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

desamontello12: That's a good point!

Kaitou: So I'll just make the case sort of like the first one in this story-with some red herrings. Is that okay with you?

To my readers: Please read and review! I'd like to hear your thoughts about this story, and I appreciate any feedback you give (except flames).

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

Thirty minutes into the hour-long ride to the crime scene, everyone had descended into an unsettling silence. Kyuu was driving, since Kinta, who sat in the passenger seat, was obviously still upset at seeing his father again. Ryuu sat behind Kinta, and Kazuma and Megu sat to his left.

However, Kazuma decided to bite the bullet, ignore the faces his classmates were making at him, and ask. He figured that if Kinta vented his anger out now, it would be better than bottling it all up and exploding in anger later.

"Why don't you want to see your father? Does it have something to do with you working all of those part time jobs?"

Everyone froze at the question. Kyuu, Ryuu, and Megu braced themselves for a blow-up, but to their surprise, Kinta just deflated, slumping further down as far as his seat in the front would allow. (Which was a strange sight-they were used to seeing him grinning or goofing off. No one so happy should look this way.)

"…Yes. When we first met, do you remember when I said that I moved out because I felt that I couldn't rely on my family's money and influence anymore?"

At his classmates' nods, he continued, "Well, that was a lie."

"So why did you move out?" Megu asked tentatively.

"Because my father and I got into an argument. You know how the Toyamas have a tradition of practicing the ten martial arts? Well, while it's true that my father was proud of my martial arts abilities, he also believed that I should do better in my academic grades.

The thing is, I tried and tried, but I could never get my grades up. I went to tutors, and asked teachers for help, but they only raised my grades by a small percentages. My father refused to believe that his son couldn't be perfect, so I left home, and we haven't spoken to each other ever since."

Silence fell, as everyone gave him sympathetic looks. They were also impressed that Kinta had managed to survive this long on his several part time jobs and classes at DDS. Finally, Ryuu spoke up. "And this occurred before you joined DDS?"

"Yes. Why?" Kinta looked puzzled, as did Kazuma and Megu.

"Because you had to pass the test in order to get into DDS," Ryuu said, as if that explained everything.

Kinta looked at Kyuu. What was Ryuu trying to get at?

Kyuu smirked as he followed Ryuu's train of thought. "Your father doesn't know that you were admitted into the best class in Japan's top detective academy. In other words, he's in for a surprise!"

Despite feeling better after listening to Ryuu and Kyuu, Kinta felt his nerves build up again as Class Q walked closer and closer towards the crime scene. He tightened his fists, a motion that his classmates had noticed. Subtly, Kazuma shifted closer to him, and Kyuu lengthened his stride so that he was in front of the rest of the group by a small gap. Although Kinta himself didn't notice the actions, his body registered it, and his shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit.

Stepping up to the crime scene tape, Kyuu tapped on the police officer's shoulder. Kinta tensed, then released a small, relieved sigh when the officer turned around. Good. He didn't have to deal with his father just yet.

"Hi, we're the students from Class Q," said Kyuu.

"Oh, you're here?" asked the officer, with a tone of surprise, as if he couldn't believe that they were so young. As they were allowed entrance into the hotel lobby, the team resisted the urge to sigh-they had heard it too many times before. "I am officer Nakada. Osamu-keiji will be here in an hour-he was at another crime scene before this one. However, I am assuming that you have read the case files we sent? Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, just one, for now. Why haven't the cause and time of death been determined?" asked Kazuma.

"Well, our coroners couldn't find any visible marks on the body, and if it were poison, we would need to know what to test for," the officer explained. Class Q nodded in understanding.

"As it turned out, the backgrounds and alibis for all of the people who were staying in or working for the hotel checked out. This leaves us with the suspects from work-the vice president, Kawamata Mayako, Toyoda Kazuki, the accountant, and Akiyama Kano, the secretary who discovered the body-and they have been asked to stay in that room over there (here, officer Nakada pointed to a meeting room behind the front desk) until the murder is solved. Another officer has been watching over them, so they haven't had the chance to trade stories."

"Thank you very much for your cooperation," Ryuu bowed. Dismissed, the officer resumed his position of waiting by the entrance of the crime scene.

"So, who wants to speak to who?" Kyuu turned to his classmates.

"I'll talk to Toyoda-san," Ryuu offered.

Megu perked up. "I'll go with you!"

Ryuu gave her a surprised look, but accepted.

"I'll talk to Akiyama-san," Kinta said, his anxiety forgotten for a few moments. "She's a secretary-I bet she's beautiful!" At his grin, Kazuma rolled his eyes.

"I'll join you," said Kyuu. Megu, Ryuu, and Kazuma looked at him strangely. Sure, before the kidnapping, they wouldn't think twice about Kyuu going to talk to a beautiful woman, but he had changed since then. Why would he want to talk to her?

They followed Kyuu's worried gaze, directed at Kinta. So that's what it's about.

To Kyuu's relief, Kinta hadn't seen through him, and merely shrugged in acceptance.

Kazuma then said, "I guess that leaves me with Kawamata-san." He said it like he accepted it-he didn't really care who he questioned.

Kinta frowned. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Of course. I do know how to defend myself if anything happens, you know. Now go!" he said, following his classmates into the meeting room to retrieve their suspects and question them.