Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes shot wide open and he lurched forward holding his stomach. He held his hand over his mouth and groaned before looking down at the floor making his eyes narrow slightly. He looked to his left and then to his right and his eyes narrowed more as he found himself aboard a train. He sat back up, the nausea he had been feeling passing almost as soon as he succumbed to full consciousness. People had started to notice his heard gaze and quietly but surely moved away from the orange haired young man.

The last thing Ichigo remembered was... he was at Kisuke's shop drinking tea, discussing the current hollow sightings... then nothing.

"That son of a bitch!" Ichigo growled in his mind sitting back up. "The son of a bitch actually drugged me! I knew the bastard was capable of it I just didn't think he would stoop so low as to actually do it!" His vibrating pocket brought him out of his musings on how he was going to kill Kisuke in a bloodbath and how he would make it out to be an accident, or suicide... He growled as he reached into his pocket and pulled the phone out, it wasn't his usual phone. On the screen was a chibi version of Urahara dancing, showing that it was indeed the shopkeeper actually ringing him. Ichigo growled before answering.

"Oh Ichigo! How nice of you to answer!" Kisuke laughed over the other end of the phone. "How are you feeling?"

"Angry mostly!" Ichigo snapped back at him. "Where the hell am I?! Where is this train going?!

"By now you should be in Tokyo, or as people nowadays call it, Shinto Teito." Kisuke told him and Ichigo just knew the man was grinning.

"Are you kidding me?!" Ichigo roared. "Why the hell am in in Tokyo!"

"Why? You said you wished to apply for a college did you not?"

"I meant in Karakura you ass!" Ichigo roared.

"Either way, you're there now you might as well apply." Kisuke chuckled, ignoring Ichigo's obvious anger.

"That doesn't' give you the right to drug me like that! Where am I supposed to live? What college and I suppose to apply to! Did you ever think about that!"

"I sure did. The entrance exams for any college in Tokyo isn't for a couple of months, so you have plenty of time to find a job, and with the money you have now I'm sure you can afford a place for a few weeks as you search for a job. I will send you a couple of college references." Ichigo grit his teeth in annoyance as he gripped the phone in his hand. "Oh, and the phone? Keep it. It will allow me to contact you, don't lose it though, it was a pain to make, I'm sure you will figure it's not that easy to destroy anyway." Ichigo growled in annoyance.

"And what's the real reason you sent me to Tokyo?"

"Whatever do you mean Ichigo?" Kisuke laughed and got a growl in response from Ichigo. "Ok, you know me all too well don't you Ichigo? Alright. Over the last couple of months several high reiatsu levels have been detected, and from my source's there hasn't been any hollows, Tokyo is usually a large hit for hollows like many other large cities but there haven't been any. Since this is not Hollow related the soul Society won't deal with it since at the moment it is no direct threat to any humans. That's why I sent you."

"Great." Ichigo sighed in annoyance. "Guessing collage is just my cover then?"

"Two birds, one stone is what they say isn't it?" Kisuke laughed. "You get to go to college while gathering information on the strange Reiatsu levels. Not bad huh?"

"What about Karakura? Who's going to protect it?"

"I'll be able to deal with them for the time being until a competent Soul Reaper is given jurisdiction over the town in your absence." Ichigo sighed in annoyance. "Good luck Ichigo, by rights you shouldn't need to use your Soul Reaper powers, but I packed your Substitute badge just encase. Have fun." The line died and Ichigo groaned as he let his arm drop from his ear and slumped over in defeat.

He looked out the window to see it still snowing. It was true that when he had last seen Kisuke and had accepted the offer of unknown spiked tea, he had talked with him about college, he was nineteen now, two years out of high school and had still been working with Ikumi. After he graduated he barely had any free time, his Substitute duties kept him busy and when there weren't Hollows he was working with Ikumi, meaning he didn't have much time to look, let alone apply for college.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, if he could go to college, what harm could a little re-con be for the insane shopkeeper? He sighed and ran a hand through his orange hair and idly pulled a few strands before his brown eyes.

"I'm going to need a haircut soon." He sighed once more before the train pulled into the station. He stood up from his seat and grabbed the bag that was between his legs and placed it over his shoulder before walking to the exit of the train. He stepped off the train into the busy station and looked around, wondering where the hell he should go. "First thing's first." He said to himself. "Find a damn place to live." With that in mind, he set about going to find some form of accommodation.

A few hours later found Ichigo walking down the street, bag strapped over one shoulder, hands buried deeply into his jacket pockets as the cold had kicked up a nasty wind. He pulled one hand from his jacket pocket pulling a scrunched up piece of paper with it, something he had pulled of a bulletin board not to long ago. "Alright this place should be around here somewhere." He mumbled out, his breath becoming visible. He looked down the street and saw a few houses but one stood out from the rest and towered over the stone fence that surrounded it. He walked towards it and stopped at the sign that read. Izumo Inn

Ichigo stepped into the yard before walking up to the door, pushing the piece of paper into his pocket once more before he reached the door. He rose his hand up and knocked loudly a few times and waited. He looked around and out into the snow covered yard over his shoulder before the door opened before him.

"Yes hello?" Ichigo turned to the woman that opened the door and his eyes widened slightly and a slight blush came to his cheeks, this woman was beautiful. She was slender yet shapely woman with fair-skin and brown eyes. She had waist-length purple hair with shorter bangs in a hime-style. She wears the traditional attire of a miko that consists out of a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt, wooden sandals and a white ribbon to partially hold her hair in place. Ichigo couldn't help but stare at the woman, sure he had seen beautiful woman before but this woman radiated natural beauty. "Can I help you with something?" She smiled at him.

"Oh.. uh... yeah, I picked this flyer up earlier." He said holding the flier out to her. "I was just wondering if there was a room still for rent?" He asked.

"Oh yes, I just put that up today. I was busy so I was only able to put one out." She giggled. "We have many rooms, please come in." Ichigo nodded his head and walked into the large boarding house. "Oh where are my manners, I'm Miya Asama."

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo replied as he took his shoes off. When he had finished taking his shoes off, Miya led him into a room which looked to be the main room and where the housemates would eat. Both sat down across from one another, Ichigo setting his bag down next to him.

"How long have you been searching for somewhere to stay?" Miya asked him, pushing a cup of tea over to him which she had just poured.

"Thank you. I actually only arrived in the city a couple of hours ago." Ichigo told her gladly accepting the tea and raising it to his lips and sighed in relief as the warm liquid already started to warm him. "I was kind of in a rush when leaving home and forgot to even think about accommodation." He told her.

"Well, I think you would enjoy it here. We only have one other house guest at the moment. He works nights so he is usually asleep during the day. May I ask of your occupation?" She questioned raising her own tea to her lips.

"Actually I wanted to attend college, however I'll be looking for a job as soon as I find a place to stay. If you're worried about money I can easily pay for at least a couple of weeks." Ichigo told her making her giggle.

"Please, it's alright. I wouldn't turn you away even if you were penniless." She told him. "My husband never turned anyone away, and neither will I." Ichigo nodded his head. "However there are a few rules as to living here."

"Of course, I'll follow them all." Miya nodded her head before raising a finger.

"First rule, no sexual relations between house mates or guests." Ichigo blushed but nodded his head.

"I don't even have a girlfriend." Ichigo told her.

"Oh really? A handsome guy like you." Ichigo blushed more making Miya giggle once more as she rose a second finger. "No public nudity, such as walking around in the buff or in a towel." Ichigo nodded his head, that should be straightforward right? "Third rule." At this time she got an aura around her and Ichigo could swear she gained a demon head above her own. "No Violence." Ichigo quickly nodded his head making the aura disappear. "Fourth and final rule, dinner's at six every night, if you're out it's fine if you come home late, but if you are home I expect you to be down here. If you're not you don't eat."

"Seems fair enough." Ichigo told her. "How much is rent?"

"Five thousand yen a week." Miya told him.

"Sound's good." Ichigo said reaching into his pocket pulling out his wallet. "I'll pay two weeks in advance, if that's ok?"

"It sounds fair to me. Welcome home." For a while, the two continued to talk over their tea before Miya offered to show him his room. When they reached the second floor they walked up the corridor, Ichigo found it odd that the doors were labelled up from 202 instead of starting at 201. Miya led him down to the end of the corridor and opened the door with 205. "This can be your room, or if you'd prefer the room closer to the stairs you can have that one."

"No, this one should be fine. Thank you very much." Miya nodded as Ichigo opened the door and walked in.

"I'll leave you to get settled. Remember, dinner is as six." Miya reminded him.

"Alright, I'll be sure to be down." Ichigo smiled back at her.

"I'll also have the bath ready after dinner. You can meet Kagari at dinner." Ichigo nodded his head as he placed his bag on the ground as Miya closed the door and left. Ichigo walked over to the large window that looked out into the yard. He opened the curtains and looked out over the buildings as the snow began to fall before he heard a thud and turned back to see his bag tipped over before it unzipped.

"You're kidding me!" Ichigo growled out as he glared at the stuffed animal crawling it's way out of his bag.

"Ugh! Do you know how hard it is to breath in there Ichigo!" Kon cried out. "Phew, hey where are we?" The little stuff lion asked looking around.

"My new room! What the hell are you doing here!" Ichigo roared.

"Well..." He said walking around the room, looking at what would be his new room now as well. He looked back at Ichigo and placed his hands on his hips. "Tokyo is the place where I shall reign supreme! Filled with luscious glorious bodies! The valley's of the gods shall be mine!" He roared before Ichigo's foot connected with his small stuffed body and he went flying around the room.

"Go home!"

"No! It's been my dream to come to Tokyo and find the valley of the gods!"

"Since when!"

"Since I watched Girls go Wild, Tokyo version" Ichigo face palmed and groaned, he remembered when his old man got cable. "So I'm here to stay!"

"Fine, but you better get one thing straight you damn pervert! If you get me kicked out of this place I'll throw your ass to the curb! You got me!"

"Fine fine." Kon simply said waving a paw at him. "I promise not to get in the way of you living here."

"And don't let anyone see you moving around, it would cause too much of a hassle on my part." Ichigo told him walking over to his bag and sitting down in front of it to see what Kisuke had actually packed him.

"So what is this place anyway? Some type of hotel?"

"It's a boarding house." Ichigo told him. "It's a house where you pay money with other tenants to share the house with." He continued to explain as he rummaged through his bag. "It's pretty cheap and they have tons of room. Although she did say she only managed to put out one flier... perhaps I should put this back on the board I got it from?" He questioned to himself digging in his jacket pocket once more to show the flier. He laid it to his side with a shrug before returning to rummaging through his bag, Kon idly opening cupboards to see what was in there before moving on but Ichigo's voice stopped him. "Kon."

"Yes Ichigo?" Kon asked quickly, starting to sweat slightly.

"Where is my substitute badge?" Kon started to sweat slightly as he looked over his shoulder to see a dark aura surrounding Ichigo. "Kon. Where. Is. It." Ichigo repeated.

"AHHHHHHH!" Kon screamed as he ran from the room, how the small stuffed animal reached the handle of the door was beyond Ichigo as the young orange haired man chased him down the halls.

"Get back here you no good perverted bastard!" Ichigo roared as Kon reached the stairs and darted down them, Ichigo sliding past stairs slightly, his sock clad feet making him have no grip, before dashing down the stairs after the mod soul. He reached the bottom step and immediately dashed after the small lion only to stop dead in his tracks as Miya stood before him a ladle in grip, at her feet Kon, acting like the stuffed animal he should be.

"Oh, who's this?" Miya asked crouching down and picking Kon up making Ichigo start to sweat slightly. "Is he yours?" She asked with an amused expression, her tone teasing.

"Uh he's my sisters! Yuzu had packed him into my bag." Ichigo covered up quickly making Miya giggle quietly. "Yuzu's always doing things like this."

"Well when he gets loose like just now, please try not to cause such a fuss. I fear Kagari might have been awoken." She mused.

"It's alright Miya." A tired voice said from behind Ichigo making him look over his shoulder to see his house mate. He had dark grey silver hair and a tired expression on his face as he was in the middle of a yawn, dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a long sleeve white button up shirt. "It's nice to meet you." Kagari said holding his hand out. "I'm Kagari."

"Ichigo." The orange haired teen replied taking the other's hand. "Sorry about all this." He continued rubbing the back of his head with his other hand as the two shook hands with one another.

"It's fine." Kagari told him. "I was up anyway, I was just coming to use the bathroom, then back to bed." He smiled, Ichigo noticed that he had an elegance about him and that he had a rather feminine face but however a deeper voice. "It was nice meeting you Ichigo." Ichigo nodded in agreement as Kagari walked past both Ichigo and Miya and entered the bathroom.

"Well anyhow." Miya said walking towards Ichigo, Kon in her grip holding tightly to her chest. "I think it's sweet how you still play with stuffed animals at your age." Ichigo groaned as Miya giggled. In the bathroom however the usual calm and stoic Kagari was having a mild... breakdown.

"What is this." He thought clenching a hand to his chest his forehead against the bathroom door, his body growing hot. He looked down to the hand that was pressed against the door, the same hand he had just shaken with Ichigo. "No... it can't be." He thought with wide eyes bringing his hand from the door. "No! I don't need an Ashikabi!" However as he thought these same thoughts he was raising the hand he had shaken with Ichigo to his face. "I... don't... need... anyone..." He whispered silently letting the still warmth of Ichigo's touch against his own hand, caress the side of his face.

When Ichigo sat down for dinner across from Kagari it was... weird. He didn't know if it was a good weird or a bad weird but it was defiantly weird. When he had first met Kagari earlier that afternoon in the hall, he thought they had made a pretty good introduction to one another... but when Kagari had walked into the room, he practically glared at Ichigo, now he wouldn't even look in his direction. Did waking him up piss him off that much?

"Oi, look sorry about his afternoon, I'll try and keep quiet from now on." Ichigo said as Miya started to serve up food, a happy smile on her face as she did so. Kagari's eyes shot to his own in the same glare before they darted away again and Ichigo could have sworn the guy blush, even if it was for a second.

"Sorry Miya, but I have to go to work early tonight." Kagari said standing up. "I'll be home late so don't wait up." Miya looked up at him for a second before nodding her head.

"Alright, have fun. I'll leave your dinner in the fridge for you. You can heat it up when you get back." Miya told him, Kagari nodded and abruptly left leaving a confused Ichigo.

"Is everything alright with him?" Ichigo questioned.

"I'm sure he's fine." Miya told him.

"What does he do anyway? Dressed all fancy like that." Ichigo inquired, wondering why Kagari was dressed in such a fine tailored suit.

"He's a host at a club. Apparently he's pretty popular with the ladies." Miya giggled again. "Maybe you should ask him for a job?"

"Ah... I don't really think that's my type of thing." Ichigo told her.

"Oh, I reckon you would do just fine. But I'll leave it to you to decide." She told him and Ichigo nodded his head in thanks. When dinner was over and done with Miya had done as she had said and ran Ichigo a bath. He had told her he could have done it himself, but she had insisted. Before entering the bath, she reminded him once more of the rule about keeping modesty to which he nodded to. She handed Kon to him and left, Ichigo still not understanding as to why Miya still had Kon with her. Ichigo undressed simply stuffing Kon into his clothes much to the mod soul's disgust.

"I was going to tell you the experience I had this afternoon but I think you can bite me!" Kon shouted slamming the bathroom door open to see Ichigo already sitting in the tub, a small hand towel over his face. Kon stood in the door for a few moments waiting for Ichigo's reaction and was pissed when none came. "Well since you asked, I was nuzzled between the valley that can only be described as the place where Angels dwell!" He cried out jumping up onto the side of the bath. He was going to speak again before Ichigo's hand simply batted him away in annoyance sending him flying across the tub before hitting the wall and falling into the hot water with a slight splash. "I needed a bath anyway."

"Would you stop being such a damn nuisance? Geeze I can't even bathe in peace." Ichigo growled out. He removed the hand towel from his face to see Kon simply floating by on his back. "Since my substitute badge isn't here, if anything comes up I'll have to use you." He growled in annoyance. "Until I get Kisuke to bring me my badge anyway and take you back to Karakura."

"I thought you said I could stay!" Kon shouted in annoyance before Ichigo rose his foot up and slammed Kon down to the bottom of the bath, waiting for him to float up again. "Are you insane! I could have drowned!" Ichigo rose his foot again with a threatening look on his face making Kon shut up.

"I said you could stay, that was before I found out you decided to kick my badge to the curve so you could go along for the ride!" Kon cried out in sorrow at that, he had made it all the way to Tokyo where the flesh mountains of his dreams were located and as soon as Kisuke got here... he'd be leaving.

"I'll just have to prove myself before Kisuke gets here! Contain my inner hunger! Become the man the Mod Soul was created to be!" Ichigo watched in mild amusement as Kon stood on the edge of the bath hands on hips as if he was looking out into a thunderstorm over the raging sea. With a slight smirk Ichigo rose the hand towel and covered his face with it once more as Kon went about his inner dialogue.

"Best run a sweep." Ichigo mumbled to himself closing his eyes beneath the hand towel, he wasn't too good at sensing reiatsu still but he was able to sense how many were surrounding and how strong the reiatsu was but not a direct location. He extended his sense and his eyes shot wide open and he jerked forward in the bath surprising Kon.

"What's the matter with you?" Kon questioned. Ichigo didn't answer though as he looked to the door to find the shadow of Miya standing there.

"Is the bath alright Ichigo? Is there anything I can get you?" She questioned as Ichigo swallowed nervously. "Ichigo?"

"Oh... it's fine. Everything's fine." Ichigo called back.

"Well, alright then." Miya's shadow left the door and Ichigo let a breath he didn't know he was holding. Sure the power he had felt was nothing compared to his own but it was dense, full or power that was being restricted, held down by... something, he couldn't quite place it.

He did know that the reiatsu came from this house, seeing as Ichigo and Miya were the only two present, and it defiantly wasn't Kon's. It meant that it was Miya's. How he hadn't picked it up before he couldn't understand but he knew one thing. Miya was strong, really strong. When he had searched he hadn't been able to pick any other reiatsu up seeing as he was suddenly flooded by Miya's, he would have to be out of the house if he wanted to monitor the rest of the reiatsu in Tokyo.

"Kisuke owes me big time for this." Ichigo groaned out sinking down into the tub, beneath the water.