I now officially hate exams and anything that keeps me away from fanfic writing.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

Chapter 4: The Students

Ryuu began to feel slightly irritated as Shizuko walked round and round the music room.

"What are you looking for?" he asked her.

"Nothing in particular," she replied.

He sighed heavily. "I told you. Kyu and Kinta and I have been through his room. Nothing was here to signify a cause of death."

"Maybe it isn't about the room. Maybe it's the person in the room."

"And you can dig up something?"

"Maybe," she replied, fingering the keys on the piano. "I'm music-oriented, just like Fumika was. Now, what would I do if I were playing 'The Nine Circles of Hell' on the violin?"

Ryuu rested his chin in his palm, thinking. "You'd be standing at the music stand with the music sheets."

"And what else?"

"Tuning the violin…"

"Mm-hmm," she said unintelligibly, sneaking to the other side of the room, going through the Music room shelves as he continued to ponder.

"And you'd most likely have—wait a minute, Shizuko, what are you doing?"

Shizuko felt a large drop of sweat materialize on the side of her head. "Uhmmm, nothing?"

Ryuu's face took on a wary expression. "What are you going through that shelf for?"

"Uh…"

Ryuu walked right up to her, reached past her shoulder into the shelf, and pulled out several music sheets.

He scanned them. "These are the music sheets for 'The Nine Circles of Hell'!"

Shizuko feigned innocence while Ryuu heaved another heavy sigh. "You aren't planning to play the piece, are you?"

"Why not?" asked Shizuko, grinning nervously.

"Because it would risk your life as well as CLASS Q, that's why not," said Ryuu evenly.

Shizuko's face fell. "Awww, Ryuu, come on…"

"Not now," he replied, putting the music sheets back into the shelf.

Kyu and Meg could only stare as students milled around the practice room.

Ayame was being taught a violin piece by Minoru, while Kazumi and Yamato were in a corner. Yamato had his arms around Kazumi, showing her the fingerings on her violin. Using her hand, he guided the bow of her violin across the strings.

Meg had to smile at that scene. "Isn't that sweet?" she whispered to Kyu. Kyu grinned at her in reply.

Satoshi and Yui, meanwhile, were engaged in a debate about Yui's bow handling.

However, one student stood away from the rest of them. Meg took into account a scar on his wrist.

She didn't know his name, but…

She closed her eyes and called back to her memory how Kyu had introduced himself to the students.

Let's see, first there was Minoru, then Satoshi, Ayame, Kazumi, Yamato, and Yui…but the names mentioned in the will were…Minoru, Fumika, Satoshi, Yamato, Kazumi, Ayame, Yui, and Daisuke…

Only one name doesn't match to any student that Kyu met…so that last guy over there must be Daisuke…

Satisfied with her deduction, she opened her eyes to find Kyu staring at her, waving a hand in front of her face. "You okay, Meg?" he asked.

"Yeah, Kyu, I'm fine, I was just recalling something…"

None of the violin students took notice of them until Minoru glanced their way. He said something to Ayame, then walked right up to them. "What's the matter? Did you guys find something?"

"Minoru, there was a room upstairs that looked like a study. When we opened a drawer in the desk, a fire started. We just want to know if you'd ever been in that room or if you know what could possibly be in those drawers," said Meg.

"A study? Upstairs? Maybe that was the Master's study…he'd lock himself in a room upstairs for hours at a time, usually. But you say it caught fire?"

"Yeah. We found out why, but it destroyed most of the things on the desk. Fortunately, the desk wasn't completely ruined," replied Meg.

"Ever been in there before?" asked Kyu. "Did you ever see what was usually on that desk?"

"Yeah, I think I have. He called me in several times before, to give me a few words of advice, or for some private training sessions. He usually had some music sheets or other items on his desk."

"Anything that ever struck you as strange?" asked Meg.

"Not really…but he did always seem to be fascinated with codes and ciphers. Sometimes I'd find some papers with strange symbols on his desk. When I asked him about it, he just smiled and told me it was nothing. So I didn't mind it."

"Hmmmmm," said Kyu and Meg at the same time.

"Is there anything else?" asked Minoru.

"Nothing else, for now…but we'll just talk to you when we need anything else…"

Minoru nodded and turned to the rest of his classmates.

Kyu looked at Meg and asked, "So, what else do we need to do now?"

"Maybe we should take a look at these other guys," said Meg. "Remember, each one of them has a motive…maybe we'll see something significant…"

Kyu nodded his agreement. The two of them stayed in position, carefully watching through the crack between the door and its frame.

Ayame was saying, "You know, I think this whole 'Nine Circles of Hell' thing is a real fraud…"

Satoshi replied, "Really, now. What'd make you say something like that?"

"I dunno. Besides, I don't really care, just because Fumika died while playing it doesn't mean what she was playing was a curse."

"Got any proof?" asked Yui, smoothing out her blond hair.

"Like I need any. What am I, some kind of investigator? I'm not about to start putting my nose into this weirdness."

Kyu and Meg exchanged glances.

Minoru kept quiet, tuning his violin delicately.

Kazumi looked up at Ayame with a questioning expression on her face. "What exactly are you trying to say, Ayame?"

"I'm just trying to tell you guys that the whole 'death by music' thing is a bit too weird. This girl was one of our classmates. What, is it all about the inheritance?"

At the mention of the word 'inheritance', each and every student in the room set their sights on her.

Kyu and Meg pressed themselves a little closer to the door.

Yamato was saying, "…just because there's an inheritance doesn't mean it's a cause to kill someone..."

"Are you trying to say that someone here is a killer?" asked Satoshi, turning towards the dark-haired boy.

"I didn't say that, Satoshi," replied Yamato calmly. His arms still rested around Kazumi's shoulders.

Kazumi looked down, glancing at the floor, then at Yamato's arms, then back at the ground. She looked a shy, and at the same time afraid, biting her lip.

Satoshi cocked his head, making his bleached-blond hair flip a little. "So what was that about?"

"Ayame was sort of suggesting that if she didn't die by the music, the only other way she died would have been if she was killed, right? So I'm just trying to straighten things out."

"That is true," said Satoshi, putting his hand to his chin and taking on a thoughtful expression. His eyes darted around the room, fleeting towards Minoru's direction. "What do you have to say about all this, Minoru?"

Minoru looked up from his violin and music sheets. "Huh? What were you guys talking about?"

"Hello, anyone home in that head of yours?" said Satoshi in a teasing voice. "We were just talking about Fumika's death."

"Oh, that. Uhm."

He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. "Honestly, I don't have any idea how she ended up like that…and I'm not sure I want to know…it's too strange…it feels like something you wouldn't want to get involved in, you know?"

Some of the students in the room nodded their agreement, saying things like, "Yeah…" or "That is true…"

That being done, the rest of the students turned their attention back to the things they had been doing before Ayame had started the conversation.

Kyu and Meg, sighing quietly, got up from their (incredibly tiring, I might add) position at the door and began walking back down the hallway.

"Was that worth listening to?" asked Meg, looking at Kyu.

"Well, at least we know that the class is pretty much thinking about Fumika. They're all afraid to admit it, but her death has them all spooked."

"Yeah. It's kind of like the killer decided to target their class at once, never mind all the other students."

"But still…" Kyu said, trailing off.

"What is it, Kyu?" asked Meg, seeing that Kyu had fallen into one of his contemplative moods.

He looked at Meg with a significant expression.

"I'm pretty sure that the killer is someone in that class."

rants: aaagH! I'm so sorry for taking too long. I had some exams, and my school's been bombarding us with all sorts of tiring work... anyway, are you guys still interested?

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