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 5

Dear Friend,

I almost wrote "Dear Brother" before I caught myself. It seems so odd to be sitting here and writing this letter while I sit in our hotel room and you sleep as Cain Heel only ten feet away. I know that I should not break character, but I needed to write this letter now, in the middle of the night, because this is the last day of this week and I am out of time. I thought about working on it during the filming today, but Murasame-san seems to appear at odd moments and I didn't wish to be caught.

You have been in the guise of Cain all week long and I have been tagging along as your doting sister. I sometimes wonder exactly what value I am lending to this deception. You are acting and filming your movie… but how am I helping? The President said that I help to "legitimize your role as Cain Heel." He also said that I am your "talisman," though I still don't understand what he means by that. Am I a burden to you? You never seem to break character, yet I always do.

For example: Just this morning, when my heel caught in the storm grate and I hurt my ankle. You played the perfect big brother and insisted on carrying me piggyback all of the way to the studio… Actually, Sempai, that was quite embarrassing. My point is, I was, quite honestly, a little uncomfortable with the situation. You, on the other hand, never broke character once. You were Cain Heel, my big brother, and you found nothing wrong with carrying your little sister on you back for five blocks. It probably never even occurred to you that I am not your real little sister. [a squiggle line follows the preceding sentence, suggesting that Kyoko forgot to lift the pen as she drifted off in thought]

Oh, sorry for the messy letter. I was [several words are blotted out completely] thinking about my next job.

The topic I am supposed to write about this week is family, which seems appropriate since I am here with my "brother":

I never had a big brother, or any siblings for that matter. The only true family that I ever remember at all is my mother. Actually, that isn't exactly true. There was a man who was often there in my early memories. He and my mother argued a lot. Then he was gone. Perhaps he was my father? My mother was a pretty woman, though she never smiled. She ["was" scratched out] is a businesswoman of some sort. I don't actually know what manner of business she was in, I just remember her in a business suit, always talking on the phone. She must have been very busy, because she never actually spent time with me.

Around the age of five, my mother and I stated living off-and-on at a Ryokan in Kyoto. Occasionally, my mother would go on a long trip and leave me there. Several years later, my mother left me with the owners of the Ryokan permanently and she never came back (I hope that I am not burdening you with such information). I continued to live with them until I moved to Tokyo.

For a while I didn't like to talk about the place where I grew up because of my memories associated with another person. Now I am beginning to realize that the Ryokan couple was the closest thing I have ever had to true parents. I feel a great deal of guilt towards them for leaving in the way I did.

I hope that this doesn't seem presumptuous, since I am unworthy to even address him, but recently... actually, since his visit last year… I am making a muddle of this letter. I am over-tired and I should have waited to write this letter. Do you remember when Hizuri Kuu visited last year and I worked for him? He insisted that I keep in contact with him. He also insisted that I call him Otou-san. I know that he is a famous actor, but he is also the kindest and most helpful person; much like a real father.

Actually, he is a real father. He had a son named Kuon who would probably be around your age. I don't understand exactly what happened to him, but he seems to have left, or disappeared, or something like that. At first I thought that Otou-san's boy was dead, but he assured me that he is very alive and that he seems to be happy; though I don't understand how he could know that if he hasn't seen him. Otou-san is a true doting father. Whenever he begins to talk about his son he seems to go on for hours, extolling the many virtues of the boy (I guess that he would be a man now, wouldn't he?).

I doubt that anyone could be as perfect as all that, but I still think that it is wonderful how much this father loves his son. I sometimes wish that someone would [the word "love" is crossed out] care for me that much and be so proud of me.

I apologize. I seem to be rambling because I am so tired right now. What I was trying to write is that Otou-san heard about this letter-writing assignment and now he wants me to write to him as well!

I should close this letter before I fall asleep. Tomorrow I have to write a reply to Chiori-san and a letter to Otou-san.

I would tell you to sleep well, but I can see that you are. Is it difficult to sleep with your feet hanging off of the bottom of the bed?

[the letter ends without a closing. Rather, there is another line drifting off of the page]

Dear Chiori-chan,

Thank you for sharing with me about your father. I did not know that your father died when you were so young. It must have been difficult to continue acting in "The Scarlet Dice" even though your father died while you were filming.*

Tsuruga-sempai once told me that a true professional doesn't break-character even if there is a death in the family. I think he meant this as a figure of speech, but I have no doubt that he would keep going if such a tragedy happened to him. That means that you were a true professional even at such a young age.

I wish that I could be an actress of that caliber. I often lose my character when I am in difficult or embarrassing situations. Lately this has been happening quite a bit in one special role that I am playing. I don't really understand why (please don't ask me to explain. It is complicated).

I know that you will continue to act, even when difficult circumstances get in your way. Oh, and congratulations on your new role! I think that it is marvelous that they want you to play in a superhero movie, even if you have to play a super-villain. As someone whom I admire and respect greatly once told me: You have to make each role your own, even if you are being type-cast.

I apologize for my poor calligraphy in this letter. I stayed up very late last night and then fell asleep in the middle of writing a letter. It was extremely embarrassing to be woken up… nevermind. That isn't important.

Sincerely,

Mogami Kyoko.

Dear Otou-san,

I have to make this first letter extremely short because I am writing it in-between jobs. I am more than willing to write letters to you, if that is honestly what you want. Please don't make me feel guilty for not keeping in-contact before. I didn't wish to impose. I thought that you were only being kind when you asked me to call you regularly; please believe me. I won't write any more about it as long as you promise not to pout over the phone again. You are very kind to treat me so well and I have decided that you honestly do wish to hear from me. The truth is that I have wanted to call you and ask you for advice many times over the past few months.

Actually, right now I am playing a very confusing role. It is not actually a film role, per se; it is more like acting under cover. I am not at liberty to explain further, but I do wish I was. Lately I have been [several words are blotted out] shadowing someone; something like the role of a pseudo-manager. In the course of my role I have been working in close proximity to a highly experienced and gifted actor. He is plays a character who is completely different from his true nature, and he is marvelous. I play his little sister.

Our roles require us to work [the penmanship becomes more erratic at this point] closely together. Our relationship is… unusual. The problem is that while Tsu[crossed out but still slightly decipherable] the actor who I work with never breaks character, I often do. He must be very disappointed with my abilities. How do you keep in-character in situations that are… uncomfortable?

I have to close this letter now. I have a weekly role as a… mascot on a show, and then I have to get back into the character I was writing about. Thank you so much for allowing me to write to you.

Sincerely,

Your pseudo-son, Kuon