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 25
Dear Moko-san,
Ironically, I discovered your letter to me at about the same time that you must have found my last letter to you. As you requested, I read the letter in its entirety, even though… as you predicted… it was difficult at first.
First of all, let me write that you are the best friend that any girl could ever hope to have! Until reading this letter I did not understand why you suddenly changed your mind about taking the modeling job with Oka[scratched out] Hizuri Julie. Nor did I understand what you had meant when you said that you intended "...to get to the bottom of this once and for all." It makes me want to cry in gratitude to think that you went to such lengths in order to protect me!
You should have been a detective! How is it possible that you pieced so many details together and began to suspect that Tsuruga San was actually Hizuri Kuon? I spent much more time with him [the calligraphy for the next several sentences becomes messier, more erratic] but I never suspected a thing. True, I did notice the occasional similarity between Tsuruga-sempai and the man I imagined that Corn might become, but still…
That brings me to another concern however: Was that what you fought with Okaa[scratched out again] (I don't know what to call her now. I can't call her Okaa-san anymore, because now the implication is different. But I still care for the Hizuris deeply, despite their unintended deception). Anyway, what I was starting to write was that I hope that the scandal about your big argument with her wasn't about this issue? Then again, how else could you have suddenly become aware of the entire story? I know that you didn't meet with Tsuruga-sempai, so who else could you have learned the information from? Regardless, I hope that you have not damaged your reputation with her for my sake?
So now I feel honor-bound to give full consideration to what you have written, despite the fact that I feel unprepared to do so yet. You are correct, though I hate to admit it: if you didn't push me, I might never have taken this step. If I look at all of this from Hizuri Kuon's perspective, everything makes sense… though I am struggling to accept your premise concerning his feelings for me. How can I possibly believe that he started having feelings for me all the way back to when I was sixteen? (Actually… he said the same thing, but it is so difficult for me to accept).
Since you already saw the truth, I will also admit my growing feelings for [several attempts at writing a name were made, but each one was blotted out] him. For a long time I wanted to deny these feelings, mostly from a fear of getting hurt again [a line trails off and blots at one edge of the paper]
[The writing changes here, suggesting that Kyoko walked away from the letter and then returned to it later] I'm sorry for the mess that I've made. I don't have the same restrictions in writing to you, yet I somehow feel compelled to leave this letter as-is.
Your arguments are sound and well-reasoned about everything else: It must have taken great courage to begin the process of exposing his true identity after so many years of living under another name… and I will admit that I am aware of the honor that he has shown to me by choosing to reveal the truth to me first. Also, it does make perfect sense that he would hesitate to tell me because he would expect me to act in exactly the manner in which I reacted (for which I am now deeply ashamed). And most importantly, it is true that over the past two years he has gone far beyond what anyone might expect to support me, encourage me, and teach me. So even though he did keep his true identity from me, he was still the same strong, caring, kind person who I met as a little girl.
Therefore, as frightening as it is to even contemplate this next step, I will do my best to find a way to talk to Tsuruga-sempai again. I wish you had been able to remain in Paris because I have never felt so cowardly in my life.
Sincerely,
Mogami Kyoko
oOoOOoOo
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your note and for the patience that you have shown to me as I struggled to understand this new reality. I apologize if anything that I have done this week has caused you pain.
Yes, I will go to dinner with you after filming for the day is complete. I will meet you in the lobby at 7 p.m.
Sincerely,
Mogami Kyoko