Their uniforms were nowhere in sight!

(chapter originally by doragom333 at writing.com)

Impossible.

The courtyard was empty, luckily, but something that should have been there was missing. Their uniforms were supposed to be somewhere at the foot of the tree, wrapped all up around each other like a tight ball. Fuuka had seen it land there with her own two eyes back on the roof.

Instead, they had vanished without a trace.

"No, no, no..." she uttered over and over again, frantically searching the entire ground around the tree as well as looking up to the tree itself. But her worst fears were confirmed: their uniforms were nowhere to be found in the entire courtyard. Slowly, she sank to knees, burying her head in her arms as she began to weep heavily.

"Gotcha!" Minako cried out, suddenly grasping Fuuka from behind in a hug.

"Yaa!" Fuuka screamed. "W-what was that for *sniff*?"

"Come on, what's the matter, Fuuka-chan? We made it all the way to the tree with no one spotting us!" Minako said reassuringly.

"But our clothes are gone!" Fuuka wailed. "Now it's only a matter of time before we're seen naked by everyone."

"Well, yeah..." Minako shrugged. "There was always the chance that a janitor or some other guy would just come right up and take them while they were just sitting there. All part of the risk, though."

"All part of the-" Fuuka repeated, her emotions of sorrow building up to something else entirely. "Minako, is all of this just some game to you!?"

"Kinda?" she shrugged. "It is fun, isn't it? You've felt the rush too, I know you have. Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen? Some boys see our bodies? If they want to see naked women they can just use the internet or take an art class," Minako answered as if everything was perfectly normal.

"Really? You think everything would just be over like that?" Fuuka yelled, her rage reaching its peak. "This isn't just some fun little romp where everyone has a laugh and we all just forget about it by next week! There are consequences, Minako. Who's to say that any boys who see us will just be satisfied with a view? And if a faculty member sees us, we'll be expelled for sure. And if Mitsuru sees us..." she shuddered. "I don't even want to think about what would happen..."

"Oh wow, I didn't even think about Mitsuru," Minako gasped. "You think she'd be up for a run as well?"

Fuuka, baffled and shocked yet again by her comrade, whirled around, grabbed Minako by the shoulders, and started shaking her back and forth. "None of this is getting through to you at all, is it?" she shouted. "Ever since you ate that stupid stew that I cooked up you've turned into some sort of ditzy exhibitionist who's willing to throw away everything she has on a whim and drag her friend down with her. Now we're both naked in the middle of school, with only a matter of time until someone sees us. Both of us are doomed, and it's all my fault..."

Tears began to stream down Fuuka's cheeks once more as she finished her rant, her head collapsing on Minako's chest.

Minako stared at Fuuka as she continued sobbing, before embracing the despondent soul in a warm hug.

Fuuka returned the hug. While she didn't say anything, the tightness of her embrace showed just how much she appreciated the gesture, despite the situation the two girls were now in.

"Feeling better?" Minako asked.

"A little..." Fuuka sniffed. "But it doesn't change the fact that we're still doomed."

"Hmm... we could always just go to the gym," Minako suggested. "Our exercise clothes should still be in our lockers, right?"

Fuuka's eyes widened. Of course, the gym! How could she have forgotten about that? "Minako, thank you!" she cheered, embracing her friend even tighter. "We still have a chance!" she said as she dashed back towards where they came.

"All right then, it's off to the gym!" Minako pumped her arm in the air before following Fuuka.

Feeling her second wind, Fuuka quickly made her way through the hallways with Minako at her side. Unfortunately, they had spent a lot of time in the courtyard and lunch was just about over, meaning that if they didn't hurry soon they'd run into the next gym class before they had a chance to make it to their lockers.

With her morale boosted and time being of the essence, Fuuka was now only practicing the slightest amount of stealth. Only bothering to take a quick look around corners to check for people and only crouching to avoid classroom windows, she continued her charge with only victory and safety in mind, her arms now fully devoted to helping her run and no longer for coverage.

"Wow, Fuuka-chan, taking it a little fast, aren't we?" Minako asked.

"It's just that the sooner we get there, the sooner we can be done with all this," she replied boldly. "Besides, what happened to feeling the rush?"

"Right," Minako muttered in agreement, but not nearly as enthusiastic as before, it seemed?

This was lost on Fuuka, however, as they had made it to the gymnasium doors. Cracking them open, Fuuka could see that the main room was empty. "Yes!" she whispered, and signaled for Minako. The two entered the room and started to make their way towards the locker rooms when the locker room doors suddenly flow open! Quickly, the two girls dove under the nearby bleachers to hide, hoping that they hadn't been noticed.

Fuuka breathed hoarsely as the students piled out into the center of the gymnasium, viewing them from the relatively safe vantage point underneath the bleachers. From their behavior, it seems that the two girls were still safe, but for how long? Could they wait out the entire period like this, or should they work their way to the other side of the bleachers, go for it now, and hope no one notices?

But before Fuuka could decide on a course of action, her thoughts were interrupted by Minako.

"Oh wow... all those people so close to us..." she spoke, almost as if in a trance. "And we're naked..."

"Yes, don't remind me," Fuuka whispered irratibly. "Easy now, we're almost there. I just need to figure out our next move."

With the threat of discovery looming so close Fuuka started to feel chills running up and down her spine.

"But all of these people," Minako gasped, taking in short, sharp breaths while speaking. "Right next to us, like this... We can see them, they could probably see us if they looked... I, I-!"

"Minako? What's wrong?" Fuuka turned around, and was shocked at the state of her companion.

As it turned out, at this point-