Being an exchange student will be rough. You will leave behind your family, friends and everything that is familiar and safe. You will arrive to a whole different culture, where everything is new and strange. The first few weeks will be the roughest. You´ll miss your family and friends, you feel like you can´t handle it but if you look around and open up your mind you will notice how wonderful it can be. You will meet new people and create bonds of friendship that can last for a lifetime. When it is time to return home, you might find it difficult to say goodbye.
This is what Ichigo Kurosaki was told when he applied to a student exchange program.
His father Isshin Kurosaki was extremely proud of his son. After all it was in public knowledge that getting into an exchange program was quite difficult. Your grades had to be good and you wouldn´t get in with your grades. The members of the committee would call you to an interview, where they would ask questions, based on your answers they´ll evaluate your personality. They do that because they want to be sure that the student is responsible and can handle studying in a foreign land.
Ichigo passed all their 'tests' with clear marks, so the red head easily got in into the program. The students, who applied had no influence in the matter of their destination. Where they would be spending the next year? No one knew. They told the applicants that detailed information of their destiny and schedule would be sent to them in mail. All that they were given was the date when their flight would be.
When they would arrive to the destination they would meet their host families. Yes, host families. The students would change the family they were staying few times during the year. It was organized that way for their benefit and for the host families. If you thought about it you would see the reason. If you were to stay in a one family for the whole year, think how awkward it would be if you wouldn´t get along with the family you were staying with. Thought they were told that getting a horrible host family was extremely rare if not impossible.
They were also given some rules that they were supposed to follow. The rules included things like no alcohol, no drugs and no romantic relationships. The red head was highly skeptical, he didn´t believe that the first and third rule would be followed at all but he did believe that most wouldn´t try drugs, because if it somehow got out, the organization would fly them home immediately. That was the case with alcohol too but people would probably still do that. Ichigo himself didn´t drink alcohol like most of his age did. He preferred to remember things and to be able to control his actions. Sure he drank sometimes with friends but only somewhere where he knew he would be out of trouble. Romantic relationships? Some asked of the matter and they were told that having relationship was okay but only if it didn´t affect your studies.
Ichigo started to pack his things early on, so that he wouldn´t end up noticing on the night before the flight that he hadn´t haven´t even started yet. His little sisters were very helpful during the packing. They were looking up stuff for him and constantly asking if he had remembered to take something and should they get it to him if he hadn´t. In three days the red head had completed packing everything that he believed he might need. He left some space in his suitcases. He was sure that he would end up buying some clothes there and of course he would have to bring souvenirs to Karin and Yuzu, when he would return.
On the night before he left, his friends had organized a party for him. They stayed up late eating snacks, playing games and talking. When Ichigo left home it was late. He would be able to sleep 6 hours before he needed to get up and start heading to the airport. He would need to open up his other suitcase to add the present had received from his friends. It was a photo-album, which was filled with pictures of his friends and him, their hang-out places and his family. A chuckle escaped the red head´s lips as he recalled the giving of his present. His friends had been so serious. The even gave him a speech, in which they said that they had decided to give the album, because they didn´t want that Ichigo would forget them and it would probably be nice to show the album to his host families. It would tell them about the red head and if needed it would work out as something to start talking in case they were missing topics.
The morning of Ichigos flight was hectic. They almost forgot his other bag home and had to return to get it. The red head was the last one to arrive and immediately when he got there they were told to say goodbyes to their families, when they were finished with their farewells they would head to the check in.
The red head let go of his bags and turned to face his father. For a short moment they just looked into each other eyes before, like from a mutual agreement both men moved forward. Ichigo met his dad in a bone crushing hug.
"Dad, I can´t breathe!" The red heads father loosened his death grip and finally let go of his son a goofy smile plastered over his face.
"Sorry about that son". His father´s face looked like he could start crying any minute but it was no wonder his father was emotional. He was a single parent since his wife had passed away, so when it got to his children he sometimes tended to get a little overprotective.
Ichigo could feel someone pulling the hem of his shirt and when he looked down he saw his little sister, Yuzu with tears forming in her bright chocolate brown eyes. Ichigos face immediately melted to a soft smile. He lowered himself to his sisters' level and pulled her to a gentle embrace. Yuzu´s twin sister was standing few steps away. Her attention was clearly fixed on her siblings and she didn´t try to cover it. Karin had always been somewhat boyish girl so it was no surprise to her brother that she stood there looking but when Ichigo looked into her eyes and opened his other arm smiling even the boyish Karin ran to her brothers arms. Ichigo hugged his sisters and they hugged him back with equal affection. They stayed like that for a moment until Ichigo spoke.
"Take care of dad for me, okay?" His sisters simultaneously looked up and nodded. Yuzu was smiling thought tears were still running from her eyes. Karin´s face was passive, she never was one to show her feelings to others, unlike their father who had started to remind a waterfall.
"Okay, take your luggage and follow me. We will be going to the checking now and then straight to the security check, take your passports ready." Everyone started to follow the lady who had spoken. Ichigo included.
When Ichigo had rounded the corner and his family could no longer see him they started to walk back to their car. Yuzu carefully approached their father and slid her small hand to his father's bigger one.
"Will Ichi-nii be fine?" She asked with the most sincere voice, her brows turned to a worried frown. Her father smiled and reassured his daughter.
"He´ll be fine, his a big boy already"