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 20

Dear Moko-san,

By the time you read this letter you should be airborne and on your way to meet Hizuri Julie-san in New York. I was amazed and a little sad to hear that you would be leaving so suddenly, but I am also proud. First of all, congratulations on your modeling job! Well, actually, maybe it should just be congratulations on taking the modeling job with Swan.

I knew from talking with Okaa-san that you had been offered this job. I had been bragging to her about how beautiful you were when she told me that you had already been offered a position in her next tour and that you had turned it down. I was disappointed at the time because I've seen her new line and I could easily envision you in every outfit. So now I am pleased... though perhaps perplexed… Why did you change your mind and take the job?

I overheard you muttering something like "…get down to the bottom of this nonsense once and for all…," though I couldn't figure out what you meant. Lately you've been asking a lot of weird questions, Moko-san and you seem irritable. Have I done something wrong? If I have, please let me know so that I can fix it.

Still, let me reiterate that I am so pleased that you will be modeling Okaa-san's new clothing line. Not only will you help to promote her beautiful clothes, but you will become even better known. This should help you to reach your goal of becoming the most famous actress in Japan! Besides, think how fun it will be to go to New York, Morocco, London, Paris, and Milan! I wish that I could go with you and we could shop together. Imagine, two best friends shopping together in the greatest cities in the world! (the Kanji here seems a little messy, as if the writer could not contain her excitement).

Well, I will get to see Paris, at least, since I accepted the movie offer. Sadly, you will already be gone and back in the United States by then. Enjoy your trip!

From your proud best friend,

Mogami Kyoko

p.s. I can't shake the feeling of trepidation about what you were muttering. Does this have something to do with Okaa-san? Surely not?

oOoOOoOo

Dear Friend and Brother,

I GET TO COSTAR WITH YOU! I know that I should be embarrassed that you have to co-star with someone of my limited experience, but I am still too excited. I was feeling sad about the ending of your movie project, which also meant the end of the Heel siblings, and then I found out this!

I know that we won't be going to Paris as pretend-siblings, but at least I get to fulfill one of my greatest goals. I know that my skills are lacking, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to fulfill my responsibilities in my new role. Please be patient with me, Sempai?

Filming for this season of Box-R will conclude in one week. I would have felt bad if the only reason for this rush was my schedule, but two other actors also have other commitments, so that isn't the case. And the best part of this new role, besides being able to work with and learn from you, is that it isn't a bully role at all!

I apologize. I am using a lot of exclamation points in this, but I only found out ten minutes ago that you would also be in this movie with me and couldn't contain my excitement. Now I'm sitting in the LoveMe room trying to control my mind so that I can write about today's topic. Could I just put this letter on-hold until after work? Lunch hour is almost over and I can't possibly think straight right now.

Okay, I'm back. I do apologize for the rush and sloppiness of the first portion of this letter. I had to work in the Talent Department all afternoon sorting through and re-filing hundreds of old documents. It was tedious work, but it did afford me the opportunity to get my mind under control. Having written that, please forgive me for the unprofessional demeanor of my letter. According to Takarada-shacho's rules, I have to send it to you as-is… otherwise I would not do so. Please do not think too poorly of me?

Anyway, as I understand it I will be departing for Paris in sixteen days. I am told that you and a second film crew will be filming your first scenes here in Tokyo for another two weeks and you won't be flying to Paris until almost twenty days after me. I suppose that makes sense, considering that your character won't actually encounter and save me until the second half of the movie. Still, I am pleased that I will have this opportunity to work alongside you and to continue to learn from you. Please take care of me.

Now then, my topic: My Pet-peeve. We are each supposed to write about the thing that irritates us the most. It cannot be about a specific person, but rather it must be about the thing that irritates us the most in any person. After long and careful thought, I decided that my greatest pet-peeve is when people are fake. By this I don't mean anything like acting; naturally, acting required us to pretend to be things that we are not. But in real life, people should not pretend to be one thing while they are really another way.

For example: somebody I know wishes the world to believe that he is cool, aloof, and sophisticated, while I know that he likes to lay around on a couch and laugh at lame game-show skits while eating a type of pudding that is marketed for little children. He is a fraud and a fake! Why not just let the world see who we really are? I know another person, an actress and singer, who pretended to be nice and princess-like, when in fact she was mean and spiteful.

Then again, I suppose that I have little room for judgment. As I told you before, I don't really know who I am anymore. I am using acting as means to find out things about myself and to reinvent myself into someone that I and others can like… so I suppose that I am also a fake.

Does motive have a part in this, or is that just my attempt to self-justify? Perhaps I have judged others too harshly. Perhaps we all are only trying to become something more than we are at the moment. Perhaps we pretend to be who we want to be in the hope that someday we will even fool ourselves and become who we have only pretended to be.

Well, in the first part of this letter I acted like a foolish schoolgirl, while in the second half of this letter I rambled on nonsensically. I will end this now before you decide never to read another letter of mine again.

Sincerely,

Mogami Kyoko

oOoOOoOo

Dear Chiori-chan,

I wasn't surprised to read about your pet-peeve. I have watched you and Moko-san whenever Shacho has forced us to watch films about romance. Neither of you are very tolerant of those who can't act yet who still manage to become famous.

I hope that you don't group me in that category? I am not famous yet, so I hope that you will give me some leeway to become a better actress until and unless that happens? I am trying very diligently to try and become a worthwhile actress.

After two years in this industry, I can now see how managers and producers sometimes make decisions to promote certain aspiring stars even though they are not quite ready yet. Perhaps they could be better with their talent, given proper time, but their skills are definitely lacking at the moment. I think that true skill requires time and patience, unless you are naturally gifted like Moko-san and Tsuruga-sempai. For people like me, it could take years to produce anything notable.

I have to cut this short. I'm writing this letter in between sets of Box R so that I can put it with your bags before we finally wrap up for the day. I can't believe that we are filming four episodes in the next three days. It is exhausting, but the challenge of it is fun.

Sincerely,

Mogami Kyoko