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Session #2, 13/7/13- Exposure therapy

Finally. My break time. Ms. Dubose wandered to her room, ready to enjoy her vanilla Frappuccino. She clutched the handle and inched the door open.

Woe and behold! Her room was not empty after all.

"Hello Dubose-sensei!" Kuroba Kaito was on her case again. A grunt was heard from all the other creatures present.

Ms. Dubose tensed, closing the door behind her: "It's nice to see… you all today."

"It seems you were keen on taking a break here," the boy she knew as Conan noted sharply, "your hair is undone and you are in possession of a vanilla Frappuccino which you would never drink in front of your clients to avoid showing them disrespect. You are a professional woman, Ms. Dubose. You did not want guests here, did you?"

This… this boy was acting strangely mature again, feeling the need to show off his intellect.

Just when the therapist was going to speak, Conan then exclaimed: "Sorry to intrude Therapist-san!"

Her eyebrow shot up. His disorder must be treated immediately. It will impair him significantly if this continues.

Conan sneered. Although he had been dragged into this by his friends, he might actually enjoy this.

A few hours earlier…

"Yo Kudo! I've got a plan," Heiji said gleefully.

"This is going to involve the therapist, isn't it?" Conan sighed, exasperated. His gaze met Haibara's as he pleaded silently for her assistance.

She intervened, but not the way he thought she would: "My life does not constitute solely of scientific research. I find the therapist's stupidity an amusing diversion; someone who does not know of our true conditions, but attempts to help us by categorising our reactions to our situation. She is the only thing we can tinker with amongst the chaos and unruliness of real life."

Conan was dumbfounded: "So… you want to manipulate her."

The assembly nodded collectively.

"This could be fun," Hakuba shrugged.

"Hakuba-kun just wants to get back at her for calling his "precise timing" OCD," Kaitou smirked, glancing in his direction. The detective glowered.

But Conan, upon hearing his words, reminisced involuntarily about her diagnosis... 'Preposterous!' he shook his head, irritated.

"I'm in," the boy conceded, a new spark of determination in his eyes.

And here he was, watching her recoil at his exaggerated "split personality disorder"

Ms. Dubose was not sure what to think.

Each of these people seemed to have worsened considerably overnight. Kaitou was now picking paper clips of her desk, shoving them in his pockets; Heiji was screaming "fun facts" about "wonderful Osaka"; Conan was switching madly between his two personalities;

And Hakuba…

Hakuba had dragged in a giant clock.

He seated himself on top of the huge machine, counting the hours, the minutes, and every singly second ticking by.

"2 o'clock, 32 min, 03 seconds, 2 o'clock 32 min, 04 seconds, 2 o'clock, 32 min, 05 seconds…"

And then came the time that Kaitou was weary of stealing trivial stationary and decided a giant clock would make a nice addition to his collection…

That didn't work out well.

The therapist scrambled to get her things together. Thankfully, she had had the good sense to conserve the documents on these particular patients, allowing her to pick up where she left off.

"Ah… ha," her finger slid down the paper until she found their diagnoses, "we'll start this session with some exposure therapy…"

Kaitou suddenly looked a lot paler.

"As in exposure… you mean…?"

Conan grinned sardonically: "Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy intended to treat anxiety disorders. It involves the exposure of the patient to the subject of their dread."

The thief gulped slightly: maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…

"First, we'll try something really simple, alright? I need everyone to listen and participate in the activity," the therapist announced, setting her clipboard on the side. No one complied.

Cocking her eyebrows slightly, but never relenting, she elaborated: "Everyone will imagine a scene in which they are confronted with what they are most afraid of. Alright?"

Conan sighed. This is silly. I am not afraid of anything…

"Are you all ready? Let's start."

He closed his eyes and tried to think of something. Anything at this point.

Something came.

A man?

Kogouro appeared in front of him, dressed in a tuxedo and armed with a magnifying glass.

'I guess that guy is scary enough'

Conan reached for his watch, but his fingers met nothing.

'Hmmm, curious'

He was letting his thoughts wander after all. He wasn't surprised that his subconscious had taken control of the situation.

'Whatever.'

Kogouro stepped into the middle of the room, a few people gathered around him. One of them had glazed eyes- the corpse. It was submerged underwater in a bathtub.

"I will now uncover the culprit! The culprit is….YOU!" Conan followed his index's trajectory. It landed on a woman.

The detective deliberated: "You are actually a mermaid! You lured your husband into the bathtub with your enticing songs and mermaid powers; this lead to his death by drowning."

'What a fool…' the little boy facepalmed.

"It's true! How did you know!?" the woman shrieked. Scales covered her skin and she flopped like a fish.

'This is completely illogical! What the…'

"MY AMAZING DETECTIVE INSTINCTS! FUFUFUFUFU!" Kogouro burst into a fit of laughter, his face reddening pompously.

Conan balked: 'NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!'

His eyes snapped open. The little boy seemed to be covered by a thin veneer of sweat…

Damn my imagination.

Well, now he knew what he what he was afraid of.

Kaitou was astonished to find his dear Tantei-san shaken by such an ordeal. What was he scared from?

"Kaitou, we're doing this activity for you. Could you please participate?" the therapist pleaded with a smile. Kaitou quivered slightly; it seemed more like a sneer.

"A-alright."

He too closed his eyes, meeting darkness.

'Ugh. I'm supposed to be concentrating on fish?'

He conjured a silky white outfit which he draped around himself.

'Well, if I'm going to face my fear, might as well be armed!'

Leaning over the top of the building, he stretched out his gem-clutching hand. It gleamed in the moonlight.

'Something's… inside…"

PANDORA!

He gazed at it in astonishment.

This was when the fish decided to appear. Like a flock of birds, they emerged from the city below and targeted Kaitou. There were thousands of them, filling the sky seamlessly.

'WHAT?'

One of the fish yelled: "YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF FLYING FISH!?"

They all converged on top of the frantic Kaito, overwhelming him completely. He could not see his limbs, or his costume- just a dark muddle of scaly flying fish…

Kaitou surged from his seat, panting. Gross! He remarked, being crushed by those disgusting, slimy creatures…

"What did you imagine? Can you describe it to me?" Ms. Dubose questioned.

He shuddered: "There were… a lot of fish…"

Hakuba snorted: "Fair enough."

"How about you, Haibara? What occurrence would you fear the most?" she picked up her clipboard and pen once more, ready to etch her every word.

"Do you want to what would happen?" Haibara's gaze penetrated hers, contrasting sharply with the gentle lilt of her voice, "The doorbell rings; I head to the window to ascertain their identity. I call for Agasa but meet only silence- it is day but the dreadful silence of the night accompanies it.

"A sound rips apart this stillness. I plummet forward, soaking in a pool of my own blood as they stand above me, mocking, taunting, their voices hissing about their lethal endeavors. Professor Agasa, Conan Edogawa, Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and the Mouris… they killed them all and it is my entire fault."

Ms. Dubose is speechless once more. She's… seven?

Glancing back down at her documents, that fact is confirmed.

Haibara spoke again: "I… I… I've already lost so much. I don't want to have to lose my new life either."

The girl burst into tears, wringing her fingers over her eyes.

Aw, she's just a shaken child who's lost her parents; Ms. Dubose looked at her compassionately. Her eyes melted; her expression softened. The therapist extended a hand over the weeping child, ready to soothe her.

It never reached.

Haibara's fingers which, previously, had been wiping her eyes were now clasped around Ms. Dubose's arm. Her fabricated tears gleamed, moist eyelashes framing her fervent glare; her voice dripped with cynicism:

"No."

This single syllable resonated poignantly. As a smile drew itself on the girl's face, terror bloomed in the therapist's spirit, the girl's grim amusement like a wisp she could reach out and feel. Who is she? Is she just toying with me? A therapist should not be tricked so easily, they were supposed to stay on top, to read the person's emotions effectively… but Ms. Dubose had been manipulated.

By a seven-year old.

"Seems you've missed your calling, Haibara," Conan suggested jokingly.

That snapped Ms. Dubose back to reality.

There was nothing to say. She waved the situation away and turned to Kaitou and Heiji.

She's quick to recover, Haibara observed.

"What is your greatest fear?" Ms. Dubose asked the two teenagers.

Both raised their arms, pointing at each other accusingly.

The therapist added numbly: "Enlighten me."

Heiji spoke first: "That guy takin' my girl and my rival!"

The little cowlick boy remarked mockingly: "You admit it? Your girl?"

Realizing his mistake, he protested against the implied accusation: "W-wait! Kazuha's just a friend, just a friend I tell ya!"

Denial. He is definitely infatuated with this Kazuha girl, Ms. Dubose noted.

"I AM NOT INFATUATED!" he yelled subsequently.

Oh, I must have said that out loud.

She had not- it was the child again: "You would not become so agitated about this matter if you felt no attraction whatsoever to her. I believe Ms. Dubose-san would agree that you are in denial," he smirked, his voice becoming childish: "and denial is not healthy!"

The dark-skinned teenager slammed his palms onto his ears, shielding them from potential accusations. Trying to drown out the sound of the boy's taunts, he whined: "Shut up, Kudo!"

You shut up, my neighbors will believe I am incompetent, the therapist thought, irritated.

But they transferred verbally into: "Could you keep it down please, there are other rooms-"

"Denial!" Conan chanted.

"Yer getting annoying Kudo-kun!"

"Infatuation," he grinned.

Kid piped up: "How about you, Tantei-san? You've fallen for that scary Mouri girl."

"At least I don't suffer from wandering interest like you," Conan sneered. Alright, she can be frightening sometimes...

Suddenly, it felt as if their positions had been reversed. The taunting from the last session was now coming from the child instead of the two teenagers; these people were inconsistent, their behaviors and relationships fluctuating constantly.

"How about you Hakuba?" Kaitou asked with a cheeky smile, "Don't tell me you're frightened to lose KID to that idiot."

"WHO ARE YA CALLING AN IDIOT YA FLOWER THROWING PHILANDERER?"

"Keep it down!" Ms. Dubose yelped, agitated.

She was ignored. Again.

"I would find it quite troublesome if I were to lose any of my rivals to someone like that," the blonde admitted, leaning backwards on his giant clock.

"Like that? LIKE THAT?" Heiji fumed, indignant, "DA PEOPLE OF OSAKA ARE MORE WARM, OPEN, AND GENEROUS DAN YA TOKYOITES COULD EVER BE!"

"..."

A moment of silence. A roll of the eyes.

Then Hakuba coughed:

"I'm European."

Like? Hate? I dislike it... :/ what is your opinion? I am also taking recommendations for a new set of people to send to Ms. Dubose or a new therapist.