Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. As well known, I'm a fan and fictioning.

Author's Note: Well, this is start of an oneshot story about our favorite troublesome trio. When I think about the background for this story, I have a feeling I can continue it further more. Just a feeling though -chuckle-. Oh yes, and for the records, my favorite among three is Fai. And I choose to write events from Syaoran's eyes for first chapter, because that's how it was back in my dream. (yep, this one is based on my dream as well. And this first chapter was exactly how it happened, except the detailed descriptions XD) You're scared now huh?

Also I don't know if I'll focus on kuroXfai, I'm not sure yet if this will go to that extend. Let me know what you think btw^^ I'll bring over female cast later after watchtower arc, but for now all we have are our boys ;)And yes, title was inspired from Tommy Heavenly6's song. Sounded right at that time :) Enjoy!

Watchtower- Chapter 1

The Boss and the Expert

It wasn't before dawn that I finally got time to catch my breath. Stretching my arms and back reminded my aching muscles how long I've been working since the last break. Well, according to others, it's the time I realized that I have to breathe to stay alive. They often say that I get caught up with my work so intensely that I completely forget my surroundings. By the way, I'm Syaoran, a fourteen years old-… -kid according to some and an adult according to the others… Much like the people working at this construction site; I have relation with neither this place, nor the people working in it.

Whenever I take a break - like now - I prefer sitting at top of the watchtower and just gaze at the horizon. We're practically in the middle of nowhere; it's the northwest border of the Jinshuu Empire, before us lays an endless desert that leads way to northern wastelands and behind us lays somewhat deserted lands of the empire. To avoid barbarous assaults from the North Geyseinders two centuries ago this long set of wall was built. It's five miles long, ten feet wide and twenty feet high. There is a watchtower in every mile, this wall was meant to stand for eternity, if possible. But apparently the calculations of old engineers were quite wrong. Don't mind me; I'm merely saying what was told to me…

"Ah, taking a break Syaoran-kun?" by that person!

As I look at the owner of this kind voice, I can't help but smile back at him. If you met Fai-san, you'd know why. He always has this kind but shadowed look in his blue eyes, a bright and light shade that is highly unusual for Jinshuu. With his casual smile, you have to expect the strangest words coming out of his mouth. He lets his pale blond hair stay messy, which suits his laid back nature. Since the first time I met him, he has been wearing the same blue tunic with loose sleeves. It has embroidered floral designs in a darker shade of blue over the fabric, dark blue sash over his waist and matching pants tucked into black knee high leather boots. His outfit indicated a certain orientation, calling him a Geyseinder might be a far call, yet it's possible. Although out of all places, we certainly avoid such discussions in this construction site, after all Fai-san wasn't the only one among workers who had suspicious looks.

"I didn't realize I was tired until I climbed here." I said watching him kneeling next to me.

"Syaoran-kun is overworking himself; it's bad for your health. You should rest and eat more so you won't get sick." Fai said, with a smile leaning his chin on his palm.

Somehow I sensed a wave of concern in his cheerful voice, to give assurance I smiled back at him. I'm not poor at health, it's quite the opposite.

"I can't help it. Once I start doing something, I can't stop 'till the end."

It was the truth. Simple but still a truth about me, which can be troublesome sometimes. I have to see end of the job I take on. Fai-san spoke with words chosen carefully, too carefully for an easy going guy like him.

"You're devoting yourself to the job you're assigned to. And not only daily duties, any task entrusted to you as well. That's admirable, Syaoran-kun."

"You're doing great too Fai-san." I objected, of course he had been more useful than me. "If it weren't for you, this tower would have collapsed before we survived the first day."

He chuckled, obviously amused by my words as he often did. He waved his hand before his face making a shoving gesture on the subject of our chat.

"It's nothing really; after all…" he glanced over his shoulder to the addressed man, with the same calm and cheerful voice. "… Kuro-puu said he'd kill us if the basement collapsed due to our lack of work."

Ahem, meet Kurogane-san, only authority we should listen to in the construction site. He's known for his fierce nature, often ending up in a fight that the winner would only be him at the end. I haven't met with a person who's as strong as him before, he's a professional warrior. It's not like anyone is picking fights with him though, Kurogane-san is an aggressive person. He tends to get upset quite easily; perhaps it has something to do with being a soldier for a long time.

Before Fai-san finished his sentence, this tall and huge man turned around with a scary face, noticing the corruption of his name – his hearing was as sharp as ever. He is wearing the long black coat of the military, carrying his long sword on his belt; armlets are covering his lower arms over the fingerless gloves. Unlike the rest of the soldiers around, his coat has red lines over the shoulders, indicating his rank as I learned before. Frowning as if he has seen his nemesis, his mouth crooked into a groan as his gritted teeth shone threateningly. Those red eyes shined with an annoyance rather than anger, although having black spiky hair and a tanned skin doesn't help his friendly looks. In fact Fai-san and Kurogane-san were like opposite sides of the nature since the begining, like light and dark, sincerity and wildness born into flesh as humans.

"I said it is Kurogane!" our boss screamed, roaring over the half constructed tower. "If you aren't going to call me 'the boss',use my proper name! Not pet names you make up!"

In contrast to the fierce outrage displayed, Fai-san gave his sweetest smile and stood up. Enjoying the battle for authority and reputation, which Kurogane-san obviously built over other workers before 'his' arrival. And each time, they wield the same weapons.

"Oh look, it's the boss and the expert!" one of the workers down exclaimed.

"They're at it again." Said another.

These quarrels were now quite common. Kurogane-san would try to order Fai-san with same way as he does to everyone, yet every time Fai-san would find the right words to irritate the boss, and the workers stop doing their jobs to watch the free show. If you ask me, these two are kind of enjoying this. Otherwise I doubt Kurogane-san would keep himself from punishing Fai-san. There is a level of respect building up in him, I can see that much. Like this time, as workers started speaking of them, he glared down at them as a first warning.

Every time he hears his unofficial title 'the expert', the smile on Fai-san's face freeze. It's a brief feeling I get once in a while, but even if it's for a moment I guess he doesn't like that title. Like now, he shrugged as if he wanted to brush off that feeling, whatever it is that displeases him.

"But Kuro-sama, that's exactly what you said before!" the blond man grinned innocently, raising his hands up in a display of surrender. "Ask Syaoran-kun if you don't believe me, ne ne Syaoran-kun?" he said dropping his voice in a childish tone.

"YOU-!" Boss turned to me; I was dumbfounded to be honest. "What do you say?"

This was a troublesome moment as you can see, I'm not afraid of Kurogane-san, since I am getting to know him better. He's not as much of a scary person as he seems, or likes to be seen. I guess it's necessart to keep workers restrained under his command, to make ordinary criminals work under his words in military discipline.

"Uh.. Kurogane-san, it's true." I said, smiling apologetically.

I know he hates losing to Fai-san, but I can't lie for his sake. Taking advantage of his new victory and annoyance it brought onto boss, Fai-san clapped his hands cheerfully.

"Yahooo! Told you so, Kuro-tan!"

As a cheerful uproar rose from beneath, Fai-san smiled glancing down the tower. Workers were watching them over wooden scaffolds.

"Ah, it seems we have fans." Fai-san's grin grew wider.

"Shuddup you all and get back to your works!" Kurogane-san shouted at them, "Or I'll come and make your sorry asses feel miserable that you're still alive!"

Fai-san looked at me over his shoulder, blinking mischievously at the times he managed to beat the boss. The chuckle that escaped from me before I could stop it, alerted Kurogane-san to our silent conversation; I tried my best to put on a serious face and looked away from him. He growled, as usual.

"Hey you noisy, come here and be useful!" he said finally, turning away as he glanced down the construction plan given to him.

"Yes sir!" was answer from the expert, he leaned on the plan.

I guess I can take my break still, seeing that the boss didn't disturb my leisure time. This reminds me the first day we all met; actually it's the first day I was brought to here. This tower wasn't a collapsed ruin before; in the beginning Jinshuu army thought it was a sabotage of the Geyseinders. Later on, it turned out that it wasn't doings of the northern people, but tower had to be rebuilt or repaired before a possible treat comes.

I was brought to the construction site after others; I was mistaken for a thief earlier on the marketplace. Before I had a chance to prove my innocence, I was sent along with a few prisoners who were sentenced over small incidents such as thievery, muggings and other sort of light crimes. I suspected that this was a kind of punishment. A logical choice, it was free manpower and while the empire is at edge of a war threat, it needs every soldier. Obviously, except this one…

I met Kurogane-san when I first stepped onto the watchtower to-be-repaired. The half collapsed watchtower looked scary, but it was like nature of the building had chosen a manager to match it's own. Several scaffolds were built around the watchtower; five men were already working on the building already when we arrived. Kurogane-san was at route to the watchtower, waiting to greet us and declare his territory. He had a severe look on his sullen face, arms crossed over his chest, eyeing us with a deep frown. A soldier reported him about recent events and orders as he eyed us five, pausing to give a scary look to each of us. Then we were introduced to the scary figure in command and the reason of our presence here.

"I'm Lieutenant Kurogane! You idiot douche bags are captured due to your lack of your skills and brought here to serve for the Jinshuu military to be useful once in your miserable lives for a change." He paused to look at us; personally I was feeling too stiff to look at anyone so I kept my eyes on the ground.

A new company arrived before he could continue; it was only one man this time, escorted by two soldiers. A blond, tall and fragile looking guy with cold eyes as if life was taken out of him - but it turned out that he was tired actually. Wearing a pale blue tunic with the same color as his eyes, looking so out of place considering other prisoners brought here. Indeed, this man was a foreigner in these lands.

"Hmm?" The scary soldier in charge turned his attention to the new arrival.

"This one is captured this morning sir, orders insist on to keep an eye on him." Said the soldiers, who looked warily at this new man.

But the prisoner didn't seem interested in the commander; he was looking around the landscape, examining his surroundings. Crease between the commander's brows became deeper, his mouth stretched wider as his features tensed even more. At that time I thought something was off about him, this new guy. Suddenly startled with the high yell coming behind me, I gritted my teeth, instinctively turning around to face Kurogane-san, who was looking straight at the new arrival.

"YOU THERE!" Kurogane-san then lowered his voice after gaining the attention he wanted. "Don't stand there like a lazy log and get in the line!"

Finally the blond man glanced to his way, eyes wide open with shock. He obviously was not expecting such a reaction; he obeyed the command without an objection. When he finally came to stand on my right, Kurogane-san continued his introduction.

"I'm the authority here, my words will be a command to you low lives. You'll call me 'the boss', otherwise it'll be a life of hell here." A creepy smirk curved on his face, like his looks weren't enough… "You see these ruins that lay behind me? You'll rebuild it stone by stone in two weeks time! Try opposing me or dare to step your stinky noses off this site, you'll be dead meat. Is that clear enough?" hearing no objections, the boss continued. "Now move your sorry asses out of my sight!"

I walked to the ruins, following others, not sure from where to start or to whom I should help, I stopped at the entrance and examined the tower. Two walls of the watch tower have collapsed along with all four floors of the building. The roof seemed to be in one piece, yet the building was looking unstable, it could collapse over us anytime. As I was looking at our work site anxiously, the new guy came next to me. It seemed he was examining the building too, without any anxiety though, unlike me. Putting a hand at his waist, he gave a sound quite between a whistleing or sighing.

"Pheeeee… That's a bad sight now, not giving any confidence at all. Huh?"

I looked at him curiously, he was smiling now. Before I could give a proper answer, someone pushed me forward. By the time I realized the ground floor was collapsed as well, I was falling down with a yell. I hit a hard ground; there was a dusty feeling beneath my gloved hands and the irritation at my lungs was saying a cloud of dust rose from the ground. I tried to stand up, coughing as hard as possible to get rid of inhaled dust. As dust settled down, I was standing over my arms. A moaning behind me suggested another victim who shared the same fate; it was the blond stranger. He was leaning back over his hands, frowning with pain, I assumed.

"Start working your lazy asses!" lieutenant's voice called out as he walked away.

"Oh boy…" blond man murmured, opening his eyes, he gave a troubled smile. "This was truly uncalled for."

I looked around; it was dark, though my eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness. Besides, some light was coming from the floors above. It looked like the basement of the watch tower, the ground was covered with soil. Estimated with bare eyes, it was a room of twenty to thirty five feet. But, it was abandoned, probably because the ceiling has collapsed no one seemed to be working here.

"Why no one is working down this floor?" I asked, looking above, where scaffolds were standing above us.

"Perhaps," the foreign stranger started, crumbling down soil he grabbed from the floor. "…because of the heat." He said thoughtfully.

He was right; I sat on my legs to look at my gloved palms. Opening and closing them before touching on ground again, soon I realized there was an abnormal change in temperature down here. Through leather gloves, I could feel the warmth of the ground. This was strange. When I looked to the way he was looking at I could see a dead branch. Or what was left of it. I looked at him, who was now standing on his feet, batting off the dust on his tunic.

"This heat…"

"It's probably making working down here harder. Over time we'll start feeling more of it, it'll get harder to breathe and we'll find ourselves exhausted before afternoon." He said looking up.

"Why is it warmer down here then?" I asked, standing as well. "Heat should float up; it should be cooler in here."

"Ah, you're pretty smart." He looked quite pleased, then he smiled cheerfully. "By the way, I guess we'll be stuck together for a while now. Though, I didn't catch your name earlier."

"Syaoran! Sorry, I was quite shocked with the recent events."

"Hmm, that's expectable. Nice to meet you Syaoran-kun, I'm Fai D. Flourite." He said with a wide smile.

"What the hell are you doing down there?" Yelled Kurogane-san's angry voice.

Fai-san smiled to himself, climbing quickly on the scaffolds. He stood on a lower level than our boss, which was a way of stating that he's aware of both sides' status in field. Kurogane-san just narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the mysterious blond man, arms crossed over his chest. I climbed up as well, stood on a lower plank than Fai-san, who was giving a polite smile as he bowed to introduce himself again.

"I thought if we're going to work together an introduction was inevitable. Fai D. Flourite, and may I have the name of whom I'll be working for?"

There was a short silence before the answer came; it seemed Kurogane-san was debating if he should introduce himself to this man or not.

"Kurogane it is. And the boss for you if you want to survive here." He said finally.

"The Boss, eh?" Fai-san rolled his eyes up, putting his index finger over his lips thoughtfully. "So, you're a high ranked soldier I assume?"

"Hn…" he said as an approval. "So what?"

"The thing is, I have a request and it's lucky that I met you directly!" he started cheerfully. "Working down here will be quite hard, is this really the exact level you'd want only two of us to be working at?"

"And you have a problem with that?" I could see the annoyed look on the Lieutenant's face, he was frowning down at Fai-san with a sceptical look on his face.

"Oh dear, but it'll be really really hard for just two people to work down here, Kuro-pan!" he laughed heartily, like he was among friends and joking around with them.

"WHAT-? It's Kurogane!" he gritted his teeth. "Don't make me come over there!"

"Don't get upset that easily Kuro-tan," Smile on Fai-san's face was looking suspiciously innocent and growing wider slowly. "…it'll really ruin your nerves in long term!"

"Don't call me with stupid names! IT'S KUROGANE!"

Now he had lowered his arms and clenched his fists, Kurogane-san was glaring wildly at the man down who was smiling innocently like he wasn't offended with the soldier's aggressive stance at all. I was too shocked to interfere, so I watched silently not knowing how to react at all.

"But it's a long name… You can call me Fai by the way Kuro-rii, mine is also a long one. It'll be quite troublesome to call me by my full name anyway." Fai-san's grin was growing wider at each moment, if that's possible.

Kurogane-san breathed heavily with a growl, after a moment of hesitation in which he reached for the huge sword at his belt, he dropped his hands to his sides. A tensed yet wide smile forced it's way on his face, he was having second thoughts on how to control his temper I guess.

"Flourite… wasn't it?" there was hesitation on Fai-san's share as well; he raised his eyebrows as Kurogane-san continued talking. "I thought you were familiar. Although not many know your name, if you were called as 'the Expert', I guess everyone could have an idea on whatsoever."

Fai-san's serene expression vanished, eyes growing slightly wider as a frown appeared on his face. I frowned thoughtfully too, glancing between them, I guess this expert title had significance for both. They stared at each other, Fai-san with an unreadable gaze not matching his previous cheerful mood, Kurogane-san with glory written all over his dark face. After a few moments, Fai-san managed a somewhat calm smile, still frowning slightly.

"Yes, I've been called that as well…" they stared at each other a little more, until Fai-san made another move. "But still, this work at the basement isn't something we could do with two, even if it's me, Kuro-puu." He said shrugging, returning to his carefree mood.

"Buildings won't repair themselves on their own! Get to work! NOW!" As expected, the soldier was irritated and ignoring the request, he turned on his heel, leaving us alone with work.

"Does that mean we'll still work on our own?" he said with a childish pouty voice behind him. "Kuro-taaaaan?"

We could hear grumbling of the Lieutenant from distance; Fai-san chuckled and looked at me. But after seeing me he laughed more.

"Close that mouth of yours, will you?" he waved his hand to me. "We have some work to do it seems. And we're left alone… How cruel Kuro-puu…" he shook his head with a disappointed smile.

"Were you serious about that way of addressing Kurogane-san, the… boss?" I asked, trying not to sound embarrassed.

"Hmm?" he glanced at me, hands placed on his waist. "Are you a person who always does what others tell you to do, Syaoran-kun?"

Do what others tell me to do? I looked at Fai-san, who was still smiling gently, with a curious look in his blue eyes. He wanted an honest answer, no; he actually had a guess on the truth. Whether I lie to him or tell the truth, he'd understand and will take action accordingly. Lying could make him ignore me, he may never bring the subject up again, but he'd know that I lied to him about myself. But perhaps he wanted to see what kind of a person I was; one's words define them as much as their actions. I looked at him in a serious manner, barely frowning.

"… No." was my answer. "If I have done what was told to me, I wouldn't be here."

That faint smile grew wider, he dropped his gaze thoughtfully on ground.

"So am I…" he said weakly. "Come on, we have a serious job to do!"

Fai-san suddenly jumped down, changing his gloomy looks in an instant with the usual cheerful one. I followed him, but seeing that he started checking the ground as he tapped with his feet and then walls with his hands, I felt a little confused.

"Umm… Excuse me but, what exactly are we going to do?"

"Kuro-san wanted us to work down here at the basement yet he didn't give us any tools, right?" after I nodded he continued, returning his gaze on the dark stone walls, touching their surface carefully. "As you noticed, this building has collapsed partially. Even in repairs, one would start building from below, not from upper levels. This would only make the building more unstable, because if the ground is weak everything done above will be in vain."

"So, you're trying to find out if collapsing was due to weak groundwork?"

Fai-san looked back at me with a wide smile that proved I was right. He knocked at the walls on several places, when he was done with the left wing; he walked to the next one where scaffolds were built on, repeating same method.

"That's right. Do you have an idea on the possibilities Syaoran-kun?"

I paused a moment to gather my thoughts. Putting facts together carefully, trying to form a valid reasoning.

"Building collapsed and considering it's a watchtower between two hostile kingdoms, it could be sabotage." It was an option that no one told us, not even Kurogane-san had mentioned an enemy presence. "But it wasn't said even before, soldiers are at charge of this building's repair, I expected at least one of them to say it for once."

"Fyuuu…. That's cool Syaoran-kun, you're a sharp boy." Fai-san finished checking the wall, walking to the right wing. "Of course, that could be because they were ordered to not speak a word about it." He touched the wall, pausing to look at the floors above. "But I guess we could eliminate enemy assault option, if it was sabotage it would've been logical to expect an enemy army attack afterwards. Since it's still quiet around here, I guess they're confident that it's not done intentionally." He returned his attention to the wall again. "I dare say they're suspecting that it's an unnatural force. Still, natural or not, enemies can use this state of the watchtower to their advantage. That's why we're forced to hurry with the repairs, I'm sure they'll bring more workers to hasten work."

"By unnatural force, do you mean… magic?"

"Yup! But if it was a spell that damaged this tower, I guess it would've been obvious." He walked to the last wall, still explaining his logic. "To destroy a building, several kinds of destructive magic spells are available. While I saw no magic evidence around, I didn't feel any magical presence either."

Magical presence. It was true, there was nothing unnatural around the construction site. But to sense a magical presence, even if it's a weak and almost invisible one, the person would need to have strong magical powers, or at least some experience to recognize it.

"Are you a magician?" I asked, using the same method, I knew the possible answer so now it was my turn to wait and act accordingly.

"My…" he turned around, looking thoughtfully with a troubled smile. "Even though you know the basic logic behind magic, you really have no clue about the meaning of the Expert, right?"