DISCLAIMER: SKIP BEAT! and its associated characters are the creations of Yoshiki Nakamura. This author claims no ownership of Skip Beat or any of its characters. All other rights reserved.
Author's Note: The word for this one is "Believe."
The Looking Glass, Darkly
Kyoko was in the midst of confessing The Biggest Secret of Her Life, and Kanae just wanted to strangle her. They had been changing in the Love Me room after a long day of hanging new posters up around LME headquarters, and Kanae had finally gotten Kyoko to admit she'd been hiding something for months now.
"Anyway, Moko, Tsuruga-san said he didn't want to change our relationship too much," Kyoko finished. "And he's right, too. I could never match him. Everyone would say I look too plain. And he's so good-looking, so I don't blame him for not wanting to be seen with me. I'm just…not worthy."
So there it was. After almost a year of watching Tsuruga circling Kyoko like a starving dog, he'd finally had the guts to confess. He'd confessed and then…asked to do nothing about it. And worse! It sounded as if Kyoko truly believed she wasn't worthy of him. It pissed Kanae off. It ought to piss Kyoko off, too, she thought, but she's so dense it doesn't even occur to her that he's being an asshole.
Kanae loved her friend, but there were times when she was just too clueless. Truly, the girl had no idea what kind of effect she had on people. She had this strange, compelling allure that was hard to define. Men were attracted to her like moths to a flame—Tsuruga was just the most notable conquest. Before she knew her better, Kanae could've sworn that it was an affectation put on by someone who just wanted to appear more innocent…because absolutely no one could be this dense, right?
"Does he know that you think you're too plain to go out with him?" Kanae asked.
"Oh, but it's just the truth," Kyoko responded. "Everyone would think so. All of the girls on the Lotus set would have just laughed if they heard about it."
"ARGH!" Kanae exclaimed. "ENOUGH!"
Kyoko jumped. "What? Moko…why are you mad?"
"I've had it," Moko said.
"But—"
"You're beautiful, Kyoko," Kanae said with a vengeance, "And it's high time you believed it. Come on."
"Wha—? Ow!"
Kanae grabbed Kyoko by the arm and frog-marched her all the way through the building until they were in front of none other than Lory Takarada's office.
Bang bang bang went Kanae's fist on the doors. A panicked Ruto opened them to let the girls in.
"Ms. Kotonami," Lory said. He had risen, somewhat alarmed, from his desk.
"Shachou," Kanae said. "I need your help. I'm putting in an official Love Me request."
"Oh?" Lory said, raising a brow. He sat back down. "Please, go ahead."
"This blockhead," Moko said, dragging Kyoko forward, "thinks she is plain. She thinks she is plain, and she believes it is OK for someone to monopolize her and tie her down and not give her anything in return because she thinks she is too plain and doesn't deserve it."
Lory gave both of them a searching look. "I am assuming Ms. Mogami has just told you about the situation with Ren, yes?"
"How did you—" exclaimed Kyoko.
"Yes!" said Kanae, at the same time.
Lory smiled. "I know everything about my beloved talents, Mogami-san," he said. "Surely you knew that elevators have security cameras?"
Kyoko gasped. It had never even occurred to her that anyone had seen what had transpired in the elevator.
"Don't worry. I've ensured that all copies of that footage have been disposed of," he said.
"Thank you," said Kyoko, wide-eyed.
"As for your other problem…" Lory sighed. "Mogami-kun, I had hoped that your time in the Love Me section would cure you not just of your inability to love others but your inability to love yourself." He took a puff off his cigar and then exhaled, the smoke forming an ethereal ring before dissipating into the air. "You've made great progress on the first problem, but not as much on the second as I'd like."
"Then you see why I'm putting in a Love Me request," said Kanae.
"Oh yes, Kotonami-san, I do see. And the fact that you're requesting this tells me you've made great progress yourself," responded Lory. "What do you propose?"
"Surely we can give her a makeover or something? Something that shows her she isn't plain."
"But Mogami-kun gets makeovers all the time now," Lory said. "Every time she's on-set, she's made-over into her role. We'll need a better plan. We'll call it…a remedial course. Tell me, Mogami-kun, have you ever sat down and watched your own work?"
"No-o-o," said Kyoko. Why would she watch her own work? First of all, she was too busy to sit and watch TV. Second of all, if a director told her her work was good, then she was satisfied.
"But surely you've heard people comment on your acting?"
"Oh! Yes," she answered. She couldn't help smiling. People were always so kind to her about her roles.
"Don't you ever wonder what it is about it that they like so much?"
Kyoko was silent.
"Do you really think Natsu's face is more beautiful than the one you're wearing now?"
Yes, Kyoko thought, but clearly the Shachou wanted her to say no. "Um…"
"It's the same face, Mogami-kun. In case you forgot. And you recall what they said about Momiji, too, I'm sure…"
Kyoko nodded. Her Momiji had received wonderful reviews. And people had called her sexy.
Lory looked at her perceptively and then looked at Kanae.
"I have a plan," he said. "We'll simply force Mogami-kun to look at herself. As often as it takes. Until she believes it when people tell her she's beautiful." He looked at Kyoko. "Mogami-kun, you've seen your own reviews, I'm sure," he said. "And you're a rational young woman. I want you to look at your own work and let me know whether you agree with your reviewers." Kyoko just nodded dumbly. "And then we'll simply have to find you some modeling jobs," he said. "And then you'll look at yourself there, too…and in the meantime, you will work with Ten…and perhaps speaking to a therapist would not go amiss…"
Lory kept going.
Kyoko's eyes began to glaze over.
Kanae just smiled and looked forward to seeing her best friend learn to love herself a little more.