"Hiyah!"

Chiaki grabbed Tenko's arm and lunged for her, bringing her close at the same time her flattened hand went for her neck. It made contact, and as Tenko gasped, Chiaki swept around her, hooked her leg with her foot, and brought the girl to the ground, following after her and keeping her hand on her neck. Tenko appeared shocked for a moment before a beaming smile stretched across her face.

"Well done!!" she cried, and Chiaki glanced over at her friends to gauge their reactions. She was surprised to find them both blushing and looking away, Mahiru especially, though she kept glancing over at her. Chiaki wasn't sure why for a second before she realized that the position had left her almost bent at a 90 degree angle. She blushed as she straightened up and leapt away, though she fought the urge to cover up even as her face burned. Tenko leapt to her feet. "With moves like that, you'll be able to face down any degenerate male in no time!!" Chiaki frowned.

"Hey, Tenko?" Chiaki asked. "Why…do you hate men?" Her nostrils suddenly flared.

"Please, what isn't there to hate?!" she cried. "They're slobs, perverts, and mean!"

"What?" Chiaki asked. "N-No, I mean some are, but not all-"

"So!? One bad banana spoils the bunch!" Tenko said as she crossed her arms.

"That's not how it goes…" Hiyoko said.

"Tenko, what you just described, there are plenty of girls that fit those descriptions, too," Chiaki pointed out, and Tenko rolled her eyes.

"Well…men do it worse! Don't tell me you haven't had hundreds of guys slobbering as they look at you! Isn't that why you started in the first place?" she asked.

"Yes, but I get it from girls, too. This self-defense is to protect me from girls as well as guys." Tenko looked shocked.

"Wh-What self-respecting girl would dare touch someone like you like that?!" she demanded. Chiaki thought about the one upperclassmen that beat up the boys who messed with her. She was thankful she hadn't run into her, since with her reputation, Chiaki knew she would've been slobbering all over the gamer as well even if she probably wouldn't have done anything without permission. At least, she would hope.

"What about your Master?" Chiaki asked, and Tenko smiled.

"He was the one who told me about how men were evil and wicked, and how he's the true paragon of what a man should be!" she explained. "He's the only good man I've ever met!"

"And when did you meet the Master?"

"When I was young. I was taken to him to learn from him, and he's basically become a father figure for me!" Tenko answered with a smile.

"How often do you…go out?" Mahiru asked tentatively as she walked up.

"Not much. I try to avoid men as much as possible after all the stories my Master has told me. If he forces me to teach them, I will, but thankfully he seems keen to keep them away from me," she said as she crossed her arms again. The three other girls all looked at each other with a mixture of concern and surprise.

"Hey, Tenko…would you like to meet a friend of mine? He might…change your mind," Chiaki said slowly, and Tenko's eyes widened.

"You're friends with a guy?! Looking like that?! That's—!"

"I trust him," she said quickly and with conviction. "He's actually the one I…I showed myself to in order to practice for when I trained with you," Her face flushed deep at the memory, at asking him to look at her. "I trust him more than anybody else…I think." Tenko couldn't seem to believe this, as she seemingly scanned Chiaki's face, looking for a lie.

"That seems…weird. Who is he?" she asked.

"A student at Hope's Peak, though he's part of the Reserve Course. We became friends through playing video games together, and we meet often after school." She couldn't help but smile as she thought of him. "He's really nice and cool, and he's been super supportive and kind ever since the program started. It's why I used him to practice being n-naked uncovered in front of you." Tenko stared for a while, long enough that Chiaki felt the blush on her face deepen.

"Fine. But if I see one hint of degeneracy, I'm flipping him over a table," Tenko said, and Chiaki felt like bouncing on her feet, though she didn't, aware of how her naked body would react to that.

"Great! I'll call him over and we can go out to eat together since it's dinner time anyway," she said as she gestured for Mahiru to give her her phone. "You two can join us if you'd like?"

"Sorry, we've got other plans," Hiyoko said, and Mahiru nodded in agreement.

"Wait…go out to eat…l-like that?!" Tenko cried as she gestured at Chiaki.

"I-I actually did it the other day when I…" she trailed off, and cleared her throat. "So, yes." Tenko looked like she wanted to argue, but Chiaki shook her head. "It'll be fine. I'll be fine." Mahiru handed her phone over and Tenko stared again for a while, likely trying to decide if she was really okay with this. After a few moments, she sighed.

"You…really trust him?" she asked.

"Yes, and you'll love him, I'm sure of it," Chiaki answered with a nod as she began to text him to meet them at a restaurant she knew was nearby; a delicious ramen place. With that sorted out, she looked up and gave Tenko a smile.

"Well…I guess we should head on over, then," she said as Chiaki gave a nod.

"I'll keep my phone on me," Chiaki said over her shoulder at Mahiru, and the two made their way to the door. Clutching the phone in her hand, Chiaki took a deep breath, and covered herself with her hands, which gave Tenko pause.

"I thought you-"

"I've gained enough confidence to be naked in front of you three and Hajime but…not strangers, not yet," she said. Lately, school had become more bearable as people got used to seeing her, but it was still bad in public places. She knew removing her hands would only heap the attention back on her, and she wasn't quite ready yet

She knew she'd have to eventually, though.

"Let's go," Chiaki said as she walked out, with Tenko and the other two girls following behind, though they'd go their separate ways.

"Hey," Hajime said as he walked towards Chiaki, but stopped in his tracks upon seeing Tenko. She'd told him he wanted to introduce him to someone, but from the look she was currently giving him, she didn't seem to want to meet him at all. "This is Tenko, right?"

"Hello, male," Tenko said, only to earn an awkward elbow from Chiaki, and Tenko sighed. "Yes, I'm Tenko. Nice to…meet…you…" Every word seemed to pain the girl, especially as she held out her hand. Hajime, raising an eyebrow in confusion, gently grasped it, and saw how much she recoiled. He only got to give it a single shake before she yanked it away and wiped her hand on her skirt. Frowning, Chiaki cleared her throat, and walked up to Hajime, turning them away so she could whisper to him.

"Sorry, she has a…prejudice towards men, and I was hoping that meeting you could change her mind," Chiaki quickly explained. With their faces being so close, and Hajime able to feel her breath on his skin, he nearly shuddered. He got out a nod and the two turned back. "So, are we ready?" Both Tenko and Hajime gave their agreement, but Tenko was glaring daggers at Hajime as if she was observing his every movement as they entered.

Initially, the girl at the front counter blanched as she saw Chiaki, but the gamer was already holding out her card that she now kept in her phone case, at least as well as she could while still covering. The girl nodded and took them to their seats, but kept glancing at Chiaki. The gamer turned to tell Tenko how she was right that girls stared, too, but she was too busy glaring at Hajime to notice. Hajime, for his part, was looking around the restaurant.

"I've never been here before. It looks nice," he said, and when he looked at Chiaki, his eyes remained fixed on her face, and she smiled. He knew he could look all he wanted—he had her permission to, after all—but he had likely realized it would look bad to Tenko. She gently brushed against him to let him know she approved, and almost laughed at the blush on his face.

It was everything she could to not think about the people around them staring.

"Yeah, I've only been a few times, but the ramen is really good, and it's not even that expensive," she said as they sat down at their booth. Hajime and Chiaki sat next to one another while Tenko sat across from them. "Tenko, you don't need to stare at him the entire time," she said as the waiter came by and started taking their order for drinks.

"I need to make sure he isn't catching a peek like a pervert," Tenko said. Chiaki sighed but was briefly thankful she was too distracted to see the waiter staring pointedly at Chiaki's cleavage. The mole on her chest burned from his stare. They all just got some water as the waiter left, and Hajime glanced at Chiaki.

"So, how was the date?" he asked, perhaps a little too casually. Chiaki blushed as Tenko's eyebrows shot up.

"It didn't really lead to anything. He wanted a kiss but I turned him down." Hajime appeared to nearly choke as he took a drink while she talked.

"I-I see…" He turned his face away so she couldn't see the look of relief on it, though Tenko's staring wasn't helping. He cleared his throat. "So, Tenko, how did you meet her?"

"She signed up for my Master's class to learn self-defense to protect her from degenerate males," Her eyes somehow became even more intense, "and he assigned me to teach her since he figured she'd be more comfortable with a girl."

"Tenko's a great teacher. I managed to get her on her ass today," Chiaki said with a giggle, and despite herself, Tenko gave a small smile.

"That's cool! I'm very proud of you!" Hajime turned to Tenko. "You know, I saw her use her moves once." Her eyebrows raised. "These jerks from her swim class groped her underwater and they got in trouble for it," His fists clenched at the memory of her telling him, "and one of them got so upset that he confronted her after school."

"A-And…?" Tenko asked quietly.

"She knocked him down flat, just like I assume you've been teaching her," he said with a proud smile.

"Y-You saw?" Chiaki asked.

"Mahiru—I think that's what her name was—and I did, yes. We wanted to step in if you needed it but you looked like you had it handled," Hajime explained. Her cheeks flushed, and Tenko blinked a few times.

"You…believed she could handle him by herself?" Tenko asked in shock.

"Yeah, of course. If things looked bad, we would've come in and kicked his ass, but I figured not only did Chiaki have it, as Mahiru told me she'd been learning self-defense, but she wanted to take some revenge," he explained. Tenko seemed to ponder this for a bit before nodding as if giving her approval. The waiter returned and asked what they wanted. All three, of course, got various forms of their most popular ramen bowl, and the waiter took their menus, gave Chiaki another glance, and left. This time, Tenko did notice and snarled at him, but he didn't turn back as he left. When her face turned back to Hajime, it was surprisingly softer, and she twirled her straw around her cup.

"So…you've…seen Chiaki naked, huh?"

Once again, Hajime choked, and Chiaki, now able to have a hand free, patted his back. "Y-Yes…I have…"

"What did you think?" she asked, not meeting his eyes.

"W-Well…" His face burned at the beautiful memory of her presenting her nude body for him to see, every single inch of it. "She was…beautiful." Chiaki perked up and a blush began to form on her face. "But it wasn't just that, that she was showing me such a gorgeous sight, but that I was the person she trusted to see it, that she wanted me to be the first person to see her like that…it made me feel…honored." Tenko nodded, and he continued.

"I don't really have…great self-esteem, and going into Hope's Peak Reserve course…it only took a few days for my dreams to be shattered, dreams of being able to walk alongside Ultimate students. The prodigies of the nation. I thought I was going to be alone…all year. And then she showed up." Chiaki's cheeks burned hotter. "And she showed me not only does she care about me despite me being basically a nobody, but…she also trusts me, completely. That was more than anything I could ever ask for." When he looked up, Tenko was staring at him, her eyes wide. "What?"

"N-Nothing, I just…wasn't expecting something so…heartfelt," she said as she leaned back. "You're…you almost seem like…"

"Like what?" She blinked.

"Like a decent guy," she answered, and Hajime laughed.

"Well, I would hope so!" he said and gave her a smile, and Chiaki felt her heart swell as Tenko gave the man a smile back.

"I mean…you haven't even tried to look at Chiaki, from what I can tell, on top of everything else," she pointed out, and he shrugged.

"To be honest, she's told me she doesn't mind me looking, but since we're in public and sharing company," He gestured to Tenko, "I didn't want to come off as weird or creepy." Tenko nodded, and her smile grew.

"Respectful, too…" she said quietly, as if it was something completely unexpected and foreign, which Chiaki supposed to her, it was.

Finally, their food was delivered, and the three of them began to eat. Hajime shifted his body to shield Chiaki's chest as best she could while she ate. That, along with the fact Hajime was still keeping his eyes away very clearly impressed Tenko as she went wide-eyed and smiled again. Various small conversation topics sprouted here and there; what kinds of things Chiaki is learning from Tenko, what games Chiaki and Hajime play together, and what Hope's Peak is like.

The food dwindled until it was completely gone, and Tenko let out a sigh as she stretched in the booth, her already midriff-exposing shirt lifting to almost directly under her bra before she settled back down. "That was fantastic!! Good recommendation, Chiaki!"

"Agreed, we need to come here again sometime," Hajime said as he rubbed his own full stomach, and paused when he saw Tenko staring again. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah?"

"For now…I think I can say…you're a respectable male." Hajime bowed his head slightly, but Tenko continued. "But!" She pointed a finger. "If I find out about anything bad around you, I will wreck you, so don't think I'm not going to keep an eye on you!" Hajime laughed.

"Sounds good. Here, I'll cover the bill for us," he said as he grabbed the check the waiter had left while they'd eaten. Tenko nodded and gave a look of more respect as the three sidled out of the booth. Chiaki made sure a hand was between her legs as she stood, and the three made their way to the front. They had some more small talk to distract Chiaki from more stares, especially on her exposed ass as Hajime paid, and the three walked out. The light was beginning to fade fast as Tenko sighed, and turned to Hajime.

"That was lovely, and…Hajime…" He looked towards her and she shifted on her feet. "I would…think…I'd like to spend time with you again, sometime. With or without Chiaki." His eyes widened at the last bit, but he gave her a smile and nodded.

"I wouldn't mind that," he said, and his smile was so bright that Tenko's cheeks flushed, but she turned before he could see. Hajime instead turned to Chiaki. "I'll walk you back to the dorms."

"Sounds good." Chiaki faced Tenko and bowed slightly. "Goodnight, Tenko. Until next time." Tenko bowed back, and the two left, beginning a conversation about a fighting game that was getting a new character soon. Tenko watched after them with a sigh.

"A decent male, huh?" she asked, reaching up to cup her cheeks.

They were still a little warm.