Kat Yushi never mingled with the other kids at the orphanage.
Maybe she was just a loner, maybe she wanted to distance herself from others, and maybe she was afraid that what happened with Cindy would happen again.
Cindy Yushi (as she used to call herself) was Kat's best friend since they were 3, and they proclaimed themselves sisters and even came up with a last name together (Yushi) just for each other.
They were inseparable no matter what, and it stayed like that until they were 12.
For 9 years, they were together at Sunny S. Orphanage, having fun and putting up with the ratty owner and residents just for each other.
That is, until someone showed interest in adopting a 12 year old.
Cindy and Kat, being the only kids who were 12 in the orphanage at the time, jumped at the opportunity of getting out of there.
It wasn't horrible there by any means, but Kat, who had lived there all her life, was so excited by the idea of an actual house with actual rooms and an actual family.
Unfortunately, the person only wanted to adopt one child, and refused to even think about getting them both.
Cindy got desperate, and the day that the person came to visit, she locked Kat in the basement the entire time, and made sure that she, and only she, would be chosen.
She was right, and only a few days later, Cindy Yushi, now going by Cindy Marshall, was gone.
The owner of the orphanage was horrendously mad at Kat for not showing up, and refused to believe that Kat's best friend would've locked her into the basement, and gave her the lecture of a lifetime, along with a few more physical punishments.
The only lesson Kat learned at the end of the day, battered and bruised with the taste of blood lingering in her mouth, was that life was unfair and that adults should never be trusted.
Later, Kat's school teacher, Mrs. Martin, would notice her bruises and ask who hurt her, and would file a report to CPS and the police that would get Kat to be moved to a new orphanage.
And there, Kat promised herself that she wouldn't ever make friends again, because friends weren't trustworthy, they didn't deserve to be trusted. They were willing to betray you at the drop of a hat.
She learned that, well, humans were selfish like that.
