"That was a good session!"

"Yeah, I didn't know there were so many different ways to defend yourself from one attack."

Hiyoko rolled her eyes as Mahiru and Chiaki talked while heading down the street from the latest class. Mahiru had ended up signing up as well so she could learn alongside Chiaki. Tenko had a little trouble balancing between the two of them, but she seemed happy to do so all the same. Sure, it was also an excuse for Mahiru to hang out with Chiaki more, but that was a win-win.

Chiaki still, of course, had her hands plastered over herself as the trio walked down the streets, and even Hiyoko was beginning to warm up to Chiaki with how often they were spending time together, thanks to Mahiru. Chiaki still got stares, but every day it got a little bit easier to ignore them.

However, as she passed by a storefront, she happened to peek in and see a TV screen hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't the screen that caught her attention though…it was what was on it. Chiaki stopped dead in her tracks, and once Mahiru and Hiyoko realized she had, they too stopped and turned to her. "Chiaki? What's up?" Hiyoko asked. Without answering, Chiaki charged into the store and walked up to the TV. The teenage boy heading the counter looked up and prepared to say his usual, but he cut himself off at the sight of a somewhat bubbly bare ass in front of him, his eyes going wide. Mahiru and Hiyoko followed after her.

"What are you doing?" Mahiru asked before she too looked up at the screen and gasped. What was on the screen was a picture of Chiaki…completely naked and uncensored. Chiaki's cheeks became inflamed as she could tell that someone had snuck a picture from outside the dojo. She had suspected it would happen considering it was one of the few times she left herself uncovered, but she was shocked that they were showing it completely uncensored. Was it because she was legally allowed to be naked anyway?

The reporter was discussing the general gist of her plight, how she was allowed to be naked because of a government project, though she didn't go into specifics. She also talked about how if she is seen, not to report her, as the police are already aware of her status. Chiaki gritted her teeth as she stared at her exposed breasts, breasts that possibly thousands of people were now looking at on their TV screens.

"Is that allowed?" Mahiru asked.

"Maybe because she's already supposed to be naked?" Hiyoko reflected the gamer's thoughts. Chiaki frowned. If she was going to be going through something like this, she NEEDED to find out what the program was actually for.

Just then, Mahiru jumped as she looked at her bag. She opened it up and fished around, pulling out a phone. "It's for you," Mahiru said as she handed it over. Chiaki, at least for the moment, wasn't even allowed to have a bag (likely because she could use it to cover herself up effectively), so she gave Mahiru her phone to carry around until she came up with a better solution. Chiaki looked at the screen to see it was a call from her mom, which made all the blood drain from her face.

"Crap," she said quietly. She'd completely forgotten to warn her parents about the program, partially out of fear of saying 'yeah I have to be naked at all times'. She gulped as, while the boy frantically took pictures of the girl's bare ass, despite Hiyoko's death glare, she answered the call. "H-Hello?"

"WHY ARE YOU NAKED ON TV?!" her mom screamed so loud she had to pull the phone away a bit. Chiaki brought it back up and quickly explained the situation, but her mom was still furious.

"Why didn't you say no?!"

"I-I couldn't! I was threatened with expulsion…"

"That's bullshit! We should sue!"

"No! Mom! Please…" she begged. At this point, she didn't want to make the whole thing pointless, and her constant nudity and embarrassment for naught. "Please calm down…it's fine, okay?"

"No! It's not! What will this do to your reputation?! Your job prospects?! Not to mention millions of people are never going to see you as anything but a sex object!" Chiaki bit her lip. Her mom did have a point, but she couldn't back down.

"Mom, it's going to be alright, I promise," she assured her. She could hear her mom pacing. "Look, it's a government-mandated program, so I doubt that any actual companies are going to hold it against me once I'm actually looking for a job." To be honest, she didn't like thinking about what she'd do for a career. She'd rather focus on playing video games and actually completing schoolwork, but she tried to calm her mom down nonetheless. "And even then, I'm going to be a Hope's Peak graduate. I'm basically guaranteed to get something big, right?"

"You should still be worried!" Her mom cried, though it was clear she was calming down a little at Chiaki's words.

"I mean…I am a little, of course, but I think it's going to be alright. Just…calm down, okay?" She could hear her mom pause, and take a deep breath.

"Are you…sure you're okay? No one had tried to-"

"Th-They have, but my friends helped me. And that's why I'm currently taking self-defense classes!" Chiaki informed her. Her mother sighed.

"You really shouldn't have to be taking those kinds of classes…" she said quietly. "Whatever. I'm just glad you're safe. And that you're making good friends." Chiaki looked over at Mahiru and smiled. Mahiru blushed and gave a small smile in response.

"Yeah," Chiaki said and looked back at the TV. She was now gone as the news moved on. "Looks like they're done with me."

"Right." Her mother let out another sigh. "Be careful, alright? That's…that's all I'm asking for if you don't have a choice in this."

"I will," Chiaki promised. she swore she heard her mother smile.

"Alright, then. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye!" And with that, her mom hung up, and Chiaki handed her phone back. She was thankful no one had come into the store to see her while she'd been uncovered, not that it mattered as much now. Despite the fact she'd just been shown completely nude on TV, she still felt the need to resume covering herself.

"Who was that?" Mahiru asked.

"My mom. She wasn't happy about me being naked on TV but I got her to calm down." Chiaki explained.

"I mean, I think anyone would freak out seeing their kid's boobs on TV," Hiyoko said, having been glaring at the boy taking pictures almost the entire time Chiaki had been talking.

"Right," Chiaki said as she took a deep breath. "Let's go."

"Alright," Mahiru said as Chiaki quickly walked out of the store, leaving the horny boy behind as Chiaki strode with purpose, something both girls noticed.

"Why're you walking so fast?" Hiyoko asked.

"Y-Yeah, do you have somewhere to be?" Mahiru added, watching as Chiaki's chest jiggled in her arm.

"I need to talk to the headmaster," Chiaki answered.

"Huh? Why?" Hiyoko asked. Chiaki's eyes narrowed.

"I need to find out why I'm doing this."

"Miss Nanami-"

"No! I deserve to know what stupid program is forcing me to do this!" Chiaki cried as she slammed her hand onto the desk, before quickly moving it back between her legs. Despite the headmaster not even giving her a glance, she wanted to keep herself covered out of her own remaining modesty.

"Miss Nanami, I promise you, there is a valid reason-"

"THEN TELL ME!" the gamer screamed as she stared into Jin's eyes. He stared back, seemingly thinking it over. He let out a sigh.

"You really wish to know?" he asked, and she nodded fervently.

"I deserve to." she added. He nodded back and spoke.

"The government…wishes to put a public nudity law into place." He said, pausing for effect, to which Chiaki blinked. "You are their…test subject. A test to see if such a law is possible. Of course, indecent acts would still be against the law, but simply showing more skin than usual, even to the degree of total nudity, would be allowed." With that, he stopped. Chiaki waited for the rest, but when it was clear there wasn't anything else, she frowned.

"That…that's it?" she asked, and he nodded. "The whole point of me being naked 24/7 and being constantly embarrassed…is to test a public nudity law?"

"Well, that's-"

"Dumb. Pointless." Chiaki said in frustration, so much so that she almost raised her arms to convey it. "All of this, just for that?!"

"Miss Nanami, I assure you this is a good cause-"

"PLEASE!" she cried. "Even if that kind of law is passed, I doubt there's gonna be a lot of people who even WANT to do it! And yet I have to deal with this for three years?!"

"Not if the program fails," he said. "Though if it does because of your purposeful actions, ie, you sabotaging it, I would expel you."

"THAT'S SO STUPID!" Chiaki cried. Even in her anger, she didn't want to curse at the headmaster. "Ugh!"

"Miss Nanami, I'm truly sorry, but this is just what I was told to do. I'm not really in much control of this either," he assured her. "They specifically chose you to be the person to do this, or at least to be the first-"

"First?!"

"-so that is what I was forced to do."

"Wait wait wait." she stopped him. "What do you mean 'first'?" Jin seemed to bite his lip.

"They are considering…more participants, though these would be voluntary." He could see her growing more and more frustrated. "Though yours would still be mandatory."

"Why me?!"

"I swear to you, I don't know, nor did I have a choice in the matter." he said softly. "Our funding would have been cut if I had said no, and I can't do that to all the students that come here every year. It would jeopardize the futures of hundreds of students."

"So you'll trade my humility for their future?" she asked, and Jin sighed.

"Sadly, I have to." he answered. Chiaki stared at him, but could find no evidence of a lie. He really seemed to be sorry that she had to go through this. Thinking about it rationally, it made sense. Sacrificing one student's pride and humility in order to keep cultivating the future of hundreds of others. It was a choice she herself would make…but she was still unhappy about it.

"Whatever." she finally said, and turned to leave. "I don't really have a choice, but this whole program is stupid." She knew she was repeating herself, but she wanted to reiterate one more time before she finally stormed out, leaving Jin to reflect on everything, and sigh.

Chiaki wasn't really sure where she was going, she was simply walking, stewing in her anger, though even then, it was slowly fading. She usually wasn't one to stay super angry for long. Once she had calmed down enough to actually think about what she was doing, she realized she was standing outside. There weren't any students around as far as she could see, so she simply sighed and resigned herself to head back to her dorm. She could tell Mahiru and Hiyoko about what she'd learned tomorrow.

Yet as she was about to head inside, she was suddenly grabbed and dragged around to the side of the school. Before she could call out, she was thrown against the wall, and a hand covered her mouth. She went wide-eyed as she found herself staring at a boy she didn't recognize, but was clearly a student. He eyed her with a mixture of anger and lust, his eye dark and bruised.

"There you are." he said, his voice low. "Don't know why she stood up for you when she doesn't even know you." The gamer gave him an inquisitive, if fearful, look. "The Ultimate Lifeguard. She punched me in front of everyone for what I did to you in the pool." Chiaki's eyes went wide. He was one of the people who'd touched her. She thrashed in his grasp but he pushed against her even more. "Well, if I had to get a black eye because of you, might as well make it worth it." As he said that, he grabbed the arm covering her groin and attempted to peel it away from her as he leaned in to kiss her neck. Her eyes narrowed as she gave herself a single second to calm her breathing as much as she could.

Then she struck.

She whipped her wrist around to grab onto his arm instead, and bent his wrist back as far as she could manage as quickly as possible. He cried out as she thrust her head out, connecting the hand covering her mouth with his nose. He cried out a second time as she reached up, and grabbed that hand. She whipped herself around so she was facing away from him, finally being able to get away from the wall. She thought about what Tenko had told her as she slung his arm over her shoulder, bent her knees, and leaned forward. Startled, the boy wasn't able to react fast enough as she lifted her hips and tossed the boy's entire body over her, his own weight carrying his momentum as he crashed into the ground. He howled as his back hit the dirt, and as soon as she let go of him, Chiaki took off back towards her dorm, panting at the amount of strength that took. The boy lay on the ground groaning and twisting, his back aching.

All while three figures watched from a distance.

"I told you she had it taken care of." Mahiru said.

"I…I can't believe it." Hajime said, clearly impressed. "She actually did it, but…how?"

"Apparently it's easy if you just do it right." Hiyoko informed him. "Even when they're stronger and heavier, though obviously there's a limit."

"And Chiaki looked really tired after doing it." Mahiru smiled. "But she did it."

"She did. I feel bad about just watching, though."

"We would've stepped in if something had actually happened but…I believed in her," Mahiru said, "and I was right to."

"Yeah." Hajime said. The three paused as they watched the boy slowly get to his feet, and lean against the wall for support. "I still wanna beat him up though."

"As long as we report him afterwards." Mahiru said.

"Deal."

"Agreed." Hiyoko added as she cracked her knuckles, and the three descended upon the boy to give him the third beating of that day.