Er, the fifth chap.

anyway, some replies for my reviewers…

Yunnie yuae: I know, it seems that shizu is getting obessed with ryu. Well, I'm trying my best not to let it go too far. I really don't think I can let ryu have feelings for her, if I don't want any hate mail hitting me. but I'm glad you don't mind my putting them together at times.

Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan: well, you're right, shizuko doesn't really like being in the center of attention. And, uhh, rei is kinda getting attatched to her, but maybe in just a friendly way…

Neurotic Onna: my faithful reviewer! I thank you for always being one of my reviwers, for not hating me, and for supporting the shizu/ryu pairing!

Psychedelic aya : another faithful reviewer! One of my first friends here on Have I ever thanked you for always reviewing and answering my queries? If not, well...THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Mizuki andrea: yay. Thanks!

Lalalalala: well, I'm not sure either where I got the name "kokuryo"…I think I got it off "Hungry Heart". Oh well. That name was lurking somewhere in my brain anyway.

Amanda: well, I'm not going to make PG-13 or R-rated fics anyway, so you can continue to enjoy reading my fics…

Ballet kitty: thanks. Glad you like my fics.

Angelica: well, I usually do the meg/kyu pairing…I don't know if I really will push through with pairing shizu/ryu.

Fauna-chan: wow. Thanks.

Well, this chapter will, for sure, will make people kill me. but, I hope you'll be merciful enough not to.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

Chapter 5: Murder at Midnight

Later that night, Shizuko was hard at work on her drawing again. She had thrown out her first one, the one that Rei had seen. For all her hard work, all she had accomplished were several crumpled pieces of paper littering her desk and eventually dropping to the floor.

"Iiie," she grumbled as she rejected yet another draft.

She crumpled it into a ball and threw it towards the dustbin.

The paper ball missed the mouth of the trash can by several inches.

Shizuko sighed in exasperation. "Inspiration, come to me," she muttered sarcastically, praying that some muse would take pity on her and give her an idea. ANY IDEA.

She tapped her 4B pencil on the table. "There HAS to be something I can draw," she said to herself.

Shizuko yawned and rolled up the long sleeve of her black t-shirt to check her watch. (hmm, she seems to have a lot of black shirts.) "12: 23. I can't believe this," she mumbled, burying her face in her arms.

She was on the verge of falling asleep when she heard a thump in the corridor. A strange, muffled sort of thump.

Shizuko snapped to attention, adrenaline rushing to her limbs. What was that? She thought.

Alert now, she stood up and reached for her doorknob. As she opened it, her fingers pressed on the light switch, flicking the lights off.

Bad idea, she thought immediately afterward. The hallway was pitch black, and she was completely surrounded by darkness. She blinked, forcing her eyes to adjust to the sudden absence of light.

Footsteps were treading carefully somewhere at the end of the corridor. Someone was sneaking around.

Shizuko's heart was pounding. It was either her fear of the dark kicking in, or her dread at meeting someone—possibly the killer—in the shadows.

The latter proved to be the case. She resisted the urge to turn the lights on. She couldn't risk being seen.

Keeping one side of her body against the wall, she inched cautiously along the hallway. She could still hear muffled footsteps along the worn, carpeted floor. She followed the sound, being careful not to make any noise.

The footfalls stopped. Shizuko's heart skipped a beat. Had the person discovered her? She kept her hand outstretched, feeling the wall. She had reached the end of her hallway, feeling the edge of the turn.

She couldn't see anyone, as though the outline of the person had blended right into the darkness. Her pulse quickened as she began to lose her nerve. Where was the prowler? Had he stopped?

She took a breath, calming down. Stealthily, she turned the corner, keeping close to the wall.

Suddenly a hand reached out of the shadows and grabbed her wrist. Shizuko acted automatically, twisting her own wrist to grab her opponent by the hand. Whipping around, she kicked out as hard as she could towards her assailant. However, her adversary quickly evaded her attack, and turned her arm in a VERY familiar Judo twist. Shizuko's eyes widened in shock and recognition. With her free hand, she reached up to touch the person's face. No way, she thought.

"Ryuu?" she asked, stunned.

The "prowler" loosened his grip. "Shizuko?"

"Yeah, it's me you've got in a very painful judo twist," muttered Shizuko with a wince.

Ryuu flushed, releasing her. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right," said Shizuko, rubbing her wrist where Ryuu had twisted it agonizingly. "Although I have to wonder: what are you doing lurking in the girl's dormitory? In the middle of the night, no less."

"I could ask you the same question."

"I was up late working on something. I heard a thud in the corridor and came out to investigate. What's your excuse?"

Ryuu sighed. "Someone made a mess in my room, and left a message on my computer. It was a prank."

He held up a transparent sheet, with a fingerprint sealed inside. "I lifted these."
Shizuko wrinkled her eyebrows. "Why didn't you bring this up during the meeting in my room?"

"I didn't think it was pertinent," he said simply. "I think it was just focused on me, not the murder we have on our hands. It was insignificant."

"And you want to find out who did it. What kind of message was on your computer?"

"A low threat. It's not important."

"Since I'm now wide awake…do you need help?"
"You should go back to bed."

"Do you really think that I would go back to bed with this on my mind?"

"We could get caught."

"You weren't caught, were you? And neither was I."

"I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"We won't. You wouldn't be out here in the first place if you knew there was a risk."

Actually, I would, thought Ryuu. "Well, if you're sure…let's go."

Shizuko nodded, following him quietly down the corridors.

Darkness enveloped them, ensuring that they couldn't be seen.

They continued their improvised route towards their destination.

"We're here," Ryuu said.
Shizuko blinked. They were standing outside their Trigonometry classroom.

"I already have a suspect in mind," he said, entering the classroom unfalteringly and walking up to one of the desks.

"You've done this before," said Shizuko as she followed him.

He nodded, taking out his DDS notebook from somewhere under his shirt. He brought out the included fingerprinting set.

He handed Shizuko a cylindrical object. It was some sort of flashlight. "Shine it here."

Shizuko complied, and a red beam of light illuminated Ryuu's serious face. "Red light. Smart choice," said Shizuko.

Ryuu nodded. "It'll keep us from going blind later when the light is out."

He began dusting the desk with the fingerprint powder, causing faint outlines of prints to appear. He pressed pieces of sticky-backed plastic on the prints, lifting them off. He then compared them to the one lifted from his room.

At first he frowned, because4 the prints didn't seem to match. But then the expression on his face changed.

"So I was right."

"It's a match?" Shizuko asked, looking down at the desk.

"Yes, no doubt about it. The person who wrecked my room is—"

"Mei Akane," Shizuko finished.

Ryuu nodded. (er, how many times has he nodded in this chapter?)

"I guess he had something against you for that Trigonometry question. But he didn't do anything to me."

"He probably doesn't have access to the girl's dormitories," said Ryuu, putting away his things and wiping down the desk.

"True. Anyway, we've cleared up your little mystery, but we still have a murder to think about."

"Yes," said Ryuu. "But we'd better get back to our rooms, you most of all. I didn't mean to drag you with me here."

"It's okay," said Shizuko. "It was…interesting."

Ryuu raised his eyebrow and gave her a strange look. He took the flashlight from her hands and turned it off, shrouding them in darkness again.

Shizuko blinked. "I still can't see well," she muttered, reaching out with her hand.

A warm hand grasped her outstretched one. "I'll help you," said Ryuu.

"Can you see?"

"Probably better than you can."

"That's good enough for me."

Ryuu began leading her. "Just follow me. And try not to bump into anything," he warned.

Shizuko nodded, although she was sure that Ryuu probably couldn't even see her move her head.

She followed him quietly down several corridors, pausing at some points, where Ryuu took time to recall their path. He kept close to the wall all the while, feeling it with his free hand.

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence and occasional stumbles in the dark, Ryuu finally declared, "I think this is your hallway…"

Shizuko felt for the wall of the corridor. She recognized the grain and texture. "Yeah, this is it."

Ryuu let go of her hand. (WHAT? Only now?)

"Can you find your way from here?"

"Yes, thank you."

Ryuu tilted his head in affirmation. "Good night."

"Good night," replied Shizuko. But it's morning, she thought, though not bothering to correct him.

Ryuu left her, feeling his way down the corridor to his own room.

Shizuko began her way towards her own room. I left my door open, she thought. That was dumb…

She found her open door and slipped inside. She shut the door quietly and flicked on the light switch.

The incandescent above her flickered on, flooding the room with light and, of course, momentarily blinding her.

"Gaah," she muttered, blinking to readjust her vision.

As her sight cleared, she made a quick inventory of her room. Nothing had been disturbed, not even a single piece of littered paper.

What was I thinking? She shook her head. I'm sure that there wasn't anyone else awake except Ryuu and me…

And with that thought, she went right to bed, tossing and turning until, exhausted, she dropped off to sleep.

Shinji Nogisaka looked at his digital alarm clock.

He had been up practically all night, watching late television shows.

"1:56. Man, it's late," he muttered.

But who cares? I can afford to blow off a few classes, hah!

He kept the TV on, flipping through channels as he dug through his pile of junk, looking for something edible.

His hand brushed past a half-empty bag of chips. It'll do.

Leaping onto his bed, which was littered with old clothes and a rumpled school uniform, he stuffed his mouth full of chips. He laughed, spraying out bits of food, as he watched a hilarious spectacle unfold on his television screen.

Someone knocked on his door.

"What the…" he switched off his television. The necklace that he wore round his neck dangled uselessly as he hoisted his behind off of his cot, and opened the door.

"What the heck do you want?" he asked irritably.

In answer, his visitor quickly shoved himself into the room and held him by the throat. Shinji choked, his eyes bulging out as he recognized his caller. "Y-you!"

An evil smile curled along his visitor's lips. "Now, it's your turn," he breathed into Shinji's ear threateningly.

He had a cord around Shinji's neck, its thick braid pressing harder on Shinji's windpipe.

Moments later, Shinji's lifeless body dropped to the floor.

All that was left of his midnight caller was an arrogant message on a bright computer screen.

"Mei Akane."

"Here."

"Ryuu Amakusa."

"Here."

"Mitsuru Asho."

"Here."

"Sumika Kanjiru."

"Here."

Roll call was taking place During their Math class.

Shizuko answered, "Here," as soon as her name was called.

"Shinji Nogisaka."

Shizuko and Ryuu exchanged glances.

"Shinji Nogisaka?"

No answer came.

The professor shook his head and continued roll call.

The lesson went on as usual.

As soon as the bell rang, Shizuko grabbed her things and went for the door. As she did so, she bumped into a girl with purple streaks in her hair.

"Hey! Watch it!" the girl said, annoyed.

"Sorry," said Shizuko.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Forget it, Mitsuru, she said she was sorry," said Sumika, coming up to the angry girl.

"What do you care?" said Mitsuru, turning on Sumika instead.

"Calm down, no need to get all stressed..."

"Stressed! Who says I'm stressed? I AM SO NOT STRESSED! Just because Makoto got to me…geez…"

The girl stomped off down the hall, muttering curses under her breath.

Shizuko raised an eyebrow at the exchange. "What's with her?"

"Ah, she's just got a bit of an attitude problem…"
"What was the deal with Makoto?"

"Aaah…that was something that happened a long time ago. Mitsuru and Makoto were friends at one point, after Makoto left us. Anyway, even thought Makoto was seeing someone else, she put the moves on Mitsuru's boyfriend. Mitsuru caught them kissing in the janitor's closet. Needless to say, she dumped them both. Immediately."

Shizuko wanted to wince. Too much information. "Ouch," she said. The scandals of high school.

"Who was she going out with at the time?" asked Shizuko.

"Hmm. You know what? I really don't know. Which is pretty strange, 'cause, if she were going out with someone, well, it would be all over the school in an instant. I mean, if she were going out with one of the jocks or something…"

"Maybe she wasn't going out with a jock," Shizuko suggested.

"Now THAT is impossible. Popular people do NOT date AVERAGE people. It's, like, practically a decree," said Sumika in mock horror.

It is SO possible, thought Shizuko. Although it would be hard to keep things secret in this kind of life…in any case, Mitsuru has a motive…

She checked her watch and gave a start. "Oops, I have to go."

"You mean WE have to go. We have History together, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

History class was no big deal for them, and the rest of the day went by without any trouble.

"This is weird," said Shizuko.

"What's weird?" asked Meg. All four of them, including Ryuu and Kyu, had gathered under a tree in the school yard.

"I mean, things are too…normal. It's a typical high school. The only thing that makes this place a little different is—"

"The murder," finished Kyu. "I noticed it too. It's like people could care less about the killings."

"Something should have happened by now. We were put on this case a few days after the death. This isn't right," said Ryuu.

"Maybe something has happened and we don't even know it," said Meg.

"It's hard to keep a secret in this school, and nobody knows it better than the popular kids," said Shizuko, indicating a group of girls flipping their hair and posing for jocks at a bench some distance from them.

"What makes you say that?" said Kyu.

"Everyone knows everything about the popular kids. Their life is practically an open book. Makoto was popular. Everyone knows about her death, but no one cares because her popularity was based on meanness. Same with the rest of them. Any one of them could be next, and the rest of the student body wouldn't even bat an eye. To them, it would be better if the popular bunch didn't even exist," said Shizuko.

"Do you realize what you're doing?" said Ryuu.

"What am I doing?" asked Shizuko.

"You're getting into the killer's state of mind," said Ryuu. "It's entirely possible that this is a personal matter, and it concerns all notorious and popular people. The killer isn't focused on this person to person, he wants to eliminate a particular group in this school."
"That's possible," said Kyu.

"Which means that the killings aren't random, they're planned in advance and carried out in an exacting fashion," said Meg.

Ryuu shuddered inwardly, reminded of Pluto. No. they're gone. It's over.

"It still doesn't make sense," said Shizuko, massaging her forehead. "Wouldn't that incriminate everyone in this school? The popular kids are repulsed and hated just as much as they are looked up to and admired."

"It would, wouldn't it?" said Kyu thoughtfully.

"This is too complicated," said Meg.

"I almost forgot. I've got someone on the suspect list," said Shizuko.

"Who?" asked Kyu.

"Her name is Mitsuru Asho. She's in my Math class. She has a grudge against the victim," said Shizuko.

"What sort of grudge?" asked Meg.

Shizuko winced. She hated having to tell the story over again.

"Well, after Sumika and Makoto's friendship came the bonding of Makoto and Mitsuru. Even though Makoto was dating someone at one point, she, er…"

"What?" asked Ryuu.

"She went for Mitsuru's boyfriend and Mitsuru caught them kissing in a janitor's closet and so she dumped them both," said Shizuko hurriedly and in one breath.

Kyu and Meg both looked embarrassed and reddened a little.

Ryuu blinked.

Shizuko sighed, exasperated. "High school scandals…"

"Shizuko! SHIZUKO!"

Shizuko turned around. Sumika was running towards her, red hair flying in the wind.

"What is it, Sumika?" she asked.

"Ah, well…" Sumika suddenly noticed Meg, Kyu and Ryuu. "Hi, Meg, Ryuu…and, uhm…" she trailed off.

"Kyu," said Kyu, grinning.

"Right, Kyu. Anyway, Shizuko, you won't believe this."

"What?" asked Shizuko.

"You guys better hear this too," Sumika said, turning to the rest of them.

"What's going on?" asked Meg.

"You won't believe this…but there's been another killing."

"WHAT?" they all asked together, incredulously.

"Who?" Shizuko demanded.

"It was…Shinji Nogisaka. The bully. He was absent this morning in math, remember?"

"And now we know why," said Ryuu.

rants: aha! NOW something happens. The next chap will be very interesting indeed.
PLEASE REVIEW!
and don't kill me.