Saten Ruiko herself felt that she was actually a difficult person to get along with.
She was a textbook optimist, so cheerful that even her friends had described her as overly energetic and oblivious.
Although describing a girl in the bloom of youth that way was somewhat rude, Saten Ruiko herself admitted that her boundless curiosity and tremendous drive often dragged her into unnecessary incidents.
And in certain inexplicable respects, she was always extremely stubborn.
This was not because she was shy, nor because she disliked being close to others deep down and could not interact with them openly.
If she had to put it into words, it was simply timidity born of anxiety about her relationships.
In this city where abilities reigned supreme, one's ability level determined everything.
From extra classes to preferential acceptance for many positions, these invisible distinctions had long since worked their way into society's rules.
For Saten Ruiko, who had been sent to Academy City at a young age and grown up there away from her parents, her status as someone without an ability bothered her like a fish bone lodged in her throat.
After all, whether Academy City's authorities acknowledged it or not, there was no denying that relations between people of different ability levels were quite tense.
Those without abilities hung out after class like ordinary students, while those with abilities mostly met and socialized through extra classes or research institutes' projects.
These differences in lifestyle had long since created an invisible divide. Saten Ruiko had even heard of a Level 3 being shunned and isolated by their classmates for frequently spending time with friends who had no abilities.
So, although she appeared unconcerned when spending time with her friends, in private, she constantly worried that the friends who associated with her were