(part 3)

"Really?" The sun was already going down, and Chidori hadn't even thought about what they were going to do once it got dark. "Wow, that's great." After hours of worrying helplessly, it was such a relief finally having a clear goal to focus on that she could almost understand the way Kirika recovered from her awful embarrassment so quickly. "And you only saw the map for a few seconds... that's really amazing, Kirika-senpai."

Kirika and Akiha were already leading them away, back through the inner gate and onto the beach, with Chidori and the others following along. "That was improvisation," Kirika replied without looking back. "I had hoped to find a map of some sort, perhaps at a bus stop. I suppose I should have expected that a nude beach might attract those trying to peep on the nudists.

It took a moment for that word to sink in, and when it did Chidori stopped in her tracks and squeaked, "Huh?"

Behind her, Mioko's reaction was similar but louder. "Whaaaat!?" she cried out, hurrying up next to Kirika and clutching her by the arm. "They what? You mean back there? those boys at the gate? They were PEEPERS??!?" the shock in her voice turned into anger all at once at Kirika's simple nod. "That's awful! Those big jerks. Someone totally ought to teach them a lesson!"

"That is why they were standing on the roof of their car, in an attempt to see over the fence, and most likely to take pictures as well," Kirika continued just as calmly as before. "I heard them climbing down when you arrived and I saw the phone they were using for it, and I realized that we might use that phone as well.

"So that's why!" Mioko exclaimed. "I thought it was kinda strange how they were all standing on top of a car like that. Still, I can't believe someone would do that."

"I expected that we could easily convince them to let us borrow the phone for a moment, in our current state. But I... I wasn't thinking..." Kirika's voice began to waver, and her hands again moved between her legs. "I just didn't think about how much I'd have to... let them see..."

Kirika was whimpering piteously now, while Akiha and Mioko tried to comfort her, and behind them Chidori whimpered too, as she thought of something uncomfortable. She glanced over to quickly scan the top of the fence, and sighed with relief that no peeping eyes were staring back. Kirika had been completely focused on what she had to do, and then on how much she had to expose to do it, and Mioko apparently hadn't even thought about peepers in the first place, but now that Chidori knew those boys were trying to peep on the nudists at the nude beach she couldn't help but think about how they might still be trying to peep right now. And even worse, somebody else might be trying to peep on them too, from the bushes over there, or from the roof of that building just outside the fence, or from that boat out in the water...

She felt her whole body getting hot and she wanted to run and hide or curl up on the ground again, but after a moment of glancing around frantically searching for imaginary peepers she caught herself. That bush was way too small to hide anybody, and the roof of that building was sloped, so nobody could be standing on it, and the boat was so far away that it would take a telescope to see anything more than tiny little dots on the beach. She was just being silly imagining peepers in such ridiculous places. She glanced around one last time and reassured herself that nobody was peeping on them right now and that as long as she was careful and kept watching for peepers nobody was going to peep on them without her noticing. But she still couldn't stop thinking about peepers, because she had just spent all afternoon lying around totally naked on a nude beach and not thinking about peepers at all, so some peeper might had been peeping on the nudists that whole time and she never even would have noticed.

Akiha quickly got Kirika calmed down again by reminding her that they had to hurry and get to the mall so she had something to focus on, but all the while as they walked along Chidori's mind was racing, replaying the entire time she spent with the nudists on the nude beach, only now with what small level of comfort she had developed about it completely ripped away by the thought that some peeper might have been lurking somewhere nearby to peep on all those nudists, and ended up peeping on her and her friends right along with them.

"Something wrong?" Mioko's voice pulled Chidori back to reality. She looked up, blinking, and saw Mioko walking beside her with a relaxed friendly smile. "Are you nervous about what's gonna happen when we get to the mall?" she went on. "Don't worry, Akiha-senpai and Kirika-senpai said they have everything all planned out." She giggled, "They're really reliable, huh. If it was just me I'd have no idea what to do at a time like this, you know?"

Chidori smiled back and gave an uncomfortable giggle of her own, "Yeah, they're amazing." From Mioko's high spirits, she clearly wasn't thinking about peepers anymore, and Chidori couldn't bear to bring her back down by mentioning what was on her mind and reminding her that some peeper might have been watching her the whole time she was running around naked and having fun with the other nudists. And if Shizuoka heard too it would be even worse! She could barely even stand to let the nudists see her naked in the first place. If she realized some peeper could have been there and seen her naked too, she might just collapse all over again just like when she ended up naked at school.

Mioko went back to walking with Akiha and Kirika Chidori went back to thinking about peepers and what might happen if the others started thinking about peepers, until a familiar whimpering made her look up again.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Akiha was saying to Shizuoka, trying to comfort her while she stood and trembled. Chidori came up beside them and apprehensively tried to see what Shizuoka was looking at that made her stop like that. They were at the end of the beach now, where the fence ended and the sand gave way to a little stretch of dirt and patchy grass between them and a rusty chain-link fence with a narrow curving road beyond it that vanished into the distance and the rapidly gathering darkness. Everyone was standing at the edge of the gap between those two fences and staring at the empty road, and for a few seconds Chidori wondered if they were waiting for something, until she heard it. It started out quiet and rapidly grew louder, and she realized what it was and ducked back behind their cover along with everyone else just before the car came zooming out into view and past them and away. Shizuoka whimpered again, and now Chidori understood.

"They didn't see us," Kirika said in a reassuring manner somewhat undercut by the hint of uncertainty in her tone. "I... don't think they saw us..." she corrected herself, her voice faltering and undercutting the reassurance even more.

"Don't worry," Akiha repeated, touching Kirika with one hand and Shizuoka with the other. "We just have to get behind that, right?" she pointed, and Chidori moved forward to see what she was pointing at, but just then another car came past. It was a lot quieter than the last one and she didn't hear it at all, so she totally wasn't expecting it and before she could even think she squealed and covered herself and dropped to her knees.

"Now's our chance. Come on!" Akiha called out, grabbing her hand and Shizuoka's and pulling them both along as they all hurried out into the open. She squealed again as she ran and looked around frantically to make sure that there was nobody watching, and only then looked where they were going and what they were trying to get behind. It wasn't an encouraging sight. There was some ivy growing on the fence, which in a few places looked like it might be substantial enough to hide behind. Akiha turned and said brightly, "There. That wasn't so bad, right? I mean, nobody saw us, right? We just have to keep moving, and hide when there's someone coming." Chidori nodded uncertainly. She knew they needed to keep going, but she didn't feel nearly as confident as Akiha sounded that they could hide that easily. She kept peering anxiously into the distance along the road, ready to dash for cover as soon as she saw anything, but even so when she heard the engine coming her mind went blank and she froze.

The headlights came into view just a moment later, over a little rise in the ground, and she froze just like the metaphorical panicked deer as the light hit her. She couldn't move at all, she couldn't make a sound, she couldn't even blink as the car zoomed at her and then zoomed past in a blur, with a long loud honk and a rush of wind that ruffled at her hair. The echoes of the honk were fading when she came to her senses, let out a little squeak and slowly turned her head to the others. Akiha and Kirika seemed to have pulled Shizuoka behind most of the ivy at the last moment, and they all stood just like that and stared at each other in silence, until Kirika muttered, "I think they saw us..." She was right about that, and everyone knew it. And except for Shizuoka getting behind the ivy none of them had been able to even try to hide anything, so whoever was in that car must have seen everything.

She whimpered a little and started to tremble as the awful truth sank in, and Kirika seemed to be doing the same, until Akiha interrupted, "Don't worry!" she reassured them both, "It doesn't matter what they saw. I mean, we're not far from the beach, right? I'm sure they thought that we're just a few nudists that wandered off the beach. Right?" she turned from Chidori to Kirika and finally to Shizuoka, then glanced pointedly at Mioko for confirmation.

"Huh? But that's..." Mioko started, then belatedly realized what Akiha was really saying. "Oh. Oh! I mean, um, yeah! For sure!" She giggled in a way that sounded cheerful but somehow uncomfortable. "It happens all the time. I'm sure everybody around here is totally used to it."

Kirika nodded slowly, "Yes... in that case, I suppose it's no worse than what happened earlier." She gave a faint smile. With a little more reassurance and encouragement they convinced Shizuoka to leave the shelter of the ivy, and they all started moving again. But then Chidori noticed the way Mioko was lagging behind and the troubled look on her face.

"What's the matter?" she asked softly, with a sinking feeling that she might have a bit of an idea.

Mioko looked up, blushing slightly. "It... it's just..." She glanced at Kirika and Shizuoka. "I had to play along just now, for Shizuoka-senpai's sake, but... but what I just said... that's not really how it is." She bit her lip nervously and went on, quiet enough so that the others wouldn't overhear. "I mean, it was one thing earlier when we were right near the beach. Stuff like that happens sometimes, like this one time I was playing Frisbee with my friend, and we were having so much fun we ran right past the end of the nude beach and onto the regular beach, and we didn't even notice the signs or anything until I totally tripped right over this lady sunbathing and landed right in another lady's..." she trailed off, and after a moment Chidori realized it wasn't from the embarrassment of talking about her own carelessness, when she heard it too.

It was the sound of another car, and it was getting closer. Everybody froze when they heard it and looked around. She couldn't see the car yet, but any second now it would come over the rise up ahead just like before. She started toward to the fence to get behind the ivy before it was too late, only to stop short when she saw that the ivy on the fence here was much skimpier than before, nothing but a few solitary leaves scattered here and there that wouldn't provide any more cover than a metaphorical fig leaf. She glanced around frantically for somewhere else, anywhere that she could hide, but there was nothing. She was trapped.

"Oh no..." Kirika squeaked, realizing the same thing at the same time as everyone else. They all looked up the road, helplessly awaiting the inevitable. Chidori moaned in dread and anticipation, and Mioko and Kirika moaned too, but Shizuoka didn't moan. Instead she let out an awful keening wail, a thin rising sound like the primal squealing of some tiny terrified animal. That terror was plain to see on Shizuoka's face too, along with rising panic, so awful and so urgent that it looked like she was right on the brink of totally losing control and running off blindly, and that would make everything even worse.

Chidori had to do something, she had to help Shizuoka, but all she could do was look around frantically again, and again there was nothing anywhere to hide behind and nothing to grab and nothing that anyone could do to stop what was about to happen.

But then Akiha grabbed her by the wrist. "Come on! Hurry!" she cried, and tugged Chidori with one hand and Kirika with the other hand she got them lined up shoulder-to shoulder, then motioned for Mioko to join them. Chidori didn't know what was going on, but she clung to the slender hope that at least Akiha might have some kind of idea of some way to help Shizuoka, and then as soon as Mioko was standing with them the car finally came into view and she froze again.

She watched it coming at them, way slower and making way more noise than the last one, and she couldn't move she couldn't look away and she could hardly think about anything else. The car honked as it came closer, and Chidori wanted to run away or cover herself or at least squeeze her eyes closed and imagine she was somewhere else, but she couldn't even blink. She could only stand there motionless as the car went past, honking a few more times, and then at last it was shrinking in the distance.

Chidori gasped and panted with relief before looking around. Shizuoka looked back at her with an expression of immense relief and gratitude, and seeing it she realized that with the four of them lined up like that Shizuoka must have been mostly hidden behind them. Thanks to Akiha's quick thinking Chidori and the others really had helped Shizuoka just now, letting themselves be seen naked so that she wouldn't be seen naked.

"There, that wasn't so bad, right?" Akiha put a comforting hand on Shizuoka's shoulder, and Shizuoka nodded eagerly. "And remember, as far as whoever that was is concerned, we're just a few nudists, right?" She put her other hand on Kirika's shoulder, and Kirika nodded timidly. "Right! So come on everyone, we can't stop here," she turned and led everyone onward.

They all followed, but once again Mioko lagged behind a bit looking even more uncomfortable than before, and this time she didn't need any prompting. "That's not how it is at all..." she muttered so that only Chidori next to her could hear. "That isn't something nudists would do..." she trailed off, glanced up at Chidori, then blushed and looked back down. Chidori wasn't sure if she wanted Mioko to go on, but she went on anyway. "Real nudists wouldn't even be walking around naked this far from the beach, unless they were really really distracted and got lost or something. The only kind of girls that would do what we just did... are the kind of girls that give people weird ideas about nudists." She looked up again and into Chidori's eyes with an expression that made her even more uncomfortable about what she was about to hear next. "I mean, we had to help senpai, but... standing there like that, like we wanted to be seen... we didn't look like nudists just now... we looked like exhibitionists!"

Chidori's face fell. It was exactly what she was afraid of. She shivered at the thought that whoever it was in that car just now and probably the other car earlier had looked at her and thought she was some kind of exhibitionist who got some kind of thrill from walking around naked in public. She found herself replaying the whole thing all over again in her mind, just like before only even worse, because now she couldn't even tell herself that she looked like just another nudist like all the others on the beach. She wanted to shout at the memory, "It's not my fault! I'm not like that! I'm not walking around naked on purpose!!"

Mioko must have been thinking the same kind of thing, because she looked just as downcast as Chidori felt. They trudged along like that, walking together behind the others with eyes downcast, until Akiha called out, "There it is!" and Chidori looked up and saw it.

The parking lot stretched out ahead of them, and beyond that the mall, a big white two-story building with a whole panel of windows over a whole row of doors, all lit up brightly from within. To Chidori it looked like the light of hope that meant the end of their long walk, and her spirits lifted at the sight. They all started eagerly across the parking lot, energized by the sight of goal, but after just a few steps Shizuoka stopped in her tracks, so suddenly that Chidori almost bumped into her.

"What's the matter?" she glanced in concern at the other girl, who was staring off toward the mall, wide-eyed and motionless. Chidori looked that way too. "Is something wrong? Is there something over there or-" she stopped short when she saw what was over there - people. They were coming and going through mall doors and to and from the cars scattered around that side of the parking lot, not too many, but more than enough for someone to see them if they got any closer. "Oh no..." she murmured, her spirits falling just as fast as they had risen. "But then... how are we gonna..." The mall was in sight, but the goal of finding something to wear was still out of reach if they couldn't even get inside it without being seen.

"Oh... um..." Akiha saw where they were looking and glanced around, searching for something. "There! Don't worry," she found it and brightened again, pointing off to one side. "We'll just go around to the back door. I'm sure there won't be anyone walking around back there. Come on, don't get discouraged now, we're almost there," she urged, and Chidori followed along apprehensively, glancing again at the people by the doors. "And don't worry about any of them seeing," Akiha went on. "Look, the sun is right behind us, so even if someone looks this way they won't see anything at all." Chidori glanced back and realized Akiha just might be right. They were getting close enough to be seen now, but with the sunset where it was right now anyone who looked their way would only see a group of shadows against the glare.

They got closer, and Chidori really hoped Akiha was right about that, because if she wasn't then someone was just sure to see them any second now, and then they'd shout and everyone else would look and see them too. But it was too late to turn back, so she just stared straight ahead and kept walking and kept telling herself that nobody could really see them, all the while expecting at any second to hear that shout and turn and see all those people looking right at them. But there was no shout, and when they turned the corner into the shadow of the wall she almost sank to her knees in relief. "We... made it..." she breathed, leaning against the wall for a moment to steady herself.

"Uh-huh, we made it" Akiha echoed, pointing ahead. "Now the back door should be right over there, so all we have to do is-" she stopped short, freezing in place, and Chidori looked up and her heart sank all over again. Just like Akiha said the back door was right there, and just like she said earlier there were no cars on this side of the parking lot and nobody was walking around. But instead there was a group of boys, five of them, standing around by the door and laughing at a joke of some kind. This side of the building was in shadow, so they couldn't see much beyond the little pool of light around the door, which must be why they hadn't noticed the girls there yet. And their own laughing must have kept them from hearing Akiha just now.

Akiha crouched down against the wall and crept closer to the light, and Chidori and the others came up behind her, all careful to stay hidden. Kirika peeked around Akiha's shoulder, and Chidori peeked around Kirika's shoulder, watching the boys for any sign of noticing anything over in the shadows, but they only kept talking and occasionally chuckling some more. She tried to relax a little, telling herself that those boys hadn't seen anything so they were all safe for now, but they still had to get inside somehow, and as long as those boys were standing there by the door there was no way they could get past without being seen. And they couldn't turn back either, since there was absolutely no way they could go back around the corner without being seen by everybody there instead. Chidori leaned over behind Kirika's back to whisper to Akiha, as softly as she could, "What should we do?"

Akiha looked around again. "Well... I think I have an idea," she locked eyes with Kirika, who nodded.

"Yes, right over there," Kirika said evenly, rising and pointing off into the shadowed parking lot. Chidori got up and squinted into the darkness along with the others, but she couldn't see much. Frowning, she turned back just in time to see Kirika step behind Shizuoka and give her a shove.

Shizuoka squealed and stumbled forward a few steps, out of the shadows and right into the light, and the boys looked up at her and she looked up at them and she froze. She stood there naked in front of them, completely exposed and completely helpless, motionless except for the gentle swaying of her huge breasts. Their swaying slowed as the seconds dragged on, and only once when they too had finally stopped moving Shizuoka blushed brightly all over and screamed. It was an awful scream, the sound of her fragile control finally shattering completely. Shizuoka had been through so much all week, ended up totally naked in front of leering boys so many times, that having these boys see her naked now must be bringing it all right back in a totally unbearable crushing wave of embarrassment. She turned and bolted, running blindly away into the darkness, her horrible wailing scream fading as she fled. The boys ran after her, and Chidori would have gone after her too, but Akiha grabbed her hand.

"Come on, now's our chance!" she exclaimed, pulling Chidori toward the door. She was right, with the boys gone now and the door unobstructed, the way was clear for them to get inside. But still...

"We can't just abandon her!" Chidori cried, slipping out of Akiha's grip and starting to turn back. "Shizuoka-senpai... she's all alone out here. She needs our help! We've gotta-"

"She is not alone," Kirika said firmly, taking Chidori's other hand. "Mioko has gone after her already." Chidori looked again and realized Mioko too was nowhere to be seen. Just like Kirika said, she must have gone chasing after Shizuoka. "There is little that we can do to help them like this. But she's given us this chance, and if we hurry we might be able to find clothing for everyone."

"Well... I guess," Chidori muttered. They'd come all this way to reach the mall and find something to wear, and they were so close now. And running around naked outside some more wouldn't help anything. It would be so much better if they could all just get dressed already, and if they didn't at least try then Shizuoka's distraction would be all for nothing... "Alright, but we have to come right back out and find them as soon as we can," she continued as they passed through the doors. "Now let's hurry so we can find..." she trailed off.

"Oh no," Akiha moaned softly.

"Oh dear," Kirika added, sighing. "That's certainly inconvenient."

"It... it's..." Chidori stammered, looking around, "this is... the housewares department?" Her spirits fell. In front of them were display shelves, stocked with various appliances and utensils and other assorted things, and none of the clothes that they were hoping for. That they needed. That they'd been counting on. That they'd come all this way for. "Ohh... now what are we going to do..."

"We'll simply have to keep looking," Kirika sighed again. "Going back outside and around to another door might be too slow. Would you agree?" Akiha nodded glumly, while Chidori just grimaced at the thought of either having to go back to wandering around naked outside or having to wander around naked inside. "Well then, no sense waiting. We should hurry. That way first," she pointed and immediately started off past the nearest shelves.

Akiha nodded again and took Chidori's hand and they both followed after her. And just like that they were walking naked through the mall. Chidori's mind raced with thoughts of what might happen if someone saw them like this. Walking around naked outside where anybody might see them from anywhere was bad enough, but in here somebody might just come around a corner and see them from close up, and they'd have nowhere to run and no chance of being mistaken for nudists now that they were nowhere near the beach.

But it was too late to turn back now, and besides, Mioko and Shizuoka needed their help. All she could do was hurry on behind the others, dreading with every step that she might hear a shocked gasp and turn to see a wide-eyed foreigner staring at them. So when Kirika stopped and pointed and said "There," she squeaked and covered herself and dropped to the ground, hiding behind the nearest shelf. After a few moments she realized she hadn't actually heard anything and peeked out and saw there was nobody there. "It ought to be through those doors," Kirika continued, still pointing, and Chidori lifted her head and saw the big set of double doors she was pointing at, just across a big open space. With a gasp of relief and renewed hope, she got back up and started out, only to squeak and hide again when she saw what else was over there.

"First we'll have to find a way past them..." Kirika went on, crouching behind the shelf beside Chidori and peeking out at the three cashiers at their three little desks facing in three directions. They were all sitting there looking bored, and between them they had a total view of the entire wide open entrance area between the doors and the very shelf Chidori was hiding behind. She was trapped again. There was no other way to go and nothing else to do, and no way to reach those doors without running right out there and letting them see everything.

Chidori whimpered and shrank back behind the shelf a bit more, looking around for something and frantically trying to think of anything else besides that. They couldn't go back now, and they couldn't just keep wandering around naked, and she totally couldn't run out in front of somebody naked! But it looked like she might not have a choice. She looked at Akiha and Kirika, who were looking around too and seemed to be thinking just the same thing, and Kirika sighed, sounding just as discouraged as Chidori felt.

"I suppose I have an idea," she muttered, and Chidori looked up again with a flicker of hope, just in time to see Kirika disappear off to the side past another shelf.

"Huh? What..." she crept over and carefully peeked out, but the other girl was nowhere in sight. "Where did she go?" she turned to Akiha, "What's she gonna-"

There was a crash, like a whole lot of big metal things clattering on the ground. The clerks heard it too, and they looked and then got up and hurried over that way. The same way Kirika went. "There! Now's our chance," Akiha grabbed Chidori and led her out past the desks as soon as the three were out of sight. Chidori didn't need to be told what had happened. Kirika had stayed behind to create a distraction, probably by knocking over something heavy, just like how she left Shizuoka behind to create a distraction earlier. Now there was only Chidori herself and Akiha left to find something to wear, and everybody was counting on them. They had to hurry, and they absolutely had to succeed. Filled with renewed determination, she rushed through the doors and burst out into a long wide hallway.

It was spacious and well-lit and two stories high, lined with shops on both sides. But the first thing that got her attention was all the people, some hurrying purposefully into or out of stores, other just drifting around and window-shopping. There weren't many of them, but there were more than enough to see her for sure if she went out there. She stopped in place as soon as she saw, gripped by the urge to turn and flee back back the way they came, but Akiha pulled her to the side to hide behind a pillar.

Chidori sank to the floor, trembling, her determination already disappearing at that brief sight of what was in their way. All those people, in that wide open space... there was no way to sneak past them, no way to go any further without being seen... and yet they couldn't turn back now, squandering the chance that everyone had bought them. They just had to keep going somehow... but how? "What are we gonna do..." she moaned softly.

The question hung in the air for long hopeless moments, then Akiha gave a long sigh and answered, "There's one thing left." Chidori looked up, a fragile spark of hope returning. Akiha helped her to her feet and took her by the shoulders and stared her right in the eyes, looking somehow even more serious than she had all day. Then she pointed out past the pillar and said, "Run."

"Huh?" Chidori replied in confusion, and before she could say anything else Akiha was around the corner and bounding up the stairs. Chidori hadn't even realized that the pillar they were hiding behind had a staircase on the other side, and now she could only watch in helpless shock as Akiha hopped up on the staircase railing.

"Hey everybody! Look at me!" Ahika called out in English, and the dozens of foreigners all turned to look at the same time as Akiha spread her legs wide open, and Chidori's shock turned to uncomprehending horror at the sight of her best friend perched on her hands and feet totally naked and totally exposed, showing absolutely everything to absolutely everyone below. She couldn't understand, it didn't make any sense, what was Akiha doing? After they spent so long trying so hard to hide, why would she just jump out in plain sight like that? She was shaking her chest now, making those magnificent boobs sway majestically, and all Chidori could do was stand and stare wide-eyed along with everyone else in sight, and all she could think about was what Akiha said to her just a moment ago...

She ran.

She didn't think about what she was doing, or why she was running, or where she was going, or about what was going to happen. She just ran the way Akiha pointed, out into the corridor with all the foreigners, and suddenly she couldn't think about anything else. She was running past them naked, where all of them could see her totally naked, see her bare pussy and her bare butt and her huge bare boobs. They were flopping around as she ran, and she tried to clutch at them to keep them under control but then she stumbled and they flopped right out of her hands and bounced around even more. People were starting to look at her now, their shocked gazes moving from the naked girl with the huge swaying tits to the other naked girl with the huge bouncing tits. It was impossibly embarrassing, incomprehensibly embarrassing, like a brick wall of embarrassment slamming into her, crushing her, until she couldn't even scream, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. She could only keep running, as more and more people looked at her and the embarrassment got worse and worse and even worse.

The hallway curved up ahead, and rounding the corner Chidori saw there were even more people there, milling about in a sparse crowd around a big circular open area and lining up at counters and carts and sitting at the little tables scattered all over what looked like some kind of food court. And as soon as she ran into view they all saw her, first the closest ones, looking up and gasping or squawking exclamations of surprise at the sudden sight of a totally naked girl, and the noise made more heads turn and see and make more surprised noises, which got even more attention. Like a wave spreading out in all directions, more faces turned and more eyes looked at her and saw her naked. She could see all of them, all the staring faces and all the staring eyes all around her, she couldn't see anything else. She ran blindly, hardly even knowing what was ahead of her, now more like falling than running. Falling forward, into an endless pit, with nothing else anywhere but her and the crowd and the colossal overwhelming embarrassment. It seemed like it would never stop, she was falling forever, the embarrassment was all that was left.

She landed in a heap on the floor, looked up and found that she was in the middle of the room. Then there was a blazing flash and a tremendous crashing noise, like a lightning bolt from the inside. The crashing noise faded slowly, and she could hear screaming instead, and when the light faded she could only see grey. The whole room was shades of grey and nothing was moving, the crowd all around her standing completely still like they were frozen in place, but the screaming was still coming from above her. She looked up and up, craning her neck, and she saw Jinni up there.

It was the naked rainbow giant Jinni, just like the first time Chidori had seen her, except now the rainbow was spilling out. Long writhing bolts of black lightning were going into her, through her arms and legs and three of them through her chest and one through her neck, and everywhere they pierced her the colors flowed out like the spray from a punctured water balloon. The bolts wrapped around her too, like crawling chains, and they stretched away up toward the ceiling and down to the floor, and at each end was one of the beads from her choker.

"That is enough," a deep, powerful voice called out. Chidori jerked her eyes that way to see the big figure in the long coat, approaching slowly with deliberate and dignified steps. "You have done as you pleased for this long, caused a great deal of trouble," he stopped, looking up with a solemn frown, "but that ends now." Above them Jinni, still screeching in pain, managed to fix him with wide panicked eyes, as Jojo raised his hands.

"Priest... Judas!" he shouted, and the grey frozen scene around them seemed to ripple, dark waves forming in the air and flowing down into the floor in front of where he stood, spreading out there like an inky pool. The blackness stopped rippling, becoming as still as a sheet of glass for just a moment. Then it erupted, and something rose out of it.

Chidori watched in terror, trying to back away feebly on limbs that felt like jelly, unable to scream or even make a sound, and completely unable to look away. The thing was huge, and the blackness was dripping away now to reveal bright red and steely blue underneath. It was making a noise like twisting metal, and she saw horns and armored plates and fangs, huge broad paws reaching up, and then tank treads. It looked up with eyes sunk deep beneath a horned red cowling, and lightning crackled and flared around the bright yellow whiskers that flanked its narrow fanged maw. It roared, a sound like something being crushed between huge boulders, and then it reared up to attack.

Jinni's scream rose above the grinding roar for just a moment, along with a burst of lightning that backlit the thing's outline with blinding radiance even as its claws grasped her torso and its jaws closed upon her face. A tremendous blast of pure blinding whiteness and a deafening peal of thunder forced Chidori to quail and look away and and cover her ears. And then it was over.

Once the ringing in her ears and the lingering glare covering her eyes started to fade she gingerly looked up again, overwhelmed and trembling, but the metal creature was still and silent now, a gleaming shadow crouching somewhere off to her side, and Jojo was in front of her. "I hope you are unhurt, Chidori-kun," he said solemnly. It was hard to tell with her vision still clearing and her mind still reeling from what just happened, but there was something strange about his expression. He removed his coat and draped it around her shoulders, and she realized it was that he was looking to the side. She slowly turned her head and looked that way too, but the metal beast was still motionless. Something occurred to her then and she slowly looked down, blinked twice, then snapped her legs closed and clutched the coat closed over her chest. "My apologies," Jojo went on, "for what you have been through. It must have been an awful ordeal." He knelt beside her as he apologized, but Chidori was only half listening, since behind him she saw the living wall of metal start to rotate like a building on a turntable. "I had planned to return to Japan and explain the entire situation before asking for your help, but events for you must have progressed much faster than I anticipated. I certainly never expected that you would open the seal upon the relic in only a single day." The beast's mouth came into view now, with Jinni dangling limp and colorless from its jaws by her arms and legs. "And I never even considered that the spirit within might break free of the seal entirely, or that it would cause so much trouble in doing so."

He rose and looked up at his defeated adversary, "In any case, I am pleased that you and your friends were able to lure it here and into the seal so quickly. I was afraid that you might have had difficulty finding this place with only the instructions I sent, or doing so without allowing the creature to realize your intentions. But now, if you would, please allow me a moment to assert control over her, so that we might set about cleaning up her mess."

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Pub: 08 Nov 2021 18:39 UTC

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