A/n: This is… semi-au. More like pre-canon. Kurogane aged 13 has been in the care of Tomoyo for nearly a year when two orphaned boys are left in HIS care. (A/n: I dunno how old Kurogane was when he was found… he looked around 12 and his voice hadn't broken)

For the sake of the plot we'll assume everything that happened to Kurogane and everything that happened to Fay and Yuui happened roughly within the same time period and that Fay and Yuui are a little younger than Kurogane (10 or 11)

Chapter 1:

"Damnit!" He stomped his foot. "Damnit damnit damnit!" He pushed past the doors of Shirasagi castle, obviously fuming over something, a young woman following close behind.
"Kurogane, there's no need to swear." Soma sighed, used to his tantrums as he hurried into the throne room where the youngest Princess was sat at the window, looking out in a dreamlike trance.
"She's coming." Tomoyo mumbled
"I KNOW she's coming." Kurogane huffed, clenching his fists. "Why did nobody tell me?" He pouted, hurrying to the window to get a better look at the large parade of soldiers and guards entering the castle grounds. Kurogane smiled to himself knowing one day he'd be strong enough to be part of the majestic guard just like he'd wanted. He wanted to prove to himself, to his father's memory, he was strong. And the job required strength, restraint and elegance.
"My sister is not as predictable as I'd like." The empress said calmly watching the familiar carriage of the sun child stop. Sure enough a minute later the Amaterasu entered. Kurogane and Soma bowed immediately.

"Did you find them?" Tomoyo asked no sooner had the two laid eyes on each other. The elder sister nodded gravely.
"Looks like our quaint little castle is becoming a shelter for orphans." She sighed then smiled gently at Kurogane and Soma, the previous orphans to whom she had referred, who had been taken in separately. Kurogane from his ruined village, and long before him Soma in the forest.
"Kendappa-chan please do not divert from topic." Tomoyo whispered softly. "What condition are they in?"
"See for yourself." And with that she beckoned her little sister, and the two warriors after her as she strode downstairs. Kurogane and Soma scuffled slightly over who got to walk closest to the princesses, which only caused the girls to smile. It was always like that with those two. These joyous expressions quickly faded however when they entered a room containing a soldier and two young children. With blond floor length hair in tangles, and blue eyes wide in fright, bulging from their sallow and pallid dirtied skin they were obviously in an advanced state of weakness, shaking and swaying slightly. All four of their skeletal hands clung together between them, nails bloodied and torn. Their dirtied clothes matched but were sliced and tattered, while their feet were bare and cut. It was amazing they were standing.

"Poor things." Tomoyo whispered putting her tiny hand on her heart, though she was still only young her dreams showed her terrible things sometimes, but like with Kurogane she was proud to have seen this dream, to help the young twins. Kurogane hurried forward to inspect them close up.
"Be nice." Warned Soma cautiously.
"I will I will, what're your names?" He asked almost excitedly, they didn't get many children in the castle, in fact he was probably the youngest aside from Tomoyo. When he got no response he prodded one of them with his wooden practice sword, since he'd been banned from carrying his metal sword around the castle ("Temper!") his wooden practice sword was never away from him.
"Kurogane." She scolded.
"Oi, I asked your names." He ordered, puffing his cheeks a little, irritated at being ignored, since he had been here longer, he decided he had authority over them, which was a fun idea to him considering pretty much everyone in the castle had authority over him. When he again got no response he prodded one of them in the shoulder only to find sharpened yellow teeth snap over his finger.

"THE HELL! SHE BIT ME, SHE BIT ME!" Kurogane roared and Soma dragged him back to stop him hitting the terrified twins, who had become more alarmed at the yelling. He sulked over his bitten finger making a silent vow to get the brat back for injuring him.
"A good warrior must always be on guard." Kendappa whispered.
"I always am, Mikado." Soma and Kendappa shared an all-knowing smile.
"She's annoying. They both are send them home." He huffed, nursing his hand and his pride.
"You're annoying." Soma countered smugly folding her arms. "We don't send YOU home."
"Please don't squabble." Tomoyo whispered, Soma and Kurogane stuck their tongues out at each other. "And they are boys." She added. Kurogane did a double take. It was understandable he'd taken them for girls, but then again they barely looked human in that state.
"They don't speak a word of Japanese as far as I can tell… we found them in his tower and cellar just like you said." The Amaterasu whispered.
"What do we do with them?" Tomoyo whispered looking at her older sister for guidance, they hadn't dealt with foreign children before.
"The same as with Soma and Kurogane… they have nowhere else to go. They will stay here." She said decisively. "We should get them into a warm bath and some clean clothes… we ought to feed them and someone should fix their hair."

She extended her hand to the small boys but both stood resolutely still.
"Leave 'em there if they don't want help." Kurogane mumbled, sucking at the wound of his finger.
"A certain someone ALSO didn't want help when we first found him." Tomoyo reminded him pointedly, causing him to blush furiously. "These two have been held captive a long time, they're bound to be scared, now if you could please apologise."
"Sorry." He muttered under his breath, he hated being bossed around, but since Tomoyo was nearly always home in contrast to her sister, he had grown to like her… respect her even. He didn't disobey anything she asked.
"How do we get them to trust us?" Soma asked, tightening her grip on her own sword, should they come to bite her too.
"Maybe we should work on food first?" Tomoyo mused, leaving the room. Kurogane wondered whether to follow her, as a guard, but Soma beat him to it, so he stood instead beside the sun empress, surveying the two boys. They weren't looking at each other, but around them, scared of everything they saw, their hands held together between them, so tight that their pale knuckles were yellowed with stress.
"It's okay." Kurogane said suddenly. "You guys don't hafta be afraid here. You'll learn to fight and grow up real tough." He swung his practice sword playfully, sparring with an imaginary partner. "And the food's pretty good too… unless Soma cooks," He added.
"What was that?" Demanded Soma from behind him, as she and Tomoyo returned carrying a tray of soft foods.

"Will Japanese food agree with them, they're foreign." Kendappa stared at the food curiously, they were weak and if they got sick it would probably kill them.
"I doubt they'll take it." her little sister smiled. "Right now they don't trust us enough, but…" Her sweet smile changed into a devilish one. "If we use Kurogane as a test subject…"
"Nobody's doing ANY tests on me." Kurogane said determinedly, scowling and pouting.
"We want you to offer them it, then take a bit yourself… just to prove we're not poisoning them." She handed him the tray and he staggered slightly under its weight, he understood why they'd both carried it. He sighed and approached the twins, who instantly stepped back, eyes flashing at each other in fright.
"Don't be stupid, it's food… y'know like to eat." He held it out to them and they surveyed it very cautiously.
"Try some yourself… to show them it's safe." Kendappa prompted.
"Yeah yeah…" He mumbled, taking a small bite of the food, then returning the offer to the two boys. They looked at each other then shook their heads firmly. Kurogane shrugged. "Suit yourself." He took another bite. "You can eat when you're hungry but you need a bath coz other people have to smell you." He nodded his head towards the door. One of the twins raised his eyebrows at his brother who shook his head violently. They began whispering hoarsely in a language nobody recognised, however it made Kurogane feel blown off so he started to leave, towards the others. Instantly the boys followed.

"The hell." He stopped walking, and the twins stopped. He kept walking, and they started again.
"Aww, they like you." Simpered Tomoyo cutely.
"How do I get em to un-like me?" Kurogane asked picking up the pace, they followed too, half running ungainly on bandy weakened legs. He hid behind Tomoyo and they waited patiently at the other side of her.
"Real warriors don't hide behind women's skirts." Soma pointed out.
"Lucky for me she's a girl not a woman, and she's wearing a kimono not a skirt." Kurogane countered.
"Just take them to the bathroom? I'm certain that if you run a bath they'll get the message." Tomoyo said in her kindest most sympathetic voice.
"The hell did I end up a babysitter?" He growled, and swinging his wooden sword over his shoulder he marched from the room, the twin boys hurrying after him.

"Well they look a lot better." Soma mumbled at dinner, peering at them, truth be told they didn't look much better, though their hair was now bright blond instead of the dull murky blond colour, it was still long and knotted. Though their skin was now clean and pale, it was stretched taught across their bones, translucent with malnutrition, and their fingers swollen badly. Though their torn and tattered clothes had been replaced with clean yukatas they hung off their tiny skeletal forms and looked completely out of place.
"Smell a lot better too." Kurogane said proudly, glad he'd made them understand how to take a bath. He'd ran the water in the bathtub, splashed them both then left the room, however when he tried to lock it (downstairs had traditional paper sliding doors, but upstairs had heavier wooden doors that Tomoyo had insisted was a western cultural difference) they both started yelling and screaming hysterically, so he left the door slightly ajar for them, blocking the doorway from the outside so nobody could peek in.
"They won't let us near their hair though." Tomoyo sighed, nursing a wound where one of the twins had bitten her, she didn't seem at all offended that they'd attacked, she had expected it.

"Still no names?" Soma asked; kneeling down a little to their level, they were fairly short, probably for their ages. They looked around 8 or 9, but this was just a guess. "Names?" She repeated pointing at them. They blinked at her behind their long blond fringes. She pointed at herself. "I'm Soma. You are…"
"Next time bring home Japanese orphans." Kurogane complained.
"It's like having babies, you don't get a choice." Kendappa said running her hands through her hair. "Have they eaten yet?"
"Nope, not yet. Oi!" Kurogane barked at them, as though they knew they were collectively 'oi' the boys looked up. He handed them a bowl each and pointed at a big bowl of rice. "Eat." He instructed.
"Eat." Whispered one of the little boys, repeating the word. He looked confused for a moment before nodding in understanding and leading the other to the bowl. He very carefully and apprehensively served them both some rice.
"Well done." Tomoyo clapped at Kurogane.
"Yeah well… you just gotta use the right tone of voice." He shrugged and continued with his own food. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the two boys sit on the floor and very cautiously feed each other, using their hands.

"Oi… don't sit there morons!" Kurogane sighed. They looked at him. "Table…" He beckoned them. "Sit at… like… like civilized idiots. Cutlery too!" He nodded. When the boys, who obviously didn't understand didn't move, he shook his head crossing over to them.
"Eat." Suggested the boy on the left, offering up the only Japanese he knew.
"Yes eat… but eat over here." He held out his hand to the boy, the same one who had spoken both times. The boys both stared for a moment, and for the briefest of seconds Kurogane thought they would refuse. Then the more confident of the two took Kurogane's hand and stood up. His twin took his hand and their rice bowls and they quietly crossed to the table.
"Kurogane… they seem to like you." Kendappa looked at him thoughtfully. "How would you like your first duty as a guard." His ruby eyes widened in shock. "I'm making it your duty to guard these two. Day and Night."
"I won't let you down!" He saluted, puffing out his chest proudly. He turned to the twins, who had tuned out. They had eaten only a few mouthfuls each but had been starved for so long it filled them.

"Kurogane." He pointed at himself. "Kurogane." He repeated, prodding himself in the chest. The boy who had spoken before opened his mouth and began practicing the new word, mouthing silently before attempting.
"Kuro…" He managed before stopping and struggling. He looked a little frustrated. "Kuro…hahn.."
"Ku-ro-ga-ne."
"Ku-ro-ha… he… h-ah…" He averted his eyes embarrassedly.
"I don't think their language uses the G sound." Soma said decisively. Kurogane sighed and nodded, since it was his family name he didn't want it butchering but… he pointed at himself.
"Kuro. Kuro… that will do."
"Kuro." The boy nodded in agreement then pointed at himself. "Fay."
"Fay… that's a girl's name… you SURE they're boys?" Kurogane grumbled before nodding at the boy. "Fay… and him?" He pointed at the other twin who shook his head.

The two began to whisper hurriedly, and all the while the shyer boy didn't let his eyes lock with Kurogane's.
"Any clue what language they're yatterin' in?" Kurogane asked the ladies.
"None at all… have fun." Tomoyo smiled and the three left the room, leaving Kurogane with Fay and the unnamed twin.

A/n: This story will be KuroYuui… who is Fay from Tsubasa. Also I know Soma's quite a bit older than him... but I made Soma and Kurogane fight a lot because in the manga the first time we really see Soma she yells at Kurogane for yelling at Tomoyo heh, I'd imagine their childhood was filled with arguing.

Also, Kendappa first introduces herself with 'I am Amaterasu' (sun) which is her title, as is 'Mikado' (what Soma calls her), but in RG Veda her given name is Kendappa, so Tomoyo calls her that.