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

On the way to the morgue

As Kyuu was seated in the passenger seat of the car (which was currently being driven by Kinta's father), he wondered which deity he had angered, since he was, once again, doomed to be stuck in an awkward silence for the second time that day. While Ryuu's silence was normal, this time, the blue-haired boy seemed half-worried, and half something else. Since he was looking out of the window, however, Kyuu couldn't tell what the other emotion was.

As for Kinta's father, Kyuu couldn't tell if silence was normal for him. It was hard to imagine any relative of Kinta's being naturally quiet, but then again, given how father and son seemed to get along, maybe they had opposing personalities? He was staring straight ahead, his expression too difficult to decipher.

Both Kyuu and Ryuu were broken out of their respective stupors by Toyama Osamu, who seemed to have taken it upon himself to clear the air between them.

"So, you two are friends of my son? And you are all DDS students?" He asked in awkward attempt to make conversation. On behalf of his absent friend, Kyuu felt some indignation rise up within him at the undeserved indirect insult (Kinta may be a goof, but he wasn't totally inept!), but he quashed it down.

"Yes," Ryuu replied after giving Kyuu a strange look when he took too long to answer.

"My son…in DDS?"

This time, Kyuu didn't bother to calm himself. "Yes, Toyama-san, your son is in DDS. And in the top class, I might add. Is that so hard to believe?" he snapped.

Toyama-san had the decency to look sheepish, which helped Kyuu calm down. He tried to see the situation from Toyama-san's point of view, and realized that he would be curious too, if his son had run away (even if he had been provoked into doing so), only to end up in a top detective academy.

"Sorry," Kyuu offered as an apology, his sincerity showing in the word. However, he didn't say anything more.

"It's fine. It seems that I don't give Kinta enough credit… How is he doing?"

Ryuu and Kyuu locked eyes, a little stunned at the genuine concern in his voice.

Ryuu cleared his throat, and said, "He's doing well. Usually, he is our backup in case the criminals get violent, but he has shown that he can think on his feet."

Kinta's father chuckled with a hint of fondness, surprising his son's classmates even more. "Yeah, that sounds like my son…" He seemed to reflect on the past, before saying, "I know you think that I'm a poor father, and I would agree with you. You can imagine how unhappy my wife has been with me, for the last few years. And after reflecting on what happened over these last few years, I can't blame her. I was so focused on wanting a perfect son, that I tried to make him into something he's not. I just wish I had realized this earlier…and I want to apologize to him, if he would ever be willing enough to hear me out."

Both DDS students sat in stunned silence, before Kyuu spoke up. "I think Kinta will, if you give it enough time. I mean, I don't have experience with this kind of situation, but Kinta forgives pretty easily. That's just the kind of guy he is."

Ryuu shot him a look at the reference to his father, but Toyama-san gave him a grateful smile, before askng, "So what sorts of situations has my son gotten into these past few years?"

It was the right distraction, and Kyuu smiled before jumping in to telling all of the stories about their cases over the years. Ryuu occasionally jumped in to fill for the time Kyuu had been missing. Pretty soon, all of them were laughing.

At one point, they were telling Toyama-san about the time Kyuu and Kinta had snuck into the women's baths, and Megu punishing them both. However, the high-ranking police officer that he was, Kinta's father detected the undercurrents of affection in Kyuu's voice whenever he spoke about the pink-haired girl.

"You really care a lot about her, huh?"

"W-what?" Kyuu denied, although his blush gave the lie away. He swatted his hand at Ryuu, who was uncharacteristically snickering in the back seat. "What do you mean?"

By now, Ryuu had recovered, and replied, "It's so obvious, even Kazuma and Kinta know it."

"No it isn't! And besides, even if I did have feelings for her, what would I do? I've been gone from her life for six months. Any feelings she may have harbored for me must be gone by now!"

Ryuu's eyes hardened, and the emotion that Kyuu couldn't see earlier now showed clearly on his face.

It was anger. And Ryuu rarely got angry…This was going to be bad.

Kyuu barely had time to brace himself before Ryuu began speaking in a deceptively "calm" voice. "Kyuu. Believe me when I say this: you're an idiot."

"What? But-"

"No buts. And I know for a fact that Megu returns your feelings."

"W-what? How do you know that?!"

"She told me so herself."

"What? Why would she do that?"

"It doesn't matter! The point is, you shouldn't keep her in the dark about your feelings! And second, as her honorary brother, I'm here to warn you that if you hurt her again, verbally or otherwise, I will hunt you down and beat you beyond the point of recognition! And Kinta and Kazuma will help me. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes," Kyuu said in a timid voice. Wow. He knew Ryuu could be intimidating when he was calm, but he was downright petrifying when he was angry.

Toyama-san, who had been silent up to now, joined in with a smirk on his lips. For a second there, Kyuu could see the family resemblance, but unlike what Kinta would have done, the older man simply added, "You should get her an apology gift. It'll help her soften up to you."

"Duly noted."

At the parking lot

As soon as they got out of the car, Toyama-san locked the car and strode toward the coroner's office. Kyuu made to follow, but was tugged back by a hand around his wrist. Turning, he saw that Ryuu was the one that had held him back, and that for some reason, he had an uneasy expression on his face.

"Ryuu? What's up?"

"It could be nothing, but I feel that I should warn you anyway. When Megu and I were interviewing Toyoda-san, for a moment, I felt their eyes on me."

Kyuu stiffened in response to the last word. There was only one group that would make Ryuu this uneasy. "Who do you think was watching you? Toyoda-san?"

"Either him or the officer who met us when we first arrived-Nakada-san. Or it could have been someone passing by the office," Ryuu responded. "I didn't get a chance to see."

"Okay. It could be nothing, but just in case it is really them, we'll just have to watch our backs more carefully."

Both boys shared a dark look before going to follow Toyama-san into the building. They were thinking the same thing.

Everyone could be in danger right now, and they were the only ones who knew it.

In the morgue

Kyuu and Ryuu stood next to Toyama-san as they listened to a young, brown-haired man who turned out to be the coroner, named Tsuruki Chino. He was very nervous, that much was certain from the ensuing dialogue.

"W-wow! You're students of DDS?"

"Please stay on track, Tsuruki-kun. We have a murder investigation to solve."

"Oh, r-right. S-so, umm, I'm just a temporary replacement for the day, since the last coroner retired. I'm just an intern at the college nearby, and I've been doing my best, but I can't find cause of death…but I'll try to answer any of your questions to the best of my ability."

Everyone was rather unimpressed, but Kyuu felt some pity for the young man, who had clearly been thrust into an unexpected role. He piped up, saying, "Would you like us to examine the body? Maybe a fresh pair of eyes will help…"

The substitute coroner readily agreed, and Kyuu and Ryuu both snapped on a pair of gloves. Tsuruki-san stood by as both he and Toyama-san stared at them with wide eyes. Just how experienced with dead bodies were these DDS students?

They got their answer when, minutes later, Ryuu stood up from his crouched position after sharing a look with Kyuu. He then turned to the coroner. "The reason why you weren't able to determine cause of death was because there are no visible wounds on the body. However, I'm sure you've already realized this…"

"Ah, hai! I even did a dissection, but I couldn't find any signs of poisoning…"

Kyuu spoke up. "Yeah, but there are some types of poisons that are more difficult to detect. Strychnine, for example. If the victim ingested enough of it, they would have died in minutes, and the only sign we would have for that is if the stomach showed signs of inflammation."

"We'll need to run drug tests for poisons to determine the specific type. Try strychnine first-it's the most likely candidate. I trust that you will be able to do that, Tsuruki-san?"

"Yes, of course," Tsuruki-san nodded, his nervousness now gone as he watched the two detectives work perfect synchronization. "I work better with drugs than with dead bodies, anyway."

Kyuu's eyes narrowed for a second, but he pasted a smile on his face as he turned to Toyama Osamu. "Since it is 4:30 p.m. now, time of death was most likely around this time, give or take 30 minutes, 3 days ago. Rigor mortis has already passed."

Toyama-san nodded, his amazement now hidden behind a mask of professionalism once again. "This should help Kinta and the rest of your classmates narrow down what they are searching for."

"Yeah. I sure hope so," Kyuu replied as he watched Ryuu dial a number on his phone.

Unknown place, unknown time

"So, that boy has the same last name as that officer? Well, isn't that interesting…" the voice mused. "I hope you know what's in store for you, Class Q."