Kayama Esumi: Art and Nudity

"Kirifuji... are you at all interested in my naked body?"

The destructive power of those words was, frankly, lethal.

As a matter of fact, Nagisa, who had been in the middle of eating a roll cake, nearly choked and asphyxiated on it from the shock. She shot a glare at Esumi while coughing violently.

"E-Esumi-san?! What on earth is this sudden—! C-Cough!!"

"S-Sorry... I didn't think you'd be quite that surprised."

It seemed Esumi had not anticipated that her words would lead to an almost life-threatening choking incident.

With wide, flustered eyes, she gently rubbed the back of the still-coughing Nagisa while explaining the detailed reasoning behind her earlier statement.

Apparently, she hadn't been getting satisfactory results when rendering the human body lately, and had decided to start life drawing from scratch to thoroughly re-establish her fundamentals.

However, Trinity General School was, if nothing else, a proper ladies' academy.

Naturally, it was impossible to simply invite life models onto campus, let alone order an unfamiliar student to strip naked. While ordinary art models could be brought in without troublesome procedures, what Kayama needed this time was literally a nude form.

And so, she had decided to use herself as the model.

She possessed a captivating beauty that drew people in, and her physique was completely faultless.

The only problem was that Kayama Esumi could not divide herself. In other words, the Esumi who served as the model and the Esumi who drew the picture could never coexist.

That left her with no choice. Her only option was to take photographs of her own naked body and use them as reference later.

That was why Esumi had begged Nagisa to act as her photographer. Since Nagisa practiced art herself, she surely knew best what compositions and poses would work.

"As a student who looks up to you as a professional painter, I am genuinely flattered to have your trust... but wouldn't it be simpler to ask someone like Cheri for this sort of thing?"

"I did suggest it to her, of course, seeing as she is my disciple... but she ended up having a sudden nosebleed and passing out on the spot, so I decided against it."

"......I see."

Was that nosebleed brought on by the excitement of imagining her respected master's naked body?

Or was there some entirely different reason? Honestly, even Nagisa, who held authority over her, often found Cheri's inner workings beyond comprehension.

Nagisa let out a small sigh, shrugged her shoulders, and nodded.

"Understood. If I am acceptable, I will gladly assist you. When would you like to do this?"

"I need a little time to prepare, so tonight would be wonderful."

"Very well."

Yet neither of them could have imagined at that moment just how chaotic the night ahead of them would turn out to be.

1-2

"Haa... To think I'd end up photographing Esumi-san's naked body..."

As the hour began to edge toward midnight, the person sitting awake and letting out a heavy sigh was none other than Kirifuji Nagisa.

Resting prominently on her usual desk was a single-lens reflex camera borrowed from the art club. It was an indispensable tool for heading out shortly to photograph the naked body of the art club president herself, Kayama Esumi.

As for Nagisa, who would actually be operating the camera, she sat slumped on her bed, utterly dejected.

And who could blame her?

No matter how strongly Kayama herself desired it, Nagisa was about to capture every inch of Kayama's bare body with a camera. This was worlds apart from snapping friendly two-shots with a companion.

Naturally, it also differed from a professional photoshoot for a magazine or photobook cover; this was strictly meant to document Kayama's naked form from every angle as artistic reference material... Yet, despite her love for art, Nagisa had zero experience in this domain, and it was her very first time photographing a person with a DSLR camera rather than a smartphone.

(Can I really pull this off well? I accepted on the spur of the moment back then, but looking back now, wouldn't it have been far better to just stick to giving instructions and have someone else take the pictures...?)

Still, looking back at Nagisa's circle of acquaintances, not many were particularly skilled with cameras.

Furthermore, since she would be photographing the naked body of Kayama Esumi herself, she couldn't trust anyone loose-lipped who might spread bizarre rumors across the academy. That made Nagisa's personal attendant, Otaru Cheri, the most suitable candidate, but the girl in question was currently confined to bed rest after suffering a nosebleed and catching a terrible cold.

Even so, the thought of someone else photographing Kayama's naked body left Nagisa feeling... honestly quite resentful.

Even though she was neither her lover nor anything of the sort, and had no right to hold such feelings.

(This won't do. I cannot assist Kayama-san—who approaches art with such sincere dedication—while harboring thoughts like these. I must pull myself together.)

Lifting her head, Nagisa gently gave both her cheeks a sharp pat with her hands.

Though it was hard to say her mood had completely cleared from that single action, it was vastly better than continuing to nurse her heavy feelings, so she stood up from the bed.

Picking up the DSLR camera from her desk, she checked its controls several times and began practicing so she could handle it smoothly.

After a few minutes of tinkering with the camera, Nagisa finally left her room holding it in her hand. Her destination was singular: the place where Kayama was waiting.

"Good evening. I am heading over to your location regarding our earlier arrangement. Where are you currently?"

When she inquired about her whereabouts via Momotalk, a reply came from Esumi after several tens of seconds. Checking the message text, it seemed she had found an ideal vacant room perfectly suited for the photoshoot, and was currently occupying it while waiting for Nagisa to arrive.

(So it isn't Kayama-san's own room or the club room...)

While it should have been the optimal choice in terms of privacy, Kayama apparently had her reasons and was forced to borrow another room.

"Though, of course, I couldn't honestly tell the Tea Party that we're holding a photoshoot for life drawing, so I've occupied the room without permission. Do try to come quickly, please."

"Without permission... What do you plan to do if someone sees you?"

"It should be fine. I checked beforehand, and it's a room students rarely use even during the day. The door locks and has solid soundproofing. The ceiling lighting is also faultless, so I think we can manage if we finish the shoot within an hour."

"Understood. I will take your word for it. However, it will take me a little while to arrive, so please stay put and wait there. If possible, let's keep the room lights off until I get there. The light might give us away to someone."

"Agreed. I'll be waiting for your arrival, so hurry along as best you can, Kirifuji."

"Yes."

Sending that final message, Nagisa let out a breath and closed Momotalk.

All that remained was to rush at top speed to the room where Kayama waited. Even so, Nagisa belonged to the Tea Party and was known among ordinary students as a young lady of a prestigious family. Eager as she was to hurry, she wanted to avoid conspicuous actions like running down a midnight corridor, so she moved at the fastest possible brisk walk.

(Carrying a camera around in the dead of night and acting evasively... If I were on security patrol, I'd suspect myself immediately.)

While it was still a time when certain committees and clubs were diligently active, for ordinary students it was well past curfew, a time when everyone should be back in their rooms avoiding going outside.

Patrols by the Justice Realization Task Force and Tea Party students were also underway, so without a convincing explanation, anyone would be immediately chased back to their quarters. Nagisa, despite belonging to the Tea Party, was no exception.

Especially since she was carrying a DSLR camera that had absolutely nothing to do with Tea Party business; things wouldn't end peacefully if she were caught.

That was precisely why Nagisa intended to act with caution... or so she thought.

"Oh, what are you doing out at this hour, Nagi-chan?"

"M-Mika-san?!"

However, horror of horrors.

While hurrying toward Esumi while avoiding patrol routes as much as possible, Nagisa bumped into none other than her childhood friend, Misono Mika.

Startled by the appearance of someone she least expected, Nagisa almost dropped the camera in her hand. Catching her breath, she asked Mika why she was in such a place.

"Mika-san. W-What are you doing out so late at night?"

"That's my line, Nagi-chan. I just finally finished work and was on my way back... But if I recall correctly, Nagi-chan, you didn't have any work scheduled today and were supposed to be off, right? Why are you walking down the corridor at this hour? And carrying such a big camera, too."

Mika's gaze fixed on the camera in Nagisa's hands, causing Nagisa to frantically scramble for a lie to escape the situation.

"That is... to take landscape photographs."

"In the dead of night like this?"

"Precisely because it is night."

"Hmm... Nagi-chan into photography, huh... Oh?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing really~? I just thought, the Nagi-chan I've known forever was always a tomboy and never the type to take an interest in photography~"

"......That is simply because I've only recently taken it up."

"Is that so? Well then, show me the pictures you took with that camera right now☆"

With an innocent, bright smile, Mika quietly reached out one hand.

Nagisa returned the gesture with a strained, tight smile.

(I only borrowed this camera today, so there isn't a single photo on it!! You're saying this on purpose, aren't you?!)

She didn't even know how to extract the image data.

Besides, it would be a disaster if Mika carelessly touched it and wiped the data, so Nagisa frantically searched her mind for a breakthrough.

Just then, an unexpected figure appeared.

"Misono Mika. Isn't it rather rude to casually lay hands on someone else's personal belongings?"

"......Who are you?"

"......Who?"

Emerging soundlessly from behind Mika was Yurizono Seia, a student belonging to the Sanctus faction.

Since she had met Nagisa many times, they were well acquainted, but surprisingly, this was her first time meeting Mika. It was only natural for Mika to cast a suspicious gaze her way, so Nagisa casually introduced Seia to her childhood friend.

"Oh, so she's a girl from the Sanctus faction in the Tea Party just like us? But I hardly ever see her at meetings. What does she usually do?"

"Seia-san's health is delicate, so she usually handles her duties from her room, Mika-san."

"Just as Nagisa says, I am physically frail as you can see, and rarely get to go outside. Well, even so, I've often heard rumors and gossip about you. True to rumor, you seem to be an innocent, intuitive sort... a student who has no need to use her head."

"Ahaha. My, what an amusing girl☆ Though I feel like I'm being looked down upon somehow."

"......Mika-san, please calm down. More importantly, Seia-san, what brings you out traveling at this hour?"

"I was out visiting some ''family.'' I had something to discuss and visited her room directly, but unfortunately she was out. So I am on my way back to my own room."

"Then shouldn't you hurry back? There's no need to barge into Nagi-chan's and my chat, and if you don't get back to your room before your health acts up, it might be dangerous, you know?"

Unlike when dealing with Kayama or Nagisa, Mika wore an expression of utter annoyance toward Seia.

Her first impression of Seia seemed to be thoroughly dreadful.

Knowing full well that they would mix like oil and water, Nagisa chose not to press the issue and instead addressed Seia.

"Are you alright by yourself? If it's no trouble, I can call someone to accompany you."

"No need. But I appreciate the concern, Nagisa. My constitution is cooperating today, so I can easily make it back alone. Well... that's precisely why I wanted to see her, though..."

"Listening to you for a while now, who exactly is this person Seia-chan wants to see? Is it a student we know too?"

When Mika voiced this question with a tilt of her head, Seia shrugged and bluntly replied, "There is no need for you to know." Mika twisted her face in displeasure and turned her gaze back to Nagisa.

"......Nagi-chan. Let's move away from here. Instead of standing around talking in a place like this, I'll help you with your photoshoot too☆"

"Oh, a photoshoot? Taking photographs in the dead of night, you seem to have rather peculiar hobbies, Nagisa."

"Hey wait, I'm the one talking to Nagi-chan, right? Seia-chan, this has nothing to do with you."

"And what of it? I merely offered my opinion on Nagisa's hobby. Above all, I should think someone who picks a fight with every single word I say ought to reconsider her own attitude."

Perhaps stressed and fatigued from work, Mika—who tended to act purely on intuition, just as Seia pointed out—grew increasingly grumpy and seemed ready to snap at any second.

Seia, who was likely feeling let down after finding the person she wanted to see absent, was probably feeling unsettled as well. Whether she was intentionally provoking Mika or simply poor at socializing was unclear, but her choice of words was poor either way.

As fellow members of the Tea Party, Nagisa wanted to avoid unnecessary conflict. Stepping deliberately between the two of them, she spoke up to try and diffuse the tension.

"Please, both of you, calm down. There is no reason to engage in a heated argument in a place like this. We are members of the Tea Party after all? We belong to different factions, so it would be disastrous if a quarrel between us caused an internal split. Let us calm down."

"But Nagi-chan, I—"

"Mika...... Please. Calm down."

"......Haa. Alright, I understand, Nagi-chan."

"And Seia-san, if you fall ill from getting too caught up in an argument, it will defeat the entire purpose. Please take care of your health."

"......Ah. Indeed, my apologies."

"Thank you. Also, you needn't accompany me on my photography outing, Mika-san. I am simply going to photograph Esumi-san for a short while afterward—"

"Eh? You're going to photograph Esumi-chan right now? With that big camera?"

"......I see."

"Ah."

It was a slip of the tongue.

Just when she had managed to smooth things over and was about to slip away without arousing suspicion, she had let slip an unnecessary comment at the very end.

As a result, Mika closed in on Nagisa with a gleeful, knowing grin, while Seia narrowed her eyes and silently glared at her.

"Hey hey, tell me, tell me!! What are you two going to do all alone with Esumi-chan?! Just take pictures? Did you prepare that camera to snap cute poses or maybe even lewd photos?! I mean, meeting up with Kayama-chan in the dead of night has got to mean that kind of thing, right, Nagi-chan?!"

"Would you mind explaining that story to me in detail as well?"

"N-No! What I said just now was merely a figure of speech... photographing Esumi-san is a shoot required for art purposes, and I would never do anything so improper!"

"Then I'm coming along too!! I want to see Kayama-chan after so long, and I have to make sure Nagi-chan isn't taking anything lewd!"

"Allow me to accompany you as well. Carrying around such a high-performance camera in the dead of night to meet her... is suspiciously irregular, to say the least."

"T-That won't be necessary!! This is a secret promise between Kayama-san and myself, so there is no need for the two of you to tag along!! N-Now please, go back to your rooms!"

"Denied☆"

"Rejected."

Yet they paid no heed to Nagisa's cries, and the three of them remained clustered together, continuing their argument.

1-3

"Kirifuji is terribly late..."

A fair amount of time had already passed since their Momotalk rendezvous arrangement. Left entirely alone in an unused room to wait for Nagisa's arrival, Esumi sighed as she gazed at the night moon visible through the window.

"Being all alone in such a bleak, barren room is honestly rather unsettling... and dark, to boot."

The room she currently occupied was a strange, vacant space completely devoid of furniture like desks or chairs—unusual for a school—and despite its narrowness, it had an odd, hollow openness to it.

While there were curtains on the window and a large lighting fixture on the ceiling, it felt like the bare minimum of equipment. It hardly looked like a room intended for academic purposes.

Consequently, there was currently no sign of other students entering or exiting the room. Figuring that as long as she took the nude photos quickly and dispersed promptly there should be no particular issues, Kayama had been squatting in this room for a while now.

(I honestly would have preferred using the club room or my own room, but Kio's got underclassmen working all-night production mode in the club room, and Cheri's resting in my room after getting a nosebleed and catching a cold, so both options are out.)

Still, bad timing wasn't anything new for her.

Deciding she might as well try to enjoy the situation, Kayama glanced at the time while looking up at the moon illuminating Trinity at night in place of the sun.

Unfortunately, at this rate, it was going to become the dead of night.

"......I suppose I might as well get ready in the meantime."

Even at this hour, there was still no sign of anyone coming to the room. Naturally, Nagisa was nowhere to be seen either. Tired of continuing to wait, Kayama concluded that the only person who would step foot into this room was Nagisa, and decided to undress ahead of time under the guise of preparation.

Of course, it was a slightly risky action, but her own nude photographs were indispensable for her drawing anyway. She could postpone it to avoid risks, but starting tomorrow she would be extremely busy with club activities and preparations for her solo exhibition, leaving her zero margin for error.

Telling herself this was unavoidable, Kayama cast aside her embarrassment and reached for her clothes so she could start the shoot the moment Nagisa arrived.

First, Esumi stripped off her uniform, carefully folded it, and placed it near the window.

Next came her shirt, then her socks, and finally her underwear. She shed them with the natural movements of someone undressing in a bathroom.

Even so, since this was a vacant room tucked away in a corner of the school building, it made for a rather bizarre spectacle...

Besides, although the season was neither hot nor cold, stripping completely bare didn't feel particularly pleasant. Even indoors where there was no breeze, Esumi could feel the ''air'' directly against her skin.

The reality that she was now boldly exposing bare skin that had until recently been covered by cloth made her heart beat slightly faster with tension.

"......Naked inside the school building is utterly insane, but this is necessary for the sake of art... Wait, somehow my bust looks even bigger than before... Surely that's just my imagination?"

Esumi’s physical growth period, including her height, had already stopped.

Therefore, her thought that her bust had grown was indeed "just her imagination," but there was no doubt that Esumi was currently so intensely nervous and hypersensitive that even her bodily perceptions were skewed.

For now, she struck several poses suitable for life drawing to test her body's movements and sensations, all while mentally praying, "Hurry up and get here, Nagisa!!"

(To anyone watching, I'm just a certified lunatic. Standing naked in a vacant room like this... Ah, come to think of it, I need to close the window curtains.)

Noticing something, Esumi turned her attention toward the window.

Since this room was on an upper floor, the chance of being seen from outside was low, but what Esumi was doing undeniably qualified as public indecency. She had just recently held an art seminar for the Justice Task Force, so she couldn't afford to fall into their custody over a crime like this.

Well, if that was the case, she shouldn't have gotten naked in the first place, but honestly, Kayama was quite exhausted from her daily activities. Her head probably just wasn't functioning properly.

(As soon as this photoshoot is over, I'm going straight back to bed.)

Thinking such thoughts, Esumi approached the window to draw the curtains.

Just then, she sensed someone approaching the room. They seemed to be moving in a hurry, breaking into a run.

"......You’re finally here."

Come to think of it, a considerable amount of time had passed since she told Nagisa on Momotalk to "hurry along as best you can." This wasn't just being late; it was a massive delay.

Well, perhaps she was delayed by some circumstance or another, but waiting alone in a dim, vacant room was secretly quite eerie, so Esumi felt she had every right to voice a complaint.

Directing her awareness toward the door, she quietly waited for it to open.

Immediately after, the door flew open with considerable force, as if someone was trying to enter in a rush. Incidentally, the door to this room opened inward toward the interior.

Consequently, Esumi’s field of vision caught the swinging door first, followed immediately by someone entering in a flustered state.

"You're late. How long do you expect me to wait?"

As the one who had been made to wait endlessly, Esumi had intended to say that with an exasperated tone... but the mouth she opened to speak froze right in place.

"......Yes?"

What came out instead were words of confusion. A low voice struggling to comprehend the situation.

For the person who had arrived in this room was not Kirifuji Nagisa, whom Esumi had been eagerly awaiting.

Her height was nearly identical to Esumi’s. Like Esumi, her long, beautiful hair stood out.

If one asked whether she was as refined as Nagisa, in terms of ''appearance'', she certainly seemed to be.

But no. This person was not Nagisa.

Her hair color, eye color, and even her uniform were completely different.

At least in this current life where she had started over as ''Kayama Esumi,'' this was a student she was meeting for the first time, yet to her surprise, Esumi knew very well who she was.

"......Eh?"

Meanwhile, the other person returned a reaction of confusion matching Kayama's.

Well, naturally so, considering an upperclassman was standing right before her in the literal buff inside a midnight vacant room. In fact, it was remarkable she wasn't screaming her head off; ordinary people would be terrified.

Paralyzed by shock for a moment, Kayama quickly recovered and spoke the student's name in a hesitant, probing tone.

"You are... could you be Urawa Hanako?"

"And you are... Kayama Esumi-san?"

Yes, indeed.

This was one year before the events of the original Blue Archive story. It was the year Urawa Hanako—the brilliant yet perverted student who would later appear as a regular member in the Eden Treaty arc—had enrolled in Trinity as a freshman.

This was bad.

Of all people, to have her naked body seen by Hanako... What on earth would she end up saying?

"Um, could you please put on some clothes...? Walking around naked inside the academy strikes me as rather inappropriate."

Well, that was a remarkably sensible thing to say.

Could this be Hanako before she snapped from excessive stress? Come to think of it, it had been less than half a year since the freshmen enrolled.

This was Urawa Hanako back when she was still earnest and refined. My, what a precious sight; it sparked a sudden wave of curiosity.

"......A-Ah? E-Esumi-san?! Why are you walking toward me like that?! Do you not realize what kind of state you're in right now?!"

"Whoa, how rare. Urawa back when she was still all green and innocent."

"Um, Esumi-san?!"

Before she knew it, driven by a desire to observe this overwhelmingly precious, ''pure'' Hanako up close, Kayama lost herself and advanced toward her. Naturally, seeing a completely naked bishoujo closing the distance step by step, Hanako retreated backward while emitting a voice mixed with embarrassment and confusion.

At that moment, voices could be heard from outside the room... or more accurately, from the corridor.

"I thought I heard a voice from that room just now!! Hanako-san is over there!"

"Out wandering around in the dead of night like this—we have to drag her back right away!"

It seemed they were searching for Hanako. Judging by the voices and footsteps, there were around several of them. From their phrasing, they were upperclassmen, perhaps even Esumi’s contemporaries.

Stopping in her tracks at the sound of their presence, Esumi glanced over at Hanako... only to find Hanako looking somewhat frightened not by the naked upperclassmen standing right before her, but by the group heading their way.

Hmm, the situation might be graver than she had anticipated.

"......Alright... come here, Urawa."

"Eh, hya—Esumi-san?!"

Apologizing mentally to the frightened girl, Kayama grabbed her hand, pulled her close, and strode straight toward the window.

"U-Um, what on earth..."

"You'll see when you look."

With a cheerful smile on her face, Kayama placed her hand on the window.

1-4

Far from the school life she had envisioned.

Several months had already passed since enrolling in Trinity General School.

Carrying such bitter thoughts in her chest, Urawa Hanako, attending the academy as a fresh first-year student, spent yet another joyless day of school life.

To be honest, Hanako had been prepared to accept that living ''peaceful days'' might be difficult as long as she attended Trinity General School.

No matter the student, one could not live in peace without establishing one's position at least once or twice. Politics, factional strife, an academy mixing ladies of high birth and commoners, and a chaotic autonomous district where gunfights disguised as duels occasionally broke out—that was Trinity General School.

Yet for Hanako, who was lauded as an exceptional figure not only in Trinity but across all of Kivotos, a hell awaited where neither peace nor even freedom was permitted.

In the exams administered right after enrollment, she achieved perfect scores across all subjects for all three grade levels.

In a dialogue held with upperclassmen belonging to the Tea Party, she displayed wit and tactical negotiation that left those around her groaning in awe, backed by an overwhelming analytical capability that allowed her to reach conclusions simply by combining trivial pieces of information.

To the Tea Party and Sisterhood—both constantly hungry for talented personnel—Hanako's existence was so overwhelming that they felt compelled to call her a ''once-in-several-centuries prodigy,'' making her quite popular. Hanako had dimly suspected she was different from those around her, but by the time she realized drawing any more attention was a bad idea... her avenues of escape had already been completely blocked off.

Invitations to organizations and factions flooded in for her day after day.

Insidious bullying and harassment from students jealous of her brilliance.

And conversely, individuals with hidden agendas who sidled up to her by exploiting those very circumstances.

Days where she couldn't even speak her true mind, where words of denial or affirmation were twisted and spread around.

The more earnestly she tried to live her student life, the more the surroundings made a spectacle of her.

Spending an ordinary day, laughing over idle chatter, applying herself earnestly to her studies and finding satisfaction in the results.

The dream student life Hanako had envisioned had, unfortunately, been utterly shattered right from the very start of her enrollment.

The place she was in was no longer an academy.

There existed only a ''prison'' that stripped away her freedom in order to force her to choose submission.

Eventually, she began fleeing from all students during the daytime, gradually taking to wandering around the academy in the dead of night in search of freedom.

Roaming about during hours when student presence was scarce, gazing at the quiet academy to soothe her mind.

For her, this too was a form of escapism. Come to think of it, Hanako's heart must have already been reaching its breaking point back then.

Yet those who continued to chase after Hanako never gave up.

Before she knew it, her few precious hours of ''free'' nighttime had transformed once more into mere time spent running away.

And today, desperately walking the halls of the school building to escape the mysterious students pursuing her, Hanako knew she couldn't evade them unless she found somewhere to hide.

She had no choice.

She would hide in a vacant room rumored to go unused by students even during the day, wait for an opportune moment, and slip back to her own room.

Hurrying through the midnight corridors, Hanako finally reached her sanctuary of a room, gripped the door handle, and burst straight inside with sudden momentum.

"......Yes?"

Immediately after, an unexpected voice sounded from the room she thought was empty. A low voice sounding perplexed by Hanako's entrance.

Oh no. Was there already someone here?

She had no idea what business they had in this room, and her heart filled with guilt over causing a disturbance... but wanting to escape her pursuers and hoping to get them to listen, Hanako turned her gaze toward them—and that was when it happened.

"......Eh?"

What stood before her was not human.

Ah, no, looking at them calmly, the person was indeed human, but astonishingly, right here in the dead of night in an unpopulated vacant room, she was ''naked''. Yes, stark naked.

Literally in her birthday suit, she was boldly exposing herself.

A slender waist with delicate curves.

Slender, beautifully shaped legs and arms.

Though inferior to Hanako's own, her porcelain skin and lovely, well-developed bust were magnificent enough to momentarily draw one's attention away completely.

And above all, her face was so stunningly beautiful that even Hanako found herself unconsciously captivated, its mysterious presence emphasized to an excessive degree by the moonlight streaming through the window.

By any ordinary standard, exposing oneself naked in a place like this could only be called eccentric behavior.

Fear, confusion, or shock—experiencing such emotions would be the natural reaction.

Yet, strangely enough, Hanako felt no fear whatsoever.

It was a ridiculous thing to say, but she had been struck speechless by sheer awe.

To Hanako, her appearance right then was like that of an absolute ''angel''.

1-5

With a click, the door to the vacant room opened once again, and several students stepped inside.

They were the same group of girls who had been searching for Hanako earlier.

Scanning the dimly lit, vacant room, they all tilted their heads in unison at the absence of Hanako.

"That's strange. I'm certain I heard a voice coming from this room..."

"I heard it too... but she's not here."

"Was it just our imagination...?"

"Huh. But wait, look at that window over there. Isn't something off?"

When one of the students pointed, there was a single window blown wide open, with the curtains fluttering in the outside breeze.

No way. Shocked by the thought that she might have jumped out the window to escape, they all hurried toward it. There was no balcony attached to this room; stepping out the window naturally meant plunging straight down.

No matter how physically resilient Kivotos students were, jumping out a window in the dead of night with such poor visibility would not end well. There was also the possibility she could land badly and sustain an injury.

"......Is that..."

However, what lay beneath the window was not hard ground and Hanako's injured, lying form... but a fairly large tree.

Unfortunately, even with the moonlight, the outside was pitch dark, and it was hard to visually make out what was down below.

The fact that the window was open meant there was a nine-out-of-ten chance Hanako had jumped toward this tree, but it was difficult to state that with absolute certainty.

Still, having lost track of the fugitive, everyone present felt that continuing the pursuit was tantamount to recklessness.

"She couldn't possibly have jumped toward that tree, right? No way..."

"But looking around this room, there's nowhere to hide at all... if anywhere, it'd have to be outside."

"Even if she miraculously managed to leap onto the tree, let's at least pray for her safety. Once she's outside, she's bound to return to the school building eventually. For now, we have no choice but to head back to our rooms."

"Agreed. It's late into the night already, plus I'm sleepy."

"Haa. Wandering outside without permission at this hour, and then fleeing the moment she sees us... Could she be sneaking around in the middle of the night up to something bad?"

"Even so, she's still a first-year. Even if she actually is plotting something, we need to guide her as her upperclassmen..."

They continued talking amongst themselves in the room.

Were they upperclassmen relative to Hanako? Judging by the conversation, they had apparently been trying to drag the freshman Hanako back to her room after catching her roaming outside without permission in the middle of the night.

They weren't from the Tea Party or the Sisterhood, nor were they from the Justice Realization Task Force, so they might have been students belonging to some committee or another that remained active late into the night.

"It seems... they aren't bad girls after all."

With a chuckle and a soft smile, Esumi whispered to Hanako right before her.

"......Esumi-san... More importantly, this state of yours is really..."

"Shh... Be quiet. Do you want them to catch us?"

"......Yes."

"Good. Well handled."

To state the conclusion, Hanako had not jumped out the window to make her escape.

Rather, much like them, she was still squatting in this vacant room—along with Esumi, the earlier occupant, of course.

Currently, the two of them were huddled in the corner of the room... specifically, in the shadow of that inward-opening door which the girls searching for Hanako had used as an entrance.

It was a textbook case of hiding in plain sight. The window Esumi deliberately opened was nothing more than a decoy, and coupled with the bleak, unfurnished state of the vacant room, the searchers concluded that ''since there was nowhere to hide, Hanako must have jumped out the window to escape,'' falling for the ruse hook, line, and sinker.

However, even tucked behind the door, the space available to conceal two people was far too cramped. While keeping the room unlit enhanced their stealth, for two well-developed young girls to hide successfully, pressing tightly against each other was an unavoidable necessity.

Furthermore, having had no time to change, Esumi remained completely stark naked, pressing her bare skin against the clothed body of Hanako for all she was worth.

For Hanako, the softness of Kayama's skin—discernible even through cloth—and the way Esumi's chest, pressed firmly against her own due to their nearly identical height, luxuriously shifted in shape were impossible to ignore, leaving her completely at a loss as to whether she should feel nervous or aroused in this situation.

For the time being, she averted her face from Esumi, who was close enough that they could kiss if they so desired, and prayed for this ordeal to end as quickly as possible.

Incidentally, Kayama's clothes, which she had folded near the window, had now been moved down to their feet so as not to be noticed. Well, at the moment, such details hardly mattered.

Above all else, what worried her was the fear that Kayama might be seen in this state, leading to ugly rumors or impressions spreading later, or worse, Kayama getting arrested for public indecency.

And then there was the danger that Hanako's own heart might grind to a halt from sheer excitement and tension after accidentally laying eyes on her naked body and experiencing the intimate contact of their bodies pressed directly together.

"......Urawa, are you alright...?"

Then, speaking in a low whisper, Esumi asked Hanako—who had shut down her thoughts to avoid thinking about her as much as possible—if something unusual was the matter.

She would have loved to scream out, ''Alright?! Thanks to you being stark naked, my mind is wandering all over the place with all sorts of wicked thoughts!!'', but given the circumstances, she couldn't possibly do that.

Hanako shook her head frantically to signal that she was fine, and cast a brief glance toward Esumi.

"......ngh...!"

Yet right before her eyes was Esumi’s face, wearing a look of worried concern.

It was only natural, of course, but even in the dim room Esumi’s face remained breathtakingly beautiful, and staring at it any longer felt like passing a point of no return.

At first she had mistaken her for a real angel, but it seemed she was more like a goddess. Hanako deeply envied her composure and ability to make calm decisions even under such absurd conditions.

(Kayama Esumi-san... A remarkably talented artist who has birthed numerous works, capable of calm judgment and action, a celebrity constantly in high demand due to her captivating appearance and generous, gentle disposition... Just as the rumors say, she truly is a stunning person.)

Hanako naturally understood the immense value art held within Trinity.

Therefore, she couldn't imagine that Esumi, who walked that path, had spent the past three years living a ''peaceful'' student life just like her.

Of course, there were differences between an artist and a prodigy, but both were sought after by politics and factions alike, and just between them, Hanako genuinely respected her.

If possible, as a ''kindred spirit'', she would have loved to ask Kayama for advice on how to navigate student life successfully, but meeting Esumi—who was bogged down not only as art club president but with creative work and academics—was exceedingly difficult. Seeing her constantly surrounded by students from the Tea Party, Sisterhood, and Justice Task Force, Hanako had long since given up on ever meeting her.

(And yet, to encounter her in a form like this and be rescued from a tight spot by Esumi-san... No, to begin with, I still have no idea why she was standing completely naked all by herself in this vacant room in the middle of the night...)

Perhaps Kayama too was reaching her breaking point from daily stress and had stripped down as a form of diversion.

If so, Hanako had stumbled upon an astonishing piece of big news: that the beloved and popular Kayama Esumi was actually an exhibitionist. But having grasped it, she had no use for such knowledge.

Instead, Hanako swore deeply in a corner of her heart to keep silent so that this fact would never be known to a soul.

She would guard the secret of her respected upperclassman with her life.

That was Hanako's way of repaying her for their chance encounter and for saving her from a tight spot... though there were quite a few misunderstandings involved.

(......At any rate, Esumi-san!! I'm not trembling out of fear, so please stop stroking my head while hugging me tightly like this!! I won't say it out loud, but I can feel it—mostly in my most sensitive parts!! And those large, marshmallow-soft things of yours have been shifting shape drastically right before my eyes, which is terrible for my heart!! Thanks to you, my fear is completely gone, and I'm not scared, so could you at least put some distance between us—Ah, no, no!! I'm not shaking from terror, so please stop whispering worriedly right into my ear, I beg of you!! Don't try to open any brand new doors for me anymore!! What should I do? Even if I tried to stop you out loud, your pursuers would hear us, and at this rate I'll just be at Esumi-san's mercy... Could she actually be a fallen angel disguised as a real one?!)

Eventually, after all the students pursuing Hanako had left and silence returned to the vacant room, Kayama explained the circumstances behind why she had been stark naked... but poor Hanako was on the verge of reaching her absolute limit—of what, she wouldn't say—and collapsed limply onto the floor right then and there. She was in no condition to hold a conversation, let alone listen to an explanation.

"Were you struggling with your mental state that badly? If you'd like, I can lend an ear to your worries from time to time."

Having no inkling that she herself was entirely responsible for the cause of this incident, Esumi gently stroked the head of the still-collapsed Hanako with a look of affectionate benevolence... But whether due to struggling to keep up with the whirlwind of events or entering a late-night manic state, Kayama seemed to have completely forgotten that she was still stark naked. Bending over right there to stroke Hanako's head, she accidentally exposed a certain part of her body directly to Hanako's view, causing Hanako to experience her very first nosebleed in life.

Incidentally, after that, Esumi remarked, "It's getting rather chilly, so I suppose I'll put my clothes on," and finally began changing—her sense of shame entirely gone by now. Hanako, while frantically trying to stem her nosebleed, received yet another shock upon witnessing a certain sight.

Kayama Esumi's underwear was... black.

For Hanako, who had arbitrarily assumed it would be ''white'' like an angel's feather given her neat, beautiful appearance and generous, gentle personality, that fact came as quite a shock.

Though it was a matter of utter and absolute triviality.

As a further aside, Nagisa reportedly tried to send Mika and Seia away as they were, but their argument escalated, and she was forcibly escorted back to her room by patrolling students who heard the commotion.

Notified of this, Esumi had no choice but to send Hanako home, after which she returned to her own room and went to sleep... only to realize the following morning just how embarrassing and utterly absurd her eccentric behavior had been. On top of that, she caught a cold from standing completely naked near an open window for an extended period.

Now fully recovered after being frantically nursed back to health by Cheri, Esumi was able to look back on the past with a cool head, and reportedly said the following later on:

"Instead of some vacant room, I should have just taken the photos in Nagisa's room from the start... right?"

That way, Nagisa wouldn't have had to argue with Mika and Seia, Esumi wouldn't have stripped naked to wait for her arrival and stumbled into a chance encounter with Hanako, and she wouldn't have caught a cold like this.

Be that as it may, it was all water under the bridge now. Exhibitionism was strictly off-limits for the foreseeable future.