My eyes darted all over the place as I walked. My head staying as steady as I could to try and avoid looking weird all the while.

The way to school wasn't long, but despite that, the human part of me was bewildered by the sights presented to me, while the arachne part didn't see a single thing of interest due to it being so mundane to her.

I was getting such a strange feeling of disconnect somewhere.

(No, that's not right. It's the reverse.)

It took me a little bit to realize it, but the feeling was fading the more I looked at the things around me.

Things like how the sidewalks were far wider than what I was used to. Of course being an arachne I had quite the wide horizontal footprint, but the sidewalks were wide enough that even then two of us could walk side by side without any discomfort. And yet on occasion that wasn't enough when other monster girls who were even wider than me came the other way, I'd have to fold my legs a bit to let them by.

Then there was the weird variety of vehicles running along the road, shapes and sizes that were unimaginable for massed produced cars to be, just to accommodate the wide range of body shapes and sizes. Many were far larger than what I was used to seeing, yet there were also those that were far smaller. The little ones that would even dart in between the larger vehicles taking advantage of the extra space that the really big cars would create due to the size of their occupants.

There was the weird, shiny proceline protrusions that looked a bit like those green sewer pipes that a famous fictional plumber would ride down being placed at every block. And along with those, the sexy or cute girls that came out of or went into them with a splash of water wearing either tight clothes that conformed to their bodies or even just a bikini top while carrying a waterproof back on their back, all the while sporting various features of aquatic life.

Or the weird shape of the light poles above, how they had large cross bars that occasionally had avian monster girls perched on while others simply flew above everything. It even took me a while to realize why things above looked so weird to me beyond those perches. There weren't any power lines running across the light poles.

That fact was a given once you thought about the dangers of such things since so many people flew around, and explained why the light poles tended to be shorter than what I was familiar with along with being more sparse. Yet the lights themselves looked much more robust and powerful to make up for the difference.

Despite all that, and far more smaller details which initially caught my eye, somehow after ten minutes my eyes glazed over at how boring the sights had become.

Despite Ren riding on my abdomen, she was quietly enjoying her breakfast as she stretched out her leaves in the morning sun, so wasn't exactly in the mind to talk.

Over time, all around me was girls wearing the same blazer I and Ren were.

Of course, let alone humans, there wasn't a single man in sight anywhere as if they had gone extinct.

(Or rather, I had made them extinct I guess.)

But for some reason, I didn't feel bad about that. I mean, I preferred girls in the first place, so while I had become one, my preferences meant that I had twice as many people to admire. And that didn't take into consideration that everyone was so incredibly beautiful.

But seeing how pretty everyone was, I could understand how the arachne me wasn't so confident in her looks.

Though the human me still disagreed. This new me wasn't any less as pretty as anyone else, but when I told myself that, my heart wouldn't be moved by such words for some reason making me lose confidence in my own words.

(Maybe the other me is right. I thought I was really pretty, but looking at everyone else, maybe at best I'm average.)

My eyes fell to the ground as that depressing thought filled my head. Since my lower eyes were fixed in my body, even with my upper eyes blindfolded I could easily walk without bumping into anything. Though my rear eyes were completely blocked off by Ren.

All of a sudden, everything went dark.

At least to my upper eyes. But since I was mostly using my lower eyes to watch where I was going, I only got a little confused for a moment. But in that moment, something I couldn't ignore happened.

"Wah!"

A heavy weight pressed down on my shoulders, forcing me to stop moving. My legs struggled to handle the extra weight and my hearts, both the one in my chest and the one in my abdomen, felt like they were working overtime just to stop me from collapsing as my legs trembled from all the hydraulic pressure placed on them.

"Too...heavy...!"

Recognizing this pattern, I grabbed at the thin and scaly limbs that held onto my shoulders and tried to dislodge them. But with the sound of swooshing air and the rustle of feathers, the girl attached to those talons refused to lose her balance.

"How rude. If I was heavy, I wouldn't be able to fly."

I didn't care about something like that. What I did care about was being dive bombed by some stupid avian!

"M, Michiko! I think she means that the two of you is too much for her."

An incredibly cute voice came from behind. From the voice alone, the first image of the girl that came to mind was one of those small, timid yet really cute girls that showed up in a lot of anime. But as I recalled from my arachne side what the owner of the voice looked like, I felt a set of vibrations through the concrete below as a huge figure saddled up beside us.

While aside from my main two pairs of eyes, the other three sets had poor vision, it was still more than enough to see who it was that towered over me.

The girl who called out to the one standing on my shoulders was a deep blue set of plate armour with white trimmings, head mane and cape. If she had a sword and shield as well, she'd have looked like some sort of legendary knight.

But she was a living armour instead, and while she was beautiful for sure, it was in a completely different way from all the girls I had seen up until now.

A work of art, you could call her. In the sense that if she was really just some armour, she would belong in a museum as some sort of showpiece. Though despite the huge shoulders and thick limbs, there was a distinct femininity when it came to her overall figure.

The fact that she was standing holding her hands over her chest and spoke with such a cute voice ruined every attempt at any sort of majesty though.

(Or rather, how the hell does someone with such an imposing figure like some sort of mega valkyrie sound so cute?!)

"Oh, how foolish of me. Ren, why don't you ride on Botan the rest of the way while I take over steering Yuki?"

"Who...needs...steering...?!"

I didn't need to see to know the appearance of the one using me like some perch.

The owl mage Michiko. Despite how smart she was, she oddly liked to just screw around like this all the time. She was surprisingly similar to Ren in many ways, though a lot less overtly sexual.

Her appearance was quite animalistic at a glance, being covered in a thick layer of feathers with a pair of horn-like feathered tufts sticking out of the top of her head. Predominantly brown with white and black stripes forming intricate patterns, and those huge golden eyes, she definitely gave the image of an intellectual, and had the test scored to prove it. Yet somehow she chose to hang out with us rather than some honour students. Though maybe her weird personality had more to do with that than her test scores.

Frankly speaking, owl mages like Michiko wore less clothes than almost anyone else, with living armours being one of the few who beat her as her own body was practically a form of clothing. Owl mages' bulky feathers meant that there wasn't really anything showing under normal circumstances. So unlike the harpies, they had no worries about showing themselves off while flying overhead.

That didn't mean that they were entirely naked, as they did properly wear underwear, which in a sense could be said was better on them than arachne like me.

That being the case, being that we've been hanging out for years, I did know that owl mages were actually incredibly slender under those feathers. To the point that they almost felt like nothing but skin and bones underneath. Michiko didn't really weigh much. The real problem for me was Ren if anything. Her alone was getting close to my limit, so the weight of anyone, even someone as light as Michiko, pushed my past my limits.

"Sure. Pick me up Botan?"

"Oh, okay."

The self moving piece of armour grabbed Ren by her thickest roots and carefully lifted her up to her shoulders before the alraune wrapped them around the living armour's body and secured herself. I immediately felt better with so much weight taken off of me.

I stretched my legs out two at a time as I pulled the excess blood back away from my extremities.

"Umm, I can't see if you sit on me like that..."

"Oh right. Here, if I do this..."

"Wah! Don't take my head! It's making me dizzy!"

Ren dislodged the armour's helmet and put it on her own head, the visor partially raised so her face was visible.

"It's okay. If I put it on like this..."

"Uuuu. Stop wearing my head..."

Botan swayed back and forth, flailing her arms as she tried to maintain her balance.

"Woah. If you move like that I'll fall. How about this?"

"Hya?! Nooo! That feels weird. Aaaah! Don't go inside me!"

Several of Ren's roots poked their way through the opening where Botan's head was removed from.

But that embarrassed voice combined with how she was wiggling her body, even my cheeks felt pretty warm as I watched with my side eye.

On the other hand, the rest of my eyes could see how people were giving us weird looks as we made so much noise in public.

"We're going to be late if you keep that up!"

As my cheeks were now hot due to the embarrassment rather than before, I tried to get them to get a move on while leading the way.

"And you! How long are you going to cover my face?!"

I slapped the owl mage in the talon. But when it came to bare skin against scales, it was a given that I only hurt myself and was forced to give up that approach.

"Maybe a while. You make a great perch."

"I.Am.Not.A.Perch!"

I hit her in the bony legs again before waving my hand to ward off the resultant pain.

"Hmm...if I look up...maybe I can lick it?"

"Lick?! Nooo! Don't like me there! I don't want you to take my first kiss Ren!"

Botan ran off while flailing her arms, all the while Ren continued to harass the poor girl. Relying purely on my lower eyes, I followed the pair at a more leisurely pace.

(Look up to lick huh?)

Due to the perverted alraune's words, curiosity took over and I tried raising my head.

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, my eyes had gotten used to the darkness, and what little light filtered through Michiko's feathers allowed me to see surprisingly well. What greeted my eyes was what appeared to be black lace.

(This...this isn't an invitation or something, is it?)

Despite Ren's teasing and my movement, Michiko didn't make any attempt to hide herself.

(Maybe it's really okay to lick it? She's practically pushing it into my face already...)

The temptation was quite powerful, and it wasn't like anyone could see what I was doing, with my head engulfed in a thick layer of feathers.

I stuck my tongue out, curious as to how the owl mage would react.

"Hmm...it isn't very comfortable to drive while looking backwards."

All of the sudden bright light blasted my face as Michiko shifted on my shoulders and turned around, facing forward.

"What are you doing sticking your tongue out? There's nothing to lick there."

As my eyes adjusted, I saw the puffy girl leaning over and staring at me from above, her face looking small due to the thick plumage surrounding it.

"Pff."

When I quickly closed my mouth and looked away, my eyes shot back up when I heard that quick puff. There was a sneer on Michiko's lips.

"Y, you!"

"Me, what?"

As quick as it had appeared, the ill-natured grin disappeared and she looked at me with eyes filled with curiosity.

"...Nevermind."

She'd probably tease me if I said anything anyways.

Instead, I kicked off the concrete and hurried up to catch up with the noisy duo.

Just like usual, all in a typical weekday morning.

Soon, we were through the front gates of our local high school.

"See you in class."

"Kay. Bye."

"See you!"

"Later!"

Botan, with Ren still on her shoulders, ducked through the entrance and continued into the school while I stopped just shy of it.

The entrance was huge, especially when it came to height. It was to accommodate even the tallest of races. Ones like the cyclops were so tall that they would tower over even Michiko while perched on my shoulders.

Of course, that said, I was a bit confused.

(Why did she say bye when we were going to the same class?!)

Or rather, why did I naturally stop without going inside?

"Hey. We're going to be late if you don't hurry up. Or did you prefer to have Ren riding on you rather than me?"

"Anyone's better than you. How about you get off so I can cocoon you with my silk?"

"Wow, how scary. But I doubt you can do that when you can't even make a web."

"I can too!"

Her monotone voice was particularly annoying when she faked being scared like that. And besides, my silk was plenty strong. Even I could make a web. They just weren't as pretty as the ones made by a proper orb weaver.

Or rather, my webs looked like they were made by a spider after chugging a six pack of energy drinks. It wasn't something you can call usable even by flattery.

"...Hurry up. Let's go."

All of the sudden, while I was being a bit quiet, Michiko started to flap her wings and pulled me sideways.

"Wha, wha, wha?!"

"We're already at school. I don't want to be late."

"Why do you care so much? You're always late anyways!"

"If I'm going to be late, I wanna do it by sleeping in."

(What a lame ass reason!)

But it wasn't like I couldn't understand. Owl mages like her were nocturnal. It really was society that was wrong for making her take her classes during the day just because most people were diurnal. At least they were able to take night jobs once they graduated, but until then, it must have been tough on people like her.

Suppressing a sigh, I walked over to the wall beside the entrance.

(Right. This was why we were separating.)

Folding my legs then squeezing them both with my muscles and blood at the same time, the moment I relaxed my muscles I sprung my body up and towards the school's walls. Digging the claws on my legs into the rough surface as I landed, I tilted my body vertically while leaning my upper body forward and climbed up. Since these walls weren't designed to be used this way, it wasn't very easy to climb without help of my silk, but Michiko helped out by flapping her wings.

After a little distance, we entered our class through the large windows. Originally these windows were meant only for avians since many of them hated being forced to walk through the halls when they could just fly in through the windows, government policy on the subject was apparently changed after so many incidents involving concussions and broken glass, from what I heard.

But just because they were made this way for their sake, didn't mean that people like me couldn't use them.

Even if they said we weren't supposed to.

It was so much more convenient to just climb the walls rather than go through those damn stairs. Why should I not take advantage of something like that?

"Shiraigumo-san! You're not supposed to enter through the windows!"

"Huh?"

My head automatically turned towards the voice that almost screeched at me.

(Right. In this world, my name was Shiraigumo.)

It seemed like while my given name was the same, my family name had changed. Then again, nearly every name I knew had changed in this world. Without my arachne memories, I'd been quite screwed.

"Eh, what's the harm rep?"

Hopping through the window, I made my way to my desk. Michiko fluttered off of my shoulders finally and made her way to her own desk.

"It isn't about harm! It's improper!"

I looked over at the class rep using only my upper eyes. It wasn't worth the effort of turning my body to look at her with my main lower eyes.

There at the front of the class, stood a girl more than a head taller than me. She had short cropped black hair and thick glasses on her nose, but that didn't detract from how pretty she looked, even if she looked like a strict teacher in the making. She wore the same uniform as I was, but much more neatly than my half-assed attempt that didn't even button the front of the blazer all the way. But despite that, the bulge in the chest was clearly larger than my own. Probably a good two cups at least, as annoying as it was.

Below that, was a shining black carapace and her eight legs that shined as if they were polished with wax or something. Around her lower eyes, she wore a ring of lenses held tight like a belt.

The class rep, an arachne like myself. But she was an orb weaver, while I was a jumping. It was quite annoying when people didn't recognize the difference when they could do that with an owl mage against a harpy or something.

"It's not like it's against the rules. People like you are just too stingy about little things like that."

"The Avian Entryway Ordinance that the government set up was meant only for avian types! Not to be abused by people too lazy to use the stairs!"

"But it doesn't prohibit it either."

It wasn't like I was particularly good at school or something, but this was a law that in particular was useful to us arachnes so was good to memorize.

"Why don't you try it out for yourself? You might like it. Or are you orb weavers too good to climb anything but a web?"

"The spirit of the rules are just as important as the word, and the law specifies that it was meant for the sake of avians, nor arachne!"

"But how do you know that the spirit wasn't for all races who could take advantage of this change? Did you go and actually check the original hearings when the law was proposed?"

"Hearings like that were before they were recorded by machine. I doubt she actually read the transcripts since you need permission to access them, even though they are public records."

A little surprising, but Michiko backed me up on that front. Usually she used that insane knowledge of hers against me, but it felt good when she used it for my benefit.

"So? Do you have any proof on that, or are you just guessing what the intent was?"

"Erk!"

"How sad. The venerable class rep going so low as to abuse her power and accuse her fellow classmate without any shred of evidence. Is this what democracy has come to?"

"Uuu..."

But before I could rub more salt into her wounds, the school chime rang out, saving her from getting her pride torn to even smaller pieces.

At some point Ren and Botan had entered the class and were already sitting at their own desks, and soon the teacher came in and class started.