Authors Note: Hello there this is my first fanfiction. With the help of OnigiriKami I have been able to publish this. A special thanks to OnigiriKami.
Enjoy the story.
Full summary: Living in the US, 17 year old Rukia wants to visit Japan for the summer. She needs a roommate to stay with in, Karakura Town. The only person she finds is Ichigo Kurosaki. New adventures, places and people. Will Ichigo and Rukia develop a friendship, or will they become more than roommates and friends?

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 1: Why Japan? The reasons.

(Rukia's POV)

"Are you serious, your brother even said yes?" Orihime asked me with a concerned face.

She was holding Uryū's hand. Orihime and Ishida had been going out for the last three months. They were great for each other and both were very good friends of mine.

"Yeah, my bother accepted it; he knew how much I wanted to go on this trip. I even raised my own money on this." I replied with a small smile.

"That's great Rukia; I bet you're going to have a lot of fun there." Uryū commented.

"Thanks, Uryū." I said.

'School has been a pain this year, but thinking about this trip makes me endure all the agony. I don't have many friends; after all I have a lot to do once school is dismissed.' I looked at the clock and realized there was less than five seconds before class ended.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

BEEEEEP

'Finally'

I got off my chair, told Orihime and Uryū goodbye, and rushed out of the school, heading straight home.

My house was considerably large. The first time I brought Orihime over, she was amazed and thought it was a mansion. It had big gates surrounding the area, and a fountain was in the middle of the drive way. There was a courtyard next to it, with a lovely grass maze, that intertwined the area. It was peaceful, with all the trees surrounding the house, and the birds singing out of it.

I walked into the big mansion, pushing the humongous mahogany door and, as usual, I had to greet my brother. I quietly walked into his study room, and without turning from his 'information gathering', he had already known that I was behind him.

"How was school today?" asked a cold voice once I entered the house.

I looked up and saw my brother, Byakuya reading a newspaper while writing something down, on the dark brown desk. His grey eyes searching through the newspaper, trying to find out what the other rivaling companies were doing. My brother was the CEO director of the "Kuchiki Industry".

"The usual" I answered as formally as I could. I couldn't stand the tension of the atmosphere, whenever me and brother were in the same room.

He barely looked up, sometimes it made me depressed, we didn't have a normal brother-sister relationship, but I can't blame him, he had a lot to do, after all, we are the Kuchiki's.

After my brother had dismissed me, I ran upstairs to my room, opened up the door, and threw my chappy book bag on the floor and dropped myself on the bed. I looked up at the ceiling, beginning to think why I was so eager to go to this trip.

Flash Back

"Rukia?" the voice of a monotoned man had knocked at my door.

"Yes, brother,"

Byakuya opened the door and entered my room. He slowly placed himself on my bed, sitting there, staring at me, with those unreadable eyes, seeming that he was going to tell me something important.

"Rukia, have I ever told you about Hisana?" He suddenly asked. this had caught me by full surprise. He had never talked about Hisana ever to me, or even offered to share before.

"No, brother, but I would like to hear it."

"Very well. Before we remained here, in New York, Hisana and I once lived in Japan. There, the Kuchiki family was remarkably well known, as one of the most well known nobles of the four great clans." He paused, looking almost nostalgic at bringing up these memories,"Hisana didn't grow up in royalty, but even so, she was a beautiful, independent and determined woman. We both fell in love in Japan. I was so happy at the time, but then I decided it would have been better to live here. I was foolish. She became ill rapidly causing her to die. Her last wish was to take care of you, as a sister. I promised your sister an oath that I will protect you."

I felt touched. My brother had finally opened up to me a little.

I looked at my brother and noticed he was disheartened. I was sure it was hard for him to explain such a story. I kept listening, but nothing else was said. There was a moment of silence, but then I decided to break the silence with the idea that came in my head.

"Brother, what would you say if I want to visit Japan?" I asked him cautiously.

"'Be careful, Rukia Kuchiki'."

End of Flash Back

That was why I wanted to visit Japan. I want to see the life that I was missing, the place where my family once lived, but mostly see if I could encounter what my brother had found there.

Love. I had never experienced this before, but I had been jealous often times, whenever I saw how Orihime and Uryu had always looked so happy together. This was what I wanted to find, pure happiness.

------------

I opened my eyes and found myself on my bed. Was I sleeping? I took a quick look at the clock, on the little table. It was 5:31 PM.

'Oh my god, get up Rukia, time to get things finished.'

I had to finish preparing my trip. I already knew what to pack, learned a little Japanese, all that's left was the place I'll be staying at and of course the plane tickets. I quickly got up and turned on my laptop, which had chappy wallpaper. I searched up a few words and to my luck I only got two pages that corresponded to what I really wanted. Wait… make that one. I
quickly read the page.

'Hmm.....lets see, this person needs a roommate and is currently living in Japan....lives in an apartment, and wants to share rent fee....' I scrolled down more to see if this person had a picture, but did not. But luckily, I had found out the person's name and email address.

The name of this person had been really pretty, and I had immediately send an email to this person, asking if I could be their room mate.

All there was left to do know was wait for the reply. As I waited, I was deep in thought

'I wonder how she looks like... such a pretty name... Kurosaki Ichigo....'

Alright some things might be confusing. Any questions/concerns ask/tell me and I will reply. Since I don't know Japanese, things that are going to be in this type of typing -wrote sideways- (In the future chapters) is being said in Japanese. Remember that. Hope you enjoyed. Arrigato gozimasu Onigirikami.

-Jesse