Thunder

Today is a winding road that's taking me to places that I didn't want to go. Whoa.

Even though it was pouring rain outside, Orihime swung on the swing in the park laughing. She was on her way to the store when it suddenly started pouring. At first she ducked under a doorway for shelter, but she saw the park across the street and thought it would be fun to play in the rain. Her hair and clothing were instantly soaked.

Ichigo was on his way home from the store when it started raining.

Damn, he thought, Why did Yuzu have to have this shit now? He was passing the park when he heard laughter. It sounded vaguely familiar, and he found his feet walking towards the sound, out of the shelter of buildings. He was so hypnotized by the laughter; he didn't even notice the rain soaking him.

Today in the blink of an eye I'm holding on to something and I do not know why I tried.

She didn't know why she held so tight on the chains of the swing. It would be so much fun to just fly through the air, the feeling of freefalling. She let go of the chains and flew through the air.

Ichigo came upon Inoue, being her usual self swinging on the swing in the pouring rain. He found himself affixed on her. Then she let go, flew through the air… and landed on the ground and fell in the mud.

I tried to read between the lines, I tried to look in your eyes
I want a simple explanation, For what I'm feeling inside

Orihime erupted in giggles as she rolled through the mud. The flight was short, but was worth the mud the stained her clothes she decided.

"Inoue!" the voice rang out, disrupting her thoughts. She knew that voice from anywhere…. Kurosaki-kun. Her guess was right, soon enough she found herself looking into chocolate eyes filled with worry.

"Are you alright Inoue?"

"Y-yes," she stuttered, a blush crept over her cheeks as she realized how close they were, "K-kurosaki-kun, what are you doing here?"

I gotta find a way out, Maybe there's a way out, Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer, Do you know you're unlike any other?
He was kneeling next to her, he racked through his brain to look for an answer that wouldn't be embarrassing. He couldn't tell her he followed the sound of her beautiful voice.

"I took a shortcut through the park on the way home from the store," he lied, "Here." He held out his hand to help her out. Her lips rounded into an 'O', as she took his hand.

You'll always be my thunder, and I said, Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors

But Ichigo slipped on the mud and he found himself pressed against a very soft cushion. He opened his eyes and found himself being hypnotized by a pool of grey.

Grey, he decided, is the brightest color.

Orihime felt his weight on her; she opened her eyes and felt as if she was drowning in a chocolate pool.

I don't wanna ever love another, You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
And bring on the thunder

Lightning flashed through the sky, followed by its lover, thunder, breaking the two out of their trance.

"S-sorry," Ichigo mumbled, and quickly got off his friend.

'You sure she'd just a friend King?' his hollow taunted, 'You know you liked the way her rack was pressed up against you.' Ichigo's face reddened at the thought of her bre- NO! he wouldn't think about that.

"I-it's okay Kurosaki-kun! It was probably the little blue men who pushed you to distract me so they could take my brains!" she rambled as she stood up and wiped her hands off on her jeans, "But we sure showed them!" Ichigo stood also, and wondered what the hell she was talking about.


Today is a winding road, Tell me where to start and tell me something I don't know, Whoa

"Oh my gosh!" Orihime exclaimed as she realized how dark the sky was, "Is it that late! I have to get home!" She turned and walked towards her home. "Bye Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo stood and watched her leave, amazed of how good she looked even when covered in mud. Wait did he just think that?

"Wait Inoue!" he ran over to her, "I'll walk you home."

"Oh no Kurosaki-kun doesn't have to waste his time," she said, waving her arms in front of her. Making her assets jiggle, said the hollow.

"I want to," he said, "I don't want you to get hurt." Her eyes widened at the last part.

"O-okay," she said, and then walked along the sidewalk with him beside her. "Thank-you, Kurosaki-kun," she said softly after a few moments of silence.

"No problem."

They walked down in silence. Not an awkward silence, but a comfortable one. They reached a street that had police cars and caution tape around it.

"T-that's my street!" Orihime cried and ran up to the nearest police officer with Ichigo running behind. "Excuse me sir, but what's going on?"

"The streets flooded Miss onto the side walk, we're trying to evacuate everyone out just in case it raises," the officer replied, "Do you live on this street Miss?"

"Y-yes, I do."

"Well Miss I suggest you find another place to stay. Should be clear in a couple days." His radio came on and the officer walked away.

"B-but Tatsuki-chan is away…" Orihime mumbled. Ichigo just barely heard it.

"You can stay with me, Inoue," Ichigo said, and Orihime turned to him. Silly as it may sound, she forgot he was there.

"R-really?"

"Yeah. Come on.

Today I'm on my own I can't move a muscle and I can't pick up the phone
I don't know (I don't know, I don't know, I don't know)

"!" a cry was heard throughout the Kurosaki house, and Isshin Kurosaki tackled his only son to the ground, with Orihime standing in the doorway watching with fascination.

"What the hell old man!" Ichigo bellowed and elbowed his father in the face; the elder Kurosaki started crying that his son didn't love him. "We have company." Immediately, Isshin ears perked up and he looked over to the doorway to see Orihime there.

"Oh Masaki!" he talked to the large poster of his wife, "Ichigo has finally grown up! He's brought his girlfriend home! She has such large-" Ichigo cut his dad off with a kick.

"She's not my girlfriend crazy! Her street got flooded so she's staying here!" Ichigo turned to Orihime, "Don't mind him, he's always like this. Come on you can stay in my room." He turned and walked up the room.

"NO! Kurosaki-kun," Orihime protested following him, "I don't want to be a burden. I'll just sleep on the couch."

"No, it's too cold down there," he said, opening the door to his room, "And you're a guest." He started straightening up his room. "No buts." He finished cleaning the room, and grabbed some clothes and handed them to the girl. "Here you can use some of my clothes."

"Onii-chan, Inoue-san," Yuzu said, coming into the room, "It's time for dinner." The two teens went back downstairs and sat down to eat dinner which was Japanese curry and rice.

"Mmmm," Orihime praised, "This is delicious."

"Thank-you Inoue-san!" Yuzu said gleefully.

"Do you have any red bean paste?" Orihime asked and Ichigo sweat-dropped, "I want to try it with this."

"I would never think to try that!" Yuzu thought, "I'm sure we have some!" The two girls went to the kitchen to add their weird ingredient and chatted about their recipes. Ichigo watched in amusement as his sister and friend bonded. After fifteen minutes he saw Orihime stifle a yawn.

"Come on Inoue," Ichigo said standing up, "I'm sure you're tired."

And now I'm itching for the tall grass
And longing for the breeze
I need to step outside
Just to see if I can breathe
I gotta find a way out
Maybe theres a way out

Ichigo lay on the couch, trying to get to sleep but he felt strange.

He felt too… out of breath? Yeah, he felt breathless, but in a good way. Like he was just relieved of some pressure in his heart.

'That's cuz you just realized you love Hime,' his hollow stated.

'Where the hell did that come from?' he asked his inner hollow.

Come on King, you basically went to hell and back for that girl, and you're trying to tell yourself you don't feel anything.

'S-she's just a friend.'

Hah. That's what they all say when they're really in LOVE.

'I don't! She's just a friend.'

Come on King! How can you not love that sexy body? That illustrious body! And that-

'Shut up! Don't talk about Orihime that way!' Ichigo froze; he never referred to the healer by her first name.

Hehe his hollowed chuckled told ya so. His hollow then proceeded to torture Ichigo by sending… suggestive images.

Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer
Do you know you're unlike any other?

Ichigo closed his eyes and blocked out his hollow. He tried to fall asleep but couldn't. A certain someone's voice and images popped into his head, and wouldn't go away. He groaned and got up for a drink of water. He walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see it was already occupied. Orihime sat on the kitchen counter, staring out the window watching the rain with a cup of water in her hands.

You'll always be my thunder, and I said
Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors
I don't wanna ever love another
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain

"Hey, Inoue," Ichigo said, and then thunder rumbled through the air. Startled, Orihime gasped and let go of her glass, sending it shattering to the ground. She went to hop down to pick it up.

"No!" Ichigo stopped her by grabbing her waist and pulling her back onto the counter, "I don't want you to cut yourself." He realized his hands were still around her waist, and he let go quickly with a blush coming across his cheeks. Ichigo walked around and he bent down to pick up the glass. Orihime jumped down from the counter, careful of any glass and helped him.

"Ow!" Ichigo cried out as the last piece of glass cut deeply into his palm, blood seeped down onto the floor. He sat down on his buttox and went to pull out the glass. Suddenly, another pair of hands were on his. He looked up into Orihime's eyes.

"On three," She said, "One."

"Two." He countered.

"Three," they said together, and Ichigo pulled out the glass and Orihime called out her faeries.

Yeah I'm walking on a tightrope
I'm wrapped up in vines
I think we'll make it out
But you just gotta give me time

"I'm sorry," Orihime said softly. They had moved over to the couch as the floor was comfortable. Ichigo looked up; his hand was almost done healing.

"For what?" he asked, "It wasn't your fault. I'm the one that startled you."

"For everything," Orihime replied, "For making you rescue me from Los Noches, for you getting hurt and…" she stopped, tears threatened to spill over as she looked at him, "And for being afraid of you, even though you risked your life and soul to rescue me."

Ichigo didn't know what to say. He flashed back to when his hollow took over during his fight with Ulquiorra. He remembered pieces of those moments, but her fear stricken face stood out in her mind.

Strike me down with lightning
Let me feel you in my veins
I wanna let you know how much I feel your pain

"It's okay Inoue," he said softly, "Anyone would've been afraid."

"But I'm not anyone!" she burst, "I shouldn't of been afraid of Kurosaki-kun after he risked everything to save me! I was such a burden and-" She was cut off when warm arms wrapped around her.

"You are not a burden," a voice said sharply into her ear. Ichigo pulled back and looked at her, "Don't ever think that. You're one of the closest people to me; I will always come to rescue you."

Today is a winding road that's taking me to places that I didn't want to go, Whoa

Ichigo was surprised at what he said, but he was glad he said it. He came to a conclusion that his hollow was right, for once. He did love this beautiful girl on front of him. Ichigo found himself doing another surprising thing, he leaned in towards her.

Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer
Do you know you're unlike any other?
You'll always be my thunder, and I said
Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors
I don't wanna ever love another
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
And bring on the thunder,

Thunder once again cracked through the air and Orihime felt his lips on hers. Her eyes widened, then closed and she kissed him back. Their lips locked and unlocked, and after a few heated minutes they both needed air. Their foreheads leaned on another as they caught their breath.

"Orihime, can I call you that?" It was a weird question but Ichigo felt as if he had to ask.

"Yes, you can… Ichigo-kun," Orihime replied then giggled and rest her head on his chest. He wrapped her in his arms and wished time would just stop then and there.

and I said
Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer
Do you know you're unlike any other?
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
Oh baby bring on the pain
And listen to the thunder

The storm continued as the couple listened to the rain pattering on the roof, and fell asleep in each others' arms.

Word Count:

w/ out lyrics: 1939

w/ lyrics: 2352