"I didn't do it," She said, hands covering her eyes. She was vulnerable to any attacks, but nothing hurts more than emotional pain. Her tears stained her uniform, and for a while, she tried stuffing the sleeves into her mouth to stop sobbing. The attempt failed.

Kanda stood his ground, ignoring her. Murderer or not, that didn't change his perspective of Yumiko. She was still the messy little kid who annoyed the hell out of him.

"Name's Skin Bolic. Of the Noah," The huge guy smirked, arching his back forward, "I've seen you a couple of times, samurai..."

"Kanda," He answered impateintly, "Learn it and know it."

"Kick his ass, Yuu," Yumiko managed to sputter out in between sobs, "Kick it so hard, his ball's'll fall out."

Now, usually, Kanda would be so weirded out by this statement, he'd put her up with another miserable lecture to suffer through. But he decided to give her a break this time, for old time's sake. She meant a lot to him, afterall.

"I would if I could," Kanda shrugged.
Skin chuckled shortly, feeling quite good about himself, "That's right, and-"

"If he had any."

The Noah's eye twitched crazily. The look on his face was absolutely insanely hilarious. Kanda smirked at it. Pathetic. If only the guy let him finish, he wouldn't look like a retard... well, more than he ever was.

"You bastar-"

"I got this, Yuu!" Yumiko wiped her nose with her sleeve and sprung up with her card.
Kanda sneered, "Kid, you think you could take him on with that piece of paper?"
"But Y-"
"It's dishonorable," Kanda said, "For two to fight one."

Yumiko struggled to comprehend. If that wasn't why she was here, then what the hell was her purpose? If she couldn't help, what could she do?

"Samurai," Skin rolled his eyes, "Pft. Chivalry and crap."

Kanda stared dully at him, "It's bushido, dumb ass."

"Um, go, Yuu!.. Go...?" Yumiko sat at the sidelines, and punched the air every now and then to show her faith in Kanda. However, that was a bit hard to do considering the explosions and the fighting going on. She complained, flipping over and landing face-first into the snow.

"I'm so useless," She mumbled, eating some snow while she was at it. She didn't like doing nothing, but if she did contribute, it wouldn't be fair. How awkward was it to be the third wheel? Seriously. What she'd give to be part of their fight.

Yumiko took this time to reflect. She closed her eyes, tasting the dirt in the snow, savoring the untastiness. It took her back to her memorable childhood. Her father wasn't the town drunk- well, she wouldn't put it that way anyhow. He was just never at home. She forgot what he looked like. And she supposed that most people would find that to be depressing.

Yumiko remembered further. When she attended his funeral, it was like being at a stranger's burial. She knew nothing about him. Was he a lovable man?

He died after her mother married an aristocrat. Beside her at the funeral stood Hiroshi. She didn't cry for her father, but she did feel pity for him. Poor guy. Hiroshi comforted her, she recalled, but he was quiet. Probably because he just didn't have anything to say.
The expression on her mother, though, was unforgettable. It was forever etched in her mind. There were no tears, no spills or mess whatsoever, but her eyes were completely dark and pitch black. It was like looming into a dark hole with nothing inside. It was scary.

Her step-father was an intelligent adult. Not quite sure, but he might have been a lawyer. He was often seen in his study doing paperwork. He was a quiet man, but that was all he had ever been to Yumiko.

Hiroshi was her friend. She was popular within her grade at school, but her step brother, like his dad, wasn't very outspoken with himself. He was about five years older, and he knew all the magic tricks there was to know. From cards to saws and boxes to birds.

Yumiko remembered the first time she laid hands on a pack of cards.

'Hiroshi, I'm not allowed to use cards. Momma's afraid I might turn to gambling.'
'What Mother doesn't know won't hurt her,' He'd laugh and tap her nose, 'Besides, I'm not teaching you poker or anything.'

She smiled faintly, face still in snow. As she thought about the conversation thoroughly, she realized.. Skin and the Earl were wrong. Hiroshi never did resent her.
Yumiko's smile faded. Regardless of what they say, and no matter how much they twisted things up, they had one thing right: She did kill Hiroshi. And that was something that she could never take back.

Someone flipped Yumiko over gently. Her eyes were still closed, since there was still snow covering her entire face. She shook her head vigorously, spitting out the excess snow in her mouth.

"Yuu! Why'd-" Her moral dropped viciously.

Tykki Mikk and her were in a compromising position. She was lying on the ground, and Tykki's knees were closing in on her sides. Each of his hands were next to her head.
"Shh," He cooed, leaning in, nuzzling her on the neck and pecking it.

Yumiko's stomach lurched. This was too wrong. She pushed his face out of the way without looking at it. It was sickening.

"I'm sorry about this," Tykki said, his hand suddenly on her face. A purple aura ate her up. Blackness crept and clouded her vision.