Gundham can't... and a new arrival won't help either...

The courtyard was so quiet it was almost peaceful... there were few signs that the Ultimate Pervert Cat had waged an abusive war against Peko Pekoyama just a half an hour or so earlier, spanning from behind the school, to the gymnasium, and ending in the courtyard with her reassignment to Sparkling Justice. Peko could almost feel peaceful and begin to look for a lesson in this. It was so quiet, you could almost hear a church-mouse squeak...

Or four church-mouse like creatures...

Suddenly, Peko felt the bush she was crouching behind shake and pull away from her, exposing the right side of her nude body. Grunting, like a spouse pulling back the stolen cover from their bed-mate, she yanked it back away. When she looked to the left... she spotted Gundham. It was hard to recognize him without all of his clothing, but that gray, nude figure was definitely him. She had no interest in looking at him any more than that; in fact, she barely could, given her half-blindness, but she noticed his hands and legs were crossed over his nethers, making him seem every bit as embarrassed as she did. The two dove into the bush together, sitting back to back, while they began a new strategy meeting.

"Peko Pekoyama... The ruinous age of our new tyrant has begun. The vestiges of civilization blow around us, carried by the ill wind, commanded by that feline foe. Ah... Despair! The bitter **** that burns our wounds!" the boy complained dramatically, perhaps talking more quickly than usual to get his mind off of it.

"... If your arm comes unwrapped, some sort of destruction is supposed to hit us, right? Where is it?" Peko asked, reaching to adjust her glasses with a quick push up, before remembering she'd lost both her go-to and her backup pair.

"... Perhaps this misfortune we have experienced was retroactively, concurrently, and future-wise was the result of that seal's displacement," Gundham theorized.

Peko let that slide; she didn't feel like heckling him any more about being a pretend-play nerd when the two of them needed to find a way to work together. "You've got your hamsters, don't you? If this was some manga, I'd use them to cover my private areas and sneak out..." Peko joked.

"... The Four Devas are primed for the task; you need only speak their names if you wish for them to lend you their aid in this, your dark desperation..." Gundham answered, unable to hide the fact that he kind of wanted to see her try wearing them.

"... No thanks. Get them to cover yourself if you care," Peko sighed.

"... The Four Devas wrathfully decline to approach that nether realm," Gundham spoke again, quietly.

If they waited too much longer, they'd lose their opportunity to leave altogether. They might end up spending the night there, back to back, naked, in a bush next to the gymnasium. In such times of despair... there was always someone close by, a particular boy, sniffing it out or perhaps even facilitating it. Suddenly, the three of them saw a shadow setting over the bush arrangement they'd hidden in. As quiet as they were, they both jumped out, revealing their chests and up (though Peko had crossed her arms) when they heard a sinister meow. "Go away! You've taken everything already! Leave me be-!" she complained, grabbing a branch while still covering herself with one arm and clenching her teeth.

The figure holding that cat was skinny and pale, with unkempt white hair, overdressed with heavy clothing despite the weather... or perhaps everyone looked overdressed to her now. Her bleary eyes made it hard to identify them, but she managed to when they spoke: it was Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student. "Peko...! What a surprise to see you here... More than that, to see you looking so thoroughly defeated. Two Hope's Peak Academy students, hiding naked in the bushes together? Were you both defeated? Or... Is there some other reason you're naked in there together?" he asked in an annoyingly peaceful voice. Peko couldn't see, but Gundham could; despite his words of scorn, he was smiling, as if a hidden thought pleased him.

Peko would rather tell the truth than lie in such an incriminating situation. "Please... I'm not doing anything with Gundham. We both got attacked by a cat-"

"This cat?" Nagito asked, holding the cat aloft and soliciting a sharp scream from Gundham, who retreated against the school fence despite his nudity. "Ah... We've become good friends. Seems like the little guy has taken a liking to me," he chuckled, rubbing its chin with no retaliation while it mewed softly.

"Im... Impossible...! It didn't tear off your clothes?" Peko questioned, feeling both jealous and offended.

"Ha ha! This little guy? Why... did he tear off yours?" Nagito asked, leaning in closer despite her state of dress. "The Ultimate Swordswoman lost to a cat? That's... very disappointing. But it makes me realize how useful this cat's going to be. What's his name?"

"Kurosuke... What did you mean when you said useful?" Peko questioned, squinting her bleary red eyes.

"I think that on their days off... The future world leaders of Hope's Peak Academy have a tendency to get a bit lazy. They should be on their guard at all times. Your hopes for the future have to be worth investing hope in," Nagito explained slowly, as though explaining a simple concept to a child. "So I'm going to go introduce this cat to the rest of the school. Hope ought to be challenged by despair- like this cute fuzzball- so that it can shine that much more brightly in victory. And if there is no victory, well... I guess the nudists of Hope's Peak Academy have disappointed all of humanity. But don't worry about that! There's not a chance of that happening!"

Peko thought, not for the first time, that Nagito was completely insane. But more than that, she realized she had a duty to thwart Nagito's plan!

Conviction flashed in her eyes. Nagito saw it... and adopted a much larger smile, shivering as he clutched the cat in his arms. Peko Pekoyama's trial had only just begun... "Ah... You look upset, Peko. It hurts to imagine all of your friends, running in fear, doesn't it? As it should; that's the goodness in your soul. All you have to do is chase me and stop me... I'm a weak kid, you know? I should be no match for the Ultimate Swordswoman... Just chase me down and grab the cat," he taunted her, already beginning to back up while beaming brightly in her direction. "A little streaking is no problem for a girl that moves like a ninja."