** Okay, here's yet another first for me. I'm writing a Taiora/Mimato! I support both couplings, so I decided I don't write enough of them (I haven't written any yet. . .). This story was going to be a Sorato, but I have written a lot of Soratos, and I have gotten bored of writing them. So here's the best of both worlds. Sorry Sorato/Michi people, I have written at least one of each, and it's only fair! So here's a chapter of this story. I don't plan on continuing this without at least five reviews, so if you REALLY want a second chapter, review this please!!**

~Character ages~
Tai-21
Sora-21
Matt-21
Mimi-20

A Smile Like Yours

The sun was slowly setting on the horizon in Odaiba. Night was falling upon the quiet streets of the usually busy city. People walked or drove home from work to spend time with their families. A chilly November wind bit into the skin, making people tighten the scarves around their bundled faces. Thanksgiving was coming up, and every family was planning on celebrating with relatives and eating pumpkin pie and turkey. One family, however, was not.


Sora Takenouchi, a young woman with fiery red hair and cinnamon colored eyes, stood next to the stove in the apartment she and her boyfriend Michael shared, stirring some soup carefully. She had changed a lot from when she was younger. Her hair was cut very short, and her once youthful and optimistic eyes were now clouded with sorrow. As she walked away from the soup to set the table, Sora tried her best not to cry over the way her life had been for the past nine months.


"It didn't have to be this way. . ." Sora said to herself quietly as she sat down in a chair and looked down at the floor miserably. She heard the door open, and instantly leapt into action, busily stirring her soup and tidying up the kitchen. A tall young man with jet black hair and piercing green eyes walked into the kitchen with a bouquet of big red roses. He handed the flowers to Sora and hugged her gently.


"I'm sorry sweetheart. I really am." Michael said lovingly. Sora nodded and brought her hand up to her cheekbone, where a black and blue bruise marred her pretty face. She faintly recalled the reason for receiving that punishment. She'd moved the living room around and lost the remote control. To her it was a simple mistake, but to Michael it was a huge error. After screaming about not being able to find it for ten minutes, he'd come to the conclusion that Sora had hidden it from him for some odd reason.


"It's okay, Michael. It's okay." Sora responded quietly as she pulled away from him and tended to her soup. Michael sat down at the table and waited for his dinner to be served. Sora sat the steaming pot of soup down on the table and put the ladle in it cautiously, trying to keep the soup from overflowing from the very full dish. The couple began to eat in silence. They really had nothing to talk about, and even if Sora did have something to say, Michael would just put her down about it.


"Why haven't I left this hell I call a life?" Sora thought absently, picking at her food quietly. She hated living the way she did, always being afraid of Michael and his horrid temper. He always blamed her for his mistakes, and beat her frequently. She had a range of bruises that were in various stages of healing. Sometimes one of her eyes were blackened, and often times she had cuts on her from her so-called love. But she couldn't leave. He'd told her a million times that if she tried to leave he'd find her and beat her to death. So Sora had no alternative other than to live a life of pain and misery.


"Hey Sora. . .where's my case file?" Michael asked later that night as he rifled through some papers on the kitchen counter. Sora felt the little hairs on the back of her neck perk up when Michael asked her about the file. She hadn't moved it or seen it, so she figured he might have left it at the office.


"I don't know, hon." Sora replied nonchalantly as she sat down and turned on the television. Before she could change the channel, two hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her roughly over the couch. Struggling to keep her balance, Sora came face to face with Michael, who was seething with anger.


"Where did you move the damn file?!?" Michael asked angrily. Sora felt hot tears threaten to fall from her terrified eyes. She hated it when Michael was this way; he was so frightening to her.


"Did you forget it at work?" Sora asked timidly, afraid of the inevitable. Michael pondered for a moment, then reached his hand out and backhanded Sora roughly. Sora cried out and looked away from Michael. He grabbed her by her short hair and yanked her head so she was facing him.


"I wouldn't forget it at work! That's something someone as stupid as you would do! I'm not stupid, you see, therefore, I couldn't have left it at work. You are dumb enough to lose it in our own apartment! Stupid cow. . ." Michael ranted as he swung again, hitting Sora's shoulder with his fist. Sora cringed with the blow, and tears slid down her face.


"Are you crying?" Michael asked condescendingly. Sora shook her head, and Michael grabbed her shoulders roughly and pulled her so her feet barely touched the floor.


"You ARE crying. You little baby. You're getting what you deserve! I wouldn't have to hurt you if you weren't so stupid." Michael whispered menacingly. He set his girlfriend back on the floor forcefully and stalked into the kitchen, where he pulled out a beer. He chugged the beverage, tossing the can toward the trash. It landed outside the container.


"Get this place cleaned up, then go to the store and buy some more beer and some chips. I'm still thirsty." Michael ordered. Sora nodded and walked into the kitchen as fast as she could. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and stared sadly. Her face was bruised, and a cut was bleeding from where Michael's ring scraped her face after he smacked her. Sora wiped the blood from her face and began to sob quietly. She cleaned up the kitchen and put on her coat, which was beginning to be too small for her. Taking one last look at her face, Sora turned and walked out of the apartment for the items her "loving" boyfriend had asked for.


**That's all you get for now. This is about to turn Taiora, so don't lose hope on me now!! Sora meets someone during the night that may help her get away from the life she's suffering through. And I also want to make it known that this is based on a true to life story. Some things are altered, but not very much. The violence is toned down A LOT. In real life, this was much worse. Everyone look for the second chapter, where things are explained, and more things are revealed. Thanks for reading, and sorry there's NO romance in it yet! I promise there will be a lot in it soon!!**