Always with You
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat! or any of its characters.
Chapter 23 – While she was sleeping
Nishimura Rumiko felt as nervous as she had the first day that she had walked onto the stage of The Rumiko Show. Today her guests would reveal not one, but two secrets that would set Japan's tongues wagging. Only this time she wouldn't be zinging anybody. Both men were there voluntarily.
Since she had received the phone call yesterday the station had been promoting this morning's show as a "must see." Now Rumiko had to prove it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Rumiko Show! Please welcome your host, Nishimura Rumiko!"
"Good morning, everyone. Thank you for choosing to spend your morning with me.
"Today, before we begin, I would like to ask everyone in our studio audience and seated at home to take a moment of silence or prayer for Mogami Kyoko, who has still not woken from the attempt on her life early yesterday morning. "
The studio was dead still for a full minute. Rumiko had known that she didn't need to explain further; the story had been in every newspaper and on every news show since yesterday.
"Tokyo is a town with many people, and many secrets. Some will never be revealed. Truthfully, some should never be revealed. But occasionally a secret is necessary for a time, for justifiable reasons. But then it can begin to do more harm than good. Such is the case with the secrets that have been held closely by our guests this morning.
"Now, usually I invite all of my guests out at the same time. But today, for reasons that you will understand later, I will only invite one guest at a time.
"Our first guest is the young man who has dominated the number one spot on the music charts for an amazing twenty months. This morning, before he talks with us we will be privileged to be the first to hear his newest song. He is named Japan's number one music artist, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Fuwa Sho!"
The crowd screamed and clapped, and the lights focused on Fuwa Sho, sitting on a stool with only his signature electric guitar. Instead of his usual spikes and chains, he looked clean and handsome in blue jeans and a rock-band shirt.
The crowd stilled as his fingers expertly moved through a series of complicated chords that somehow made everyone feel slightly sad. And then his beautiful, clear voice rang out:
I'm standing at the top now
only you believed I'd climb so high
My eyes can see forever now
but standing here without you
all my heart can see
is an eternity of sighs
You were always there for me
even though I failed to see
I could always do anything
because I saw belief
in your eyes
You always asked for nothing
you gave me everything
but I never really saw you
I never really saw you
How can a man not see
when the purest heart is laid
at his feet?
How can he drive away
the only one who ever saw
the only one who really believed?
I'm standing at the top now
only you believed I'd climb so high
My eyes can see forever now
but standing here without you
all my heart can see
is an eternity of sighs
All my heart can see
all my heart will ever see
without you
is an eternity of sighs
The last sad chords of the guitar faded away. The crowd stayed silent as the sound of his guitar and sadness in his words and voice reverberated in their hearts. Finally one person, and then more, and then finally the entire crowd exploded in applause. They didn't understand the words yet, but the message of deep sadness was poignant and powerful.
Rumiko, who knew the entire story, had to wipe a tear as Sho moved to the couches to join her.
"Thank you, Fuwa-san, for sharing that heartfelt song. You asked to be allowed to come onto the show this morning so that you could share this song and so that you could share a story from your past. Would you please do that now?"
When the news of the attempt on Kyoko's life and her critical condition had reached Sho's ears on the day before, he had finally understood. He had known that he wanted Kyoko back, but he couldn't even admit to himself how desperately he loved his childhood friend.
He also knew, with absolute clarity, that he had destroyed his chance at happiness with Kyoko. He had seen it at the police station. He just hadn't wanted to believe it; she was no longer, and would never be his.
Yet still he had needed to be there at the hospital where she was. Even if she would never be his lover, she had been his only true childhood friend. The realization of how he had treated her had filled him with self-loathing and inspired the song that flew onto the page. And now he would do the only thing that he could for her; he would protect her reputation.
"Thank you, Rumiko-san. As most of my fans know, I originally hail from Kyoto. If you read my press profile it will tell you about how I felt the desperate need to make my music heard. It will tell you that I left everything at fifteen and made my way alone to Tokyo, where I have forged a successful career. That is not entirely true.
"You see, I was a selfish, spoiled child who needed the help of others to survive. My best friend was a girl, only a little older than me, who lived with my family for much of the year. We were friends; nothing else. She was the most giving and generous person you could ever meet. She believed in me and pushed me to excel.
"When I decided to move to Tokyo I was afraid to 'go it alone.' I knew that my friend would lay down her life to help me, so I persuaded her to come with me. She abandoned everything to come here and to support me. For the next year she worked three jobs just to make ends meet. I never thanked her. In fact, I treated her like a servant, even a personal slave.
"One day she came to my studio and she heard me making fun of her. For the first time she saw me for what I really was. Our friendship ended there. Since then she has shown me how incredible she really is. Because once she stopped devoting her life to helping me, she began her own career. Now she is one of the most promising young actresses to ever hit Japan.
"My best friend, the person I betrayed, is Mogami Kyoko."
The crowd was shocked at Sho's honest words and his self-disclosure. His very honesty about his own conduct gave truth to his insistence on the platonic nature of his and Kyoko's relationship. They talked for a little longer, and then, by his own request, Sho departed. He was willing to do what he had done for Kyoko, but he didn't want to hear what Tsuruga Ren had to say about her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, before I invite our next guest to the stage, I would like to play a clip of Mogami Kyoko's own words from this very show.
["I've only ever loved one man; well actually a boy. Truthfully, I only knew him for a little over a week. I met him when I was a little girl.
He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. At the time I believed that he was the Prince of the Faerie world." The audience, Rumiko, and even Kurosaki chuckled, but Kyoko paid them no attention. "Oh, I know that that isn't true now, but he was certainly perfect enough for the position. He had to leave as suddenly as he appeared, but he left me a small gift. I still have it and it gives me comfort whenever I feel lonely or depressed. I guess you could say that it is 'always with me,' just like the title of our little drama."
Rumiko asked her, "So, is that the only time that you've been in love?"
"I thought that I was in love with somebody else at one time. Now I have realized that it was only a one-sided infatuation." Kyoko's eyes became sad in a way that impacted everyone on the stage and in the audience, "You see, I wanted so badly to be loved that I was willing to take whatever I could get.
"But that isn't real love. Real love is a give-and-take; it's mutual. It's like the story that we are here on your show to promote. My character, Suzuko Nanami, has been terribly hurt by a one-sided love. Now she will have to learn to believe in the real thing if she ever hopes to be happy."]
Kyoko's words and sincerity had strongly impacted the audience at that time. Now it had the same effect again.
"As you probably have guessed, the second person she spoke of was the man who just graced us with his song and his story. At the time that Mogami Kyoko spoke so honestly to us, she had no idea that the first boy she spoke of was in fact sitting with her on the stage. He knew, but he couldn't tell her for reasons that will now be made clear to you.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Tsuruga Ren to the stage."
The audience started to clap, but then stopped in shock as a tall blond man walked out onto the stage and joined Rumiko on the couches.
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Notes: I did the best that I could on the song. Sorry if it is too corny. A musician I am not.
* * * Songstress of the sea emailed me and asked for permission to put the lyrics of Sho's song to music. She posted this on YouTube if you would like to hear it: /watch?v=5WDzqF8jDFM thank you, Songstress.
(I read through the rules and didn't find any restrictions against putting her YT link here. If I'm wrong about this, please let me know and I'll remove it right away)
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and respond to my story.
Look for the next installment soon.
