Forecast for Glass Mask Vol. 50

Many people know that I am a manga fanatic (in other words, otaku), but not everybody knows what manga I read. Well, that is not so much of an essential information so I will abridge the list, but I'd like to share that one of my top 5 is Glass Mask (Garasu no Kamen) by Suzue Miuchi.

This manga has been going on since 1976, and has reached till volume 49 so far. The problem is (and it's not like I am criticizing the mangaka, because that is not my style) that Miuchi sensei tends to stop writing the manga sometimes. For instance, apparently there was a 6 year gap between the 41st and 42nd volume, and so far I've been waiting for vol. 50 for more than 1 year. Yeah kind of tragic.

For some reason I felt like rereading some of my favorite parts in the manga these past days, and was inspired to write a mini fan-fic about at least the beginning of vol. 50. I wish I could draw it out, but well.

***THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS, DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ UP TO VOL.49***

(Vol. 49 ends with Hijiri telling Maya that she will meet the person of purple roses)

Scene1: A room in Masumi's villa, at night
Masumi writes a letter, which amounts to a total of 4 pages. When he finishes, he puts his pen down and turns his chair to face the large window. He can see the million of stars shining above, and though he watches them to regain his tranquility, he find himself remembering the three times he saw the stars with Maya: at the planetarium, at the birthplace of the Crimson Goddess, and on the Astoria cruise. This makes him more nervous.
Do I have the courage to do this? I have hidden my identity for so long, and I believed I would die without telling anybody. I wonder, will Maya be upset?
However, he tightens his face, and puts the letter in an envelope.

Scene2: Maya goes to the villa
Maya takes a leave from her Crimson Goddess practices, and is driven to the villa by Hijiri-san. During the drive, Maya thinks about what she will say, or how Hayami-san will even greet her at the destination. She is not scared, but feels a mixture of confusion and excitement. She cannot wait to meet Hayami-san as the purple rose, at the villa that he promised to invite her to.
The car arrives, and Hijiri-san asks Maya if she feels ready. Maya nods and pauses in front of the door.
When I push this door, I will see you, my soul's fragment.
Then she opens the door.

Scene 3: Inside the villa
However once in, soon Maya realizes that the main hall is empty, save for some purple rose petals scattered on the floor. The petals are aligned as if to make a path. Maya senses the meaning of them, and follows the trail to a spacious study with a desk and two bookshelves. She finds an envelope addressed to her on the desk, and she carefully opens it.

Dear Maya Kitajima,

Do not be alarmed that you have not seen me yet, since I have concealed myself in the villa while you read this letter. I believe I should make certain points clear before proceeding to our encounter.
First, I want to let you know that without your knowledge, I have actually been in direct contact with you more times than you can imagine. However, it was never in my plans to let you know my identity, and I have some personal reasons for that.

I have known you since the first role you interpreted in Little Women. I did not know my feelings then quite yet, but now I understand that I was plainly fascinated. At such a young age, you had what I most likely could never obtain: a will to live life to the fullest. You have a burning passion so great that it would make anyone feel that life is really worth living. 

When the play was over, I knew I had become your fan. Unfortunately, the world of adults that I live in would not allow me to be anybody's fan openly, but I truly could not stop myself from wanting to support you in some form. Without knowing, I was standing in front of your backstage room holding a bouquet of purple roses.

I have watched all of your plays, save for the ones you organized in school, and could see progress in your acting. It was amazing for me, because every time I watched you, I believed you had reached the limit to perfect acting. It often made me sad that I could not support you more - the only thing I could do was to keep sending you roses.

You may ask, then why did I never reveal myself to you? 

On the one hand that the person who sent you purple roses was gaining your favor, the person who interacted with you directly gained your distaste. I do not blame you in the slightest, because anyone who had been in your position would have abhorred me. I did not only treat you unkindly, I even caused you incredible pain. 

I really am sorry, although I cannot wish for true forgiveness. 

Even if I was hated with all your might, I wished to at least remain connected with you through the purple roses. To me, the act of supporting you had unconsciously become a reason to live, when everything since my childhood had pointed to me that I should be dead. That is why I wanted to take the secret of my identity to my grave. The moment that you knew who the purple rose was, and also became disappointed in him, would have marked the end of my life.

Despite all this anxiety, I decided that I no longer should fear telling you my identity. 
If you were truly honest with me the past few days, I should trust that you will forgive me for hiding myself for so long. Even then, I want you to know that this truth might be quite shocking to you. However, if you still want to know who I am, please call me by my name,

The third page broke off there, and Maya moved on to the fourth page, which contained only two words.

Masumi Hayami.

Silently, Maya returns the letter into the envelope carefully, and puts it on the desk. Masumi, who has been watching her read the letter and take this behavior, suddenly regrets having written the letter. He is almost worried sick, when Maya starts speaking.
"Hayami-san, I am sorry. Unwillingly I also kept a secret from you."
She paused, and he felt that it was the cue for him to come into the stage. Maya was still looking away in the direction of the desk, but when she heard the man's footsteps, she looked at him with tearful eyes and a damp face. Slowly, but then quickly she left the spot and embraced him.
"I already knew that you were the purple rose, and I am truly happy, from the bottom of my heart, that it is you."
"Maya..."
"My daddy long legs. I always imagined you to be so far, and yet you were always beside me, always helping me, although I was unbearably dull to realize it. I cannot describe how sorry I am."
"Do not be sorry, there is nothing for you to be sorry about."
"Hayami-san, if this was a normal story, I should say that I love you, but I must refrain from using such a word, because what I feel is more than love. I wish we could just become one person and never be separated again."
Maya looks up at Masumi and says,
"My love is that of Akoya, and you are my Isshin, Hayami-san."
With nothing to say but too much to feel, Masumi lowers himself and gives Maya a tender kiss.

- End of my useless daydream -

I actually can't believe I wrote this, and made it alive even, because under normal circumstances such a lovey-dovey story would make my brain disintegrate and my stomach vomit. I am allergic to love, and I am a pessimist. Yet for some reason I seem to be selectively allergic, because this Glass Mask, though very romantic and dramatic, does not cause in me distasteful feelings like for example a manga like Mishonen Produce or (at multiple points) Boys over Flowers. I am sorry to people who like these manga, but that doesn't include me. But returning to my topic, seriously when will I ever read the true vol. 50 .･ﾟ･(ﾉд`)ﾟ･.

美内先生、「あたし待ってます　ずっと待ってますから...!!

—コミック43巻、歩道橋に速水くんを誘うマヤちゃんより