Before the speech had started Yukiko had not been part of any conversation that had been buzzing about. Her modest white robes of thick fabric were a stark contrast to many girls who choose more revealing outfits. When the letter of acceptance to the academy had arrived for her, and her orders on when to leave and where to report, she was more than a little stunned at what seemed like a cruel joke. Her entire letter had been constructed to bring forth rejection, surely a pure blooded mortal of the Amagi clan would never be picked, she had been virtually assured that despite her refusal to get caught in a marriage trap before she was ready. But when that letter came her father's eyes had turned cold, her mother's sad and mournful. It was as if just being accepted made her dead to them. Even if she failed here, even she refused to become what they trained for here, even if they sent her back the first day with her virginity intact, she knew she would return home as an outcast among her own people. Her heart was split in two as she waited for the speech, feeling as if the empire had decided to play a cruel joke with her future. She had no direction anymore, and was anxious about the trials that awaited.<br/><br/>There were no boys here, at home so many vied for her attention and she had loved it. Yukiko had such great prospects in the clan, and all of them were lost. After the acceptance, no one bothered to court her anymore, no one bothered to speak to her, there was no one to see her off. A cruel joke indeed, Iona had found a way to cast her off from her own people. Now she wished she would have chosen a husband, even if it would have meant a life long commitment to a family. But it was too late for regrets.<br/><br/>The empress spoke, and Yukiko listened, she wasn't going to simply tune everything out because she was unhappy with her circumstances. Something was said that made a great impression on her. Those who failed would be forgotten by history. Yukiko sighed, at one time she had aspired to be a women that the Amagi clan remembered proudly for ages to come, that was gone now, but she didn't want to be an outcast, or to be forgotten.<br/><br/>She stood solemnly, still has a statue as she actually asked the enrolled if they had question. It was a rare chance to ask the empress herself a question and Yukiko wasn't near bold enough to attempt it. Though her eyes looked troubled.<br/><br/><em>Why me, what could they possibly see in someone like me who doesn't fit the mold in any way? I just don't understand. I don't have the ability to be a succubus, that's impossible!</em>