sorry, it's just some small changes ie. wording

Let Me Be Your Smile

Volume One: You, My Comrade!

Chapter 1: Another Abandoned

Meteor City, a place where all humanity is lost and all morals forgotten, a place where no one really exists and a place where everyone's heart is always crying. People watched as another zeppelin flew overhead. Their eyes followed it hungrily. One of the blimps stopped dangerously low over the edge of the city and spilled its contents. Rubbish spilled down from the sky and rained down on the earth forming yet another pile of old clothing, broken furniture, and useless appliances along with food, the precious substance that kept many alive. Half eaten food along with leftovers going bad due to the heat spotted the pile. This is what the weak relied on. As the children surrounded the pile, their eyes filled with greed, their mouth watering with the prospect of being able to eat something that still retained its original form, a small figure appeared form the sky. It was a young boy. His shirt tarnished with stains from mysterious sources, his silver hair covered with food and what appeared to be blood. His eyes were shut, but from the faint movements of his chest, it appeared that he was still alive, but no one cared. These occurrences are more than common. The boy landed on a pile of clothing, luckily, countless people has died from such fall. His body shook from the impact, and a trace of blood trickled down from his mouth. His eyelashes fluttered as if he was waking up but he still lay motionless.

The children eyed the pile, looking for the best spot to start searching. Their bodies tense, readying for the fight that was sure to come. Suddenly, someone moved and a fight broke loose, those fortunate and strong enough took out their weapon of choice and fought. Blood was shed as each individual fought for their spot of choice and their right to survey this new pile first. Bodies were created and left out for whatever should choose to come by and devourer it. Just as suddenly as the fight broke out, it stopped without a sign, and as the wave of people retreated, a young boy emerged. The boy was a teenager, barely fifteen and he had a head of fiery red hair. He climbed over to the top of the pile, surveying it as a king should survey his kingdom. He stepped over the still warm carcass and chose some clothing and food that wasn't going sour. He looked around again, this pile didn't have anything useful, and luckily for them, none of those people with strange abilities decided to meddle with their little skirmish.

Yuki stared at the scene in front of her. Her Parents with a smile on their face, and her grandparents looking down as the small bundle lovingly, a scene that she could only dream of happening to her. It would appear that her parents have finally received the son that they wished. She turned around quickly and walked up the stairs. She dropped her bag on the floor with a low 'thud' and threw of her jacket. She walked over to her bed, knelt down on top of it and raised her fingers up to the sword and the staff that hanged on the wall. Her fingers traced the intricate patterns carved on the weapons, feeling the power contained in the undecipherable lines as she thought to herself. Twelve years, six innocent lives, killed before they even had the chance to step foot in the world all for the sake of the ritual, all to break the curse placed on her parents. Her fingers lingered on the lines, he mind filled with bewilderment at what her parents are willing to do in order to produce a male heir. She stood up and turned to go to the secret library. She still had some books to engrave to her memory before her right to such books was taken away. All she could hope for was that her brother would be less talented than her, then, perhaps she would still have a chance at becoming the heir to her family.

Yuki was the most talented first-born the Hiroshi-Gwen family has ever seen. The only one who was able to fully control all ten elements: earth, wind, fire, water, wood, light, darkness, space, electricity, and metal. As well as being extremely talented in the martial arts. But she was a girl, and girls are useless. If it wasn't for the custom to have an able first-born stand in as heir, she would be forever abandoned and left to rot with her talent. But now her family has finally broken the curse place on her parents, preventing them from producing a male child. It was now time for her to step out of the picture. But it was okay, she had been preparing herself mentally for this.

The Ritual of Acceptance, the ritual that will write your name into the family tree, also the ritual that will reveal your elements, and your control over them. Yuki stood in the shadows, far away from the head of the procession. Her eyes cold and her heart filled with bitterness. This boy, this thing was going to take everything she had dreamt of simply because of his sex. She thought she was prepared for this, but was she ever wrong.

Let's see how talented you are she thought to herself and looked towards the altar. Her face expressionless and slowly contorted into a twisted smile as her brother's talents were revealed – nothing. He had control over any of the elements not did he have a good body suited for the martial arts. His built was just not right; it would be extremely hard for him to go far in the martial arts.

Yuki looked around at the shocked faces around her and happiness seeped into her heart. Her parents are no longer able to conceive, she will be the heir to the family. Just then chaos sprang out at the front of the line. Her mother, with a crazed look on her face ran towards her, madness seeping out from every inch of her body. Her hair, no longer in the perfect bun above her head was pulled out and falling out at all corners. Her clothing, hasting loosened to give her heaving chest room to breathe and freedom to move. She raised her hand, towering over Yuki. Her twisted face was uglier than ever as she brought it down hard.

Yuki looked up, her face fill with confusion as the hand came closer. She could doge it, but for some reason, her whole body appeared to be frozen. Her eyes opened wide in horror and shock as her mother brought her hand down and struck her. Yuki's hands shook as she slowly brought them to her cheek. She could feel the cold trickle of blood rolling down her face. Her ears rang from the impact; she could vaguely make out the sharp voice of her mother, sounding crueller than ever, blaming her, her of all people. WhathaveIdone?Isitsuchacrimetobetalented? Her heart filled with bitterness and genuine hatred as she turned around to leave. But just as she was storming out of the ritual, a black ray shoot out, past the other members of the family and struck her. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and despite all her efforts, she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Yuki could make out snippets of conversation, something about a sacrifice, and a dark ritual. Her mind was in a state of confusion; she tried to life her arms, but felt something restricting her. Her eyelids felt heavy, and as she strained to open them, she felt something sharp prick her skin, and a cold liquid was slowly injected into her body. When Yuki regained conscious again, she was laying on the floor. She got up slowly, trying to move her limbs. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. She looked around, but could not see anything. The place was covered with a veil of darkness and nothing could be heard giving Yuki an eerie feeling. She rubbed her arms and called out an orb of light. Light flooded the room; Yuki covered her eyes, shielding them from the sudden light. She looked around the room, her face covered with a mask of horror as she slowly deciphered the lines on the floor. She couldn't believe that her parents decided to use her soul as a sacrifice and transfer her control of the elements to her brother. Hatred brewed up inside of her as she made a decision, a decision that will ruin the Hiroshi-Gwen family forever. She bit her thumb, and drew a six-sided star with her blood in midair. She called out the devils name under her breath and made a deal with him. With her remaining years, she placed a curse upon her brother, an unbreakable curse preventing him to be able to conceive. The only way to break this curse was to transfer it to another sibling. This curse would mean the end of the Hiroshi-Gwen family. She laughed as the world slowly grew dark around her for one last time, but deep in her heart she cried out wistfully, I wish I could become a boy…

Pain, it was as if pain was the only sensation left in the world and every feeling possible was converted into pain and placed on you. Yuki felt as if she had just survived a big fall. Blood gathered in her mouth and ran down the corners of her lips. She strained to open her eyes, but it was as if she was in a different body, her eyelids fluttered, but remained shut. Is this how it feels to be dead? Yuki wondered as she let her mind drift, she tried thinking back to her last moments, but just then a strong burst of white light clouded her mind's eye as images and sounds completely alien to her surged to her brain. Her head throbbed with pain, trying to take in and decipher thoughts and knowledge that didn't belong to her as she fell unconscious again.

The pile was in a state of orderly chaos. Small fights broke out as children lashed out at others in an attempt to gain a useful object. More corps was created as the winners wrenched their blood-stained prize from those unfortunate sacrifices. Then, just as abruptly as the fights broke out, everything came to a stop. The crowds parted down the middle, making way for a man. The man was of average height, he has a head of short brown hair and wore a well-ironed black dress shirt along with jeans and a pair of black dress shoes. He walked on, soundlessly, and stopped near the unconscious boy with silver. He poked the boy's body with his toe and muttered under his breath "someone new eh….?" He then turned around, the boy floating behind him, supported by some unseen force. He walked on with a carefree expression on his face, his eyes cold as ice as people made way for him. Behind him, a boy with fiery red hair stare after him, watching him disappear into the rows of houses. His eyes filled with greed, and the thirst for power.

Yuki woke up, and found herself in what would appear as a hospital. A confused look appeared on her face, her mind muddled, still trying to understand what had happened to her.

"How old are you?" a melodic voice questioned beside her in a language that she had never heard but somehow understood and instinctively she replied

"Eight."

"Well then, you will be under our protection for two years, until you are ten. During this time, we will provide you with sufficient food, knowledge and clothing." The voice replied. Yuki turned around towards the source. It came from a beautiful woman, clad in a rich black silk dress. She smiled at Yuki, but was not able to hide the emotionless gleam in her eyes. Yuki shook despite herself and the woman's smile deepened. "Oh, and welcome to Meteor City; weaccepteverything.Sodon'ttakeanythingback." With that said, the woman turned around and left, leaving Yuki shaking from the madden look that seeped from her eyes as she said her last words.

"Wetakeeverything...Sodon'ttakeanythingback… Don'ttakinganythingback…" Yuki muttered to herself under her breath.

Why in the world am I here!Yuki thought to herself as she broke yet another child's arm as he tried to grab her food. She huddle what was given to her close to her body and walked out as the people around her shrank back. She needed to find somewhere quiet to think and consume her so called "lunch" if it was even edible.

Yuki laid back and relaxed. She was sitting on top on the roof of her temporary housing. She needed some time to think and get everything straight. She had passed the last two days in a daze, not really being able to think at all. She was still deep in shock. It would seem that she had died after laying the curse on her brother, but then where would she be now… From what she had learned of in the last couple of days, it would seem that she is in another dimension. A world entirely different from the world she had lived in. Wind swept across her face, messing up her hair. She reached back and pulled in her hair. She stared at it. Silver hair, purple eyes, entirely different from the black hair and eyes she had had. But that wasn't the most important thing; Yuki looked down at her body. The most important thing was that she shrank from a twelve-year-old girl to an eight –year-old... BOY! Her, no, his body shook with excitement, she was finally a boy! Yuki laid back and closed her eyes, looking through the memories of the previous owner of this body…

Yuki didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. Her heart filled with grief, she could not believe how many similarities she had with this boy. They were all called Yuki, born on the same day. They were both abandoned by their family, despite their talents, due to their birth. Both were attempted to be used to the last scratch by their families, and both died trying to change that fate. Her eyes welled up with tears. She lay back, looking up at the sky, waiting for her tears to dry up. Clouds covered the skies of Meteor City. This was their place she thought, a place where power is everything, a place where the laws of the jungle govern, a place where they could shine. Yuki closed the eyes, her mind drifting, listening to the sound of the chaos, the sound of war. She was Yuki, just Yuki, a boy with silver hair and purple eyes, a boy who will become the strongest of the strong. From this moment on, she, no, hewas to live on for both of them.