Before every morning shift she would wake to the alarm on her phone. While swallowing her sleepy state away, she stretched and rose from her covers. Tossing aside her nightwear, she slipped into her work pants before noticing the blizzard outside her window. Her body quivered in the chilly air, reaching for her work blouse to cover her shaking shoulders and made a note in her head to turn up the heater. The walls of her apartment quaked as the snow and rain thrashed sideways passed her window. She gulped, wondering how she could arrive to work without turning up soaking wet.
She passed her brothers photograph as she analyzed the rain passing by her living room window, wishing she had a car or knew someone she knew that had one, and it shamed her. Then she wished her brother a good morning, knowing she would just have to make it on her own.
At three thirty in the morning a large breakfast was hard to handle so she usually kept her serving small. She packed a lunch and some water and hurriedly ran to her closet after brushing her teeth and dealing with make-up. She grabbed her scarf, sweater, coat, gloves, and a large tuque she coiled her hair beneath in a large ponytail. While running over her appearance her bedroom mirror she sighed and hoped it would be enough to cover her on her way to work.
Grateful of her rubber boots, she paced down the road. The force of the weather caused her to move unwilling, trying to keep her balance on the icy sidewalk as the wind tossed around her violently. She had never been pushed by the wind like this in her life, and it was becoming a frightful experience. All she wanted was to get to work and fast. It was still so dark at that time and the roads were covered in torn branches and snow, with no one in sight.
Finally she approached her work, noting that crashing noises came from behind her. She turned quickly and noticed that a few shopping carts were being pulled from their places and she had to quickly move aside. Soon after a cart had passed her she was nearly hit by a sign that had come loose near the advertisement poster's. She lost her breath, holding back a squeal as she rushed towards the wall, quickly slipping inside through the exit door.
She sighed, knowing she wasn't alone anymore. The cashier's stood near the wall, watching as shopping carts and buckets flew free.
"Someone needs to grab those," One lady remarked as Orihime slipped by.
"Well I'm not going out there," Another woman fought.
Orihime simply ignored them seeing as how she didn't want to be labelled late for work, and from over the counter she spotted one of the bakery's cake decorator's and assistant manager, Mayumi.
"Morning Orihime," Mayumi cheered before Mai repeated from around the corner.
"Good morning!" Orihime said brisk fully, now awake for whatever work had to offer her.
Mai made the corner in order to grab Orihime's attention, "How was the walk?"
"I was chased by a few shopping carts, but I think I'm okay," Orihime brimmed while Mai gawked at her.
Mai then posed a rhetorical question, "Thinking the walk to work wasn't worth the money?"
Orihime laughed, heading for the back towards her locker. She passed the baker's on her way and wished them a good morning. The youngest baker there was, was a boy Orihime's age. He wasn't very talkative so Orihime was fine with just a good morning from Tom. But the other baker working that day, Tamika, was much older and more lively.
It was another packaging day for Orihime and she prepared for work, ignoring the horrible weather outside. She washed her hands and filled out the daily papers before pulling out the racks that needed to be dealt with. After a few hours of talking about the weather and dealing with unhappy co-workers, the wind finally became a major problem and,-
Everyone stood shocked as the companies major power cut off.
There was some slight panic as the Bakery went black, Tamika then grumbled in the dark, "Well that was bound to happen."
Orihime stood puzzled in the dark as she waited for her eyes to adjust. She waited as Mayumi handed her a flashlight she knew she would need, even though the light from the front where the cashiers were helped her spot everyone. Even though the store had just opened there were still some confused costumers lost between the aisles.
"What are we supposed to do? All the racks are pretty much done," Orihime pondered with Mai appearing next to her.
"Oh man," Mai whispered, "Arisu-chan's going to be here soon. Should we just send her home?"
In that moment, Orihime figured Ichigo should of been there by now seeing as how it was almost seven but she couldn't sense his spiritual pressure near by. All the girl's stood in the dark, thinking on what they're options were until Garan appeared.
"Alright ladies," He announced suddenly from behind Orihime, quickly making his way to the freezer, "We need to take temperatures immediately and then cover the front cooler so that the product wont get ruined. The guys fixing the power wont be here for quite awhile."
Mayumi quickly followed him as Tamika questioned, "We have scones in the oven that aren't done yet. Are we going to have to throw them out?"
Garan shifted in the dark and looked towards Tom who was just waiting by the baker's table, "It depends how long the power's off for. Tom, start putting the day baking stuff away. We'll have to stop production for now."
The boy was about to follow his guide lines till quickly inquiring, "If there's no baking to do, will I be able to leave early?"
Garan laughed, "As long as you get everything put away."
"Tamika can do it," He argued sarcastically and as a reply Tamika stuck out her tongue.
"Well Jeez," Someone harped from the front counter, "I'm glad I came to work! What's going on here?"
"Arisu-chan," Garan welcomed, trying to change her mood, "The power's going to be out for a few hours so we'll need some help."
"What?" Arisu complained loudly.
Together Orihime and Mai panicked, "A few hours?"
Garan simply pulled a flashlight from the decorator's drawer and smiled, "Yup, so we need to get a move on. Who wants to help get ice?"
All the girls sat quietly, afraid to even answer the question. Though Orihime of course was glad to help and agreed to go.
"Alright Arisu," Garan declared, "Put away your things and help Mai package. Mayumi, find some boards to cover the front cooler after taking the temps. And Orihime, you're coming with me. Let's go!"
In a rush everyone started their work. Orihime of course followed Garan through the produce department until suddenly he froze.
"Orihime, I would hate to make you carry the ice," He decided as they neared the seafood department, "Could you go grab the guys to lift it?"
Orihime nodded and quickly turned back towards the produce department. She knew Garan figured it was just a simple request, but he had no idea how much trouble he was causing her. Carefully she slipped inside the produce departments door until someone standing in the corner with a flashlight turned to her.
"Orihime?"
She recognized that voice.
"I-Izuo-kun?"
He questioned knowing she had an obvious reason for being there, "Yeah, what's up?"
"Uh, Garan asked me to grab some people to help lift ice for him. Would you mind?"
"Yeah, of course," He agreed, moving swiftly through the door, "You should check the back."
Orihime stood in the doorway and watched him leave. She figured it would be better to just follow his directions than turn up empty handed, though, in the back she could literally see nothing. As she entered she felt no urge to call out since her location had made her feel claustrophobic.
She was very aware of where she was and she didn't like the idea of being alone. To her left was a large open cooler and the rest of her surroundings were high shelves stacked to the roof with produce back stock. Her toes curled as she timidly meandered through the black, feeling the cold chill of the dark cooler next to her.
She couldn't hear anyone. It made her think she should just leave it at that and go back till a very frightened Orihime bumped into something, or better yet someone.
She kept from crying out, simply forcing herself to mumble so that she wouldn't embarrass herself, "I-I'm so sorry."
"I-Inoue," A confused Ichigo questioned as he shifted in the dark. With a quick click he turned on a flash light and handed it to her, "Here."
"Kurosaki-kun," She gasped, "I'm so glad it's you. It's so dark back here."
That being said, even with the flash light on she could hardly see a thing. Wondering how Ichigo could be so calm back there. It reminded her of those night zombie movies where the lead character's would be inside some abandoned store, being hunted without knowing- She quickly turned around.
Ichigo simply eyed her, slightly amused, "How come you're back here?"
"Oh," She suddenly remembered. "My boss Garan wanted me to grab some guys to help lift ice for our department."
"Ah," Ichigo slipped the box in his hand into the near by shelf that Orihime couldn't fully see, "Let's go then."
She followed him through the dark and through the door. "Sorry you had to come to work today."
"Mh? It's not your fault, Inoue," Ichigo gave her a curious look, "It should be interesting."
Orihime looked up to him as they walked with her brows furrowed. She still needed to know, "Where have you been?"
His scowling face didn't turn back to her, "I was with Hirako."
Orihime's eyes bugged, "Mh?" She knew he could be talking about training but she wasn't sure why.
"I just needed to ask him something," Ichigo calmed.
So, he finally decided to talk to Hirako about everything.
Orihime remembered. There was no way she could forget Ichigo's dark eyes. No, they weren't Ichigo's eyes.
She was learning more about him as time went by, yet she still felt so lost when it came to knowing how he felt. She really wished he would talk to her about it more so she wouldn't have to worry. Going to Hirako meant that he wanted to deal with what had been taking over him, and Orihime wanted to be involved.
Like normal she felt herself idolizing his figure as they walked, soon realizing that her Garan was only a few feet away.
"Ah, you must be the new guy," Garan waved them over, "Ichigo, right?"
"Yes sir," He complied.
"My name's Garan. I hope you don't mind me interrupting your work." Orihime felt uncomfortable while Garan's eyes quickly shifted to her as Ichigo watched Izuo lift blocks of ice.
"Well, there's not much to be done when you can't see what you're doing," Ichigo sighed, though Garan found it amusing and started to laugh.
Orihime couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the stack of ice grow higher. The blocks were huge and there was way too many to even fit inside the coolers. At least, that's what she figured.
While feeling very incapable Orihime began to drag the cart when they were finished, Garan quickly asking her if she would be okay pulling it all. Orihime simply waved her hands and managed to get the cart moving after Kiseki and Ichigo gave it a push.
Garan lead the three back towards the bakery where they met with Mayumi who seemed greatly concerned.
"If the power stays off for hours aren't we're going to have to throw out everything," She spoke slightly muffled by the hand that was glued over her mouth nervously as she stared at the cardboard covering the two coolers.
While Garan and Mayumi planned how to execute a new idea, Orihime gazed at the two boys standing next to her. To her it was weird seeing them in the same place together, right beside her.
Then Ichigo looked down to her.
"Orihime," Arisu came sprinting around the counter, "Come with me!"
The boys then watched as the shy auburn haired girl was dragged by the forceful dirty-blonde.
"Ah-Arisu-chan," Orihime squeaked, "Where are we going?"
Arisu finally slowed herself down, "No one's able to work since all the packaging's done and the bread can't be sliced. Mayumi even said we can't clean because it's too dark. So that when the lights turn on we would probably just have to clean it all over again." Orihime smiled as Arisu joked. "I just want to go to the bathroom and I figured it would be scary to go alone."
The two girls stared towards the dark doors leading beyond the seafood department and Orihime eyed the live crabs that continued their attempts to escape the class casing next to it. She bit her lip, "It is scary."
As Arisu shoved the swinging doors open they found themselves in the dark.
"Here, Kurosaki-kun gave me a flash light," Orihime flicked on the light and they headed towards the stairs, with Arisu's eyes pasted to the stairs.
"So what's the deal with you two again?" Arisu asked coyly.
"Uh," Orihime just realized she had given Arisu ammunition towards this type of conversation, "I've known Kurosaki-kun for a really long time. We've only been friends for a few years though."
They continued up the stairs, "And you like him?"
"Arisu-chan," Orihime whined, "Someone might hear us."
Instantly the girls surveyed their surroundings and Orihime felt Arisu clamp her arm. "Wh-Where is everyone anyways?"
Orihime stared into the lunch room and they searched the bathroom. The offices and conference room of course had been locked as usual but Orihime still found Arisu peaking through the window. No one was in sight.
"I guess everyone's needed downstairs," Orihime shrugged, standing next to the lunchroom, "Go ahead, I'll just be in here."
Arisu moved a garbage can in front of the door so that she had some light while Orihime searched through the lunch room. She used the flashlight to read the new letters and notes other employee's had posted as she waited, soon loosing herself in a magazine that had been thrown atop the eating table.
"Let's get back with everyone," Arisu suddenly poked her head inside the door and Orihime agreed.
They shuffled downstairs before walking through the dark, meeting the swinging doors. The two walked towards the bakery when they noticed no one was around and the cooler looked completely sealed off.
"Oh, over there," Arisu pointed to a crowd of people waiting by the wall sized windows upfront near the exit doors.
They shuffled closer, noticing there were several groups of people talking from every department. The costumers that had been inside the store earlier had now been evacuated with none to be seen. The cashiers had already locked the doors and there was talk of everyone going home. The wind and snow shook the windows, scaring everyone nearby.
Arisu eyes widened as she watched objects get tossed across the roads, "This is really bad."
