Kyoko needs backup clothes, ASAP.

There was no point in trying to keep up a cosplay any longer, so Kyoko tore the blindfold off of her head and tossed it on the floor. She grabbed the robotic camera Tsumugi had been surveying her with in a fury. "Tsumugi, if I destroy this thing, will you lose your control over my outfit?"

"Not at all!" Tsumugi declared confidently, before piping up again in shock. "A-and also, you wouldn't dare destroy Miu's robot! That'd be plain-"

Kyoko had no remorse or second thoughts, grabbing 2B's companion by its scrawny arms and swinging it hard into a nearby wall, reducing it to smoking junk. "If I'm going to be Tsumugi's plaything, at the very least I'm not going to do it on camera. One less thing to worry about."

That was good, because she obviously had a pressing concern. She had no doubt that Tsumugi really would blow up the cosplay she'd created at any second, with its cosplayer still in it. Every second she spent thinking about it was a second she might find herself standing butt-naked in the lobby.

Her lips drawn in a tight frown, her eyes wide with panic, Kyoko sprinted for the lobby elevator, now heedless of the state of the split leotard flapping around her legs. Even if she ended up flashing someone a glimpse, that'd be nothing compared to the show that could come any second. Instead, she thought of the only choice she had time to make:

"I need to go somewhere with a change of clothes. This temper tantrum of Tsumugi's is a nuisance, but, in a way, it's also a blessing. When she detonates it, she no longer has any control over me, and I'll be free to investigate as I wish. I just need... some other clothes...

"Do I go to my room? That's the obvious choice, but there's multiple floors to the women's dormitory and I could be interrupted at any time. So, instead of up... I need to go down. There's a laundry room on the basement level. There, I'm sure I can find something. Even if I have to steal-... Borrow someone else's things. This is an emergency where I can ask for permission instead of forgive-"

As if in karmic punishment for Kyoko's plan, the moment she'd been fearing came suddenly. She'd just pushed the button and was still waiting for the elevator when, without warning, she felt a similar blast of **** around her body, like how she imagined an overinflated popping tire must feel. And, as Tsumugi had threated, that blast sent every scrap of clothing Kyoko had left sailing in scraps across the lobby. Even a cool-headed detective like Kyoko couldn't help letting out a cry of shock. Crossing her bare arm across her equally bare breasts, she used her other finger to rapidly mash down the button on the elevator panel.

She admonished herself. "I've got to stay calm... What good is it going to do to panic? Even if everything else goes crazy... even without clothes... I have to be the one to stay in control of the situation." Even if she gained her wits, the only option available to her was to grit her teeth and bear it... Or, bare it, as the case was.

Even as dire as the situation was, she found a smile spreading across her face as she sensed the elevator arriving. The button light went off, and the whirring picked up in volume slightly. She heard...

Voices. Male voice!

Someone was in the elevator. Gasping, Kyoko scrambled for the next place she could find. She'd made up her mind to go to the laundry room, the quickest way to get clothes. If she couldn't take the elevator, she'd take the stairwell.

Still... Even though she felt the call to action, and even though she understood the urgency, she found the previous focus she'd had on her way to the elevator hard to summon back. "Running in the nude... Of course it's a challenge!" Her ordinary steely desperation gone, Kyoko wore the red face and clenched teeth of a woman who was seconds away from her classmates turning to see her pale body bouncing around a public area, trying to both move quickly and make as little attention-drawing noise as she could.

Whoever had been entering the lobby, Kyoko was sure she gave them the slip. In the stairwell, there were no other footsteps. She took another breath and gathered herself once more, then hurried down the concrete stairs, her bare feet feeling strange on the cool, hard surface. Even though she was in a rush, she didn't bother with the handrail, both hands impulsively locked to cover her private areas.

Finally, she'd gotten to the laundry area. Kyoko found herself with a curious feeling: miraculously, she seemed to be alone, yet her instincts were telling her she was being watched. She was sure that was paranoia related to her state of undress. The detective reminded herself to calm down and think rationally. If anyone was watching her, surely they'd be pointing, laughing, or raising a scene? Instead of wasting time worrying, she needed to focus. She was, after all, at the home stretch. Around the corner of the hall, she could already see an unguarded bench with a laundry basket full of someone's clothes, piled in a heap. Women's clothes, as luck would have it.

She approached it with quiet footsteps, certain she was finally seeing her fortune change...

A sigh came from around the corner. Someone else was in the laundry room after all. Someone was just around the corner! "Is someone there?!" Kyoko suddenly heard a familiar woman's voice speak, sounding as startled as Kyoko herself felt.

The detective took retreating steps away from the room, her heart pounding. Whoever that was apparently wasn't sure she had a visitor, but was definitely about to investigate.

Where could Kyoko go? Should she just walk forward and explain it to the other woman, no matter how awkward that may be? Should she brave the stairwell again, see if she could make it sprint up to her room after all? Considering she'd already bumped into people in two directions in such a short period, it seemed like bad odds... There was a broom closet on the wall opposite the stairwell, but that was obviously a dead end.

Was there anything she could do?