[b]Ruiko Saten, New York City, Arcadia-1[/b]

While there had still been some doubts as to her future course in Ruiko's mind, the statement by the Ethereal to her banished them in an instant as anger flared. It wasn't his fault, since he couldn't know the mess of emotions nor the context that such memories existed in, but it hit a sore point for her. 

How could she forget the beginning of this all, her friends deriding the Level Upper as 'the easy way', as if it was only used by people who didn't want to do the hard work of developing their abilities on their own. Even Uiharu didn't understand, couldn't understand the pressure she had been under, as someone who had gone to Academy City explicitly to become an Esper, and then faced with failure at each and every attempt. She wasn't trying to cheat, or to sidestep the process needed to become an Esper. It was just that when everything else had failed, and she was faced with her own weakness and with how powerless she was, how could she stop from using the only thing that seemed to give her a chance? And it had worked. 

"We'll see," she shot back with a growl, hands clenching as irrational anger surged through her. But she didn't let it overpower her as she turned to face Nova. "Alright. I'll come with you." Not an easy choice, but in the end there had been no doubt about the decision.