Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12 and D C JoKeR H S!

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And if you didn't read the author's note in the last chapter, please note that updates will happen less frequently-about once a week-since I'm back in school mode. My classes and work are taking up a lot of my free time, so please be patient with me as I get my updates in!

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

Kazuma was giving his statement to a police officer, when he saw the familiar DDS vehicle pull up to the crime scene. As soon as he finished talking, he ducked out of the police tape and went over to meet with his classmates.

"Are you okay, Kazuma?" Megu asked, concern evident on her face as she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He nodded. "Ah. I'm just a little bit tired of answering questions over and over again," he said wearily. The fact that he didn't even protest when Kinta ruffled his hair affectionately spoke volumes about how tired he was.

"Actually, Kazuma, would you mind telling us about it? We'll need to know, since Dan-sensei put us on the case," Ryuu said in an apologetic tone.

"Really? Wouldn't this be considered a conflict of interest, since I'm a part of Class Q?"

"Maybe, but I talked to Dan-sensei after class, and he said that the other DDS students were too busy. Class A would have investigated it, but they had another case to solve," Kyuu shrugged.

"Oh, all right," said Kazuma. Taking a sip of the bottle of water handed to him by Kinta, Kazuma began his story.

"I was walking to the bank to cash in a check for a video game I had designed. As I got closer, I glanced through the glass doors and I saw a masked person and someone else standing in the bank. I couldn't just walk in-the criminal would probably make me another hostage, and there was no one else on the streets who would raise an alarm if I disappeared into the bank and didn't come out for hours. But I couldn't leave the person alone. So I hid in a nearby alleyway, which had a good view of the bank.

After a few minutes, the masked person shouted something, and raised something with a metallic glint in the air. When I figured out that it was a gun, I dialed the police, but as I was waiting for them to pick up, I heard a small popping noise, and when I looked, someone was lying on the ground, and the shooter had disappeared. I realized that the noise I heard was a gunshot, so I reported what happened to the police, and told them that I was a DDS student. But if I had been in there-!" Kazuma looked down, his eyes hidden behind his glasses as his lips pursed in a frustrated frown.

After exchanging a glance with Kinta, Kyuu, Ryuu, and Megu decided to leave the computer genius and the martial arts practitioner alone, and made their way to talk to the police. Kazuma was so tired that he didn't even notice the others go away.

Kinta had decided that it was his job, as Kazuma's best friend (despite the latter's protests to the contrary), to brighten his spirits up. "But didn't you say so yourself? If you had walked in, you would be facing the criminal, and you could have been the one who died."

"But I could have stopped the victim from dying!"

"And how would you have defended yourself against a gun? Or stopped the bullet from hitting him? Remember what Hongou-sensei told me during our sparring sessions in the dojo? A good warrior should know when to retreat."

Kazuma smiled, most of his fatigue and regret draining away as determination set in. "I think he said 'a good martial artist should know when to retreat'…but okay. You're right. Now, I'm just ready to start solving this case."

"I think you just read my mind," Kinta smiled. They watched as the others came back to them. "The police have approved of letting us on the crime scene," Ryuu said. He, Kyuu, and Megu read the body language and atmosphere between the two, and they relaxed as they saw that Kinta had gotten through to Kazuma.

"Good. Let's go," said Kazuma, his mind now focused on gaining justice for the man who had died in front of his eyes.

The beautiful brunette female inspector standing by the front door to the bank greeted them with an easy smile, and shook all of their hands, putting them on an equal social level with her. "I'm Inspector Fujikawa Hana. I'm sure you've already heard about this from your headmaster, but let me review the facts just in case. Six hours ago, a masked figure robbed the bank vaults of ten million yen, and shot and killed a customer, Tatsuya Hayami, a thirty-five year old doctor who worked at a local hospital.

Thanks to your quick call, Narusawa-san, we were able to arrive quickly on scene, and block off any exits that could have been used by the shooter. However, we couldn't find the masked shooter in the building, so we assumed he must have disposed of the mask, cash, and gun somewhere on the premises, and we are still searching for them. In the meantime, the three people who were in the bank other than the victim are standing over there, and one of them must have been the shooter. We just don't know which one, and that's where you come in."

Everyone nodded in understanding, but somewhere in the back of their minds, they were wondering about one thing. Megu decided to ask, being the only one brave enough to do it. "Why are you being so cooperative with us? DDS students usually have to work a little bit to impress police detectives. Your colleagues usually dislike us because no offense, but we can do their jobs easier and faster than they can."

"None taken," Hana-san replied. "The thing is, I have worked with DDS on an earlier case, but with a different class-Class A. They solved the case fairly quickly, and I was impressed. If you are taught by the same people who taught them, I have no doubt that you will succeed in solving this case. However, there was this one student-Saburomaru-san, I believe. He didn't seem to be as…quick at deducing as the others."

Even Ryuu was struggling to keep his composure as the others snorted or smirked. If only their arrogant schoolmate was here to see such a beautiful inspector insulting him…