Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Kubo Tite owns Bleach and all of its characters.

Hourglass

Ticking Bomb

Ichigo furiously brushed his teeth, adding extra toothpaste to his brush every now and again to fill his mouth with foam. The smell of last night's dinner lingered in his mouth. He didn't really care if he smelled like onions for the rest of the day, but today was special. Today marks the first day of his senior year in high school. That meant two things. Pictures were being taken for ID's and he has to make a good impression on the incoming freshman he was forced to escort. He needed to keep his cool image, after all.

After rinsing, he showed his pearly whites to the mirror and thoroughly scanned them for any signs of gunk. After he figured the cost was clear, he breathed on his hand and whiffed the smell –which was minty fresh. Smirking triumphantly, he left the restroom and ran down the stairs.

"Ichi-nii, make sure you take out the garbage too! It's been sitting in the kitchen since last night." Yuzu chastised, while cooking pancakes for her sister and father. Now that she was in middle school, she was busier than before. That meant more work for Ichigo.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get it." He said in a rush. He grabbed the bag of trash in one hand and in the other, his backpack. He closed the door with his foot and walked towards the trash can. Putting his bag down for a second, he opened the trash bin and threw the bag in there. Dusting his hands for imaginary dust, he picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder nonchalantly.

He needed to get to the school before the ninth graders arrived. He glanced at his watch and saw the digital numbers blink rapidly. It was already thirty passed seven. By the time he reached the school, the students would have already wandered off to their seminar class. He was tempted to start sprinting but he wouldn't dare work up a sweat on this day. Any other day would have been alright, but not today.

Tick, Tock

Instead, he walked a little faster and took longer steps.

He cut through corners and carefully jaywalked streets. That cut down the arrival time by at least half, he thought, now all I need to do is turn this corner and I'll be at school. He looked at the blinking numbers again and almost smiled in relief to notice that only ten minutes have passed. Usually, it was a twenty minute walk to the school.

Ichigo took in a deep breath and turned the corner. Looking ahead, he saw the gate that was flooded by students. He was surprised none of the other leadership students showed up to escort them. After all, a huge crowd like that can't be ignored. He frowned at their lack of action. The least someone could have done was take a few students so it wouldn't look like he slacked off on his responsibilities.

As soon as Ichigo stepped foot within a ten foot radius of the students, all of them turned to face him. Some, mostly the girls, wore faces full of curiosity and awe at the sight of the orange haired boy. There was no doubt in any of their minds that he was handsome. The orange hair was strange, but it strangely complemented his amber colored eyes. Or at least, that's what most of them believed. The rest of students, which were the boys, stared at him with either faces of indifference or fear from his thug-ish frown.

Sighing, he made his way to the front of the crowd. Once he was at the front, he yelled, "Welcome incoming freshman! My name is Kurosaki Ichigo and I will escort you all to the cafeteria. There, you will find large posters with all of your names written on it along with your seminar class. You'll receive the rest of your classes in seminar. Are there any questions?" No one dared to even move a muscle. He shrugged and began to walk, gesturing with his free hand to follow him.

All the students followed him shortly. A few students would chat while walking but other than that, the majority of them were completely silent. Ichigo figured they were all afraid of him and the school. Going to a new school is always terrifying, he reasoned, though, I'm thankful their at least obedient. The last batch of freshman were all little punks who thought it'd be funny to call him nicknames. By the end of the day, the punks were regulated by Ichigo's fist.

Just as he was told, he escorted the young ones to the cafeteria. Each one scrambled towards the posters to see where they were going. His job was officially done. He looked at his watch and almost laughed victorious. There was still five minutes left to the bell.

Tick, Tock

Before time ran out, he walked towards the building where the senior classes were being held. He wanted to get to class early today and talk to his teacher about one of the –

KLANK!

Ichigo stopped moving and looked at the object that fell near him. Walking up to it, he realized it was a piece of metal. Putting his backpack down on the floor, he kneeled and grabbed the machine in one hand while touching it with the other. It appeared to be some sort of slab of bent metal. Perhaps it fell from a building. Looking up, he realized there were no building above his head or nearby that looked like the same material.

The cool metal in his hand began to burn as soon as noticed the material and dropped it on the floor. He hissed and grabbed his hand that burned. He didn't understand what just happened. The slab felt cool when he picked it up. How was it able to heat up like that? That's just weird, he thought incredulously.

Suddenly, he heard a strange noise. It sounded far away but his ears picked it up instantly. It was the sound of something moving through the air, like a plane or hovercraft. He looked above and blanched at the sight. A large metallic craft was heading straight towards him. No wait, he inspected closer, it's heading for the freshman… Ichigo's heartbeat sounded distorted and deafeningly loud. He tried to take a step forward, but the world began to shift from left to right whenever he tried to move.

Tick, Tock

He was running out of time and no one seemed to notice the craft but him. It was only a matter of seconds before the thing crashed. Mustering the courage he needed, he yelled, "Everyone, RUN AWAY!"

Every single person turned their heads to him slowly. Ichigo felt as if he were watching the whole thing in slow motion. He took one more breath in to yell but before he even tried to open his mouth, the craft crashed.

Debris and machinery flew through the air as it crashed. Screams echoed through the entire school as the machine combusted into flames. Students who were nearby were caught in the fire, causing them to shriek in anguish. Their uniforms were tattered and burned off while their skin made a sharp sizzling sound that sounded extremely loud to Ichigo. He just stood there as everyone near him became engulfed with flames.

"Please, help!" He tried to focus on the yell. It was one of the ninth graders from earlier. Her leg was caught underneath a large piece of metal. The fire was getting closer to her as well. Ichigo took a step forward but tripped and fell under the wave of dizziness he felt. He crawled on all fours toward the girl. Completely disorientated, he tried to move the metal sheet that was crushing her leg but he couldn't pick it up.

"Please, please, I don't care if you have to rip my leg apart just save me!" She yelled in anguish and Ichigo pulled even harder. The piece of metal was too heavy for him to pick up. It was physically impossible for a boy like him to pick the heavy sheet of metal. Ichigo tried harder, screaming as he lifted it. Even with all of his might, he was unable to do anything. By now, the flames reached them and Ichigo's pants caught on fire.

He scrambled away from the fire to put out the fire that began to devour his left leg. Looking ahead, the girl gave him one last fleeting look before her body disappeared within the flames. Her pierced cries made Ichigo want to commit suicide. The amount of guilt that shot through him was enough to make him feel like he was no longer a human, but a savage animal that would leave behind anything in order to survive.

Tick, Tock

He stopped moving away and let the flames lick his shoe. He let out a frustrated growl before closing his eyes for what he thought would be his last moment on Earth. He clenched his jaw for a few seconds before realizing that he wasn't burning up. Looking up, he saw someone extinguish the fire with some kind of blue gel. His vision was blurry so he couldn't see a thing, but judging by the figure, the person was definitely a woman. She had inky black hair and wore a white bodysuit with glowing blue spots on her back.

She turned to him and said something but he couldn't hear anything by then. All he noticed were her eyes. They were the strangest sort of blue he had ever seen –sharp blue with tints of purple. He didn't know whether it was because of the flames of his hazed vision, but they appeared to glow a faint blue that made her seem like some sort of ethereal being. After that thought, his body slumped to the side.

Time was up.

Authors note: Sorry it's short. I'll make 'em longer as the time passes. Please leave a review. Even if it's just to talk smack, I'll accept it. After all, I want to know what I did right and what I did wrong. Please and thank you :)