s right... Aya. That dumb girl... I can’t let her get hurt.” He promised to himself.

The underground dungeon from earlier extended far beyond the house. Now, on the surface, Haruki was wandering through a forest instead of the large wooden home. He followed a trail of massive footprints left behind by the creature, using them as a guide.

Each step was unbelievably difficult, and even he was surprised he hadn’t collapsed yet. Fortunately, he came across another clearing in the forest.

There, he spotted the same spider from before. It was holding something he couldn’t make out of in its limbs.

“Is that you?! Aya!”

Haruki poured his remaining energy to call out to that something. He didn’t care about anything else, his only concern was the girl.

“You. Stay right there, or you won’t like what I’ll do next.”

A different girl responded, and it wasn’t Aya’s.

She stood in front of the spider, yet it didn’t try to attack her. She eyed down Haruki with her blue sapphire eyes, and her brown hair flew with the wind.

She began walking towards him, and he surprisingly just stood still.

“That girl... Hold on, she’s too familiar—”

He said to himself. Her body features, it sparked something in his memory.

“Brown hair... Blue eyes... Wait a minute—”

“Katsumi-san, don’t hurt him! He’s my friend! He’s not a bad person, I swear!”

Unexpectedly, a squeaky voice suddenly interrupted the two. It caused Katsumi to stop, and to look back behind. Thankfully, the behemoth released Aya from it’s grip.

“Hm? I don’t believe this human can be labeled as ‘nice.” Especially after he abandoned me when all I did was ask for his help.”

Her tone was monotone and sounded emotionless, it probably had the power to bring anyone to depression. Yet, Haruki was focused thinking about something else.

“Ask for help... Were you that girl from the streets earlier?”

It all made sense. Her hair, eyes, and even her story. Sadly, the girl wasn’t too trilled to see him again.

“So, you remember me, huh?” She said, her gaze focused on him. “This time, I won’t let you get away.”

Her posture stayed tense, ready to act if he ever tries to resist. She raised her hands up and snapped her fingers.

“I’ll be the last thing you’ll see.”

That gesture was like a command. It caused hundreds to thousands of spiders to reveal themselves, from the soil, tree’s, bushes, and elsewhere. They all gathered in the clearing, surrounding Haruki.

The creatures came in all sorts of sizes, colors, and markings. From tiny yellowish Oonopidae spiders to the enormous Goliath Birdeaters. The exhausted teen didn’t even try to move, even if he did there was no way he could take them all on. He could only stare at them hopelessly.

“Would you like them to engulf you alive? Or would you like me to finish you off.”

“Please listen to me, Katsumi-san! Leave him alone he did nothing!” Aya pleads.

“Ugh.” As much as she hated it, she reluctantly ordered her minions to burrow back into the soil. She stomped her feet on the ground furiously.

“I hate it when you use that... It’s so unfair... So unfair... It’s so damn stupid...”

She mumbled underneath her breath, her anger caused her voice to grow louder. Hearing this, something clicked inside Haruki’s head.

“Unfair? What does she mean by that.”

“Katsumi is definitely a Jorōgumo... And Aya, she’s been acting weird too. She’s gotta have some sort of power too.”

He contemplated, recalling how Aya calls him ‘human.’

“She’s got no power here. Katsumi could easily overpower both of us. So why did she listen to Aya?”

Haruki concentrated, struggling to come up with a conclusion. Then, Aya spoke up and broke the silence.

“Katsumi-san, please calm down...” She clasped her hands together, as if she was praying, and looked at both of them worryingly.

For some reason, the Jorōgumo girl immediately relaxed herself. her facial expression softened, and suddenly turned to that of a sweet looking girl. Just like when Haruki first met her back on the streets.

“My bad... But it still doesn’t change the fact that he purposely left me.”

“Please forget about that.” She said almost simultaneously.

“About what? What was I talking about again? Hmm... well, if I forgot, it’s probably not that important.” Katsumi dismissed the matter.

This conversation gave the final piece to the puzzle, it was obvious now. Aya can order anyone around without any resistance. His eyes widened at the possible implications, he imagined what she can do with such power.

“Holy shit.” He wanted to scream it out loud.

The Jorōgumo girl looked back at him strangely, he displayed a weird expression which got her intrigued.

“Is something wrong? Gabriel, right?”

“No. I was using a fake name that time. Just call me, Haruki.”

He was too focused on surviving. But, he’d been interacting with supernatural beings all this time. Completely by accident, and all because he took his dog for a walk.

All of a sudden, Katsumi looked alarmed and shut her eyes close. Her face dead serious, and it looked like she was communicating with another being.

“I see... Aya-chan, we need to leave this place now. My little assistants have detected humans nearby.”

“But what about Haruki?” Aya asked, she looked at him with concern. “You’ll be fine, right Haruki-san?”

“Ah, I’ll just bring him back to his home. I can send him a transport.”

Haruki didn’t like where this was going, so he slowly backed away. “My job here is done, I gotta dip...” He told them casually. But before he could get away, a long, familiar black limb extended behind him. It wrapped around his waist and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.

He panicked and started squirming vigorously to break free, but it was pointless. His strength was no match for the raw power of the spider.

“Haruki-san! You can trust her, she’s not a bad person!” Aya assured him gently.

“You swear? I’m not really into spiders, but, you know what? Kasutmi or whatever, this one’s actually kinda cute. Hahah...”

Surprisingly, the creatures grip was gentle, almost as if it was trying not to crush him. Maybe this was the effects of Aya ordering Katsumi to calm down, which prompted her to relax her minions too.

The tiny girl nods happily. “I trust Katsumi as much as you! I swear she’ll get you back home safely.”

“That’s... Good to here...”

Distant sirens suddenly can be heard which grew closer, Haruki was relieved but the girls weren’t so much.

“I told you, we need to run! We can’t be seen by anyone, no matter what!” .

“Oops, sorry onee-san.”

“Well, next time, don’t do it again. Okay, Aya-chan?” Katsumi said sweetly, moving close to pat her head. She was a completely different person now.

While the two girls were busy talking, the sirens grew even louder. Then, the flashing red and blue lights pierced through the shadows of the rainforest. Although, it was still morning.

“Now! We can’t waste anymore time!” She announced.

The girls scattered hastily, leaving Haruki with the spider, stuck in its grip. The behemoth began to crawl deeper into the woods, taking him along.

Separated from the two, it caused Haruki to feel more anxious of his new companion. Nonetheless, he chose to trust the girls and hope this spider will take him back home— alive.

It appears that the police had finally responded to his call earlier. Right when he didn’t need them anymore, but he had more problems to worry about. Like how he’ll explain the situation to the cops.

He was pondering what to do next. When out of nowhere, he heard a bark. It was something he’d heard many times, and this one— Was definitely his dog’s, Ken.