A/N

OK hi guys! I've just decided to write this story because I just thought of it right now and I cant risk forgetting it! This is the very first ever story I have written so please review and give me tips on how I can improve! Thanks so much! ^-^

I looked down at my callused palms, hard from all the work mother had put me to. I felt the comfortable fitting of my gloves as I slipped them onto my hands, clenching my fists. Arcing my back and stretching my arms up behind me, I let a moan escape me as I yawned. I looked in the mirror and smacked my cheeks a few times to put some color into them and fully wake myself up. I stood up and opened the door into the small room I shared with my brother. He sat on his bed, attempting to spike up his jet-black hair. He was wearing one of his best sweaters and shorts. Feeling uneasy, I looked down at my used, baggy jean shorts and loose fading T-shirt. Maybe I should put more effort into looking nice… But then again, it was just the Hunter Exams, and it wasn't like we were even going to get past the first stage. I ran back into our bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My dyed blond hair was cropped short and my bangs were pinned up and hidden under the oversized cap I was wearing. Nervous green eyes stared back at me through the mirror. I noticed my hair was getting a bit too long to pass for a boy cut. I'd have to talk to mother about that so she could fix it up for me. I remembered the first time mother had told me what I had to do and what I had to become for it…

***Flashback***

"Mihari!" mother called me over.

I could tell she was trying to mask the sadness in her tone with a cheerful smile, but I could see through it. My brother, (Aito), and I had caught mother crying a few days ago, and he had clenched his jaw, and told me he wasn't working hard enough. I knew sweet words and comfort wouldn't make any difference to him. I hadn't seen him at all after that. He had been working day and night, trying to console mother into believing we had more money for food, but it only seemed to sadden her more. I had asked countless times before if I could start working with Aito to make money for the family, (after all, I was already eight years old and he was only three and a half years older than me), but mother had always refused, saying that just because father had left us didn't mean she couldn't support the house on her own. Also, she always said that it wasn't proper for women to work, especially in our town. Our entire town had shunned mother after father left, and she started working. Our family was considered a disgrace to the entire town. Women were looked down on in our town. I was pretty sure, even at that age; that women's rights were no longer a problem in the outside world. But our town, isolated as it was, had never really accepted a lot of things, including women.

"Yeah!" I said, pulling myself out of my thoughts and mirroring mother's cheerful tone as I ran over to her. She placed her warm, strong hands on my shoulders, tucking away strands of my red hair that had strayed from my ponytail.

"Mihari, would you like to help your brother and I in earning food and money for the family?"

"Really mother?" I asked her, excitement building up inside me, "If you really mean it, then yes! I really want to help you and Aito, because I feel like I'm the only one not doing anything around here! And also, you've never let me go into town before so I would love to make new friends and see everything in the town, and experience the wind in my face, and-"

"Yes, yes, Mihari, we'll be getting to that later… but first…" mother hesitated, biting her lip and looking down. Confusion clouded my face as I watched her. Mother's flame-like red hair was pulled back into a loose bun at the base of her neck. Her green eyes were identical to mine. I got my looks, stubborn personality, and petite frame all from her. I only wish I could have gotten some of the courage she had, too.

"Here," she said as she pulled out a boyish looking cap from behind her. "Mihari, you have to wear this at all times, and from now on you won't be wearing dresses anymore."

My slow mind finally began to understand what mother was saying. I looked down for a moment, as an unexpected smile formed on my face.

"It's just like a make over right, mother?" I asked her, pulling her through my room and into my small bathroom. We both barely crammed into there.

"Mihari, are you sure you want-"

"Of course, mother," I interrupted her in what I hoped was a brave voice. "I'll do anything to help out you and Aito."

Mother smiled and pulled me into a short hug. "OK Mihari, I feel like we need to change your hair color, too, just to make it more believable that you aren't who you used to be. It'll help you through it too. We can go shopping in the market later if you want, or you could just wear Aito's, old clothes, if you're okay with that. Don't worry; you can sti-"

"MIHARI!" I jumped a bit as Aito rudely pulled me out of my flashback moment. He burst into the bathroom, an excited smirk on his pale face.

"Come on! Mother's going to walk us to the port so we can leave," he said as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.

Mother was patiently waiting outside, and I could see that in this moment, she looked truly proud and happy for once in a long, long time.