Hey, what's Fuuka doing while all this is going on?

(chapter originally by faith on writing.com)

"It will be fine. This is...like any other day. Just a little stranger."

While Minako Arisato was explaining to her team just how badly their timeline had gone off course, Fuuka Yamagishi was trying very hard to convince herself everything was going to be exactly the same.

"You've done it before. Too many times to count. Just act normal. Nothing strange. Just a normal school day. Just a normal class..."

She was standing, as she had been for the last ten minutes, in front of the sliding doors to her classroom. The sounds of typical school life drifted in from the other side- the jotting of pencils, the rustle of paper, the low murmur of student voices and the laconic drone of Mr. Ekoda punctuated by the occasional squelch of a marker on the white board. So very familiar. So very close at hand. All that was left to do was slide the door open, apologize for her lateness with a bow, and quickly take her seat. Just act normal. Simple.

Her hand lifted up to move the door aside. And as it had a dozen times already, froze in midair. She felt herself trembling, felt whatever thin wall of resolve she had managed to craft for herself once more collapse into dust, and felt a tiny whimper escape her lips as her eyes gazed down at herself. Nothing was normal. Nothing was right. She was standing in the hallway of her highschool naked except for her shoes and socks! This was a nightmare!

Fuuka was by her nature extremely introverted and closed off. Raised in a family of doctors who forever insisted she achieve more and be the best, Fuuka learned that nothing she did would ever be good enough to satisfy her parents. Her solution to avoid conflict was to give everything to everyone no matter the burden on herself. She had a desire to belong, a desire that allowed her to endure extremes of bullying that would have crushed or inspired retaliation in most anyone else. Part of her felt she deserved such treatment. Lately, based on the other personality that had bubbled to the surface, she wondered if she didn't also enjoy the mistreatment, that some little vindictive piece of her didn't consider herself more virtuous and superior due to the suffering others put her through. And another part wondered if some equally debased part of her didn't enjoy being abused.

Nonetheless, Fuuka was prone to isolation and suffering to fit in. Along the same lines she tried to dress as conservatively and unremarkably as possible. Ironically, her lack of fashion sense made her stand out like a sore thumb. Her inferiority complex also inspired her to hide what others would flaunt, downplaying her cute, thin curves and modestly large breasts and nicely shaped bubble butt under deliberately baggy clothes. The lack of dates in her life was a small price to pay to avoid the horror of being noticed and especially admired by other human beings! Small wonder she had panicked and hidden herself behind Yukari on the beach under Junpei's perverted commentary. It was something of a relief to know that in the company of the other SEES girls she was easily the least athletic or well endowed. All the better to deflect attention, allowing her to downplay the fact that her petite figure had more charms and curves than many (Junpei included) fully suspected.

Now there was no hiding! If anything, her lifestyle of staying indoors and covering up as much as possible when outside was now working firmly against her as her overly pale skintone made her stand out all the more among her peers. She had never been an athletic girl, but a steady diet and a range of devices conjured from the depth of Tanaka's workshop (many of which worked quite well, much to the business man's consternation) she had been able to maintain a good looking physique. Her petite size implied a level of thinness she did not truly possess, as her curvy body, bouncy bottom and especially a pair of well endowed breasts (giving no competition to her dormmates, of course, but still impressive on a girl of Fuuka's height) now proved. Worse, Fuuka's usual preference of leggings was strictly forbidden under the Eden Syndrome dress code, which meant she had to resort to a pair of regular white socks for her ensemble today. Unlike the other girls, who could claim whatever fraction of dignity they could be covering their lower thighs with boots or long stockings Fuuka was sporting more bare skin than any of her fellow nudists.

“And who's fault is that?” Fuuka asked herself, her trembling hand balling into a fist. “What am I doing? Is this how far I can go? I...I made love to my senior in front of everyone this morning! Me! Not the other one in my head! I swore I could handle it! Not hide behind everyone on the train! Not...not run away and leave my leader and my friend cowering naked in the middle of this city! Everything...everything spiraled out of control because of what I did to her! Everyone has to...has to do this...because I was a coward! They all left for their classrooms. They all have had to endure the shock and the stares. And now I can't even take my share of that shame? The one who deserves to suffer most of all???”

With the momentum of her self-defacing tirade, Fuuka grabbed the door before her and slid it aside with as much **** as she could muster...

….and immediately regretted it. The sounds within came to an immediate hault as every eye turned towards her and stared. All the bravado, all the recriminations and all the rage...everything fled from her. Fuuka was left with nothing but the overwhelming knowledge that she was indeed standing in front of her home room teacher and a room filled with her fellow students and peers while completely naked. Trembling, she at first attempted to follow through on her original plan of fake nonchalance, pretending that the situation was normal. That resolve lasted a single step into the room before she let out another whimper, took a step back, and almost fled down the hall. But with a horrible sinking feeling she realized that course was also too late. The bandaid was already ripped off. With a tentative, miserable glance at her teacher and another at her peers, Fuuka again stepped into the room. This time she brought up her bookbag and shrank down as much as possible behind it, attempting to hide her body as she tip toed fully into the classroom.

“I...I...I...I'M SORRY FOR BEING LATE!” Fuuka screamed, her whole naked body reddening, her shame forcing her to abandon any protection her book bag gave her so that it might hide her face from having to look at her gawking audience.

Fuuka dashed to her seat, dropping her bag and hoping to curl up into a ball in her seat. Instead, she felt herself yanked backwards by an iron grip.

“Miss Yamagishi, what in the merciful Buddha's name do you think you are doing in this classroom??” Mr. Ekoda demanded.

“Mr. Ekoda, nooooo!” Fuuka wailed as she was once again dragged to the front of the class, this time without any protection but her hands. The poor girl did try to cover herself all while fidgetting and whimpering. The rest of the class had recovered from their shock and were whispering and snickering at her plight.