Room 504, Friday Early Afternoon

[intraspective]

There was nothing quite like training all morning, taking a long hot shower, then collapsing onto your bed and flipping through gardening magazines and making notes.

And, you know, not thinking about what she had to do. That worked. Maybe if she just stayed in her room it’d all be okay for another day.

Luck ran in her family. Surely that meant this tactic would work. She'd keep her promise to A.J., but really, did it have to be today?

[Door is shut, post is for a certain alien-boy, but open if you come before him in the timeline.]

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[intraspective]

She shook her head. "You're not getting it. That's one of the problems."

Ino looked at him. "I'm pretty sure that I could kill someone who'd never done anything wrong to me, under orders, and not lose any sleep over it. That's who I am."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"So, what, I'm not hard enough for you?" he demanded.

[intraspective]

"It's not about being hard," she said, "some of the sweetest people ever back home wouldn't have any problems with it. In my home killing people isn't a big deal. In your world, it is. You can't change that without breaking who you are."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"But we're not in either of our worlds", he said softly. "Does it matter that much?"

[intraspective]

"Yeah," she said helplessly, "it does. It's not something you can learn either, and I wouldn't want you to--the consensus is that what I think is okay, and normal, is actually pretty bad here."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

He looked at her for a long moment, then turned away again.

"However you want it, Ino. I don't beg, and you wouldn't change your mind if I did."

[intraspective]

"It's better this way," she said, because she had to believe it was, "I'm sorry."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"I'm gonna go now", he said, reaching for the door. "I hope you're happy with Kabuto."

[intraspective]

"Okay," she said, looking away, "but I'm still your friend. No matter what. I'm sorry it happened this way."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"We'll see", was all he said before walking out.

[intraspective]

Ino stayed that way, looking down, not really seeing anything for a long while, remaining dry-eyed but feeling hollowed out.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, to her empty room, "I am."

But she wasn't going to apologize again for it.