desamontello12: Thanks for the review for Chapter 6! Also, I don't know if you saw it, but I updated the beginning of Chapter 6 to explain about Renjo-san and the knife, so you can go back and read it whenever you like.

Visitors and viewers, please read and review! However, know that Erza Scarlet of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail will cut down any flames with her Flame Empress Armor.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective School Q. Amagi Seimaru, Sato Fumiya, and Animax do.

The hospital patient's eyes slowly opened, only to snap shut as an intense, blinding world of white assaulted him. After a few minutes, he cautiously reopened them, as a puzzled frown appeared on his features.

Where was he? Before he could wonder about that for too long, scattered memories started to make themselves known.

Darkness.

The sound of quiet, cautious footsteps making their way towards him.

A touch on his shoulder.

Then, a sound he hadn't heard for a long time-an ambulance siren.

A male's voice saying something about his best friend? And kaa-san?

Wait a second… ambulance? The amount of white that he first saw when he woke up? Could he dare to hope… that he was in a hospital?

Finding the remote to raise the bed, he ignored the twinge of pain and sat up, drinking his surroundings in. As soon as it registered-that, yes, he was in an honest-to-goodness real hospital-he let a smile of relief break out. So, he had escaped that hellhole, after all. And just when he started to lose hope…

Then, the puzzled frown broke out again. He was pretty sure that, back on the table in that dark lab, he didn't even have the energy to raise a finger, let alone move on his own. So how did he get here?

Just then, a young nurse came in, writing on a clipboard. Looking up, she did a double take and almost dropped it when she realized that he was awake and sitting up.

"Oh my goodness! How are you feeling? You should really lay back down," she rambled as her hands mechanically adjusted the IV and the different monitors attached to him.

The patient, whose name was Renjo Kyuu, gave her a smile. "I'm okay, although maybe a little thirsty," he croaked. Taking the hint, the nurse poured a cup from the jug on the bedside table and handing it to him. As he drank from it in small sips, he listened as she described his condition (the cuts, bruises, scars, burns, and malnutrition didn't surprise him, but the fact that his heart had stopped twice did). He was thankful that she didn't pry, however. Finishing the drink, he asked, with a much smoother voice, who had brought him here.

"Oh!" she said. "Four teenagers-a pink-haired girl, a blue-haired boy, a tall, dark-haired boy, and a short brunette boy-said that they were from DDS, and that they found you while chasing a lead for a missing person case. They're in the waiting room. Do you want to see them?"

Kyuu's breath caught, and he smiled for the second time that day. Of course they were the ones to save him. After he nodded, the kind nurse smiled and disappeared for a few minutes, allowing him to recollect his thoughts. What was he going to say to them, when he had been gone for so long? How much should he reveal about his experiences?

A knock on the door sounded, and he jumped. Willing himself to sound much calmer than he really was, he said, "Come in!"

The door opened, and Kinta, Kazuma, Megu, and Ryuu were ushered in by the nurse, who closed the door behind them. Kyuu and the rest of Class Q stared at each other. Breaking the silence, Kyuu smiled and said, "So, the nurse tells me that I have you guys to thank for finding me."

As if a spell was broken, Kinta, Kazuma, and Megu rushed to his bedside, with Ryuu joining them at a more sedate pace. Kyuu was bombarded with questions.

"How are you, Kyuu?"

"What happened to you?"

"Why were you in that house?"

"How did you get those injuries?"

Kyuu held up his hands, smiling as he tried to contain his friends' curiosity. He had just succeeded in calming them down, when –

"KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! You're alive!" A sobbing Renjo-san barreled in. Kinta and Kazuma barely got out of the way as she jumped onto her son's bed and gave him a large bear hug.

"Kaasan!" Kyuu said, surprised that she had come all the way here but hugging back anyway. It didn't last long as he started flailing around dramatically, in need of oxygen. Thankfully for him, Renjo-san caught on and let go, giving him a sheepish, although still tearful smile as she studied his face, trying to see any changes he might have undergone over the last six months. As Kyuu gasped for breath, he caught a glimpse of what was hopefully the last set of visitors (as the room was starting to become really crowded).

It was Katagiri-sensei, wheeling in Dan-sensei. If Kyuu had been surprised to see his mother, he was shocked upon seeing the headmaster of DDS in his hospital room. It wasn't that he thought that Dan-sensei didn't care about him, it was just that he thought he was busy overseeing the operations of DDS. Kyuu felt somewhat awkward when the rest of Class Q stood in respect while he laid on the bed, but Dan-sensei just smiled at him and asked him how he was doing.

As all of the pleasantries were exchanged and out of the way, a serious atmosphere filled the room. Kyuu felt it, and inwardly groaned in dread as he realized that he would have to tell his story. He winced internally as he wondered what to say. He didn't want to talk about the worst parts, which would make his mother and friends cry, and he didn't want to give away any secrets that weren't really his to tell.

However, he didn't have time to think more about it as Dan-sensei cleared his throat, and asked, "Kyuu, would you be so kind as to tell us what happened in the last six months?"