Maki: Hi all, it's me again with a new TMNT fanfic which so happens to be another humanised turtles plus female Mikey one. I apologise if you don't seem to like the concept of it but I'm hooked whenever I do it. Perhaps it's my obsession with gender bending characters, including my favourites. In this case, Mikey. I don't feel comfortable having my GBed characters having their original names, so here Mikey's name will be changed to something more feminine. Also the fic will often switch from normal POV to mostly fem!Mikey's through the duration of it but will change to other character's POVs at times to make it even. Well please enjoy.

WARNINGS: Alternative Universe, Non-Canon, Humanisation, Human Turtles, Female Mikey, OOC, OC, Mild-Moderate Violence, Mild Language and Dark Themes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All Rights are the property of Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Mirage Studios.

Summary: Human Turtles/Fem!Mikey AU She was meant to be the happy one of the bunch, the one to bring hope in unfortunate times. But she isn't. Instead she's a shell on the verge of breaking to a million pieces. Her brothers don't realise it until their worst enemy decides to take the advantage. They must race against the clock to save her from being pulled into the darkness forever.

Fake Smiles

Chapter 1: Shattered

"Kayla!"

Kayla resisted the urge to bang her head against the table. She knew that voice from anywhere. Shutting the book she was peacefully reading and whipped her head into the direction of the voice – Emma waved her hand as she bounced up and down on her heels. Next to the bubbly girl were Claire and Tori who smiled nonchalantly.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Kayla asked, swinging her legs over the bench to meet the girls.

"I found it! I found the perfect guy for you!" she cried happily.

The other sighed, clearly understanding where this was going. "Emma listen to me, we've been through this. You know as well as I do it's not that I can have a boyfriend, I can't!"

"You're just modest." A hand gripped Emma's shoulder, causing her to face Claire.

"C'mon Em, leave the poor girl alone will you?"

"Yeah, this conversation is getting old. No offence, it's irritating us." Tori added.

She sulked in defeat. "Fine… one of these days Kayla, I'll make sure to get the right guy for you!"

"That will be a day to remember." Kayla replied.

Emma released a loud holler as she pumped a fist in to the air. Claire smiled fondly at this then crooked her head to Kayla. "See you at class then?"

"You can count on it."

Claire nodded subsequently to leading Emma somewhere else. When they were out of hearing range Tori slumped beside Kayla on the bench. "Remind me again why you invited Emma to join our group?"

"She was lonely and needed a friend, simple as that."

"You're too nice for your own good."

"And you're cold."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tori demanded.

Kayla giggled. "Nothing. Doing anything this weekend?"

"Nothing except hang out with Chris to see the latest movie on Saturday night; he said it was supposed to be a decent martial arts movie after he saw the trailer on the internet. You are keen on these types of movies, wanna come?"

"Sorry, patrol."

"Your family takes it seriously don't they?"

"Mostly Leo and Master Splinter but yeah they do." She corrected.

"Is that so? In any case if those boys decide to give you a hard time, you can always count on me to kick their butts!" Tori declared, jerking a thumb towards her chest.

"Thanks Tori, you are a true friend."

"So are you Kayla." She stretched then stood. "Later!"

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*Kayla's POV*

I watched as Tori left me at the picnic table where I sat in the duration of lunch. Then I noted the bell was ringing shortly so I should probably head off as soon as possible.

Emma, Claire and Tori are few of the girls in my grade that I consider actual friends. The purpose others wanted to be my friends is that they wanted me to introduce them to my three elder brothers; Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello. Tori was the first to notice my dilemma and decided to step in, acting like my chaperon to ward off the girls that were clinging to me.

I realised we had similar interests and our friendship hits right off the bat. I admit she was a cool girl to be with. So were Emma and Claire, more Claire then Emma but still.

At least it's better than having no friends at all.

Oh yeah! I forgot to introduce myself. Anyhow, I'm Michaela Hamato, fourteen years old, native of New York City and a freshman in high school. But most people call me Kayla for short. As you can tell from earlier I'm the youngest of four and unfortunately the sole female, this is why many girls are envious of me. Can't blame them though as it was merely a natural occurrence by Mother Nature herself.

Speaking of which, another was I was fairly independent and mature for someone my age. The reason was our mother died seconds after I was born. Our father, Master Splinter as we called him, was old friends with mom. He travelled from his homeland of Japan in concern for mom when she fell ill.

When mom died, my brothers were told she begged Master Splinter that if anything was to happen to her, he must take us under his charge. I didn't recall it well hence why I was just born at that moment; yet when I got a little older, around eight or nine I think, they told me the whole story.

I was originally confused till the realisation dawned on me when I slowly felt fresh tears brimming in my eyes. My brothers and Master Splinter comforted me as I continued to cry for some hours.

Since then, I'd barely understood what a mother's touch or love was like. Although Leo and the guys do compliment that I act like to one… whatever that means. Occasionally I feel jealous of them because they met mom before I was able to.

Then there's the part where I might wonder I'm actually the cause of mom's death.

If… if that was true, that will mean they will hate me; my brothers and Master Splinter.

I'd be an unwanted child.

No! I don't want that! Not now, not ever!

Guess I will wait to find out, someday hopefully.

*Normal POV*

Soon enough the final bell rang for the end of the day and Kayla eventually met her brothers at Leo's car as he was the only one at the legal driving age. He was the eldest at 18 with shoulder length jet black hair and dark blue eyes wearing a blue polo shirt, grey slacks and electric blue canvas shoes. In Splinter's eyes, Leo was the perfect son and succeeded at nearly everything. He had that sort of air surrounding him that made many girls fall to his feet.

Raph was one year younger than Leo and they were in the same grade in high school but in different classes. He was tanned and muscled with spiky dark brown hair and green eyes wearing a black tank top, a red leather jacket, camo shorts and brown boots. Raph was rebellious and relies on instinct rather than thinking which leads him into trouble.

The annoying part about these two was that their personalities clashed frequently. And it had everyone else to deal with it.

Donnie came third at 15 years of age. He was intelligent and topped all of his classes thanks to his enthusiasm at constantly wanting to study. Donnie had medium wavy brown hair and hazel green eyes wearing a white t-shirt, a sleeveless violet blue sweater, khaki cargo pants and purple converse shoes.

Kayla herself had waist length blonde hair held up by twin orange ribbons and baby blue eyes wearing a coral cut-out shoulder front tie shirt, knee length white shorts and strapped orange ballet flats.

The ride home took no longer than the average fifteen to twenty minutes on the usual route, twenty five minutes on the alternative route if something were to ensue such as an accident or heavy traffic. Leo was responsible and knew what to do, so they managed to get home in the end.

During the trip home, Kayla grew tired then fell asleep on Donnie's shoulder after having a tiring day. He didn't mind and proceeded to stroke his fingers in her blonde tresses. Raph turned his head around briefly, his normal hard-edged eyes softened at the sight.

He chuckled silently. "Someone's peaceful."

"She had a big day. I bet you did too Raph." Donnie muttered.

"No kidding."

"It was great that you didn't get detention again," remarked Leo. "You were lucky I was there to stop you."

"Say that once more and I'll-"

"Guys! Please knock it off."

"Sorry."

The rest of the ride was in silence until they arrived home. Leo parked the car in the garage and unbuckled his seat belt to get out as did his brothers. He went to Kayla's door behind his, doing the same procedure earlier to snaking an arm on her back and moved the other under her knees; picking her up in a fireman's hold.

Raph wondered to the boot, grabbing everyone's bags including his own. He chucked Donnie his backpack and the brunette hastily caught it. Donnie glared at him.

"H-Hey, careful! My laptop's in that bag. I would've lost an amount of data if you weren't so careless!"

"Data, schmata! Be glad that you got it."

"Would guys ever so kindly as in to knock it off?" Leo scolded in a hushed tone.

Kayla stirred in his arms as her baby blue orbs cracked open, locking contact with Leo's deep-hued ones.

He winked. "Hey sleepyhead."

"Hey." She covered her mouth yawning when he let her down and caught her bag the minute Raph threw it at her. Leo got his as they finally walked through the doors of their home to be greeted by a Japanese man in his late forties to early fifties with shaggy greyish black hair, thick eyebrows and dark brown eyes wearing a traditional red yukata, a brown coat and matching brown sandals carrying a wooden walking stick. "Father!"

Splinter's lips tugged into a smile. "Welcome home."

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Donnie pushed the chair away from his computer, folding his arms across his chest with a sigh. With the increased declining of gang violence in the city made him worry about the Purple Dragons activities. And if the Purple Dragons were inactive also meant the Foot Clan were acting awfully quiet.

So in order to keep tabs on both syndicates he'd organised a database on the computer that updated their activities on a regular basis.

He gazed at the ceiling and mentally cursed; damn it! This was going nowhere. Unless they had any proof of evidence that they were still active then they won't know whenever either association is planning to strike first.

Thank God they have patrol in two days' time.

Donnie leaves his room and headed towards the kitchen. With all this continual researching, it was giving him a headache. He hadn't had a nice coffee in a while so with a bit of luck it could help calm his nerves. The sound of running water in the shower he walked by indicated that someone was having a shower. Donnie groaned. Whoever was in there better not use it too excessively otherwise it will end up with him paying a huge bill and he didn't want that.

The stairs connected to the foyer downstairs was a few seconds ahead and the room via the archway on the left was the kitchen. He was intended to go down when he spotted the door to the room he passed was open. Having lived here for a number of years, Donnie easily recognised that room belonged to Kayla.

"Odd, why is her door…" curiously he retraced his steps and went to Kayla's room. The brunette tilted his head sideways when he noticed his younger sister sitting at her desk staring at the two photographs on it.

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*Kayla's POV*

When we arrived home I went to my room to start on my homework, too bad that I don't like it as much as Donnie does. My brain wasn't functioned to stand it and I'm pretty sure Raph feels the same. He'd be kicking Purple Dragon butt instead of doing his homework. No wonder his grades are low.

The Purple Dragons… those big bullies have been in hiding lately. I don't know why however I have a feeling their up to something huge. And as they take direct orders of the Shredder it's definitely not a good sign.

I shuddered at that name; the Shredder. Ugh, it makes my skin crawl any time I think of that tin head. Our family has been at war with him for a period of time now and all of us were anxious when we originally heard that he suddenly went off the face of the Earth or New York City in particular.

Placing my pen on top of my writing book, I swivelled my head to the photographs that were beside my book. The first was one that showed my brothers and me with Master Splinter when we began our ninjutsu training. The second was recent and had us together with three of our new friends – April O'Neil, Casey Jones and Angel, a girl that Casey knew in the neighbourhood who became a friend of ours.

"Kayla?"

Startled at the all too familiar voice I looked at the door and smiled wearily. "Oh, hey Donnie."

He jerked a thumb at my door. "You left your door open."

"Oops, sorry I forgot." I apologised.

"I see. You okay? You don't seem well."

"Uh i-it's nothing I'm fine."

Donnie raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it's alright. Maybe I'm a little tired."

"Then you should probably go to bed early tonight." He suggested.

"Probably." I repeated, rubbing the back of my head. "Why are you in my room anyways?"

"I was gonna get some coffee, I hadn't had one yet." My face blanched. Uh oh. Seeing Donnie in the kitchen was just as worse as the Shredder on a raid in the city. He might be smart but he sure in hell can't cook not even to save his life.

I myself was interested in the skill when I was in elementary school and got a little better at it each time I studied. That's why they put me in charge when it comes to cooking most of the time. Leo would either assist or switch roles when I was busy with other issues. Raph on the other hand, well he doesn't appeared to be bothered despite the fact he was decent at it.

"Remember to follow the instructions properly." I told him. He performed a mock salute.

"Yes mom."

"Good. Scat!"

I frowned once Donnie leaves my room and glanced at my hands that were folded in my lap sadly. "Mom… it's not fair. Why wasn't I allowed to meet you before you died?"

A lone tear trickled from the corner of my and dispersed when it met the carpet-covered floor as the only response I got was silence.

Maki: There! First chapter done and out of the way! Oh yeah, another reason why I'm doing a human turtles fic is because I like the idea of them being teenagers dealing with high school life and fighting the Shredder at the same time. Speaking of which, I don't know when I will have my first fic updated again but hopefully it will be sometime in the near future.