10 - Maki Harukawa - Naked Run (by MidbossMan)

Maki had always hated computer science class at the academy. In a school full of Ultimates who were essentially like mad scientists, there was sure to be some weird invention to test every day. She'd been a little relieved when she'd heard they'd just be doing VR testing that day, but her mood immediately soured when she saw the bizarre, full body pod that every student in the class was **** to use. Begrudgingly, she'd climbed inside her own as those around her did the same.

The girl's short stature made her an easy fit into the pod. Maki adjusted her lengthy pigtails, a classic Japanese black color, until they were securely inside the pod with her. She adjusted her short skirt so it fit neatly around her thighs... she didn't want any pervs walking up and gawking at her in the pod. Truth be told, though, her red uniform school top did little to hide that her curvature was all around pretty modest. If they wanted to gawk at sleeping girls, she figured they'd probably pick Chiaki Nanami, who attended the class along with her. That girl was pretty stacked...

The pod closed and an invisible anesthetic gas was released around her, gently lulling her into slumber.

Maki drifted through a luminescent green void, surprised at how life-like her body had been generated in comparison to the relative lack of scenery. A sort of green glow floated around her in the shape of her clothes-- presumably, they were still being rendered in, or perhaps changed to fit the environment.

A system voice spoke: "Connecting to Network."

"User identified: Girl from my class."

"Preparing user avatar."

Maki lowered her eyebrows critically. "Girl from my class?" Whoever had programmed this apparently had the same idea in mind for every girl attending computer science today. Why the gender discrimination? There were a couple of real creeps in this school...

At any rate, if the "user avatar" was being prepared, that means she ought to see her clothes finish loading in too, right? Why did it seem like the particles of green light were falling away from her body instead of forming into some kind of fantasy armor or whatever the game entailed...

As she continued falling downward, more and more of her body was revealed. By the time the motes of light had nearly all left her body, she'd crossed her arms over the small swells of her breasts and placed another hand between her legs. Were other people seeing this? Why hadn't she been given any clothes? Not understanding her sleeping state in the real world, Maki attempted to bash her shoulder against the pod door, but felt nothing. She shouted. "You perv! Let me and the others out of here or I'll make you sorry!"

Most people knew Maki as the Ultimate Child Caretaker. In truth, she doubled as the Ultimate Assassin, scouted by a shadowy organization back when she was just a child. She preferred to keep that secret, but if someone insisted on humiliating her like this, she still had her skills available to punish them...

Either way, the threat didn't work. By the time Maki's feet finally touched down to the rapidly appearing floor, she was stark naked with nothing but her own arms for coverage. Even her hair-ties disappeared, leaving her hair to fall in a classic Japanese princess style. Her sense of alarm increased as the world materialized... it looked just like the hall outside of the computer room!

Well, almost. Some student's desks had been placed in the hallway, along with hard tables and filing cabinets, in an almost random pattern...

That said, the windows were open outward towards the 1st floor school courtyard and the other classes seemed to have students inside, even though their faces weren't clearly visible. That meant that at any moment, someone could see her standing around naked!

She crouched lower to the ground, adopting a sneaking stance. Thankfully, part of her assassin training had involved stealth. She was used to staying out of sight, even in environments like this. All she had to do was keep low and away from the windows... the question was where would be the best place to go? Her first thought was to find a closet and duck in there until she got a better idea of what was happening.

The system voice spoke up again: "Environment ready. Game set: Naked Run. Level 1: School Hallway. Navigate to the end of the level without being spotted. Time set: 5 minutes. Failure to complete the level will result in penalties. Penalty set: screenshot and video folder distributed to all classmates."

"You're going to pay for this, whoever you are..." she warned them, then felt around her body, realizing she was missing her usual hidden knives. "Once I get a weapon, anyway..."

Maki moved slowly, still habitually using her arms to cover herself and feeling her bare feet against the cool tile of the familiar school highway. It really was a life-like simulation. Her face was flushed, but she wasn't particularly nervous about her chances of completing the first exercise. After all, she just needed to keep out of sight of the students in the class-room...

Or at least, that was what she thought. As she moved from desk to desk for cover, keeping her body low, she suddenly bumped face-first into something unexpected and soft. She drew back, preparing for combat-- this was a game, after all. However, once she put together what she'd bumped into, she realized there was no danger at all... it was Chiaki Nanami's behind, sticking out from underneath a desk. "Wait a minute... she's wearing pink elementary school bloomers... I don't think I'd want to be caught dead in those, but it'd be better than being naked..." she admitted to herself.

Chiaki pulled the rest of herself from beneath the desk and Maki made a startling discovery: she was only wearing the bloomers. She had her hands pressed over each of her annoyingly large breasts for modesty. "Oh... Maki. You've found the checkpoint," she spoke quietly. It seemed like she was wiping sleep out of her eyes. No way she was sleepy at a dire time like this...?

"Where'd you get pants?" Maki asked, realizing they were pressed for time.

"Oh yeah..." she muttered, looking down at the elastic fabric stretched tightly over her bottom. "At the checkpoint, you'll get one randomly generated equipment piece to help you. Like in a game..."

Maki nodded, looking momentarily excited. She wasn't sure what she wanted more: a knife or a cloak to cover her body. Maybe she'd get really lucky and get something for full coverage? Once Chiaki stepped aside, she crawled carefully through underneath the desk, using her hands to cover the intersection between her legs in case anyone was looking.

The system voice spoke to her: "Checkpoint reached. Acquired equipment: Bubble Bath."

Maki clenched her teeth as a splash of cold, extremely soapy bath water hit across her body. Rather than clothing, the only thing it gave her to cover herself was suds placed in strategic areas... along with the downside that the cold water was causing her to drip and shiver. She could feel her nipples reacting a bit to the cold... "This is worse than when I started..."

"Sorry... Looks like a bad roll. It's a shame you can't restart your run, as far as I know," Chiaki murmured. "Anyway, you better get going. There's a boss up ahead. I can't get past him... I'm good at games, but this one doesn't seem like it was designed to be won."

"If the Ultimate Gamer can't do it, do I have a chance?" Maki asked herself, wiping soap from her eyes with the back of one hand and continuing to crawl through. "Well, whatever. I'll try to beat the boss. If I do, come along with me to the next level."

"Thanks, Maki..."

Maki left Chiaki behind, carefully moving from the shadow of one desk to another at a rapid speed, until suddenly, a booming voice spoke up. That loud noise had to be the Ultimate Moral Compass, Kiyotaka Ishimaru... everyone in the school knew him, whether they wanted to or not. That was because the young man had a way of butting into people's business as student council / hall monitor inside the school. "My senses are going crazy! My public indecency senses are telling me someone is indecently attired inside the school! Whoever you are, you can't hide from me!" he announced. Maki heard a military-like march start as he began to patrol from desk to desk...

She didn't imagine he was trapped in the game like she was. Rather, this might just be a simulation designed to act like him. Honestly, whether it was the real Ishimaru or not, she felt like the result would be the same: she wouldn't be able to explain her way out of crawling around naked. He had to be avoided at all costs...

Luckily, it wasn't very hard for her. He was probably designed to be a high-level hazard here, but for a pro assassin like her, staying out of the line of sight of those beady red eyes of his was child's play. As she was nearly past the level and up to the checkered finish line indicating the end of the hallway, she had a startling realization: if she continued through now, she'd be leaving Chiaki behind...

"What's this? A trail of soap suds? Is someone cleaning the hallway? Well done!" Ishimaru laughed somewhere behind her, clapping his hands in perfect rhythm like a robot would. "Ah! But there's no wet floor sign! I'll apprehend them immediately!"

Maki sighed to herself, then made a U-turn, heading backwards towards the source of the voice she'd avoided earlier. Before long, she saw the head and shoulders of her target above the desks. He was dressed in a starched white uniform as always and the expression on his face was a big, dopey grin, as though the creator either only knew one face for him or otherwise only bothered to program one in.

Either way, he was totally unprepared as she rose up behind him and dispatched him with one quick karate chop to the soft spot between his neck and shoulder-blades, knocking him out cold. Just in case, she mounted him from behind and bore down with her forearm against the back of his neck to **** him out. He quickly stopped moving.

Chiaki approached from around the desks, still cradling her breasts in her arms. "Ah... is he dead?"

"No, I don't think so. Anyway, I'm taking his clothes- hey!"

Before she could grab his jacket, Ishimaru's body disappeared. She clicked her teeth, then growled.

"Thanks, Maki... for coming back for me. You can have these if you want," Chiaki offered, stretching out the band of her bloomers. "You deserve them."

Maki blushed red and shook her head rapidly. Not only did she not want Chiaki running around naked for her sake, but she thought she'd rather be seen stark naked than in childish pink bloomers like those. "I'll pass. Let's go on to the next level!"

"Level 2: Morning Street. Navigate to the end of the level without being spotted. Time set: 5 minutes. Failure to complete the level will result in penalties. Penalty set: screenshot and video folder distributed to all classmates."

Maki had been prepared for the difficulty to ramp sharply, but just the first steps past the first finish line into the second starting area made it clear she'd underestimated what she was in for. "Morning Street" sounded peaceful, even pleasant, but the reality of the situation was anything but. Not only were morning commuters walking here and there, but even cars occasionally puttered down the street-- and bicycles, moving just as fast but with little of the noise. If any of them spotted her, scooting around with her skinny body totally bare, she'd lose the game.

And if she couldn't do it... there was no way Chiaki could manage. She'd been okay crawling through the desks once Ishimaru was taken care of, but there was no way Maki could knock out every witness here, let alone protect Chiaki from the eyes of those in vehicles. The beauty mark beneath Maki's eye, at the top of one cheek, raised slightly as she narrowed her eyes with consternation.

Chiaki smiled, placing a hand on Maki's shoulder. "Thank you for helping me get this far. From here on, you should go it alone. I can help you by telling you where the next check point is."

"Wait, why do you even know where the checkpoints are?" Maki asked.

Chiaki frowned, puffing out her cheeks in a cute pout. "There's no time for that. We're already counting down from five minutes. Just listen: you can get more equipment if you crawl underneath the jungle gym when you pass through the park. Maybe it'll be something better this time. We have to have hope... Maybe I can find a way to stop the penalty from going through while you try to beat the game."

"I'm surprised you're willing to give up winning this yourself, being the Ultimate Gamer."

"Hmm... It does make me mad. But I think my pride can take letting you win for me easier than it can having everyone in class see my butt..."

Maki nodded in agreement, then set off. There wasn't any more time to spare. The clock was counting down. She was in just her birthday suit. The suds had been pointless to begin with and now they were gone, leaving her just damp and shivering with none of the benefits. She maneuvered through the street, using her lithe body to her advantage to take cover behind lamp-posts and large postage boxes whenever she got the opportunity in order to let cars pass.

Once she got to the park, all she wanted to do was circumvent the park entirely. It was a big, open space, hard to stay hidden inside, and furthermore, the "equipment" she got last time hadn't helped at all. The checkpoint hardly seemed like it was worth going for. On the other hand, the boss hadn't appeared until she'd gotten through the checkpoint. Had the finish line been there the whole time, or had it appeared too?

She trusted Chiaki, therefore, she trusted that Chiaki had to have a good reason for giving her the tip. Maki decided she needed to go for it. She made a reckless beeline for the park, waited until the right mix of circumstance had the early-morning bird feeders casting their attention elsewhere-- and noting that the virtual reality simulation was blessedly free of anyone younger who might be exposed to this-- then began a crawl for her destination. Her bare bottom faced up towards the morning sky and her nude front dragged across the sand of the park as she grit her teeth and crawled forward military-style, aiming to go right under the bottom bar of the jungle gym.

With speed and precision, she got her head underneath, then her shoulders. Only about halfway through did she make a miscalculation: somehow, the same bar that had managed to let her head through caught her bottom. She wriggled her waist helplessly, unable to push through any further, with her lower body sticking out and exposed to anyone who happened to turn their head.

Thankfully, halfway in was far enough for the checkpoint. Unhelpfully...

"Checkpoint reached. Acquired equipment: Face Mask and Sunglasses."

Maki grit her teeth, swinging her head to knock off the sunglasses. They'd just decrease her visibility and be a hindrance here. Not to mention that the selection of clothing seemed designed to make her look like some kind of exhibitionist streaker...

With a little difficulty, she managed to pull herself out, assuming she was still in the clear since no alarms or system messages had gone off. In the nick of time, she performed a quick roll and got to the bushes. She figured she might be safe for now and better yet, she could see the finish line just on the other side of the park.

But where there was a finish line, there was also a boss...

Gundham walked around the fence blocking the other side of the park, holding three leashes with dangerous-looking, unfamiliar dogs at the end of each. The dogs began sniffing for a place to do their business... and headed straight for the bushes! They were sniffing the ground. Any small animal-- or, say, an unexpected naked girl in the bushes-- could easily set them barking and draw everyone's attention.

Maki needed a good distraction. Experimentally, she grabbed a branch, then tossed it.

No good. Virtual Gundham had trained these virtual dogs perfectly. They wouldn't pursue stray obstacles that weren't thrown by their master. She had to think of something else to distract them with! But she had literally nothing, naked save for a surgical mask covering the lower half of her face. Could she possibly knock the dogs out without Gundham seeing? No way! Not to mention that she hated fighting animals...

Just as she was beginning to pray for a miracle, the miracle occurred all on its own. The dogs started investigating the jungle gym instead, sniffing closely around the spot where she'd been. Were they tracking the sunglasses? It didn't seem like it... Once they reached that spot, they started to circle back towards the bushes, vexing Gundham.

With a gulp, she came to a realization. Something about getting stuck under the jungle gym and having her butt stick out towards the public had subconsciously excited her, causing liquid to drip down her inner thigh. That same liquid had formed an interesting trail for the dogs to follow...

She could worry about her own hidden exhibitionist tendencies that had just been revealed to her later. For now, she had to take advantage of the situation. Maki allowed the dogs to circle towards the back of the bushes, then seized the moment to make a dash for the finish line, crossing it with just 10 seconds left to spare. She tossed aside the mask she'd been wearing on her face, which did little but restrict her breathing, then continued to the final challenge.

"Level 3: Virtual Reality Exit. Navigate to the end of the level without being spotted. Time set: 1 minute. Failure to complete the level will result in penalties. Penalty set: screenshot and video folder distributed to all classmates."

Maki knew as soon as she heard that introduction that this level was going to be different. For one thing, the timer was a lot shorter. For another thing, the name... and finally, the setting. Rather than loading in, the next area remained a green grid of lasers in the shape of a tunnel, allowing her to freely walk through. The problem was the end of the tunnel... It looked like Hajime Hinata, one of Chiaki's friends, was lifting up Kokichi Ouma, another of her classmates and a noted troublemaker, by the scruff of his kerchief.

"You and everyone else have to delete those photos of Chiaki right now!" Hajime demanded, unusually heated as Kokichi laughed in response.

"Oh, so we can keep the videos? You're so generous!" Kokichi cooed. "Those were definitely the better ones anyway! Heeey, did you watch the videos yourself, Hajime? We won't tell her! By the way, why are you even here to begin with, Mr. Reserve Course Trash? Couldn't miss a chance to enjoy the peep show with your favorite giiiirl?"

Hajime looked like he was one step away from slugging the instigator. From this, Maki confirmed one thing: Chiaki's photos had been leaked already. Based on the fact that nobody had mentioned hers, she was still in the clear. The problem was that all anybody needed to do right now was turn their head to the left and she'd be disqualified.

Still, the fistfight offered her a good opportunity. There was no way to reason with everyone and ask them to look the other way-- even if she could somehow make a guy like Kokichi work with her, he'd see her as soon as she raised her voice. She had to sneak by! Luckily, the tunnel seemed to make her steps completely soundless. She walked swiftly but confidently, so that no one would be tempted to check their peripheral vision, heading straight for the exit...

... Then passed the checkpoint.

"Checkpoint reached. Equipment awarded: Bondage Ribbons."

Maki fell forward, suddenly bound around her legs and arms by red, silk ribbons. The ribbons only wrapped where they needed to keep her restricted, while also taping a gift-tag over her mouth so she couldn't speak. Her red eyes squinted in irritation as she smacked against the non-existent floor, now wriggling like a worm towards her goal.

It was a lost cause. Just as Kokichi had nearly goaded Hajime into slugging him, the whole class turned to see her trying to wriggle between the feet of the two of them, her butt pushing up and pulling forward in her slinking movements towards the finish line. Her glaring red eyes met theirs, daring them to point out the tears squeezing out the corners of her ducts or the way the attention was again causing her to drip a little.

Hajime, still hoisting Koikichi, smiled awkwardly and turned his eyes away. "Uh, don't worry... I was going to make everyone delete their videos, so... so we'll delete yours too."

"I don't know! I might hold on to some as a momento- ptooo!"

Hajime gave him a slug across the kisser, finally, but it seemed a little half-hearted. He was clearly distracted by the situation. The gentlemanly thing to do for Chiaki's sake had been to make everyone wipe their phones, but in this case, Maki came crawling right into the middle of them and even looked kind of excited. Did she actually want the footage deleted?

"Just to confirm... You uh... You want them deleted, right?"

She grunted in a muffled voice, squeezing her eyes shut in irritation and thrashing her body.

Hajime stooped down and pulled the tape free from her mouth. "Should we unwrap you, or..."

"Move. So. I. Can. Exit."

An amazing wave of bloodlust radiated out from the otherwise completely submissively silk-bound girl. Hajime and the others pressed their backs up against the wall and let her wriggle past.

When they all were forcibly ejected from the simulation a short time later, they'd find not just the VR machines, but also all of their phones, had been destroyed, rendered inoperable by especially hard stabs from knives of unknown origins.

The assailant who'd destroyed all technological devices in the room was at large and The Ultimate Child Caretaker was nowhere to be found...