Words: 3,174

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

Summary: At the age of thirteen Kurogane's life changed when his parents died. Without anyone to take care of him there was no choice but to send him to an orphanage, Hallow Home for Orphans, there he met two weird blonde boys. However that was the least of his problems, in the orphanage something strange was going on and, like it or not, Kurogane got himself pulled right into the centre of it.

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: Managed to make it so there was a chapter this month at least. Sorry have been busy, and other things... anyway. Here is a chapter! The shortest yet but I figured that it was a good place to stop. Plot and explanations ahoy!

It took quite some time for Kurogane to wrap his head around what had just happened. He had been kissed. By a boy. A boy he barely knew. A boy whose very existence seemed to be focused on annoying him. That was not what he had expected for his first kiss, though he had never actually thought about it. He had always assumed he would like a girl, date her for a while and then kiss her once he felt ready to. Maybe it was a bit later than most boys his age but he didn't care that he was in his teens before experiencing it, not that there was anything that great about it. Sure Yuui's lips had been soft and not overly dry or wet and had felt smooth against his own... but it wasn't anything special. Certainly not something to be treasured or looked on with fondness.

No.

Nothing important.

The morning was now routine; get up, breakfast, go to school. Try to avoid looking at a certain set of blonds before heading out, of course. And like the rest of the week there was talking and giggling as he walked down the hallways at school. Something he hadn't noticed before was the hateful glares he was receiving from the boys, maybe because the girls were paying him a lot of attention. This made him quite uneasy, it was only a matter of time before the looks turned into someone getting ahead of themselves and trying to fight him, something akin to that had happened at his previous school.

For the first two lessons and all of break he had to deal with the other students acting stupidly around him and what was worse was the fact that he didn't know why. Fed up with all the whispering Kurogane confronted Kudo on their way to the next lesson.

"Why is it that everyone treats the orphans like they do?"

"That's obviously because of what the orphanage is." From Kurogane's confused, and annoyed, expression Kudo looked at him with mild shock in his eyes. "You don't know?"

At Kurogane's growling Kudo stopped walking, he looked around before grabbing the others wrist and dragging them in the opposite direction. "Let's go to the roof to talk," he said, "I would leave it for Rikuo to tell you but he's as insensitive as they come."

They went up two flights of stairs before reaching a door with various warning signs hanging around it, as well as an alarm trigger attached to it. Kudo let go of his wrist and bent down to lock, he withdrew two paperclips from his pocket and started to pick the lock. With nothing else to do Kurogane just watched the boy, it only took a few minutes before the lock clicked.

"How did you..."

Kudo laughed. "Rikuo taught me how to do it," he explained, "he also cut the power to the alarm system on the door."

"Go up here often do you?"

The blush that spread over the boys cheeks trailing down to his neck. He coughed before gesturing inside and walking through the door.

Kudo leaned against the railing looking out at the town below them. Kurogane took two steps onto the roof then rested his back against the wall.

"So what is going on?" he asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Kudo sighed, not taking his eyes off the landscape he began explaining. "The orphanage isn't what you would call normal. All across the country children get sent to this one if they have experienced something that may... damage them... mentally. That is, the children sent to the orphanage are ones that are feared to become unstable. A psychiatrist does tests on the children once a fortnight to make sure that they are still able to be allowed out of the premises and not seen as a threat. Nothing really happens but it's all so that the problem cases are in one place."

"Why didn't I know of this?" Kurogane growled. How dare they label him as a problem case?

"Probably because they wanted to assess you before they pass judgement. Some only stay for a few weeks before being sent to a different institute as there is no problem with their mental health." Kudo turned around to look at Kurogane, weighing his next words.

"It hasn't always been like this, the fear for the orphans. Three years ago an incident occurred which traumatised the town. A teacher was going to adopt two of his students, he was always kind and generous, and he thought he could give them a better life. In order to prove that they would be okay with him he started to look after them on a temporary basis; that's what they believe changed him. About two months afterwards he walked into his classroom and killed all of the students, shooting them before he hacked them to pieces with an axe, he left the school and did the same to anyone who got in his way. Eventually he was caught but not before sixty-two innocent people died. A fort-night after that incident they found the children he was going to adopt locked in a bomb shelter under his house, tied up in chains against a wall, beaten and half-starved. They had been there for at least a month before being found, maybe longer as no one could remember the last time they had seen them."

A brief pause. "Basically that is the reason people are afraid of the orphans. Everyone thinks that something like that tragedy will happen again if you spend too long with them. That they will turn people insane from their mere presence, it's unfair but you can't change what they believe."

"Stupid," Kurogane huffed, "that man was obviously unstable."

Kudo nodded in agreement. "Yes but try explaining that to a bunch of frightened children who believed in their teacher and lost friends that day. Their world had been shattered and they needed to blame someone."

"Why not you?" Kurogane asked, Kudo looked at him in confusion head tilted to one side eyes wide. "Why aren't you afraid of us?"

"Because I'm an orphan too," he said simply. "No one at school knows about it but me and Kei were taken away from our parents at a young age. We got adopted by Kakei-san and Saiga-san nearly straight away."

"It's been three years since then," Kurogane scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head to look at the town that lay beyond. The stupid, prejudice, town.

"Yeah," Kudo shrugged, "I don't understand it either."

Silence reigned over them.

The door to the roof suddenly burst open after long minutes.

There stood Himura, panting slightly, he strode over to Kudo and grabbed the boys face in one hand, staring at him intensely.

"What are you doing?" Kudo protested. "Let me go!"

Himura said something that Kurogane couldn't hear which made the others eyes soften. After a few seconds the two kissed softly, Kudo's arms going around Himura's broad shoulders.

Feeling sufficiently awkward Kurogane pushed off the wall and walked out the door, not wanting to see anymore of their kissing, he made sure to slam the door after himself.

That mushy scene only served to remind him of his own kiss.

Stupid blond stealing his first kiss.

Kurogane didn't know why he thought otherwise but he was surprised to find a blond standing in the middle of the entryway to the orphanage. It was a full hour before school was set to finish and he had skipped the end of it as he had a powerful urge to punch all the idiotic children in the face. He doubted that would be appreciated at school.

Anyway he wound up face to face with someone who he really did not want to see at that particular time, especially as thoughts of the kiss would not leave his head. Not that it was important or anything, just annoying.

The blond standing in front of him smiled and ran at him, arms open wide. He practically threw himself at Kurogane, making the taller boy stumble back a few steps.

"Kuro-wan I didn't expect to see you back so early, are you being a naughty boy again?" he laughed happily, right next to Kurogane ear.

Strong hands tried to pry the blond off of him but he was holding on tightly making it impossible.

"Yuui!" A voice basically screamed.

Looking up Kurogane saw the second blond boy standing at the top of the stairs, glaring down at him. He was reminded of the phrase, 'if looks could kill.'

Motosuwa walked down the steps to take a hold of his twin, who reluctantly let go of Kurogane when his arm was pulled. Yuui continued to smile at Kurogane, seeming to not notice the way Motosuwa was staring at them both angrily.

"Come on Yuui," Motosuwa said, tugging on the arm he held to drag Yuui away from Kurogane.

"You have a private lesson," Yuui argued back, confusion written on his face.

"I want you there," was the tense response.

"But..." immediately he was pulled close to the other who whispered something in his ear that made Yuui's already pale skin turn snow white. "I'll see you later Kuro-pi," he said slowly looking at Kurogane sadly.

As the boy was hauled through a door Kurogane could have sworn that he saw fear cross his face, whilst pleading eyes bore into him. He tried to ignore it, if the boy was truly afraid and wanting his help then he'd had a lot of previous opportunities to say so.

Sighing he went to his room to wait out the rest of the day.

Unable to sleep Kurogane got up from his bed. His brain just couldn't relax so he made his way out of the room.

Like the last time he hadn't slept during the night there was a blond on the landing, back to the railing, knees pulled up, however there was something resting on his legs. A book.

Kurogane walked over to the boy who raised his eyes, smiling at him brightly.

"We should really stop meeting like this Kuro-chan," he said, his voice sad so unlike his smile.

Sitting down Kurogane leant against the wall.

Minutes of silence passed between them, Yuui went back to reading his book. From the angle he was sat he could that there were brightly coloured images all over the page. It was a picture book.

He could see the sadness in the blond's eyes but not the desperation that had shown through not too long ago, Yuui didn't speak about it either, so Kurogane put it to the back of his mind. Or tried too. Thoughts about the boy just continued cropping up anyway, not matter how much he didn't want them too. Between the kiss and the pleading look he had no chance.

Sighing he lent forward, opening his mouth wanting to say something.

"My mother used to read this to me, before..." Yuui spoke before Kurogane could, not even looking up from his book, his small voice soft. "... well, before we came here. She would tuck brother and I into bed then sit between us and read it to us every night. Brother never stayed awake long enough to hear it all, but I always listened until the end." He ran a pale hand over the page that was open.

Intrigued despite himself Kurogane leant over to take a better look at the picture book. There was an oddly shaped pinky-puple creature with long ears surrounded by buildings at night. Kurogane had never particularly liked picture books and he remembered why now, nothing portrayed ever seemed real, plus everything in them was rather obscure. He just didn't get it.

"What is it about?" He asked.

Yuui smiled slightly. "A city with no people."

"Huh?"

Shaking his head Yuui laughed, staring up at the baffled look on Kurogane's face. He sobered up quickly, the same sad expression returning. "Do you think that there is one person in the whole world for you?"

"What are you on about?" Kurogane replied. "What has that got to do with anything?"

Yuui went back to book, flicking through the pages before stopping on one. "'I hope that I will meet someone. Someone just for me. But if that special someone falls in love with me... I will have to leave that someone."

After a pause Kurogane huffed. "That is stupid," he growled, "and it makes no sense. Are you sure this is a kids book?"

This time Yuui laughed properly, eyes shining with mirth and a small genuine smile. "I guessed you would say something like that. But still," he sighed longingly, "a special someone just for you does sound nice."

"But if they love you back why would leave the person," Kurogane argued, "the very idea is idiotic."

Yuui's eyes sparkled, bright blue in the dimness of night. "Maybe you would know if you read the whole story."

"Whatever the reason it wouldn't be good enough to leave someone special."

"You're taking this rather seriously," Yuui said, leaning over his book to peer up at Kurogane. "It's only a book."

"Obviously it's teaching you bad things," Kurogane retorted. "If you go around with stupid ideas from that book you'll turn into even more of an idiot."

Sighing Yuui closed his eyes and leant against the banister heavily. "Maybe," he said softly, "but it's probably not a bad thing."

"What?"

"If I do ever fall in love with someone..." he opened his eyes slightly so only a small line of blue could be seen, looking down at the ground. "...If they loved me back, they would be in danger. It would be better if I leave that special someone."

Silence overtook them as Kurogane looked at the blond; he didn't know what to say to that, he couldn't think of anything comforting.

"You should make sure to fall in love with someone who could protect themselves then," he tried lamely. Yuui's eyes shot up to stare at him, as though shocked to find him still there. "Leaving someone who you love and who loves you in return is still stupid; even if danger is involved it is no excuse to run away."

Quickly Yuui shot towards him; he grabbed a handful of black hair to bring Kurogane towards him, their faces inches apart. Kurogane could feel the others breath on his face, a sweet smell radiating from Yuui's body, the dazzling blue eyes staring at him. He didn't know what to do, for what seemed like hours, but was only seconds; they were like that, faces close but not touching.

"No one would be able to cope with how much pain they would go through by just being near me," Yuui whispered, the small sound barely audible.

"You don't give people enough credit," Kurogane returned, his voice going low as well. He felt a shiver go through Yuui's body and instinctively reached out to steady him, placing a strong hand on the boy's side.

Kurogane didn't know what drove him to it, there wasn't a logical part of his brain that prodded him towards such actions but something made him lean forwards. This led to his lips connecting with those of Yuui; the softness was back as they kissed gently.

Seconds later they pulled apart, Kurogane looked over at Yuui who had a small real smile playing on his lips. He opened his mouth to say something however as he did so a scream of terror interrupted.

In an instant Kurogane shot up, dislodging Yuui's arms from him.

It had sounded like it came from below.

"Come on," he said to Yuui, making his way towards the stairs.

"That's probably not a good idea," Yuui said, his voice wavering.

Kurogane whipped around to look, Yuui was sitting staring at the ground again, he was getting irritated at the sadness the boy was exuding. He marched forwards and grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him up. Another scream rang through the building. Quickly Kurogane pulled Yuui along in the direction the sound was coming from, there was a door to the left of the main one which he thought should be the origin. Whilst going through the whole building he had investigated that area but all he had found was a long corridor with a locked door at the end.

Behind him he heard Yuui gasp as he opened the door to run down the hallway. The boy was not resisting and he was starting to get the idea that he would not fight back against anything. That worried Kurogane, but he had more on his mind than trying to sort out Yuui's issues.

Another weak cry for help reached his ears, this time much quieter.

When he reached the end of the corridor he grasped the door handle, unlike last time it turned and he began to push it open.

"You can't!" Yuui yelled, he wrenched harshly on Kurogane's arm. He was surprisingly strong, causing Kurogane to stumble back, he was still holding the handle making the door slam when he was pulled.

"What the hell?" Kurogane growled at him, swinging around.

Yuui took a step away from him, eyes darting to the side. "It's scary down there, you can't go."

"Stop lying," he retorted.

He tried to open the door again but Yuui pulled on his arm harder to get him away from it. It happened again and again.

Growling Kurogane tried to shake the boy off him but it didn't work. Thin pale hands clutched onto him tightly, sure to leave bruises.

Looking closely at his face Kurogane saw desperation and fear painted across the delicate features, so intense it made him hold his breath in shock.

"Tell me what's going on," Kurogane said, trying to make his voice gentle so as to not scare the boy anymore.

The other only shook his head. A small tear trickled out of the corner of his left eye.

"...can't..." was chocked out.

Kurogane lifted up his hand and wiped away the single tear, brushing his fingers against soft pale skin. He then took Yuui's hand on his arm, placing his own over it, the boy was in so much shock from the gentle touch that he let go of Kurogane.

"I'm going in," he said, letting go of the hand in his.

Yuui shook his head again. "Don't."

Sighing Kurogane turned his back to the boy, he had not heard another scream down there but he was certain that it had the source of the noise. Added to the fact that he could now investigate the previously locked room, it was the perfect reason to go through the door. He reached out his hand to open the door when he heard movement behind him.

"I'm so sorry Kurogane," was whispered before pain shot through his body.

He could feel his body falling as his world turned to black.

A/N: Kurogane is such a cynical little boy, tut tut he doesn't even like 'A City With No People'. Thought he might react like that he ever read it, can't imagine him being very impressed with it.

Here's a cliffie to enjoy!

I have passed university and have a BA(Hons) in Writing Contemporary Fiction and next year I will be doing an MA (master of art) degree in Creative Writing: Industry and Practice. Was kind of busy worrying about my grade and if I had gotten into next year most of this month so a bit of the reason this wasn't done faster. Sorry.

Btw, how much violence is acceptable until it becomes an M? Is there anyone here who would stop reading if the rating went up? (if so please say so, just leave a little comment of 'No M' or something)

Please review! (I like to know that someone is out there)