A/N: And so, I have started yet another fanfic. This is an effort at making one that has longer chapters than I usually end up doing - my goal is at least 6 or 7 per chapter. We'll see!

Before jumping in with the fic, I'd like to explain something. This, my readers, is an AU fic, sorta. I have been reading way too much Chobits, as in I sat down and read books 3-6 one night before bed, and then this little plot bunny wiggled it's way into my head and refused to leave. That resulted in me going to my laptop at 1 in the morning and typing out the rough idea and explanations. Even so, as we speak, the plot bunny is still bouncing around. That said, this is somewhat of a spiritual crossover with Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles and Chobits, but not quite, because it's very different. It pulls from Chobits in many ways (and those will probably be super, super evident), but I tried really hard to make it something different and new. If you have any questions, feel free to ask it in a review, send me a PM, or e-mail/message me on YIM (though I haven't been on there lately).

I apologize is there's any super ooc-ness, but some minor ooc actions or whatnot are to be expected of an AU fic. I tried my best to keep Fai all cheery and seemingly innocent, Sakura sweet, Syaoran….I'm not sure how to describe him in a couple words, and Kurogane grumpy. The only ones I'm worried about are Syaoran (Because despite him being the main character-ish of TRC, he still gives me trouble!) and Kurogane (I just have a hard time with grumpiness, I guess…).

Anyways, all that said, I hope you enjoy, and super thanks to my very patient and picky beta, Kori123, who deals with me blabbing about my fic troubles at random time and talks through how I could improve things!

Kurogane Suwa was sulking.

Kurogane Suwa, with his half-assed degree in android programming and study, contributor to the fighting-class android research-and-development part of Celes Corp because of his extensive knowledge of multiple fighting styles, was sulking.

He stood at the lobby of the building, looking out at the rain as it fell, heavy. The only thing missing were the cats and dogs floating down the slightly-flooded streets. It was too late to deal with this. It had been a long day of tracking physical movements and translating them into a form that could be programmed later, and an even longer day of dealing with several crashes whenever they tried to download the data. Acceptable losses in their research, but all those crashed androids would have to have their drives wiped and reloaded with even the most basic information. Designations, builds, vocal programs, audio understanding, even how to move. Damn it - that all took time. He only hoped that someone was staying (and getting some glorious overtime pay) to at least start clearing out the corrupted data.

As if that and the rain weren't bad enough, he couldn't go home just yet. Oh no - he still had to pick up some groceries because his two androids were stuck at home. As perfect as androids were, any slightly less-than-sealed seams, and every android had at least a few that weren't completely sealed so they could be accessed, in this rain would probably result in several electrical shorts, rendering them useless. Not to mention, even without a short, if they got too cold in the rain they could crash entirely.

All this lead to the reason that Kurogane was standing in the lobby of Celes Corp's fighting-class android facility, glaring at the thin glass separating him from the outside downpour at eight in the evening.

"I. Hate. Rain," he muttered, when he finally gave up, and pulled out his umbrella. Tucked into his wallet, which was itself tucked into his coat's pocket, was a short list of groceries written in android-perfect print, all things he had to pick up before heading home. It was only up to him because of the rain. Stupid rain.

Stupid, stupid rain. He hated it when it rained like this. It was just plain inconvenient when his androids couldn't go out and do things like this for themselves, especially on days like today that took a toll on his (already short) patience and temper.

He opened his umbrella once he got outside, holding it over his head as he walked. A car was a waste in this city, so he'd never bothered to get one, and a motorcycle was useless on a day like today - he would have been soaked to the bone long before getting to work or home. No, on days like this he relied on his own two feet, even if he had to be watching so he didn't end up stepping right into an ankle-deep puddle.

Thankfully, the little convenience store was very conveniently on the way home, and not too far out of the way.

"Good evening mister Suwa!" The clerk said, as Kurogane entered, shaking off his umbrella. "Quite the storm, huh?"

"Eh? Yeah," Kurogane muttered, grabbing a basket and sticking his hand through the loop of his umbrella. It swung as he pulled the list out of his wallet, and as he walked, slapping against his pant leg. He gave a little grunt, annoyed, but ignored it as he put things in the basket. With a grumbled, "that's everything," he moved to the front of the store, putting the basket on the counter.

"That all for tonight?" The clerk asked, scanning the barcodes. "The rain is keeping your androids at home, huh?"

"Yeah," Kurogane said with a shrug. "They don't run as hot as others, so I told them to not leave home unless it's an emergency." He pulled a card out of his wallet and ran it through the reader, typing in his pin number when indicated by the tiny screen.

"You sure do care about them. Your two, you built them from scratch, right?" The clerk bagged up the items, taking the receipt from the printer, holding it, and the bag, out.

"It's a lot cheaper to do that then buy them complete." Kurogane took the bag and receipt, sticking the tiny paper and list into the bag.

"I suppose so," the clerk said. "Come again, don't catch a cold out there in the rain!"

Kurogane didn't reply, just waved and left the store. He opened his umbrella, tightened his grip on the bag, and started to walk. The water was completely covering the roads by now, and starting to creep it's way onto the sidewalks. "There's no way we're supposed to get a hurricane," he muttered as a wind blew past him, chilling the back of his neck. "Damn it. I should have packed a scarf."

As he turned a corner, his foot slid off the side of the sidewalk and into one of the ankle-deep puddles he had been trying to avoid. His shoe was soaked - so was his sock, and his pants, and it was starting to seep up. He let out a curse and jumped back. "Fucking damn it!" He yelled, glaring at the offensive puddle. "Don't fucking need this."

"Looks like that one having some trouble," a voice said from behind him, so he turned.

"What's it to you," he growled, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the person.

Blond, fair skinned, wearing a too-big, blue hoodie that was several shades darker from being soaked by the rain and stuck to him. Even through it, it was obvious he was thin - or at the least, slim. His jeans were worn, ripped here and there, and soaked to the knees. His shoes seemed to have suffered the same fate, slightly shiny , wet as they were, in the streetlights of night. Maybe he'd stumbled into the same puddle.

As Kurogane glanced back up and met the blond eye-to-eye, he raised an eyebrow. The pupils contracted in a way that wasn't [I]quite[/I] human, and there was the faint shimmer in them.

This blond wasn't human. He was an android.

"Hey," the blond said, smiling suddenly. "Where is this place? Fai is lost."

"Fai?" Kurogane kept his eyebrow raised.

"This one." The blond pointed at himself. "This one's designation is Fai."

"Well then, Fai, what are you doing out here?"

"Fai doesn't know." The android looked off, towards the street. "Fai was dumped here, because Fai served his usefulness."

"Your owner will be back for you." It was a statement, not a question.

"Maybe. Fai doesn't know." It was an answer, not a statement.

Kurogane didn't need this. He definitely, definitely, didn't need this. And yet - "How long have you been out here?"

Blue eyes went blank as the android looked off. "Fai's internal clock reads seven P.M. So Fai has been out here twelve hours."

"What?" Kurogane snapped. "Your clock is an hour behind, first of all. Second of all, it's a miracle your systems haven't all locked up by now."

"Fai is running many programs, as to avoid locking down, freezing up, or crashing." The android's voice echoed, wavered, as if the vocal programs were failing, but after a moment, was back to normal. "Fai has been tossed out before. So, Fai is accustomed to running what programs will heat most, and take the least amount of energy."

"You mean this has happened before? You've got a shitty owner."

"Fai has no owner. This has happened many times before to Fai." The robot smiled. "Fai is Fai's name. What is that one's name?" He pointed at Kurogane.

"Kurogane Suwa," Kurogane said, irritated by now. Who would take an android, one that clearly was glitching, and leave it out in the rain?

"That one is Kuro," Fai said, still smiling.

"I said Kurogane!" Kurogane snapped. Maybe they left it out because it was damned annoying.

"Fai cannot use designations longer than four letters," Fai said. "Fai is broken. That is what everyone calls Fai. But Fai doesn't need names in working. Is Fai broken?" The android had an honest gaze, tilting his head.

So that was it. Someone couldn't afford to fix him - or simply didn't want to. Androids found on the streets were free game for anyone, but most were just stripped down of all hardware, fixed up externally, and sold as husks for people who wanted to start from scratch. There was money to be found in the business, if you were lucky enough to find decent-looking models. Given the prices lately, this one, 'Fai', would have probably made a fair amount.

"What did you mean before, that you're lost?" Kurogane asked. "Just log in and get directions to the nearest police station and turn yourself in. Someone will pick you up." He took a step, to walk away, but stopped at Fai's next words.

"Fai does not have those capabilities. Fai has no someone to pick Fai up."

When Kurogane looked back, Fai was looking right at him.

"Is Kuro leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm going home," Kurogane said, watching him.

Fai smiled, brightly. "Then Fai is sorry. Fai kept Kuro from going home." He looked back off at the main road, as if waiting.

"What are you waiting for?" Kurogane said. That annoyed feeling rose up again, gnawing at the edges of his temper.

"Maybe the person who dropped Fai here will come back. Or maybe Fai will be picked up by someone new. Fai always just waits."

The android almost sounded sad, as if he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Or maybe he did believe them, and he hoped (not that a robot could feel such a thing as hope) that such a thing really would happen, while all the calculators in his electronic brain were telling him otherwise.

"You're stupid," Kurogane grumbled. "Fine. Fai. Come on. You can recharge at my house." What was he saying?

Fai looked back, blinking at Kurogane with wide-eyed innocence before the eyes closed slightly, and the smile turned into something darker. Kurogane couldn't quite place it.

"Fai will come," Fai said. He stepped away from the wall and walked to Kurogane, standing next to him under the umbrella. "If Kuro wants, Fai will carry the bag."

"Fine," Kurogane said, holding it out. Without objection, Fai took it, holding it to his chest. "How's your core temperature?"

"Above normal for compensation for the low external temperature," Fai said, in that hollow, empty sort of voice that androids always used when giving status reports or naming what functions they were doing at the moment.

"Hm." Kurogane tightened his grip on the umbrella as he walked forward, back along his journey. Fai walked beside him. He was clearly low on power, that much was clear by the slight hesitation in some of his steps. "Who constructed you?"

"Fai doesn't know."

"Who designed you?"

"Fai doesn't know that either."

"Do you know anything?" Kurogane said, irritation rising again.

"Fai knows some things. Fai knows his job."

"Cryptic," Kurogane countered, with a roll of his eyes. He went silent, and so did Fai. The android just walked, still smiling, until they got the house that Kurogane called home. He opened the door without waiting. "I'm home," he called.

"Welcome home!" Two voices said, coming into the entry way. The only two androids he, personally, had ever owned, Sakura and Syaoran. They were both simply built for the household, though he'd given them both impressive firewalls and a generous handhold of different skills.

"You have a guest?" Syaoran asked, immediately looking at Fai.

"You have a guest!" Sakura echoed, going over and taking the bag. "Hello, guest!"

Sakura was certainly programmed to be the sweeter of the two - only appropriate for a girl. Syaoran's programming lead him to be a bit suspicious of new things or people, but he usually warmed to things in time, especially when Sakura seemed to approve of or accept whatever or whoever it was. Originally, he hadn't wanted two beings that were so friendly, so trusting, to be around him and his household, but after a short interaction with their original programming (dark and sort of depressing, really), he'd wiped them and restarted. His house didn't need any more people like him. Oh no - one of him was enough. Still, the cheerful happiness of Sakura and the suspicious happiness of Syaoran was often infectious, and helped a bit. Especially on days like this.

"Hello," Fai said, pointing at himself. "Fai's designation is Fai. What are these one's designations?"

"This is Sakura and Syaoran," Kurogane said, kicking off his shoes. "Stay in the entry way until you're dry and in something else. Syaoran, get a towel and some clothes for him. Anything I've outgrown is fine. Then get him a plug in. Sakura, how's dinner coming along? I'm going to change." As he started up the stairs to the bedrooms, Sakura walked along beside him.

"Dinner should be done in a few minutes," Sakura said, ever cheerful. Even Kurogane had to be impressed with how well her personality had come out in her program. Some people thought that she was human upon meeting her. He supposed that was the point, and a little shine to his pride..

"Good." He rubbed at his forehead. "I'll take a beer with dinner. God, I need it." He opened his bedroom door, and Sakura saluted at him.

"Yes sir!" She said, smiling and running back down the stairs for the kitchen. He half-listened to the sounds of the household (only wary about crashes - for some reason, Sakura's balance was always a bit off) as he pulled off his tie and dress shirt from work, tossing them in the general direction of the hamper and digging around in his closet for something more comfortable. What he found was a t-shirt and pajama pants.

Whatever. It wasn't like anyone was going to see him, except for the three androids downstairs, so what did he care?

"All plugged in?" He asked when he came downstairs, looking into the living-dining-kitchen-room. Fai was wearing something from a few years ago when Kurogane was still in college, and the emblem was splashed across the front, complete with matching pajama pants. A cord was extending from the back of his neck and was connected to an adapter that was plugged into the wall. The blond looked asleep.

"He shut down most of his running systems," Syaoran reported. "Or, that's what he said."

"Huh. Go get my laptop and get ready to hook up to him, I want to see what I can find out." Kurogane made his way over to the table and picked up the beer bottle already sitting there, taking a long drink from it before Sakura could object.

"You're supposed to drink it out of a cup!" Sakura yelled, holding up the cup she was holding.

"It's fine like this." Kurogane sat and gave it to her anyway, watching as Syaoran walked out of the room. She poured the bottle into the cup, seeming quite pleased with herself as he started to eat soup on the table before him. "I don't like soup."

"You say that, but it's the best thing for rainy days, and you always eat all of it when I make it," Sakura sat, sitting. "Still, having soup and drinking beer. You are an odd person, master."

Kurogane just grunted in response and kept in on the soup and beer. He looked over when Syaoran came back in with his laptop and a handful of wires and adaptors. "Go help Syaoran," he said, and Sakura hopped up, walking over to help plug in the wires. "Sakura, you'll be the run-through. Hook her up."

Syaoran and Sakura both nodded. She leaned forward and the tiny seam on the back of her neck appeared,. The cover from the seam made a faint 'click' as it opened, and folded back, revealing the various terminals. Syaoran plugged into one, connecting the other to the laptop. They stopped there, sitting patiently until Kurogane finished his soup and his drink. He left the dishes there and went over, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Fai. Can you wake up for me?" He asked, watching the blond android.

"Fai is awake," he announced, hand twitching before he opened his eyes. He lifted a hand to the shirt. "Fai is wearing Kuro's shirt. Syao got it for Fai. This is okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I asked him to do it," Kurogane said. "Listen, I'm going to look at your base information, so Sakura's going to connect to you. Do you understand?"

"Fai understands," Fai said, smiling. He leaned forward and Syaoran moved to attach a wire to one of the ports to him. Like before, the other end went to Sakura.

Kurogane kept his eyes on the screen. "Syaoran, be prepared to pull the connections by force if needed," he said, and saw the male android nod from the corner of his vision.

"Accessing," Sakura said, voice hollow and empty.

"Just show me the basic. I just want to know his build, ID number, and owner," Kurogane said, eyes still on the screen.

"Understood. Accessing. Requesting permission," Sakura said. Her pupils contracted and dilated in turn with a faint 'whirr' noise.

"Permission granted," Fai said, voice just as hollow.

"Displaying," Sakura said.

"Finally," Kurogane muttered, watching as the information appeared on the screen.

"Build, companionship. ID number, unavailable. Owner, none," Sakura narrated as the words appeared on the screen.

"Someone deleted all of it? Go in deeper, see if there's underlying files," Kurogane said, typing into the computer. This made everything just weirder.

"Warning. Firewalls detected," Sakura announced, staring ahead.

"Then stop, no use in finding out something we don't need to know. Exit access," Kurogane said, clicking out of windows on his laptop. "Guess there's no helping it. Both of you, back up your files for the day, then go recharge." Kurogane stood, clicking the laptop shut. "Fai can recharge here. I'm going to bed."

"Yes sir," Sakura and Syaoran said together, as Sakura reached back and pulled out the wires. The cover slid back into place with a small 'click' as Kurogane stood. He glanced at Fai, and the android was already closing his eyes, doing the same to his own wires and cover, hand falling limp as he went back into sleep mode.

Kurogane just shook his head and made his way back to his room. He hated sleeping on a full stomach, but the rain and humidity, combined with the beer, were making him drowsy. So, off to bed it was, with the distant hope that maybe it wouldn't rain the next day.

"Companionship build," he muttered as he laid back on his bed. Whoever had owned Fai and left him out, glitched as he was, really was an idiot. A household-build android was one thing. Even a worker-build android wouldn't have been bad. A protection- or fighter-build…well, those were precious enough that, even if broken, no one would toss one of those away. But no, a companion-build left out…It was a miracle that Fai wasn't throwing himself at people, if he was glitches..

Maybe he was a 'host' style one, with the proper human-android interaction programs, who knew better than to do things like that. Still, any companionship-build android was, in essence, only built for one thing - sex.

Kurogane rubbed at his forehead. He supposed that anything else would have been on an android that…pretty. Even if he had started out as a household model, as soon as the family was dead, if the inheritors of the estate had any brains for money, they would have him altered to be companionship-build. It wasn't like changing the official data was that hard, especially if he was post-production modified.

The thought came to him then - no wonder Fai's owner was unknown. Most people were scared of being judged for owning a companionship-build android, so they went unlisted. Still, they usually kept the ID number in the data. It made it easier to find them if they were stolen - or went crazy and left the owners to run their data-driven sex drives wild in the streets. Still, Fai had an odd design for a companionship-build. He was innocent looking, and the personality seemed to match, that much was evident by how quickly he had went with Kurogane.

Most companionship-build androids were designed to cater to odd and unique kinks. Tattoos, piercing, extremely thin, wild hair, wild personalities, masochistic or sadistic tendencies - anything was possible in the dark world of 'android dens'. Still, it was a business, and if you had the stomach for selling the sex, it could be quite the money maker.

Kurogane stared at his ceiling. What kind of people could Fai serve? Most who went to android dens weren't looking for innocence, they were looking for careful constructed fantasies, with the goal of what they wanted. Again, Fai seemed too innocent for something like that. Was it just his glitch again? The same one that limited his name association to four characters?

No matter. If Fai was some escapee from an android den, then Kurogane doubted there would be any kind of missing possession report. Den owners tended not to deal with the police. Android dens were right on the edge of actually being legal, and they walked a fine line. Besides, android den owners had all the data they needed, and they made more than enough money to buy more husks and hardware, so why go chasing after a single missing android? Chances were they would just get them again, cheap, when the husks showed up in some second hand shop. It was easier than dealing with the police and judgment from them and others.

"God," Kurogane muttered, flopping an arm over his eyes. He needed to stop thinking. He forced himself to sleep by practice alone. He could worry about all this tomorrow.