Warnings: AU!, angst, fluff, romance, mystery, violence (later on in the story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or any of the characters involved, they belong to the masterful CLAMP. They also own other characters that are seen and mentioned in the course of this fanfic.

A/N: Sorry this has taken a while, I have had to finish my dissertation for uni due for Friday so been really busy, the next one should be out quicker. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

When Kurogane entered the dining hall he noticed that Fai and Yuui, whichever way round the names happened to be, were once again sat alone at a table far from anyone else. Himura was sat with Watanuki and Doumeki (he thought their names were), talking on a phone. By the time it took Kurogane to get his food and sit down the phone was put away and Himura was looking at him intensely.

"I'm having someone come over today," he said after a while.

Kurogane just watched him for a few seconds, when nothing else followed the words he turned away and began eating his food. What did it matter to him if Himura had someone round?

What must have been five minutes later, spent in near silence (why was it that the other two members of the table just argued all the time?) Himura stood up. He looked down at Kurogane with hard eyes.

"Don't come into the room," he said before walking off.

Wasn't that just great? Second day at the place and he was already being kicked out of the room. What was he supposed to do all day? It was a Sunday and he had very little idea about where anything was.

A spark of annoyance shot through him. Growling in anger he got up from the table, grabbed his tray roughly and left the dining hall, making sure to slam the tray onto the trolley.

Once outside the room he didn't know where to go. He was perfectly able to go to his room however didn't want to see Himura; he could care less about what the boy wanted him to do but it would just be even more annoying to look at him.

There was very little else for him to do though.

Looking both ways down the hall he began walking in the direction he had not been in. Getting the lay of land was one of the key things to do in any situation. With that thought in mind he decided to look around the building so he would not be caught unawares in the future.

That was easier said than done. Within only a few seconds on walking down the hall Kurogane found himself forcefully dragged into a room. There was a firm grip in his arm; with very little trouble he reversed the hold. A thin wrist was beneath his hand. Looking over at who had assaulted him he was a set of bright blue eyes and a pale doll-like face that was currently painted red with anger. This must be Yuui judging by the sour look on his face.

Kurogane released the hold he had on the smaller boy's wrist. "What is it you want?" he asked, taking a step away from the blonde for good measure.

Yuui scowled at him. "Stay away from Fai," he said, voice low.

Huffing Kurogane turned away from the blonde, intending to leave the room. "I have no intention of being near him," he said. There was no way that he wanted to get into some weird fight with a younger boy over said boys twin, especially as he didn't have the least bit of interest in said twin.

"Whether or not it is your intention," the voice behind him said darkly, "I will give you one warning." Kurogane moved to face him, it was then that the real difference between the two twins struck him, true he had not known them for any time at all but from the one in front of him he could sense something the other did not have. It was dark, malice shining through the blue eyes and the small fragile body giving off the vibe of power which was not to be expected from such a slight being. There was defiantly something not quite right with this one.

The boy took one purposeful step towards him. "Stay away from my brother or else," he hissed. With that he scowled and made his way towards the door.

Kurogane didn't want to leave it like that. Like hell he would let some puny little blonde brat threaten him! "Or else what?"

Quick as lightening Yuui spun around; something glinted at the boy's side before Kurogane found a sharp knife aimed at his heart. A millimetre more and the blade would be pressed against his flesh, he could feel the indent it made on his clothing. The hand holding the weapon was steady, only anger was on the boys face. It was clear that the boy in front of him would not think twice about running him through with the knife.

"Or else," the voice was barely above a whisper. The knife was drawn back, sharp eyes fixed firmly on Kurogane's face as Yuui exited the room with the door slamming after him.

Annoyance planted itself firmly in Kurogane's mind. Why the hell should he be threatened with a knife on his second day in this hellish orphanage? He didn't care about whatever brother complex must have been the cause of this fiasco; they could do whatever they wanted so long as he was out of it all. The next time he sees the non-murderous twin he would have a few choice words to say to him then never go near the weird blonde again. Not that he was worried about the threat; he just didn't want to be close to either one of them.

Grunting in frustration Kurogane left the room, still intent on mapping out the building.

He soon found out that wandering around the corridors without any clear distinctions as to what everything was or where things were probably was not the best idea he had ever had. It took him nearly two hours to clearly get the huge bottom floor figured out; going around the corridors six times to make sure he had his bearings. Unfortunately there was nothing of much interest expect winding halls that interlinked, all the rooms were pretty much replicas of each other. There were a few locked doors which probably didn't have anything overly interesting in, most likely some kind of weird supplies to keep the place running.

After he firmly had everything about the ground floor memorised he thought that the outside would be the next step, going upstairs would most likely be fruitless as most of the rooms were children's bedrooms so the more interesting things first.

He carefully made his way towards the door at the back of the building that he discovered led to the garden.

It looked just like he had seen from his bedrooms window. A pale green grass that cracked underfoot, leaves that had fallen from a gigantic weeping willow crunched when stepped on, the early autumn weather hadn't taken a lot of leaves from the tree yet.

Glancing around Kurogane had the sudden urge to bash his head against the brick wall behind him. There had to be some vengeful spirit after him, how else could he keep meeting the damn blonde boy everywhere he turned?

Only one of the twins was there, swaying idly on the swing with the willows branches hanging over it, head down focusing on the ground beneath him. From the calm atmosphere around the boy Kurogane determined that it was the less homicidal one.

Without even thinking Kurogane made his way towards the boy, rationalising the action afterwards as being from the need to tell the boy off in some way.

He was quite a way from the blonde when the pale head snapped up from its contemplation of the grass and leaves to stare over at the new arrival. For a few seconds Kurogane could see sadness painted over the boys face but it was quickly gone, replaced with a fake grin.

"Kuro-pon we meet again!" The boy said happily.

If Kurogane wasn't sure that it was the twin he thought it was that would have clinched it, stupid nick-names.

"It's Kurogane," he growled when he was within hearing distance of the boy.

Fai smiled up at him, rocking on the swing harder so it was moving properly now. "That isn't cute, I prefer Kuro-rin!" A giggle followed the statement.

Grunting at that, not caring in the least if his name was cute, Kurogane decided to get to why he approached the boy. Looking down at the boy's fake grin he lost all the words of anger which had built up inside him after his run-in with Yuui. Maybe it was just that he had become too tired after mapping out the orphanage, maybe it was that the anger had simply dissipated in the two hours it took him to get this far, or maybe it was the bright eyed look of expectation on the boys face. Whatever it was made him forget what he was about to say. Those shining blue eyes just stared at him as if whatever he was about to say was most important thing in the world to the smaller boy.

"What is it Kuro-sama?" The boy said suddenly, another giggle irrupting from his mouth. "You've been staring at me blankly for quite a while now."

Snapping out his reverie Kurogane growled at the boy who only smiled widely at him. "Nothing," he said.

"Okay then," Fai said softly.

Kurogane looked across at the giant mass of back garden. There didn't seem to be anything in it, no trace of children's toys or grass worn to dirt from being played on too many times. It was a very weird look for an orphanage, the swing and climbing frame were the only things that showed it was a garden for children. The fence around the expanse of land was the same as out front, a rusty dirty silver with spikes, it was a wonder that no one had been hurt from the sharp points. Overall it was nothing special.

The small squeaking of chains from the swing mixed with the soft rustle of leaves as the wind blew calmly through the trees branches. It was a very calming atmosphere. Just like how it had been last night. There was something about this weird boy's presence, which although caused him frustration and anger, was oddly relaxing.

Something inside Kurogane was restless though, he felt a need to do something. Just standing there wouldn't do him any good. Since his parents had passed away everything was rushed and he hadn't been able to control anything going on around him, he had to sit back and let the adults do everything. Now he was itching to do something himself, to not just let things happen around him anymore.

It seemed that being in a calm atmosphere had awakened his sense of need once more.

But, there was nothing to do.

He had planned to memorise the whole orphanage and so he would just continue to do that until he could find something else to occupy himself with.

After only taking four steps away from the swing to go over the garden he heard the clang of chains from behind him. It was better not to know what the blonde was doing, he reminded himself. He took a few more steps. There was the distinct feeling someone following him. Sighing in annoyance Kurogane turned around only to see Fai standing quite close to him look up at him with curious eyes. Quickly he spun around again and continued to walk towards the back of the garden trying his best to ignore the boy trailing after him like a duckling.

What was a tad unnerving was that were Kurogane could hear his footsteps as the leaves and grass cracked underneath him he couldn't hear that Fai was walking after him, the only sign that he was there at all was the feeling Kurogane got from it. There was defiantly something not right with the blonde; no child was that good at disguising their movements unless trained to.

When he reached the end of the garden, he came to a stop just before the bars of the metal gate. Beyond them was a sparse forest which he couldn't see very far into it as the branches from the trees were huge, covering the area in shade. The grass beyond the gate was a luscious green, looking fresh and lively nothing at all like the grass inside it.

Looking back at the orphanage showed nothing but a falling down building full of neglect, outside the cold metal bars was so much different, even the grass was better. A shiver ran down Kurogane's spine as he looked at the building, there was wrongness about the whole thing. An impulsive thought flickered across his mind, what would happen if he simply climbed over the gate and made a break for it? He doubted anyone would miss him, sure the orphanage might get in a bit of trouble for losing a child but some sacrifices had to be made.

Reaching out Kurogane grasped the cold metal bars; he could feel flakes of rust cutting into his hand.

"What are you doing?" a small voice cut through into Kurogane's mind. Quickly he spun around, only to see the small blonde boy staring at him in concern.

He had forgotten that he was being followed.

Stepping away from the bars, letting go of the gate slowly Kurogane eyed the boy.

"Nothing," he said for the second time that day.

Blue eyes scanned him quickly. "If you want to run away it would be easier to just not come back from school."

At the words run away Kurogane bristled, he had never run away from anything and he certainly was not about to start now. He narrowed his eyes at Fai and stared down at him.

The fake smile on the boys face was gone. Strangely Fai stood on tip-toes and reached up, placing a small hand over Kurogane's left eye, gently resting it there. He then covered his own eye. A small genuine smile graced his features.

Annoyed at the weird action Kurogane gripped the blonde's wrist to pull the hand away from him but was shocked to find that it was much thinner than Yuui's. He could feel every bone and muscle underneath the flesh. It was scary how small the boy really was.

"Your eyes are like rubies," Fai said softly.

Kurogane let go of the wrist, it fell down by the boy's side immediately as if he had forgotten about the appendage.

Enough of this.

Having had enough of the blonde for one day Kurogane set off back to the orphanage, he could scope out the garden another day.

"It would be better if Kurogane did run away," the small voice behind him said, "before it is too late."

It was the same kind of thing that Yuui had said the night before. Not having any idea what he was going on about Kurogane just continued towards the building. This time he couldn't feel the boy following him. Hating himself for doing so, Kurogane glanced over his shoulder to see Fai standing next to the gate, hugging his body as though trying to keep out the cold, head bowed down staring at the ground. It was a pathetic sight, but somehow it caused pain to throb in Kurogane's chest, just a little.

Wiping the image from his mind he continued onward.

When he was back inside he realised that he didn't know what time it was anymore and he had nothing to do. If he was going to be bored he might as well do it in his own room, he didn't care what Himura had said about not going in. He's be damned if he was going to let himself be bossed around.

He walked down the hallways with confidence, now knowing the way around the bottom floor perfectly which brought up a bit of smug satisfaction, he doubted anyone else would be able to navigate through it so well on their second day. Smirking in satisfaction to himself he entered the giant entrance hall heading to the stairs.

Opening the door marked '3' Kurogane entered the room, only to find Himura making out with someone on one of the beds. He was knelt over someone holding the others arms above their head firmly whilst looking like he was trying to eat their face. At least that is what Kurogane thought it looked like.

Kurogane coughed loudly to get their attention, which worked, as he saw Himura's partners' eyes flash open and the arms trying to fight against the boys hold. He heard Himura groan and pull away from the lips he had been ravaging. As soon as he was away his partner started yelling.

"Let me go Rikuo! Get off!"

Himura glared first at the person under him then over at Kurogane before releasing the arms which allowed his companion to hit and push at the body over them until it retreated. That let Kurogane see who Himura was with. It shocked him a little to see that the person was a thin boy, who looked quite effeminate if he did say so himself. Light brown hair which was longer on his right side, huge brown eyes, accompanied by a scowl and a heavy blush.

The boy then scrambled off the bed, as if getting away from it would mean that he had never been laying there to start off with. Himura stared at the boy in mild annoyance but with a wicked grin as though he enjoyed watching the others embarrassment.

Kurogane just raised an eyebrow at the boy who was looking around like he was trying to find a way to escape. He seemed to seriously be considering the window at that moment.

"What are you doing here?" Himura asked, still only having eyes for the boy who wanted to escape.

Kurogane crossed his arms over his chest and stared hard at Himura. "I am allowed to be here as much as you; it is my room as well."

The seemingly skittish boy breathed in harshly, turned to Himura, glaring at him. "You didn't tell me you had a new roommate!" He yelled, much too loudly. Hurriedly he bowed to Kurogane formally. "I'm Kudo Kazahaya," he moved upright again, "I'm sorry I hadn't been told about you." He continued to glare at Himura.

"Whatever," Kurogane grunted walking over to his bed.

"Umm..." Kudo said, obviously wanting to say something else.

"C'mon," Himura cut in. He grabbed Kudo's arm and proceeded to drag the boy out of the room, staring angrily at Kurogane the whole time.

"What do you think you are doing? Hey let me go!" Was heard as the door slammed closed behind them.

Kurogane sat on his bed staring into nothing. He wished that everyone in this god-forsaken orphanage would stop shouting all the time. That Kudo person and Watanuki both had very loud voices.

Sighing he stared out of the window like he had the day before, just watching the blue sky unseeingly. Something shining down below caught his eye, for a second he could have sworn it was a blonde head but it was gone the moment he tried to focus on it.

This place was going to drive him crazy.

Much the same as the previous day Kurogane sat in silence until he heard the chattering of children in the hallway outside his door, assuming it was a meal he made his way downstairs after he thought everyone had already left. Once he entered the dining hall he got his food and sat on a table alone, he preferred it that way. It was also quite pleasing to see the glare that Himura threw this way, the Kudo boy mysteriously missing from his side now.

Throughout the meal he got odd looks from the other children around him, however the blonde twins were not there, not that he looked for them.

After, what was actually dinner; he went back to his room, watched the sunset through the window and fell into a restless sleep.

Images of his father and mother flashed in front of his eyes. Blood coated his own hands, sticky with the putrid scent of copper lacing it. He rubbed at them but it wouldn't come off. Panting he looked around himself, nothing but darkness.

It was cold. His breath floated in front of him in little steam clouds. A wave of pain shot through his body. Before he knew what happened his feet collapsed from under him.

He was alone in a cold, dark, painful world.

A flash of gold to his left.

Looking over he could see a small bright light, as he gazed at it the light grew bigger.

The silhouette of a person could be seen.

A hand reached out towards him. He hesitated, not sure what was happening.

"Come on Kurogane," a soft voice said, he could of sworn he heard it before but had no clue where from. "You'll be alright."

It sounded safe, comforting. Without thinking he automatically held out his hand that was grasped tightly but gently.

Warmth flooded through him, taking away the sting of cold. His heart beat quickened, as he was pulled up and felt arms wrap around his body.

Closing his eyes he felt himself drift off into a comforting slumber.

A/N: Not exactly what was supposed to be in this chapter. The thing with Fai wasn't planned like that, neither was the weird dream at the end. Actually this chapter was supposed to be about twice as long but have decided to split it into two as it would have taken ages to finish it. The lovely fluffy ending to the chapter will have to be used for the next one instead; I want to post the fluff! (already written it and everything) Hope it wasn't too boring for all of you, not the most exciting thing in the world but it will action up, trust! Kuro will get to strut his stuff soon! A bit sad that Kazahaya didn't get to do much in this, had to put him in though.

Oh, are there any requests for characters to be in it? Some of them I know I will use but for minor ones it is flexible (but you should know I haven't read all the CLAMP manga so some characters I don't really know.)

Please leave a comment, it would be great just to know if people are reading this or not! *feels insecure*