Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or the lovely characters.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who have left wonderful reviews on my stories so far. I really appreciate all of you. All your lovely words inspire me to keep writing and try to improve. I have never tried AU before, so giving this a shot. It should also help me with my narratives. I hope I don't disappoint.

I have no idea if the apartment Eriol lives in actually exists in Japan. I just got the idea when I saw the picture windows in an old music video for the song "We Could Be In Love". Since this is AU, let's just pretend, shall we? *winks*

Outside Looking In

Eriol Hiiragizawa stared at the flashing cursor on his screen. He would type a few words, sigh, then delete everything. The muses were not smiling at him. In fact it felt like they despised him for some reason. It had been weeks since he had an inspiration. His writer's block was beginning to feel like a writer's mountain. His deadline was looming closer and he still did not have an idea for his next story. His long suffering publisher had been calling him almost every day now to check if he would be able to make his deadline.

It was fortunate that he did not depend solely on writing stories for a living. If that were the case, he would've been homeless years ago. Still, the story-writing gig helped towards augmenting the income he got from writing academic journals and teaching the occasional classes at the local university. And he did enjoy it too, especially when the story started flowing. Getting it to start had always been the problem.

He stood up and approached the picture windows that lined one side of his apartment. He didn't really have a view since there was another apartment right across his. But there was a small courtyard in between the two apartments where tenants would usually hang out. He would sometimes watch people come and go and get ideas for his stories. Sometimes, one of the tenants from the other building would leave their curtains or blinds open and he would get a glimpse of their lives. It was like he had a life-sized painting gallery.

The apartment directly across from his used to be home to a seventy year old obaasan (grandma) and her two cats. She would wave to him every morning and would always keep the window across where he had his near his desk open so he could see her cats sunning themselves. It tickled her fancy that he was a writer and that he would sometimes add her cats into his stories. Sadly, she had moved away last winter to be closer to her daughter. He didn't really have a lot of friends or family nearby, so in a way he missed having her near.

He picked up his phone and dialled his best friend's number. Sakura Kinomoto worked at the cafe on the ground floor. They had been seatmates in first grade and had been good friends ever since.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Hi Eriol, what's up?"

"Is it a busy day today?"

"Pretty slow actually. Your usual spot is free at the moment if you want to people-watch," she said cheerfully.

"I'll be right down."

Eriol waved at Sakura before sitting near one of the corner windows. It gave him a great view of the courtyard and the main road. She gave a sigh as she sat across from him.

"On your feet too long?"

"Yeah. We're one man down so I am also helping in the kitchen. Good thing it's not so busy. How's your new story?"

"Stuck. I need something to happen."

"Looks like you got your wish." she said, standing up as a customer came in the door. "Moving van," she added before she walked away.

Eriol craned his neck to catch a glimpse of men with moving boxes. He wondered what the new tenant would look like. Or maybe it was a family? Come to think of it, he had never written about a family. Not that he'd have a lot to write about in case he did. His parents died from a car accident when he was in junior high and he was an only child. The closest family he had was a second cousin ten years his senior who was based somewhere in London. He'd only met Clow Reed once, during his parent's funeral. He was appointed his legal guardian and he stayed only long enough to make arrangements for his upkeep. Nowadays, he only heard from Clow or his representatives once a year - probably to check if he was still alive.

Or maybe the new tenants were a couple - newly married and expecting their first child. They moved here because the father was a professor and would be working at the university. They also had a cat, a ginger tabby who liked to bask in the sun.

Eriol chuckled. He was already getting ahead of himself. He wasn't even sure if he'll get a chance to see the new…

Blue eyes widened as a long dark haired beauty approached one of the movers. She was just dressed in an oversized jumper and jeans but had an aura of someone about to walk down a runway. She was stunning. She was breathtaking. She was perfect.

His hands pulled open his laptop and his hands started moving as if possessed. Finally, the muses have smiled.

A/N: I have tried to map out everything as best as I could, but my stories get written when they want to. So there will be times when the updates will not be as often. But I promise to try my best! Till the next one!