Recap / Skip Beat Volume 37

"It suits you."

Kyoko supports Chiori in her appearance in a comedy show by acting as a substitute manager. While that aspect of the day works out just fine, things become more difficult when Kyoko encounters her mother.

As much progress as Kyoko has made in restoring her damaged heart, this particular part of her past is one that still has quite an effect on her. And when her mother is the first one to have hurt her so deeply, how will Kyoko fare?

Will she be able to step up? Or succumb to old wounds?

This volume contains the following chapters

• Act 219: Crystal Stream ^note Kyoko acts as Chiori Amamiya's substitute manager for her appearance on a variety show, while her manager is still in the hospital with a broken leg. As the elevator Kyoko is waiting for opens, she comes face-to-face with... her mother.
• Act 220: Crystal Stream ^note Unexpectedly meeting her mother, Kyoko is frozen in place. Her mother looks Kyoko over and frowns heavily, choosing to ignore her and leave. Kyoko's mood is quickly lifted when she meets Kanae again, and the two talk about the first episode of Box "R", but ultimately come back to the topic of her mother. Kyoko admits to Kanae that her mother has always considered her existence to be offensive.
• Act 221: Crystal Storm ^note Kyoko assures Kanae that she's come to terms with her mother's views on her. On a plane, Ren is in his original appearance and is heading back to Japan for a short stay. He meets up with Yashiro and the two head to LME to report to Lory about his work. The two see Lory intently watching a show and they join, seeing Saena Mogami. Saena drops a bombshell, saying that she has no child.
• Act 222: Crystal Storm ^note Everyone deals with their own reaction to Saena's words, with even Shou seeing the show, and hoping that Kyoko hasn't seen it herself. The missus has recorded the show and Kyoko asks if they could watch it when she sees her mother on TV. She hears the harsh words and rushes out of the Darumaya, walking right into Shou outside.
• Act 223: Crystal Storm ^note Shou offers Kyoko comfort, but she won't have any of that. She tells him to leave her alone, and she walks off a little. Trying to process her mother's words, she recalls crying her heart out in Corn's arms, but knows that Corn isn't here. She looks up and sees Ren Tsuruga.
• Act 224: Pressure Change ^note Mistaking Ren for Corn, Kyoko rushes into his arms and cries, unable to contain her sorrow anymore. In the distance, Lory's assistant is reporting to Lory about how Ren and he came to check up on Kyoko. Lory wonders how Kyoko will deal with this, if she will break under it or improve. As Kyoko slowly calms down, she notices that she mistook Ren for Corn...

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Chapters in this volume contains examples of

• Armor-Piercing Question
  • Chapter 221 has an attempted one by a caller on a law-discussion show, when Saena cooly explains the law about custody to her, with the rationality infuriating her. The pierce doesn't occur and Saena retains her armor.
    Caller: You... you've never experienced anything like labor pains or childbirth, have you!?
    Saena: Certainly, I do not have a child.
  • Chapter 223 has Shou ask Kyoko where she was planning to head to in order to cry. Kyoko realizes that the place she usually ran off to — Corn's forest — isn't in Tokyo.
• Bad Liar: Kyoko doesn't even seem to try at lying about having seen the show her mother was on.
• Cry into Chest: Kyoko cries her heart out in Ren's arms, though she mistook him for Corn. And gets quite embarrassed once she's calmed down and noticed her mistake.
• Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Shou kisses Kyoko when she's in a state of severe, emotional distress and shutting herself off from the world. He did it in an attempt to force a reaction out of her.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Kyoko works her hardest to not show these when she hears her mother's words. She manages for a bit, before getting dead eyes.
• Flashback
  • Chapter 222 has Ren flash back to a young Kyoko telling him how her mother will definitely praise her, if she gets perfect scores on her exams.
  • Chapter 223 has Kyoko recalling how she wandered around the forest after Corn left, crying out for him.
  • Chapter 224 opens with a flashback to a young Kyoko going into her mother's study and trying to comfort her, but Saena roughly shrugs her off and yells at her to go away.
    • There's a second flashback to how Corn always comforted a crying Kyoko.
• Flower Motifs: It's a shoujo manga, after all.
  • Upon seeing Kanae again, Kyoko brusts with a bunch of flowers surrounding her, but Kanae quickly slaps them all to the ground without batting an eye.
  • Kyoko wears some flowers in her hair on the cover.
  • Flowers appear randomly in the background of some panels.
• Get Out!: Saena yelled this at a young Kyoko, who had entered her study.
• Hiding the Handicap: The regulars of the variety show tell Chiori that she shouldn't appear on-camera with her injured neck wrapped in bandages. Chiori chooses to put a scarf around her neck that Kyoko bought, in order to hide her injury and not be pitied.
• Highly-Conspicuous Uniform: The Love Me uniform and its eye-searingly bright, neon pink color makes a reappearance. Chiori and Kyoko specifically refer to it as their 'combat uniform', and Chiori uses it as a means to help her act well on the variety show for comedy purposes.
• I Have No Daughter Saena states on TV that she has no child.
• One-Steve Limit: As soon as the name 'Mogami' is seen by Kanae and Yashiro, they immediately wonder if Saena is related to Kyoko, as she is the only Mogami they know. Yes, Saena is Kyoko's mother.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Kanae tells Kyoko that she resembles her mother a lot. When Kyoko denies this, she corrects it and says that Kyoko-as-Natsu resembles her.

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