Disclaimer: Detective Conan and all its characters belong to Aoyama Gosho. I own nothing but this fanfic and my OCs.

Chapter 16

Image

"Fujiwara, someone told me that you went to the counseling room just now. Is that true?"

"That's true! I saw him too. He went straight there after lunch. What's going on, Fujiwara-kun?"

The next day, after Fujiwara played his assigned role, the news about him entering the counseling room spread fast among the entire class. It was even safe to assume that it had also been a trending topic among students in the whole school as they spoke since he was a popular student. Witnessing this situation, Asagi became convinced that Fujiwara's claim about the counseling room was not wrong. That place was so negatively attractive that once someone went there, people would know almost immediately and wonder what was wrong with that person.

No wonder Itou-senpai was afraid of going there, Asagi thought. She must have known that it was impossible to hide it from her suicidal friend.

"Nah, nothing serious. At least, not for me," Fujiwara replied with a nonchalant look. "It's just that someone I know has been madly in love, but this love is one-sided. This acquaintance of mine is pretty depressed about it that it worries me. I went to the counselor to see if I could get some pieces of advice to help this person."

"Hmmm? Are you sure it's not you?"

"100% sure it's not me."

"Haha, it can't be him! Madly in love? Fujiwara? Impossible!"

"Right. Why would he be when he never runs out of admirers?"

"Speaking of admirers, didn't you just break up with your girlfriend recently, Fujiwara?"

"Really? You don't seem to be disappointed with it."

"We broke up amicably, so why should I be disappointed?" Fujiwara grumbled. "Oi! You made me sound like a playboy here! Can't you choose a better word?"

What was supposed to be a serious topic turned into some kind of joke thanks to Fujiwara's acting. After he gave out an ambiguous answer, nobody seemed to think that there was something wrong with him. As he joked around with his classmates, Fujiwara secretly raised his thumb at Asagi and quietly whispered a short thanks, telling him that the mission was accomplished and that he was grateful for his advice. Advice about how to keep his reputation intact.

Yesterday, after the meeting with the student council, Asagi suggested a tactic to keep his reputation even after going to the counseling room. It was a tactic inspired by his past when there were people visiting the school counselor only to get dating advice. Mixed with half-truths about Tanaka, it became quite a good excuse for a social butterfly like Fujiwara. After he used it just now, Asagi was relieved that it worked well, that his classmate did not have to be branded as a problematic student just because he went to the counseling room.

Image, huh. Asagi watched as Fujiwara talked with his friends, thinking about how important the image was to him. It was even possible that other teenagers also had the same thought about their image, that it was kind of one of the top three most important aspects in their life. After all, just to protect his image, Fujiwara was almost ready to abandon someone's life. It was something that Asagi found difficult to relate to. To him, image was important, but not to that extent and certainly not that way. His image came from his creations and many positive actions, not from something simple like visiting a counselor. There were times when he went to a police station and prison for research, but he never thought that people would mistake him for a criminal. There were also times when he went to a psychologist during the time his novel became famous because he felt pressured by his fame and public attention, but he never thought that he was a loser because of it. To think that something so simple as visiting a counselor could hurt Fujiwara's self-esteem, he could not help but think that perhaps the current society was actually quite toxic for teenagers.

What was the cause? Their entertainment? Social media? Or was it due to the crime rate around Teitan?

Asagi started pondering deeply, but before he could go anywhere, he got snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden ring of the bell, a sign that lunch break was over. The students began to disperse, returning to their own seats. Fujiwara passed him and again whispered to him that they would talk later which Asagi responded with a nod. Soon after, when everyone was already seated, the teacher came and started the class.

The class felt so long when his mind was preoccupied with the result of Fujiwara's visit to the counseling room. He failed multiple times trying to concentrate on the lesson. Fortunately, nobody noticed, not even the teacher, so he was safe until school ended. Without wasting time, he tidied his desk and got up with his bag, signaling Fujiwara to hurry and follow him before exiting the class.

Fujiwara clearly had been paying attention because he gave a nod before following him. They headed to the student council room again, but this time, they would not meet up with the other student council members who already had their own after-school activity, leaving Asagi as the only one available. Along the way, Asagi saw how well-known Fujiwara was in school. Many students regardless of their grade greeted him when they saw him. It was interesting because unlike Asagi who was well-known due to his position in the student council, Fujiwara was just an ordinary student which meant that he got famous due to his personality alone.

"So? How was it?" Asagi went straight to the point once they were inside the room. Fujiwara also seemed eager to talk, so without further ado, he answered.

"It's a bit complicated," he said. "According to the counselor, we already made a mistake—I mean it's Itou-senpai—she made a mistake."

"What mistake?"

"She promised to keep Tanaka-senpai's suicidal tendency secret. The counselor told me that we should never make such a promise to people like her."

"Why?"

"Because if you are a good friend, it's bound to be broken. People with suicidal tendencies need the feeling of being connected to the world they are living in and to the people around them so that they won't feel hopeless and detached because when they feel like this, it will be easy for them to leave by suicide. You see what I mean? It means we can't leave them alone if we want to save them. They need someone they can trust, preferably a professional that knows how to handle their issues. It is unwise to keep it secret. People—the trusted ones—need to know."

"That makes sense," Asagi mumbled to himself. "So, what should we do now?"

"Obviously, Itou-senpai needs to convince her friend to reach the counselor. Or the teacher. She has to explain to her that she can't keep it secret anymore," Fujiwara answered. "Tanaka-senpai needs to be accompanied by someone she can trust, someone that can be there for her. Since she already trusts Itou-senpai, I guess it's Itou-senpai's job to be by her side—not literally, but, you know, just be there. Listen to her, call her even if it's just to ask how she is. Don't let her feel lonely."

"What if Itou-senpai can't persuade her?"

"Actually, the counselor promised to contact her homeroom teacher today. I think her teacher will reach her tomorrow and try to persuade her to go to the counselor."

"Wait a moment—you mean there will be two people persuading her at the same time?" Asagi was surprised. "Are you sure? It sounds too stressful to me, like you have to go against two opponents at the same time. Won't it drive her to commit suicide sooner?"

"Apparently not as long as they can do it right."

"And how to do it right?"

"Something like persuading her by using her reasons for living, not our reasons… eh, I'm not sure," Fujiwara shrugged. "But from this point on, it's up to Itou-senpai, the teacher, and the school counselor. They need to work together."

"Hmm…" Asagi tapped his index finger on the desk, thinking. "In that case, we have to tell Itou-senpai as soon as possible."

"Yeah. She also has to contact the counselor. I can give her the phone number," Fujiwara added. "Let's call her now. If she can't answer, we can send her a text and maybe call her again later if she doesn't respond."

They called Itou, but she did not answer. Asagi then sent her a text, telling her both the counselor's response and phone number. After that, they did not immediately leave the room. They took time to evaluate the case and their effort so far.

"Texting Itou-senpai, done. Contacting the counselor, done. As for contacting the teacher, we can leave it to the counselor," Fujiwara counted their progress one by one with his fingers. "What else do we need to do, Nagayama?"

"Informing the rest of the student council about our progress today and waiting for Itou-senpai's response," Asagi replied. "If she hasn't responded until… let's just say until 6 pm, the time when most club activities end, we will contact her again. If all goes well, then all we have to do is to monitor the case from the sideline."

"What are we going to do if we can't call Itou-senpai again?"

Asagi tapped his index finger multiple times again, thinking. That was a good question. What should they do? Should they just wait? Or should they be more proactive? If they wanted to be proactive, what action should they take? Call her parents? That sounded too far. Then, her homeroom teacher? Or the counselor?

"I'm thinking of contacting her homeroom teacher or the counselor. What do you think?" Asagi asked back.

"Are you sure?" Fujiwara looked doubtful. "Maybe we don't need to go that far. I mean, it's time for club activity. She probably can't answer because she's busy with her club."

"Ah, right. What is her club?"

"Art."

"Hmm…" Asagi was thoughtful again. After a while, he said, "Should we just go meet her right now? Just to make sure she's with her club?"

"If it's just to make sure, I don't see the problem, but you probably shouldn't do that, Nagayama. It's going to attract attention if the student council president suddenly wants to meet her."

"You'll do it, then?"

"Sure," Fujiwara nodded. "If she doesn't respond after 6 pm, then we should call a member of the art club. What do you think?"

"Exactly my thought, but I don't have their contact. What about you?"

"I have several. You can leave it to me."

"Alright. Thanks."

"No problem," Fujiwara smiled. "So, that's it for today? I don't have to do anything else, do I?"

"I guess so."

For some reason, suddenly both of them fell silent, drowning in their own thoughts. It was not awkward, but it was not comfortable either. It was like the calm before the storm. There was something unnerving in it, something shrouded with uncertainty.

"Hey, Nagayama," after a while, Fujiwara spoke. "I've done it. I've consulted Tanaka-senpai's case to the counselor."

"Yeah," Asagi affirmed shortly.

"Then, it's going to be okay, right?"

"I hope so."

Another silence fell. Another uncomfortable silence. But it was not long before the sociable guy broke it again.

"Something on your mind?"

"Mm." Asagi stared at his own desk while his mind was preoccupied with something else. "I just realized that actually, we have quite a serious problem."

"This suicide threat is serious. Yeah."

"No, not just that. I mean more," he corrected. "More in the past, in the present, and perhaps even in the future."

Fujiwara frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I told you before that the student council receives many reports about student cases related to mental health. Still remember?" when he saw his classmate nodding, Asagi asked again, "You also know perfectly well how the students perceive the counseling room in our school, right?"

Fujiwara nodded again, but after hearing that, he looked as if he just understood something. "Mental health cases and at the same time there is also this bad image about our counseling room. I see what you mean."

"Yeah."

When people had a mental illness, they went to a psychiatrist or psychologist to treat it. In the case of students, they went to the school counselor first. That was the purpose of counseling rooms in schools and even universities. For them to be appropriately treated, it was important for the student to trust the counselor. If the image of the counseling room was terrible, why would they go there? Why would they trust the counselor?

After thinking about all of this, Asagi realized that it actually made sense for this school to have quite many students with mental health-related cases. Students who decided to shut themselves in their house because they could not blend in the school environment, Students who refuse to go to school for a long period of time because they were bullied at school, were not all of that related to mental health? Pressure from being bullied could lead to anxiety and depression. Being unable to blend in or adapt to a new environment could also trigger anxiety and depression. Currently, they even had the case of a student with suicidal tendencies. Although the reason sounded pathetic and stupid (why would you kill yourself just because your love was one-sided?), Asagi could not laugh mockingly at it because no matter how stupid and pathetic it was, he realized that when someone really did it, it only corroborated the fact that this person was not mentally healthy. Nobody with a healthy mentality would do that. Something had happened to this person, something that caused this person to be mentally unstable.

Teitan High's school counselor was indeed in charge of students' mental health. In fact, their school counselor regularly visited the problematic students' houses and communicated with them and their guardians to help solve their issues, but if the image was already bad, why would those students open their hearts to the counselor? Would not they just withdraw themselves more?

"We have to fix this bad image," Asagi said again. "Counseling room is supposed to be a room for solving students' mental health problems. It's for helping them, so it can't have a bad image. The students can't—and shouldn't—think of it as something bad."

"Yeah, but how? I doubt this image can change anytime soon," Fujiwara replied.

"I doubt it too, but it's fine even if it takes a long time. As long as we start to change it. Little by little is fine."

"Still, how are we going to do that?"

"I wonder…" Asagi trailed off. Both of them went silent again, not knowing the answer to their question. Asagi was thinking about how to fix the image of the counseling room. To have a long-lasting good image, he could not force the students to change. It had to be done gradually, step by step, and as subtly as possible. He wondered how they had to start it, what kind of first step they had to make. A moment later, when he saw Fujiwara frowning as if he was also thinking hard, he suddenly got an idea.

"By the way, Fujiwara, nobody suspects you anything after going to meet the counselor, right?" he asked. Hearing that question, the frown on his classmate's face disappeared, replaced by a wide grin.

"Yep. Your excuse worked well!" he beamed, clearly feeling happy and satisfied. "Ah, I'm so glad my good image still remains intact. Thanks for that, Nagayama."

"No problem," Asagi replied. "It's good that it doesn't harm your reputation, which means, Fujiwara, I have a favor to ask."

"Wh-what?" for some reason, his classmate looked at him hesitantly. "If you're going to risk my reputation again, I swear—"

"No, your reputation will be fine. You already said so."

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Simple. I want you to go to the counseling room again."

"Seriously?!" Fujiwara suddenly stood up. "You know I don't like that place! Nagayama, I've risked my reputation by going there today, but you want me to do it again? Risking my reputation again?"

"You are not risking your reputation. You said yourself that your reputation is still intact," the president argued, successfully making his classmate speechless. After that, he continued, "It will be fine if you go there again. Keep pretending that you go there to help your lovesick acquaintance. Easy, right?"

"That's… but…" Fujiwara hesitated again. It was obvious he did not want to do this, but after losing the argument about risking his reputation, he found it difficult to refuse. In the end, he asked helplessly, "Why? For what reason do I need to go there again?"

Asagi smiled. "To change the image of the counseling room, of course."

"Why me? Can't you do it by yourself?"

"I can't. The student council can't," he replied. "Student council going to the counseling room is a normal occurrence because sometimes we also work with the counselor to aid the students. If we go there, it won't bring any change."

"Which is why you ask me, this ordinary, nobody student," Fujiwara concluded unpleasantly.

"Yes, but you're not a nobody. You're quite popular and have a good reputation among students and teachers," Asagi corrected. "As I said, all you need to do is to pretend to go there for the sake of your lovesick friend. It's a strategy to instill a mindset that you can go to the counseling room to help your friend without having to worry about your image. If we do this continually, hopefully, the students will start to understand that the counseling room is a place to get help, not a place to get a bad label. Once they truly understand, I hope they won't hesitate to go there to get help. The bad image will then disappear naturally."

"Assuming I do what you ask me to, pretending to help my lovesick friend, what am I supposed to do once I'm in there?"

"You can talk about Tanaka-senpai with the counselor. Ask about the case progress, what you can do to help, what the student council can do to help, things like that. Basically, you will become a bridge between the student council and the counselor."

"Student council doesn't really need that."

"Yes, but currently, we student council need all the help we can get. We told you about this yesterday," Asagi explained. "Besides, the main purpose of this mission here is not to be our bridge in Tanaka-senpai's case, Fujiwara. It's to change the bad image of our counseling room. You becoming our bridge in her case is like a bonus value."

"Still, is it okay to do it without discussing it with the other members first?"

"It's okay. It's not like there is an official report about the counseling room's image. Besides, I'm only asking you to do something normal that any student is allowed to and even encouraged to do."

Fujiwara was quiet for a while, looking thoughtful and doubtful at the same time. A moment later, he made another question.

"What if I refuse?"

"It's within your right, but if you refuse, I won't give you any treat. After all, I promised to treat you only if your reputation is at risk, but it isn't, so, no treat. If you accept, though, I will treat you as a token of gratitude even if your reputation isn't at risk," Asagi replied calmly and confidently. "Oh, one more thing: be prepared to lose your good image. Itou-senpai trusts you with such an important case with someone's life at risk, but you decide to back out soon after you talk to the counselor one time. One time only. And you refuse to go there again only because you care too much for your reputation when the truth is you aren't even risking it. I'm sure she'll be disappointed with you."

For who-knows-how-many times, silence surrounded them again. However, this time, the silence did not feel unnerving. At least not for Asagi because judging by the stressful look of his classmate, he knew he was going to win. And he really did. After a brief moment that felt like an eternity to him, Fujiwara could only sigh defeatedly.

"Fine! I'll do it," he accepted his new assignment begrudgingly. "Dammit, Nagayama! Why do you have to be this good at blackmailing?"

Asagi smirked. "Thanks. And it's not blackmailing. It's persuasion."

"Bullshit."

~o0o~

Hi, readers! I'm back! Sorry for the wait, but a new chapter is finally here! I hope you enjoy it!

As usual, thank you for reading, for all your favs, follows, and reviews. Thank you so much for supporting me. See you next chapter, and feedback please :)