Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of the characters
Kotonami Kanae didn't ever need a friend, nor did she want one. Having someone to have to care about was always too much of a hassle, and she had never been able to make friends before. It certainly wasn't due to her appearance. Kanae was a stunning beauty, radiating good looks with her raven hair and stormy eyes. She had a nice figure and a decent enough face, but she would always frown. There was never a time when she smiled during her childhood. No laughter ever came from the young Kanae's mouth once.
Even when she had grown up and decided on her dream to become an amazing actress, she still would not smile. Kanae was always being brought down my bullies, her family, and the world. It seemed like everyone was against her. Though she never showed her true emotions, behind the facade of a cool, calm, and collected young woman, there was a broken girl inside. As tough as she could act, there was always a weakness inside of her that only seemed to bring her down even further. It was that she wanted to be loved and cared for.
Growing up she was part of a very large family. With many siblings who seemed to always be better than her, young Kanae was always seemed to be forgotten. Every time she made an 93% on a difficult math quiz, someone else would always get a 97%. Any time she got a minor role in a play, an older sister would get the lead. As Kanae became miniscule to the rest of the world, she started to consider that she would always be second place. That no matter how hard she tried, there would be someone always better then her no matter what she did. It was frustrating and painful, but she still bottled it up inside in order to stay strong on the outside.
School was awful too. Kanae was quite popular with the boys, leading to many girls to be jealous. They would hide her desk up on the roof, forcing her to walk up flights of stairs to retrieve the desk and then have to drag it back down. Then there was the school play. Kanae was eager to try out and get a role. Even if she felt like a failure in most subjects, she strongly believed in her acting ability. So she tried out and made sure she put every effort possible in order to get the role. But she fell flat on her face again. The same girl who had made Kanae's school life a living nightmare was now on stage playing the lead role. Kanae herself had spent the 2 months preparing for the play by creating props and costumes. The hours she had spent alone at school sewing, or the all-nighters she had pulled left her exhausted. The bullies had forced her to create every prop, right down to the last leaf.
Now Kanae did have a few male students trying to win her attention. They all vied for her love but soon became intimidated by her cool and uncaring demeanor. All but one gave up on her and soon became interested in more approachable girls. Not that Kanae noticed, she was much too busy pursuing her dream to care about trivial things like love. That was until one boy confessed outright, pulling her off her focused path. She wasn't kind at first, ignoring him until he left her alone, but she grew softer and more compassionate towards him. Eventually she fell in love and they went out for quite a long time, until the bullies stepped in. At that moment, Kanae swore off love and never strayed from her dream ever again.
Until she met Mogami Kyoko. The girl she had deemed a housewife-type became attached to her. Kanae was annoyed by the affection, and tried her best to ignore the younger girl, but it was nearly impossible. There was something about Kyoko that drew Kanae to her. When first watching Kyoko transform into a character, Kanae allowed some bricks around the wall of her heart to be torn down. She became even more determined to become famous and not let the newbie actress became a bigger star. Kyoko was the one who had pushed her into becoming one of the top actresses in the world.
Over the span of 5 years knowing each other, Kanae had finally given in and was proud to admit that Kyoko was her best friend and would always be. They had shared the curse of the pink uniform, stories, secrets, and dreams. Kanae looked back into the years of knowing the #1 LoveMe girl. There was the time they went to see the first movie Kanae had ever starred in. The moment when Kanae had confessed to being more broken then Kyoko and cried while her best friend held her. Then when Kanae had given Kyoko a makeover and she had cried about being a princess and Kanae being s a fairy godmother. There were thousands of moments she could look back on as she watched her best and only friend walk down the aisle.
Kyoko was beautiful, her hair had been died back to it's original black and was swooped back in a bun with a veil covering her beaming face. The dress was very much like a princess dress, long and elegant, swishing as she walked closer and closer to the alter. Kanae herself was wearing a pale yellow brides-maid dress, standing next to Chiori, Maria, and the newest member to LoveMe, Sakura. Even though Kyoko and Kanae had graduated, LoveMe was still in business. But Kanae couldn't think about that now. She could only watch the first person who had brought her out of her darkness smile up at the tall man she was marrying. Tsuruga Ren had finally asked Kyoko to marry him. After 2 years of patience, he had confessed everything. That he loved her, that he was Kuon, and that he wasn't her fairy prince. Kyoko had loved him anyway.
For a few seconds, Kanae allowed herself to slip into part of Kyoko's fairy world and began to see magic in all of the corners of the room. She saw in the eyes of all the people who had supported Ren and Kyoko, she saw it in the light from the sun, and she saw it in herself. There was no doubt that Kanae was prepared to love again. She believed in herself and so did the one person who mattered the most to Kanae.
That girl is amazing
So despite never wanting a friend, Kanae had found one in someone who could change lives. Mogami Kyoko-no Hizuri Kyoko was someone who could never be replaced in her heart. Ever.