User blog comment:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapters 338, 339, 340: Review and Commentary/@comment-86.66.207.63-20130706094810/@comment-60.53.102.237-20130706111028

I don't think Mashima will kill Yukino after going to the trouble of keeping her alive and dedicating a chapter(338) for her. Though this makes it feel like the authors is removing some old characters to let new characters fit in.