Dear Senpai

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?

Dear Senpai 34 – Today, and From This Day Forward

Dear Mother,

This letter will join the first letter that I wrote to you. I am also including a BlueRay disk of my wedding to Hizuri Kuon. [The writing of this next sentence is messier, as if Kyoko was struggling to form the correct words] It would have been nice if you could have been there.

Hizuri Kuon, as you know from my previous letter, is the son of the famous Hizuri couple. They were famous in Japan during your time, so I'm positive that you know who they are. What you don't know, unless you are watching from the spirit realm, is that Kuon and I have known each other since we were little. I didn't learn the truth until very recently, but he has been the prince of my heart since I was six and he was ten. I only knew him for ten days then, yet he remained in my heart through the years until I met him again. It turns out that he recognized me soon after we met again, though I didn't know the truth until two, nearly three years later.

Now Kuon is my husband. It is difficult to believe, even now while I sit in a private car on the bullet train and he sleeps with his beautiful blond head on my lap. We will begin our first week together in Kyoto, where Kuon, or Ren as I still think of him most of the time, has leased rooms in Gosho, the actual Imperial Palace! He knows how much I dreamed of being a princess as a child and now he is making it happen, if only for a short while. So while we pass near your place of rest, I will stop and place this letter with your urn.

It is dark outside of the train windows now. This day has been incredibly long. Even though Oka[scratched out] Julie-san and many others worked hard every day prior to the event to get everything ready, this day was still a marathon. There were only three-hundred invited guests, but almost as many cameras. We thought that the wedding was only going to be televised on three channels. Instead we are now told that it was shown live in seven countries and was streamed internationally. I'm glad that I didn't know that during the wedding.

My bridesmaids and my flower girl were unbelievably stunning. Jelly-san, who calls herself a "makeup/stylist witch," is truly magical. She made Mo[scratched out] Kotonami Kanae-san and Amamiya Chiori-san look like angels from heaven (though Kanae is already one of the most beautiful girls in the world and Chiori is very pretty) and she made Takarada Maria-chan look like a faerie. They walked down the aisle first, naturally, and I felt pale in comparison to their beauty. I hope that the contrast wasn't too apparent. These three girls have become very dear to me and it meant everything that they were here with me on this special day. In Kyoto I didn't have any friends. In Tokyo I met the best friends any girl could imagine.

I want to think that you would be proud of me, Mother. I did not stumble once throughout the entire ceremony, despite the flashing cameras and my constant nerves. It would have been so much easier if I could have slipped into a character. But Kuon warned me that he wanted to marry Kyoko, not a fictional façade… so I controlled my panic and remained as I am. It was much harder being just me. As I walked down the aisle holding onto Fuwa Taisho's arm, and as I drew closer and closer to the vestibule where Kuon was waiting for me, I couldn't help but question if I was worthy of such a man. He is so perfect and I am so [the sentence was left unfinished].

I probably would have run away, but his beautiful blue eyes held me fast. Did my father make you feel like that? Are you together now? I hope so. It was only after the Taisho told me about my father and your loss that I finally understood you, at least a little. Since then I have lain awake at night and tried to remember anything about him. Sadly, there are only the shadows of memories now.

You may be wondering why so many people were interesting in our wedding. Tsuruga Ren was already a hugely popular star in Japan and throughout Asia. His reputation and skills were already beginning to make inroads into the western countries and the United States. When the news broke about our relationship even more people became interested, though I don't truly understand why. But when he revealed his true identity the world sat up and paid attention. I am still relatively unknown and probably always will be; though I will be known as Ren's… or Kuon's wife. But he is now a megastar with offers from all over the world. Actually, I'm getting a lot of offers too, but that is most likely a reaction to my relationship with Kuon. Regardless, the result has been overwhelming interest in our wedding. That was daunting and embarrassing, but it was all worth it to have him sleeping comfortably with his head on my lap, as he is now. (Have I mentioned that he has the softest hair in the world? I can't keep my other hand out of I while I write this letter. It is probably good that you won't actually be reading this).

There were two Masters-of-Ceremonies at our reception instead of one. Takarada Lory expected and deserved the honor, but Ren proposed and I accepted the idea of asking the Taisho from the Daruma-Ya to serve as the second MC. Perhaps I should tell you a little about the Daruma-Ya. When I first moved to Tokyo I worked three jobs in order to afford a ridiculously expensive apartment that Fuwa Shotaro thought that he needed (it is remarkable that I can write that name without rancor, but now that Kuon has my heart the past doesn't seem to matter anymore). One of the jobs was as a waitress and assistant cook at a small-but-classy hibachi-style restaurant named the Daruma-Ya (it was named that after the little daruma-dolls that were placed around the building. There is a story behind those, but they never revealed it to me). The restaurant was owned and operated by a wonderful older couple who treated me like their own daughter rather than as a mere employee.

When Shotaro and I parted ways the couple took me in. Until very recently I have lived in the loft over the restaurant. At first I continued to work for them while also performing my LME tasks. Eventually I became too busy, but they never complained or made me feel bad for not helping them. They allowed me to pay rent, but I know that they could have charged much more. In many ways they seemed like family.

The Okami-san is a wonderful, comfortable lady, different in many ways that Fuwa Okami-san, but similar in other ways. The Taisho is usually a taciturn man. At first he was very intimidating but I grew used to his tough exterior and grew to love him… actually both of them dearly. Still, to be frank, I wasn't expecting much in the way of a speech from him. It was a great surprise indeed when he spoke with clarity and dignity, almost stealing the show from "the Boss," as the Hizuri's call Takarada-shacho. His speech was embarrassing, though; because he spoke eloquently about me rather than saying the usual platitudes. I never knew that he felt that way and it made me cry (actually, he made a lot of people cry with his kind words… though he exaggerated greatly about me; something that I have to excuse because of the nature of the moment). He was mostly kind to Kuon, but I sensed some sort of veiled threat when he spoke about how Kuon should "always treat 'our precious child' with respect and tender care."

It is black outside the windows now and the stars are brilliant in the heavens. The announcer has just informed us that we are approaching Kyoto. I should have slept, but I so much wanted this private moment to write to you one final time. It is impossible to know what the future may bring, Mother, but as long as this wonderful man continues to love me I know that it will be good.

In three days, after our stay in the castle, we will fly to Paris where we will walk the same streets and bridges where we first began dating and where I finally accepted love again. It is wonderful there, but it really wouldn't matter where we go… as long as my Prince Corn is with me.

If you can, please watch over us, both now and for as many years as we are given to walk this world together.

With love,

Hizuri Kyoko

p.s. That was the first time I signed with my new name. This will definitely take some getting used to.