cyan-anaconda:
“It’s not that you don’t like yourself, is more like how much of yourself do you want to show. What are you afraid of? Either that or girls in your world just care more for beauty. Is acceptable, but a world full of it it’s nothing more than garbage.”
Sung-sun wasn’t exactly able to express herself with words. There were not enough for her to express what she meant. There were not enough to make the blonde one understand what she thought that was true beauty. Harribel taught her to be strong and not depend on anything, so why most women had to rely on something such as makeup or clothes just because they want to look prettier? It didn’t matter how much they organized themselves, at the end they were just bodies. One day, they’ll die, and the corpse will be nothing but the house of insects and fungi. Or in the battlefield, do men just stop the battle just to stare at her? They don’t care. If they want to kill her, that’s the only thing that matters.
Why, on Earth, did women had to just do whatever it took to gain love? Love is nothing more than transcendent. It comes and goes like the wind. Women were strong enough to live without it, just like she did.
Sung-sun closely examined the girl’s change of expression. She knew she had hit the hot spot. It wasn’t like Ino’s love life was something of her interest, but certainly everything she had done so far (or almost all of it) was known around the school. Sung-sun wasn’t the only one who thought what she did was disgraceful.
“What would you prefer? Harass him with tons of love and he ending up hatting you, or just let things be and become his friend? There are different kinds of love you can offer. I think he already understood you love him unconditionally, and I believe you understood as well that he has no interest. Isn’t it better just separate a little bit from him and give him space? You can be his friend. You can always talk to him. But it will be more painful to you if you keep going as blind as you are now. A woman should always have her pride high, but it seems you already lost yours.”
Sung-sun, even if she seemed cold, she could be understandable and warm, moreover to girls who she thought were on the wrong road. Harribel-sama showed her the light, so why don’t do that to somebody else?
“I am nobody to criticize anyone’s love life, since I’m not the most experienced myself. But I think somebody needs to tell you right and square what you are doing. Itachi-san is too sweet to tell you like this, so somebody that is not involved is the best. Even if it doesn’t seem like, I do care.”
What Sung-sun failed to understand was that Ino had been brought up in a flower shop. Despite her kunoichi training, despite some of the gruelling missions, this girl had always been surrounded by friends, family and flowers. Ino had always had full support from them and flourished in her world with her signature family technique known as shintenshin. Ino had a clan, she had status, she had income, she had support. She was always going to be well-cared for, just as she cared for the flowers back home.
Ino’s whole world was beautiful.
It was only at Iwakiri, had the girl managed to see some people who didn’t have the same type of support or upbringing as she did. It was only here, that she could see some of the truly ugly spectacles that took place, either inside people themselves, or their histories.
“What’s wrong with a world full of beauty?” People thrived despite hardship, not because of it. Maybe Ino just didn’t understand what the anaconda arrancar was trying to tell her. That too much lace and frills weren’t good in a cutthroat world. Whether you were in Fire Country or in Las Noches, it was still the survival of the fittest.
But why would you even try and survive in a world if it had no love? Ino wanted things to fight for, things to protect, people to love and cherish… she was that sort of person. Yes, she could be very selfish and think of herself… but at the end of the day, she liked caring for others, whether they were plants or people. It made her feel useful. And she liked looking her best, besides… beauty was also a strength.
…
Were her declarations of love, harrassment? Ino had never thought so. But then again, when Lee often made bold statements to win Sakura’s heart, the pink-haired kunoichi looked less than pleased too.
Let things be? Ino frowned. She wasn’t good at letting things be. She was more of the making things happen sort of person.
“…But it will be more painful to you if you keep going as blind as you are now. A woman should always have her pride high, but it seems you already lost yours.”
Ah.
Ino’s crushed expression softened somewhat. Sung-sun, despite her condescending tone and unkind words actually wanted Ino to stop hurting herself and her next statement confirmed it.
“I am nobody to criticize anyone’s love life, since I’m not the most experienced myself. But I think somebody needs to tell you right and square what you are doing. Itachi-san is too sweet to tell you like this, so somebody that is not involved is the best. Even if it doesn’t seem like, I do care.”
The fair-haired girl met Sung-sun’s rich, lavender eyes, flecked with long lashes.
“Thank you for caring, Sung-sun,” the florist smiled at the willowy girl. “But I really do know what I’m doing. I know it seems like I have no pride, since I know he isn’t interested… but… I can’t just do nothing. I have to try and I can’t stop letting him know how I feel until I get tired and exhaust myself,” Ino sighed, unable to explain that to her, the love she felt for Itachi was much more important than things like pride, and at one time, she had even put him before her village.
“It might not be right and square,” Ino mimicked the girl, “but it’s what I want to do so I don’t live a life full of regrets. And yet-
I understand what you mean. He seems exhausted every time he rejects me now. Perhaps I should just give up.”
She might as well try and block out the sun.
“But Sung-sun. Why do you care?”
…
Was she secretly trying to lower Ino’s guard so that Itachi was free game for everyone? That could also be what she was planning. After all, she had seen girls do that. Pretend to be nice and tell you that he is no good for you- and voila, the next time she saw them, they were with that boy.
