[Rail IC] Academy City III: Abusive Physics Never End!

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mei sniffed, then looked away.

"N...No, Tobio-kun, it's nothing...And it's fine. We've all been busy lately...I understand."

She glanced at the window, then back at Tobio. An awkward silence passed before she finally broke down and thrust a scanned copy of an email at Tobio.
It read 'Invitation to the Combat-based Esper Power Analysis Program Trials', and it was apparently addressed to Ren. At this point, Mei looked more upset than sad; angry in a way.

"That...That dumbass...Always lets himself get used...He knows...He knows they're going to treat him like a lab rat, but he insists on doing it anyway...Why is he such an idiot? He's done enough as it is, why can't they just leave him alone?"

Her jaw immediately clammed shut, the look in her eyes revealing that she'd already said more than she should have. Nevertheless, she didn't try to cover up her mistake, merely directing Tobios' eyes to the letter. It looked like a fairly standard experiment, with the promise of recompensation, the dates of testing, what would be involved, etc, etc. After Shougo had finished reading the document, Mei spoke again.

"It's got to involve more than that. It...It always does. He still has the scars from all the previous 'tests'...And he refuses to talk about them. He thinks I don't know, but I do! Why does he..."

She wiped her eyes, on the verge of tears.

"Sorry for unloading on you like that, Tobio-kun...I mean, I worry, he's a dumbass and all, and he'll most likely be able to look after himself...But he's my partner. You shouldn't worry about it...Ah...Well, to change the subject, what brings you here today, Tobio-kun?"

Mei made a great effort in trying to drop the subject and change her tone, but while what she had said was worrying...What was more worrying was the similarities between this and the Cadet Recruitment letter that Shougo had received yesterday. They had same places, the same dates, the same times, and much of what they said was, when you read between the lines, very similar in nature. And judging from what Mei had said earlier...