Finally, I update again. I think some of you might have your own suspicions about the violin students, particularly Minoru.

Actually, er…this is kind of complicated. I was planning to sort of make a Minoru-Shizuko scene in the previous chapter. But then, well, I failed utterly. Same with the Ryu-Shizuko scene I tried there too (I just can't do it out of immense GUILT!).

I. Am. An. Utter. Failure. Maybe I'll be more sure of myself if you guys tell me what you want to happen with my OC, I need some opinions…

Anyway, this is the next chapter. I hope you guys don't hate me yet.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

Chapter 10: Security measures

(weird title, yes.)

"Murder."

"Secret."

"Danger."

"Death."

"Okay, why are you spelling out words connected to our case?" said Shizuko, looking up from the Scrabble tiles Ryuu had placed on the board. She scribbled down his word and score.

"So are you," replied Ryuu, scooping out more tiles from the bag that held Scrabble tiles.

"But you aren't breaking the pattern," she said, rearranging her own tiles.

"I find it interesting."

"I, on the other hand, find it exasperating," she responded, with just a little bit of frustration in her voice as she tried to make him see her point.

"Hmm," was Ryuu's only reply.

They had started a Scrabble game a few minutes ago, since Ryuu was finding it hard to distract Shizuko from the violin piece. So far, the game seemed to be holding her attention and keeping her from opening the violin case again.

He tapped her on the shoulder. "It's your turn."

"Just give me a minute," she said, hastily putting together her tiles. "I'm out of practice in Scrabble and…and…"

She stopped, her voice fading away into a kind of silence.

Ryuu looked up at her, raising an eyebrow expectantly. And what?

Her mind seemed to be taking her back to something else, something beyond the game they were playing. Her eyes were focused on the last four words they had spelled out.

You could die, she remembered him saying. Your life could be in danger…

I hope not, she thought to herself. But I don't want to make him worry any further about me when the case isn't about me, but the other murders…I'm touched by his mild concern, but I just have to stick up for myself so that he doesn't need to bother with me…I realize he's just trying to be nice, but still—

"Shizuko?" his voice broke her train of thought.

She looked up at him, her dark eyes meeting his—what exactly was the shade of his eyes, anyway? Black? Gray? Blue?

He pointed to the board. "It's still your turn."

"Oh," she said, snapping back to reality. "Right."

She laid out some new tiles. "Threat."

Ryuu studied the board for a moment, and then rearranged his tiles. Picking out several, he said, "Crime."

Shizuko looked at him, a slightly irritated look on her face. "This is not helping."

"I'm sorry, I still can't seem to take my mind off this state of affairs," he replied, slipping his hand inside the bag that held the other Scrabble tiles. "Huh?"

"Uh-oh," said Shizuko. "No more tiles?"

"None."

"Well, is there anything—?"

Suddenly, Shizuko's door burst open, and Kyu came waltzing in happily. "Hey, guys, I—"

Before Shizuko could warn him about the bag that Ryuu had placed near the door, Kyu tripped right over it and made direct contact with—

Ryuu and Shizuko's Scrabble game.

Tiles flew everywhere and scattered on the floor.

Shizuko made a face that looked somewhere between a cringe and a grin.

Ryuu simply looked surprised and…was that a faint smile on his face?

(It looked more like a smirk, really.)

Kyu looked at the mess he had done. "Ack!" he cried, leaping to his feet. "I'm sorry!"

"You're so clumsy, Kyu," Kinta scolded as he stepped gingerly into the room. However, he also tripped over the same bag that Kyu had tripped over, and so—

"Aaah!"

He landed face first onto a pile of tiles.

"You were saying about clumsy?" grinned Kyu.

That statement, however, earned the gold-eyed teen a whack on the head and a swollen throbbing lump.

Meg shook her head as she walked into the room. "You two are so careless…"

"Hey, Meg," Kyu called out from his spot on the floor. He had landed there when Kinta gave him the usual smacking on the head.

Meg stood above him. "You know you should really be more careful…"

Little did she know that Kyu was taking this opportunity to look up her skirt.

"Pink with polka dots! Wow! I haven't seen those for a while!"

Uh-oh, Shizuko thought, backing away from the "couple".

She backed right into Ryuu, who was moving away as well from the fight that was going to ensue.

Shizuko shut her eyes as Kyu received another batch of beatings from the red-faced girl.

Kazuma walked in right when Meg was finished slapping Kyu. "Did I miss something?" asked the young computer genius.

"Nothing," mumbled Ryuu..

The meeting began with Kyu massaging the bumps on his head.

"Okay, so Kyu and I went through the nearby town today," began Kinta. "We checked every flower shop to see if any of them had sent a bunch of roses—without mentioning the poison—to the music school."

"So how'd it turn out?" asked Meg, guiltily handing over an ice bag to Kyu. He grinned up at her and proceeded with nursing his "injuries".

"We didn't get much information on that part," muttered Kinta. "Some stores weren't open, and all the stores we asked at said they didn't get any orders for the music school."

"That's not much help," said Shizuko glumly.

"What about you guys?" asked Ryuu, looking at Meg and Kazuma.

"Well, it turns out we were right, he was poisoned through the wounds on his hands," said Meg. "One of the roses in the batch that was sent to him was tested on and a deadly substance was found on the thorns…"

"What kind of poison?"

"It's somewhat like curare. They wouldn't really tell me what the poison was. It only works through wounds."

"I see…"

"I still think our best chance of finding the killer is the roses that were sent," said Ryuu. "Maybe we could check for the flower shops that weren't open before."

"What about you two?" asked Kazuma. "Did anything happen to either of you while you were here?"

"Nothing much," mumbled Shizuko.

"What do you mean, 'nothing much'?" said Ryuu, looking at her with a disbelieving look on his face. "You got a threat from the murderer and you say, 'nothing much'?"

"SHE GOT WHAT?" exclaimed the four other Class Q students.

"How?" asked Kyu.

"When?" asked Meg

"Where?" asked Kazuma and Kinta.

"And you ask me why I say 'nothing much'," sighed Shizuko, looking at Ryuu, a slightly annoyed look twisting her delicate features.

Ryuu looked back at her seriously, however, crossing his arms. "You can't withhold information from Class Q, you know that."

"I wasn't planning to 'withhold' it; I was planning to put it in a much milder way, rather than your shocking revelation."

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is, Mr. Amakusa."

"Well, then, Ms. Miyahara," said Ryuu, a considerably icy tone in his voice, "Proceed with explaining to the rest of Class Q the situation."

She gave him a very cold glare, then sighed heavily.

"I was playing The Nine Circles of Hell with Ryuu in his room—"

"Anything else you were doing?" Kinta interrupted with a devilish grin.

Shizuko glowered at him.

So did Ryuu.

Kinta shrank back into his seat, the smile fading from his face.

"Anyway," continued Shizuko, "When I was going through the last part of what I had copied, around the Fifth Circle, the lights went out. When they came back on, a note had been slipped under the door."

"A threat, huh?" said Kyu, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

"Yeah," said Ryuu, bringing out a the piece of paper. "Here it is."

Kyu took a look at it. "'Silence'?"

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Kinta.

"It's obvious," said Shizuko. "They want me to shut up before they target me as well."

Ryuu looked at the floor, thinking deeply.

"So far it seems like a kind of prank," said Kyu, reading the short message again.

"Maybe it's because she's not one of the violin students," said Kazuma, typing again on his laptop.

"That's true, the killer might not want to waste his time on an outsider," said Kinta, looking a little thoughtful.

"But even if that's the case, there's still a chance that she might be in danger," said Ryuu. "Although the killer seems slightly nervous at this point."

"How can you tell that?" asked Meg.

"Well, when has the killer ever warned one of the students that they were going to be next? All the deaths occurred without warning. Shizuko, on the other hand, was given a warning to stop first if she wanted to live. Now, when has a killer ever given a possible victim a chance at life?"

Class Q fell silent at that.

"Aside from that, the note is clearly an order to stop prying. The killer is nervous that we might discover something in this piece." Ryuu looked at the music sheets that Shizuko had dropped haphazardly on the table.

"Guys, I think that The Nine Circles of Hell is more than what we thought it was."

Later that evening, when everyone had agreed that they were tired—which was at nearly eleven o'clock—Ryuu was last to leave the room as usual.

"Go to bed," Shizuko muttered, trying to close the door on his retreating back. "It's late."

"Maybe I should stand guard over you tonight," he said, resisting her effort to push him out the door.

"And have Kinta and Kazuma make an issue out of it? Not a chance," she replied, straining against his force.

Darn, he's stronger and more stubborn than I thought; I can't even push him out the door—

"The killer could be anywhere, you need protection."

"And you think standing guard every evening will stop the guy? Riiiight. And I painted the Mona Lisa," she said in a cynical tone.

"It might offer you a certain level of safety."

"I'll lock the door tonight. That's ONE level of safety."

"It might not be enough; he's killed people in locked rooms."

"He's not after me yet." She continued to push against his (increasingly ANNOYING) strength, which was a barely a strange feat—he was holding the door with only one hand.

"He's sent you a threat."

"You said it yourself, 'when has the killer ever warned one of the students that they were going to be next'?"

"I said with the intention of proving that he was after you."

"Who are you, my overprotective big brother? I've already got one at home," she said, trying to push him out, but to no avail.

"So that was your brother who answered the door when I came to see you about…." He stopped short, memories of his past jolting him.

"Yes. I know what you're talking about. Now please go to bed, I'm tired. And don't worry about me."

Reluctantly, Ryuu removed his hand from the door. "Good night, then."

Finally! she thought, all the frustration evidently etched on her face.

"Good night," she replied, closing the door and locking it.

She collapsed into her bed and hid under the sheets.

At least he doesn't have to see me cowering under this thing.

The very next day, things seemed just a little bit more tense than usual.

Kazuma and Kinta were staying in the school, along with Ryuu and Shizuko. However, everyone seemed to have gone separate ways that morning.
Kyu and Meg weren't around. While Kinta made a very inappropriate joke about their wanting to have some time together, ALONE and PRIVATE, Ryuu picked up a note that had been left behind on the table in Kyu's room.

Hey guys—

Meg and I went into town this morning to check on the flower shops. We're also taking our investigation somewhere outside the boundaries of the school—maybe someone's heard of the Maestro and his students.

Anyhow, there's no need to worry, you guys just take on things for now over there.

-Kyu

Kinta—

DON'T YOU DARE THINK THAT KYU AND I ARE OUT ON A DATE.

This is an INVESTIGATION.

-Meg

Kazuma snorted loudly when Ryuu showed him that part of the letter. Kinta looked ready to hit Ryuu over the head, but changed his mind and hit Kazuma instead.

Shizuko wasn't there to see the squabble though—they hadn't really seen her for most of the morning.

They all simply assumed she was still asleep, considering that it was quite early in the day.

While Kinta and Kazuma checked on the rest of the rooms in the house—amidst arguing—Ryuu passed by the door of one of the practice rooms.

"Can you believe the nerve of that girl?" an annoyed voice reached his ears.

He stopped in his tracks. What...

"Who, that skinny little spitfire of a tomboy?" Satoshi's voice came across.

Tomboy? But who—

"Yeah her. Who does she think she is, waltzing around as if she actually studies here?" That was Yui.

"Well, she has the talent to be here."

Yamato's voice.

"But she doesn't even study here. It's all Minoru's fault for letting her in." Satoshi said.

"She's not bothering us." That's Kazumi.

"She's still a snoop."

That's Yui again. Are they talking about Shizuko?

"What's your problem anyway? She's not doing anything wrong…" Kazumi said, confused.

Ryuu wrinkled his brow, listening as carefully as he could without being seen. He pressed himself against the wall, placing his ear as closely as he could near the doorframe.

"But look at her. She practically thinks she's at home! And with all these murders going around, she's not even thinking of leaving?" Satoshi interjected.

"What are you thinking? You're not thinking that she might mess around with the inheritance, are you?" Yamato said.

"She might, with all her poking around. And those friends she's with, too."

"That's ridiculous! She's not even part of the will, why should she mess with it? Sometimes you're just too paranoid, Satoshi!"

"Paranoid? What do you mean, paranoid?"

"She's not even doing anything to bother any of us and you're making an issue out of it!"

"Look at it this way—if all these weird happenings don't scare her off the killer will go after her next. She is a target waiting to be hit."

"How do you know that?"

"Because she seems to be very interested in the composition by the Maestro."

Ryuu didn't wait to hear anything more. As quickly as possible, he ran to the direction of her room.

"Shizuko. Shizuko, open the door." He knocked on it.

No answer. He knocked again. "Shizuko."

He sighed. You leave me no choice.

After checking to see that no one else was around, he fished out the lock-picking set from the DDS notebook.

He picked the lock as quickly and as quietly as possible.

Slowly pushing the door open, he stepped into the room.

Shizuko was still asleep in her bed, mumbling something inaudibly.

He shook her by the shoulder gently. "Shizuko—"

WHAM.

He found himself knocked backward into her bedside table, clutching his nose. "Ow."

Shizuko was finally stirring. "I-aaagh—wha—"

She caught sight of him rubbing his nose next to her table. "Oh, no, I'm so sorry…Did I hit you?"

"At least it's nice to know you can defend yourself even while you're asleep…" muttered Ryu.

"I'm sorry…"

"Anyway, that's not the issue here," he said, sitting down next to her on the bed. "Some of the violin students are kind of…shall we say, concerned about your stay here."

"They hate me," said Shizuko, understanding what he was trying to say.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say 'hate', more like annoyed."

"They think I'm butting in on their lives, aren't they?"

"Something more along the lines of using their facilities without being a student here."

Shizuko sighed, looking down at her sheets. "I should have known that this issue would come across to them."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I still need to take a look at the Maestro's composition. I'm beginning to think that it's the key to unlocking this entire case—wait a minute, how'd you get into my bedroom?"

Ryuu held up the lock-picking instruments. "I picked the lock."

And you tell me to lock the door for my protection when you can easily get in with a lock pick, she thought sourly.

"Oh. I hope you didn't damage the tumblers inside, anyone might be able to get in," she said aloud.

"I didn't. But you should really watch out for yourself, Shizuko. You're already a target."

"Not just yet, Ryuu. I haven't gotten anything else from our so-called murderer."

Ryuu looked around the room. "So what's that on the floor?"

"Oh no."

It was another note. Shizuko cringed as Ryuu gave her the usual warning look. He picked it up off the floor and opened it.

It was written the same way, the same block letters and red ink.

You've gone too deep into your perilous fate. Escape Hell now if you don't wish to remain in it for eternity.

"Well at least he was more poetic about it this time," Shizuko said with a laugh. "Better than a single word, anyway—"

She stopped when she saw that Ryuu wasn't laughing. As a matter of fact, he was glaring.

She sagged her shoulders in defeat. "I was just trying to keep things light…"

"The situation hardly calls for your kind of illumination," he replied with a severe sternness in his voice (almost as if he was angry at her for being in trouble YET AGAIN), getting up and placing the note on her table.

"You don't have to be so harsh about it," she said, slightly hurt.

"I'M being harsh?" he asked indignantly, whirling around to face her.

She looked up at him. "You don't have to be so strict on me, you know."

"I'm not being strict on you, I'm just—"

"Being severely overprotective," she finished for him.

"I wouldn't say 'severely' or 'over'," he said, leaning on her table for support. He knew that Shizuko had hit the nail right on the head, but he wasn't about to admit it.

"In other words I'm right and you're refusing to admit it," she said.

He nearly gave a start. It was as if she'd read his mind.

"That's not the issue here," he said, steering the conversation to another point. "Your life is in danger and you couldn't care less that a killer who's murdered three people in a row is after you."

"If my not caring less about this murderer, whoever he may be, will help you focus on the real issue here—which is the identity of our killer, I should remind you—then I'll keep it up!"

He opened his mouth to retort, but as the real meaning of her words hit him, he stopped short. She looked up at him with a deep inner pride in her eyes. It was clear to him that she was only being casual about the threats so that he could simply focus on the real case.

He sat down, silence reigning the room. She cocked her head at him, expecting an answer.

"I…I guess you're right," he said, owning up. He looked up at her. "But you're just keeping your fear down, aren't you? You can't be completely unconcerned about the whole thing."

"Of course I'm afraid. No one's immune to fear. But I don't want you to worry about me, what you really need to do is use that mind of yours to figure out who this killer is."

As usual, she spoke with a conviction that was hard to believe. He sighed heavily, hating to accept the fact that she didn't want or (as slightly proven by her swipe earlier at him as he tried to wake her) need his protection.

"Ryuu," she began again, "I don't want to distract you from what's important. I'm not supposed to be your concern. Just to what you do best. And once you solve this case fast enough, I'll be fine."

"Your confidence overwhelms me," he said with a faint note of sarcasm in his voice—faint enough to be noticed, but at the same time, sincerity was woven into the statement. "Just make sure you keep out of trouble for a while. If you really don't want me to worry, don't put yourself at too much risk."

"All right then. As long as you keep concentrating on finding our killer."

He got up from the chair.

"But just because I'm letting you off the hook now doesn't mean you can go off on your own whim. I'll keep an eye out for you."

"But I thought—"

"Not another word. I'm relaxing my precautions on you, but don't expect me to let you go so easily."

"Aw, man…" Shizuko groaned, collapsing back in her bed.

Ryuu smiled to himself and stepped out the door, making sure he closed it firmly behind him.

Rants: Hah. As if Shizuko can easily escape Ryuu's high level of security.

What will happen next? Stick around. And I'm sorry for taking longer to update, my access to the computer's been restricted now. I can really only write on weekends. –sigh-

So, yeah. PLEASE REVIEW!