[Nino's not going to disagree, really, her mother was a shit.

She ducks her head and takes a slow, shaky breath in, and then...well, she crouches on the ground, burying her face in her hands.

She can't help it, really.

After all:]

I'm sorry... you've been so nice to me... but I--

[She shakes her head a little, breathing in a shaky breath.]

I wanted to know... why... I wanted to know why she would ask me to do such a terrible thing. So I went back, even though my new friends had just saved me, and...

[She bites her lip, shaking her head.

It's real bad, Akira, it goes beyond just normal petty family squabbles.]

It was... it was just because she tried--tried to...but I, we...!

[Her breath hitches, but she continues:]

Because of me, she's dead...!

[Sorry for the backstory dump at rank 1, Akira, Nino's an open book about everything.]

Even though she wasn't my real mother... I'm still... [And, more softly:] Aren't I still a terrible daughter?