Music to my Heart (A Bleach/Ulquihime fic)

Chapter 15

This story belongs to Cerice Belle at FanFiction.net. I am only publishing it in order to share it with more people. All credits go to her.
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Orihime entered her house nervously, casting a furtive look at the sky. It was only 7 in the evening but it was so dark it felt later. It was extremely gloomy for a summer evening, and far too chilly, not to mention as she had been walking home, she had heard low rumbles of thunder. She tossed the keys onto the table and walked through the apartment, turning on every single light; they were the only things that made her feel safe in her cold, empty house at night. She put on the oven and pulled out a couple of party pies from the fridge. Every few seconds she would check outside, knowing that the moment she saw lightning she would start panicking. She decided to turn on the TV for comfort and ended up watching the news as she let the pies defrost and the oven heat. It was all the usual stuff: the country leader's latest scandals, awful wars in various other places that made her feel like a terrible person, and the finance. She was getting up to put the pies in the oven when the weather came on.

"Thanks Dondochakka," said the purple-clad, overly-smiley, blonde weather man. "There have been some rather severe storms around the major city, leaving many homes flooded. Luckily, the emergency services have been able to clear it up, however there is a large storm warning for the towns to the north," he pointed to an area on the zoomed-in electronic map of the country and she gulped when she saw Karakura to the left of a bright red patch of storms. She quickly put the pies in and filled the kettle with water as the cheery weather man went on.

"There have been winds of about 110km/hr and hail stones the size of your fist," he put his fist out with a casual grin causing Orihime's stomach to drop as she turned the kettle on. "We're seeing rain of up to 20mm and boy that lightning cracks a whopper!" he continued enthusing as if he was talking about a new hamburger at McDonalds, not a possibly lethal storm.

The screen shifted back to the beefy news reader in his gaudy yellow suit with black polkadots as he flashed an easy grin at the camera. "Stimulating weather report as usual, Pesche. Residents in these areas are advised to keep all doors and windows bolted and turn off any electrical equipment. Make sure to keep your mobiles charged in case of an emergency," he said as if this was an escaped parrot. "Stay tuned after the news for The Big Bang Theory, has Sheldon finally cracked, and are Bernadette and Howard done for good? With Bones solving an unsolvable case after, can she do it? And don't forget to check out our website for more information on the approaching storm. This is Dondachakka Bernstein with the 7 o'clock news, keeping the information rolling in." With that he flashed a cheesy grin and flipped his gelled black hair out of his eyes as the News theme played cheerily.

"I'd be able to go on the website if there wasn't a storm!" Orihime snapped at the television. It was times like these that news readers really pissed her off. And she didn't get pissed off easily.

With a sigh she went around to all the doors and windows and made sure they were securely fastened down. She decided to keep the front door unlocked in case something happened and she needed to get out or let someone in. She crept to her bedroom and pulled out her torch from her drawer and dragged her blanket back to the couch; she could sleep there that night with the TV on. Just as she was leaving her room, a loud crack of thunder sounded. With a squeak she hurried down the hall and into the warm living room, nearly tripping over the blanket in the process. She gulped, figuring she must have missed the first bit of lightning. She threw everything on the couch and went to check on the pies: 10 minutes to go.

Grumbling, she pulled out a plastic plate and got herself a glass of water and went to sit in front of the television and watch The Big Bang Theory. Not a bad show in her opinion, it had its moments, although it had never really caught her attention. She just stared at the screen, chuckling absently at some of the crude jokes and trying to ignore the thunder getting steadily closer and louder. The lightning didn't help either. It kept flashing straight through the seams in the curtains, increasing her fear with every spark.