Dear Sempai

Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat! or any of the characters from the Manga.

Summary: Lory has conceived yet another devious scheme, wrapped in the guise of a LoveMe assignment. All the girls have to do is to write at least one letter a week to the person they respect the most. Simple… right?

Letter 3

Dear Friend [written abnormally large],

I am writing the salutation above under duress and protest. I do not believe that it was appropriate for you to take advantage of my vulnerable position, being alone with you in your apartment, in the manner in which you did.

I do not think that it is either foolish or unreasonable for me to feel reluctant about the impropriety of me calling you "friend." You are my senior in the company in age, in experience, in portfolio, and regardless of what you say, in talent. I do not see why you cannot understand my reluctance to adopt a more casual tone with you, nor my hesitation about the presumption of calling you "friend."

Therefore it seems entirely inappropriate for you to use such high-handed methods to force me into submitting to your point-of-view. It was bad enough for you to make me stand on your balcony and yell "Tsuruga Ren is my friend!" twenty times. [The next line appears to be written by a nervous hand] But it was entirely inappropriate for you to corner me on the couch, invading my personal space and giving me that Emperor of the Night look while promising a more… personal punishment if I refused!

Sir, I must remind you that, though I am only your kohai, I am still a young lady! I fully realize that you are a playboy with a long string of female companions. I understand that I am far from your ideal type and I accept that you do not see me as a woman, but it is still inappropriate to come so close to… nevermind. I will write no more about this.

This week our writing assignment is to write about our childhood. I was uncertain about what to write until I received a letter from Chiori-san which reminded me of a short and wonderful time. You have almost certainly forgotten, but I once told you a portion of this story. When I was a little girl of six, I met a very special boy in a very magical place in the woods behind the F[scratched out] the place where I lived.

I was crying at the time, the reasons do not matter now, and at first I did not believe my eyes. He had golden hair and blue eyes and the most beautiful (should I say handsome? He really was beautiful, but boys don't like that word applied to them, do they?) the most handsome face I had ever seen. He did not laugh at me for crying, like most of the boys in school would have done. He didn't even get a weird look on his face and look away, like one boy I knew. Instead, he kindly asked, "Are you all right, little one?"

I know that you will laugh when you read this, but I asked him, "Are you a faerie?" I won't write any more about that because you will most likely only laugh at me, and I am still … nevermind! (It is annoying that we are not allowed to blot-out or rewrite these letters). Anyway, the reason that I wrote about that memory is because he once told me that he couldn't fly because his father's hands were too big. Whenever he started to fly, his wings would snag on his father's fingers and he would fall to the earth once again.

I should explain, even though you will probably laugh (I did tell you about this before. You didn't laugh. Instead you [the next words were so scratched out as to be illegible] it does not matter. I will tell you: his father was the King of the Faeries, and he was so powerful that his hands spread across the sky. I know that this sounds silly, but it is true nonetheless. It reminds me of what you once said about Director Ogata and his father.

I don't know if Corn... that was the boy's name… I don't know if he was ever able to fly past his father's hands. I hope so, but if he did, why didn't he ever visit me? He promised that he would. He helped me a lot in the short time I knew him, and I want to think that I was able to help him in some small way. He was only there for about ten days, and then he was gone.

I remembered all of that because of Chiori's letter (I can write about this because her story is well-known). She wasn't able to fly either, but not because of her father. She was blocked by her own excellence. She played a character so well that people couldn't imagine her in a different type of role. I am glad that I was never a child-star, though perhaps then I would have been able to be a better actress. She had it hard, just as Uesugi Hio also has it hard at times.

When did you start acting? All the articles about you start when you were fifteen.

I'm sorry for what I wrote at the beginning of this letter. I will address my letters "Dear Friend" from now on, as you have requested. I do consider you to be a friend, as presumptuous as that seems to me.

Sincerely,

Mogami Kyoko
Friend of Tsuruga Ren


Dear Chiori-san,

I agree that it seems silly to exchange letters when we see each other at least once a week on-set, and sometimes twice or more on LoveMe tasks at LME. Still, it is also nice to be able to compose our thoughts before writing. I also feel highly honored that you were willing to share such a painful incident from your childhood.

I have to confess that I had already viewed your movie "The Scarlet Dice." When Moko-san and I were in LME Acting School, one of the teachers showed us the movie. She focused on you as an example of an actress who "reached into the darkest corners of herself to find her character." At the time I was deeply impressed, but had no idea that you paid such a price for your wonderful performance. You should have been celebrated as an amazing child-star, not rejected. It must have hurt a great deal.

As you know, you and I have something in common in that respect: we have both become type-cast into bully/bad girl roles.

I don't have any good advice, but I will tell you what Otou-san once told me: He said that every character is different and that I had to show my talent by bringing each and every character to life. He also scolded me when I wanted to turn down roles that type-casted me as a Mio-type. I'm glad that I listened to him and tried out for Box 'R. If I hadn't, I never would have been able to act as Natsu and I wouldn't have met you.

In answer to your question about how I "suddenly transformed in a single night," I can only say that a friend helped me.

A very kind and wonderful friend, though that person does do disconcerting things sometimes.

Next week we are supposed to write about family. That will not be easy for me.

I will see you tomorrow on-set.

Sincerely,

Mogami Kyoko