Chapter 4 – Living Together

"Yes, please place those boxes over there…right…"

Ceres sighed as the last of the movers left. Moving was such a hassle and she totally hated it. She began to sort through all the boxes putting her clothes away into the cupboard. The apartment provided was quite spacious and airy. The rooms were big, there was a moderately large bathroom and an adequate kitchen.

Just as she had folded and placed the last of her clothes in the cupboard, she heard the door of the apartment open. As she continued unpacking, she heard a girl's voice and a faint giggle. Rolling her eyes she ignored it.

'Hnh….trust him to bring a girl home first chance he gets…who cares anyway….

Ignorance is bliss…….'

After unpacking the last of her boxes, Ceres stood back to survey her room which now had a very homey look. She picked up a picture of her, Sakura, Miaka, Kakashi, Yuuhi and Tsunade and smiled wistfully.

'I can't believe I already miss you guys….even Miaka who still pisses me of with her eating habits…'

She chuckled softly as she remembered a certain incident when Miaka had accidentally mistook her sculpture of an apple as a real fruit. That had resulted in a trip to the dentist for her but thankfully Miaka hadn't lost any teeth.

Standing up, she walked towards the door with her toiletries in hand. She decided she might as well add in her personal touch to the bathroom as well. Just as she had stepped out, she came face to face with Sasuke and a short blonde-haired girl. He looked at her coolly and said.

"Oh, Ceres ….meet Yui.."

"Hello," said the girl extending her hand to Ceres smiling brightly.

'To think he actually had the audacity to introduce the girl to her….as if she even cared' she thought before turning to the girl, giving her a commercial smile and saying.

"Hey. The name's Ceres. Nice to meet you too,"

Ignoring the girl's outstretched hand, Ceres just walked past them straight to the bathroom without another word leaving the puzzled girl staring after her feeling embarrassed.

She heard the girl ask Sasuke as she continued her journey to the bathroom.

"What did I do? She seems to hate me….did I do anything to offend her?"

"Nah, don't sweat it…..Ceres just doesn't find anyone worth respecting"

This was said by Sasuke smoothly and loudly enough for Ceres to hear. The only indication that Ceres had heard was the slight stiffening of her body and the slight raise in fairy power that only Sasuke could feel.

He grinned as he noted that his comment had achieved the desired effect. He raised his voice slightly and spoke suggestively to Yui.

"Well, now….why don't we go into my room and, you know, have some fun?"

Yui giggled and swatted him playfully on the arm.

"Oh, Sasuke!!!You say the naughtiest things!!!What if Daddy were to hear you!?"

Somewhere, Sasuke heard a door slam and he grinned. Oh yes, Ceres may act tough but still, she was only a normal girl with feelings. He smirked to himself and guided Yui into his room closing the door behind him.

Ceres fumed as she arranged her toiletries in the bathroom cabinet.

'Dammit!!!How dare he try to make a fool out of me…..Argh!!!!'

She slammed the last of her toiletries down and shut the cabinet door roughly. Taking in deep breaths, she told herself to calm down.

'No point hanging around here doin' nothing…guess I'll go for a walk and check out the neighborhood…'

After changing into a black tank top and a pair of waist-low jeans, she picked up her sling bag and went out. She looked at Sasuke's door and contemplated telling him where she was going. Just as she was about to knock she heard Yui giggle and say "Oh, Sasuke!!!You're just too sweet!!!".

Withdrawing her hand, she backed off and headed towards the door. As she locked it, she told herself.

'Oh well….not like I actually care what happens in there…'

'But you do' said a small voice at the back of her brain.

Pushing away her uneasy feeling, Ceres proceeded down the street and turned down a lane which she found was full of shops. Spying a large bookshop, she decided to head there. As she pushed the door open, her handphone rang. Sighing softly she fished her handphone out of her bag and pressed the answer button.

"Ceres speaking,"

"Yo,Ceres!!!Wassup!!!How's the apartment!?Up to your standards?"

Laughing slightly, Ceres replied.

"Of course!!!It's actually better than I expected, Yuuhi!!!So what's your reason for calling?"

"Aww, c'mon!!!Can't I call a really good friend to find out how she's doin'?"

Ceres winced at the way Yuuhi stressed on the word 'friend'.

"Oh..i see…err…hey, I'm kinda busy now you see, so could you call back later tonight?"

"Sure!!!No probs!!!Talk to ya later,then!!!"

Ceres sighed once again as she hung up. Yuuhi. She had totally forgotten about him. She'd known about his crush on her since a long time ago but had pretended not to notice as she didn't feel that Yuuhi was more than a friend to her.

Finally she decided to get her mind on other things pushing everything else out of her head. Her eyes caught sight of an interesting book and just as her hand reached for it, another hand reached for it as well causing both to turn at look at each other.

Ceres found herself looking into a pair of brown eyes. The boy was blonde, wearing spectacles and was pretty good-looking despite the glasses. He broke the awkward silence by saying.

"Oh…did you want that book?"

"Well, you can have it. I'm not desperate…"

Shrugging in a don't-carish manner, Ceres walked down the aisle that led to the comic section leaving the boy staring after her in wonder.

Somehow, she couldn't stop the nagging feeling that she had either seen or met this boy somewhere. As she stopped and bent down to inspect some comics, she suddenly realized she knew who he was…just as she heard the boy say once again.

"You know, you didn't really strike me as the sort of person to read comics,"

Not bothering to look up she replied coolly,

"Well, that should teach you not to judge a book by its cover"

Chuckling, the boy answered her.

"Yeah, you're probably right…hey, you're new here right? I live around this area and know most of the people living here but I've never seen you…."

Straightening up and tossing her hair which had fallen forward, Ceres looked him straight in the eye and replied.

"Yeah…I just finished moving in today and decided to take a walk…..is this an interrogation or something!?Or are you some stalker?"

The boy flushed slightly out of embarrassment and a bit of anger before replying.

"Oh, no….I think you've got the wrong idea….it's just that I haven't seen you before and wondered if you'd like me to show you around…"

Ceres looked him up and down and finally stared at his face. It showed no sign of lying or ulterior motives but she decided against it.

Smiling to him for the first time she said.

"Nah…thanks for the offer but I think I'd like to go back soon…"

"Oh…."

The boy looked rather crestfallen.

"Don't worry…I'm sure we'll meet again…"

Ceres smiled mysteriously. The boy's eyes lit up as he looked at her and asked

her.

"Yea, hey!!!I just realized!!!I haven't introduced myself!!!I'm…"

"Ryoki Tachibana,"

Ceres completed his sentence for him, smiled and headed towards the exit. Still recovering from his shock, he heard her voice floating back to him.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Tachibana-san"

Staring at the door which Ceres had just vacated Ryoki shook his head in wonder and whispered to himself.

"Tenshi….she's just like a fairy…I want to see you again, Tenshi-san….."