Moth In the Butterfly Estate

Chapter 2: Spider Pig

"What's going on Shinobu-Chan?" Aoi pries as she walks closer to the girl.

"Aoi, have any of the slayers infected with the spider venom reported memory loss?" She asks.

"No, but there are a few that haven't woken yet," Aoi explains.

"I see," Shinobu continues down the hall to her lab without another word.

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It's been three days since you've seen Kocho and four days since you've accepted that this is no longer just a dream. You sit in your bed counting on your stubby fingers and measuring their length against the bed frame.

The passing days are mundane. Aside from existential crisis and questioning your sanity, you only see Aoi. Not even the cute little trio have made an appearance or Kakushi even. The beds in your room have remained empty. You're still not permitted to leave the room either, so you essentially just lay around all day. This used to be a fantasy of yours but being in bed against your will is like torture.

You wriggle your toes, staring intently as you feel the peeling skin rub against each other. Sharp corners of the scaled skin catch in the space between your toes. They don't hurt so much anymore but they're definitely tender, especially around your nails. Speaking of which, they've gotten pretty narly, you'll be walking on the ceiling before you can walk off the bed. As the thought crosses your mind you look up to the ceiling only to lock eyes with a pig. A man's body attached to a boar head to be exact.

"Oh God," you exhale.

"Yes!" You hear a gruff voice answer.

You feel yourself weather away at his gruff yet enthusiastic voice. You shut your eyes, laying back down and turning to your side. You were bored but the rough and tough Inosuke is too much 'excitement' for you. He'll probably try to beat you up from how you remember him meeting with the other two protagonists. Reopening your eyes they cross as you rear back from the snout now at the front of your nose. Your head spins at the movement.

He doesn't say a thing, doesn't make a move but the nose of the mask twitches as a waft of hot rice passes through your nostrils. You eye the rice balls Aoi brought to your bedside. You silently and cautiously reach for the plate of food. Inosuke's head following along with the plate as you present it before him.

"Here," you urge, "please."

You flinch as the plate is suddenly snatched from your hands. Looking up from your palm you catch the figure of Inosuke crawling out the door frame back on the ceiling. You shuddered, it looked creepier in real life yet you couldn't help but admire his strength. He was much quieter than expected.

The same course of events continued for the following days but Inosuke was no longer crawling on the ceiling but the floor instead, still not uttering a word. It became like clockwork almost, until one day.

"What the hell happened to you?!" You look over in shock at the sound of his gruff voice.

"You look like Monitsu, it's pathetic!" He exclaims.

'Pathetic?' you confusedly look down at yourself. You didn't think you looked that bad and this guy's been crawling on the floor for rice balls!

You watch him scratch his shoulder after his questioning, looking back to his... or the boar's eyes? Eye?

"Well yes, it was the spider demon," you explain.

He's silent for a bit after your response, stiflingly so. You awkwardly gaze around the room, not sure what else to say.

"Eat it!" He suddenly snarls, smacking something squishy in your hand. His whole palm consuming your shrunken hand in a rough hold.

"You look pathetic so eat what the King of the Mountain gives you!" He orders before removing his hand from your palm to reveal what, you can only assume, was once a rice ball.