Kazakiri Hyouka walked through Academy City.
She was a plain girl. Her long hair that reached her waist was its natural color. That was the nice way of putting it, but it basically meant she had done nothing to treat it. She only had a tuft split off to the side of her head with a rubber band. Her well-featured face was hidden by large unfashionable glasses and she wore no makeup. And on top of all that, her skirt extended past her knees. All told, this was no way to look in the shopping district.
But she still drew people's attention.
Instead of drawing attention due to being a beauty with an excellent body, it was due to an unnatural phenomenon.
Static.
This girl had the atmosphere of a small flower blooming unnoticed, but her outline would occasionally distort. With the horrible screeching of static, her silhouette would collapse like mist being blown in the wind or like a television with poor reception and then it would revert to normal. One second it looked like her summer dress shirt was wavering and in the next it was covered by a blue blazer.
She walked through the streets like this.
The sight would normally have caused a large commotion, but it did nothing but "draw the attention" of those around her.
That was because she was within a city of psychic powers and advanced technology.
Most unnatural situations would be accepted rather than rejected.
But…
"Hey, who is that?" said an Anti-Skill man who ran over to Kazakiri.
Anti-Skill members were experts that would use even guns to resolve any criminal incidents, but they were teachers first and foremost. As such, that man did not have the sharp senses of an agent.
That Anti-Skill man accepted her as a normal part of the cityscape.
And so he was not trying to eliminate her.
But…
"Honestly, who's projecting a 3D image here? There must be an esper doing this from somewhere nearby. This is quite an elaborate prank."
He was not looking at Kazakiri.
She was accepted as a normal part of the cityscape, but only as a phenomenon.
Psychic powers and advanced technology.
Most unnatural phenomena in that city were explained away using those terms. In Academy City, people could accept anything by assuming it was created by some experimental technology.
And so Kazakiri Hyouka was able to walk through the city.
That self-proclaimed "monster" that no one would think was human was accepted without issue.
Was this fortune?
Or was it misfortune?
Kazakiri was accepted as a staticky 3D image created by an esper and not as a human being with a mind of her own.
She gave a slight smile.
It was a smile mixed with a bit of bitterness and loneliness.
It was a horribly fleeting expression that could only be described as "human".
"…This is quite a detailed image. Are you trying to make your teacher blush?"
That expression was also accepted.
Except for the most important part.