Chapter 20

Useless (役立たず, Yakutatazu) is the twentieth chapter in the D.Gray-man series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino.

Synopsis
Outside of the rewinding city, a girl with an umbrella holds out her hand and walks through the archway. As she does, the flesh is peeled from her body. She immediately heals once inside, announcing her arrival as Road Kamelot.

Elsewhere, Allen is still fighting the Akuma that ambushed him, Lenalee and Miranda inside of the café. He slays one, but is nearly overpowered by the other three, who stop to argue about how they will finish him off.

Allen takes advantage of their distraction to open fire on them.

Angered by the fact that he didn’t let them decide on how to kill him, the Akuma all prepare to lunge at Allen at once, but are stopped when Road calls them back. The three Akuma immediately flee, leaving Allen in confusion.

In Miranda’s house, Miranda is having a panic attack over what she has just seen. Lenalee tries futilely to calm her down, and it is only when Miranda nearly drops the key hanging from her neck that she does calm down.

When Lenalee asks, Miranda tells her that the key goes to the clock, which she views to be her only friend. Miranda explains that she is one of those people who isn’t good at anything, and that, even as a child, she has never had any friends because of it. Miranda has also lost every job she has ever had. Then, one day, Miranda went by a shop and saw the clock, the owner of the shop telling her it wouldn’t work for anyone. When Miranda tried and the clock worked, the shopkeeper insisted that she take it, and Miranda did, feeling like the clock had acknowledged her.

Later, when Allen has returned, he reports that the Akuma fled while Miranda sulks next to her clock, the woman wondering why she’s being targeted. Miranda then tells Allen and Lenalee to fix it, and Allen promises that they will, but that they need her help.

When Allen asks Miranda to “let tomorrow come,” Miranda immediately goes to bed, and as soon as she does the room is covered in clock faces, all of which get sucked into Miranda’s grandfather clock.

Lenalee and Allen grab onto the windowsill and watch as the ‘time’ of the entire town is sucked into the clock, and when it’s over the day has come again.

Miranda awakens with no memory of how she got to bed.

Elsewhere, Road, who has witnessed the time of the town being taken, decides to let Allen and Lenalee do whatever they want until the Innocence reveals itself.