Thanks for reviewing, desamontello12 and D C JoKeR H S! (And desamontello12, I know, right?!)

Wow…This will be my 20th chapter! That's the most I've ever written in any story.

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback (except flames, so none of those, please).

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

Stepping in to the bank, Inspector Fujikawa turned back to them and explained, "These were the only people who were there at the time of the victim's death—the manager, Kawazu Kiyoshi, the teller, Otsuka Fusae, and the security guard, Kiski Shintaro. Just so you know, we haven't mentioned our suspicions of one of them being the shooter, so I would be discreet in my questioning if I were you." As she said this, she pointed over to the lounge usually reserved for customers, where a large man paced, a man of medium build stood, and a woman sat. Then she glanced at her phone, which displayed an incoming call. "I'm sure that you have some method that you usually use to solve the case. I'll let you do your thing."

After watching her walk away to get some privacy for her phone call, Kyuu glanced at the others. "We'll have to do this fast. The suspects can only be detained for so long before they start getting suspicious or nervous. Let's split up; it'll save time."

Everyone nodded. Kinta snuck a glance at Kazuma, but before he could pick him as his partner again, Megu stepped up and said, "I'll go with Kazuma to talk to the bank teller."

Over Kazuma's head, Kinta stared at her curiously, but Megu gave him a look that told him to back off. He did so, raising his hands defensively. No one was going to stop her from taking her turn in comforting her friend. No one.

Ryuu spoke up next, not noticing the interaction between the two classmates. Even though a week had passed since the last case, his mind was still whirring with the implication that Kyuu might have known of his past with Pluto. "I'll go with you, Kyuu. Why don't we talk to the manager?"

Kyuu nodded his assent, and Kinta sighed in mock defeat. "I guess that leaves me with the guard."

Kazuma snorted. "Like you weren't going to choose him anyway."

"What can I say? Have you seen how fit he is? If he turns out to be the one who did it, I call first dibs on chasing him!" grinned Kinta.

Kyuu hid his laugh as everyone else rolled their eyes. It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed.

As Megu and Kazuma strode up to Otsuka Fusae, Megu glanced at Kazuma. "How are you doing?" she asked sympathetically. It must have been a shock to see someone killed right in front of you.

Kazuma opened his mouth to say that he was fine, but thought better of it. "I'll admit that I'm still a little upset. But that just makes me more determined to solve the case."

Megu smiled. "Good. But just remember, if something happened, you can always talk to me, or any of us, if you need to."

"Thanks…What about you?" Kazuma asked.

"Huh?" asked Megu.

"How are you dealing with Kyuu's return?"

Megu jumped. How did he know what she had been thinking about? "W-what do you mean?"

Kazuma rolled his eyes. Literally everyone other than the boy himself knew that Megu had a crush on Kyuu. And that she had had a thing for Ryuu before that. He wondered what had happened to change that…

"We all know about your crush on him, you know."

"WHAT?!" she shrieked, her face going as red as a tomato. Everyone in the vicinity, including Kyuu and Ryuu, turned to look at her, but she turned away in embarassment.

"So?" Kazuma prodded. He didn't really want to talk to Megu about her relationships, but someone had to. Kinta and Ryuu didn't seem like good choices, and Kyuu was out for obvious reasons, so that left him.

"…Okay, I'll admit that I was really shocked when we saw Kyuu again. Months and months of chasing down leads, and suddenly we find him flatlining on an old lab table. Then, he recovers, and on his first case, he can suddenly swim. And take out opponents underwater. What if he's changed a lot from the guy we all knew?"

"Well, I don't think he's changed that much," said Kazuma as Megu gave him a doubtful look. "No, really! Sure, he's gotten better at swimming, and he may have more social awareness, but he's still the same Kyuu. He was the one who directed us away from Minabuchi-san as the suspect based on his gut instinct, which led us to solving the case. And hey, he was acting normally until he dove into the water!"

Megu thought about his words, and smiled. "You're right. Thanks for the pep talk."

Before Kazuma could ask her if she would ever confess to Kyuu, they had already approached Otsuka Fusae.

Meanwhile, Kyuu and Ryuu were walking toward their suspect, when they heard a shriek. Both stopped in their tracks, and scanned the vicinity for the screamer. When they saw that it was Megu, who blushed and turned away when she saw them, Kyuu turned to Ryuu with a mystified look on his face. "What was that about?"

Ryuu shrugged. "No clue." Inwardly though, he could make a guess. There was only one thing that would cause the pinkette to turn red upon seeing them. He thought about the last time he had seen her face so red…

Six weeks ago

After following a lead in the search for Kyuu, Class Q had stumbled across yet another dead end. In his frustration, as soon as Kinta got into the classroom, he grabbed his bag and left, obviously intending to hit the gym and go a few rounds with a punching bag. Kazuma gave Ryuu and Megu a sad, weary smile that looked utterly devoid of hope.

Megu's breath caught in her chest. She hated that look. It brought out the older sister part of her that wanted to wipe that look off the computer genius' face. Before she could say anything to comfort him, he was already out the door, leaving her with Ryuu. In the classroom. Alone.

The blush was back on her face. She hated it. How could she still be focused on her crush when her friend (and if she was honest with herself, her other crush) was out there, maybe dead? However, these thoughts didn't stop her from blurting out, "So…d-do you think we'll ever find Kyuu?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted saying them. Ryuu's back, which had been turned to her, stiffened. Why did she say that? She knew that he and Kyuu had a best friend-like relationship, like the one between Kinta and Kazuma. He must be mad at her now…

However, when Ryuu turned to her, she was taken aback by his expression. Instead of its usual stoic look, he looked sad. And something else. Guilty, maybe? But what could he be feeling guilty for? In response to her question, Ryuu said, "Yes."

Megu was startled out of her thoughts. "What?"

"Yes. I believe that we will see Kyuu again. After all, we have to have faith that he has survived these last five months somehow. Otherwise, what kind of friends would we be?"

Megu paused as she took his comment in, and smiled. This was the kind of thing that added to her crush on him. Feeling a boost in her confidence, she said, "A-ano…"

"Hmm?"

"I think I love you!" she said, a little too loudly as she squeezed her eyes shut. No! no! no! That wasn't how she planned her confession to go!

A few moments went by without a response, and Megu could feel the awkwardness and tension grow. Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. In front of her stood Ryuu, who wore a small, apologetic smile.

Her heart sunk as Ryuu continued to look at her kindly. "I'm sorry, Megu, but I don't return your feelings."

"What? W-why not?" she asked, fighting back the tears that threatened to come. Inside, however, she wondered why she didn't feel like her heart was torn in two.

"Because I don't think I'm the right one for you," he said. Then he mumbled in a much softer voice, "And because you wouldn't have such feelings for me if you knew about my past."

"What was that last part?"

"Nothing! And besides, I've seen how you look at Kyuu."

"W-what?!" Megu asked, a hotter blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Oh, never mind, just wishful thinking," Ryuu answered innocently.

A/N: Yeah, I just decided that I would try and make this story Kyuu x Megu. Why? One, I think there's too few Kyuu x Megu in this fanfiction site, and two, I don't think I have the ability to write a Kyuu x Ryuu fic. I already have zero romantic experiences to go on as is, so even the Kyuu x Megu idea might not go far either…I apologize to the people who ship Ryuu X Megu or Kyuu x Ryuu, but I hope you'll continue to read and review this story!