6/19/15: This chapter has been revised and details have been added. Some small details have been added that clarify and flow with details in the later storyline. Other details have been clarified.

This chapter has been revised as of 1/4/2015 with the aid of the wonderful and brave Dumbrat. Give her a round of applause for being brave enough to work as an editor for this story.

I do take the liberty to tweak the story line some as this is my story, not the original story. Due to some moral issues I have upped the age of the main cast. This story will in time earn the M rating and I cannot write this as I would with the main cast being middle school students.

I also focus on a realistic look at what life in Japan is like for foreigners. Each odd, weird, rude, horrible or amazing experience related to the culture is based on true experiences by gaijin in Japan. It is not all roses like many will believe, but it is an amazing country that even knowing all of this, I still love.

Small feminine hands shove the green sleeve into the black suitcase, amazed it was able to zip closed. Turning to the window and taking in the bleak rainy landscape of Seattle. She mentally runs through the check list, trying to think of anything else she needs to pack. Her phone buzzes from its place on her bedside table and is quickly grabbed up with a sigh. Her hand brushed against a palm sized river stone, causing it wobble unnoticed.

"Yes?" She asks, short and to the point. There was no reason to check the caller ID or ask who was calling; only one person would be brave or dumb enough to call at 11 at night.

"Michelle!" The woman still sounded the same as she did back in high school. The voice on the other end of the phone was bubbly and energetic. Michelle pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling too tired to have any kind of conversation, let alone one with someone such as Sara.

"Can you believe we leave tomorrow? I hope I have everything packed. I'm so excited!" She looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was so late, how could this girl still have so much energy?

"Sara, go to bed." God end this phone call.

"I just wanted to see if you could suggest anything else I should pack. I can hardly think straight." The girl pleaded in a pouty voice. Holy cats, plan for yourself.

"A few sticks of deodorant. Ten or so. Now, goodnight." Pink lips smiled at the empty threat, she wouldn't really hang up on her friend.

"What? Wait, why? They have deodorant in Japan, I'm sure." Michelle could easily picture the look of confusion that would be gracing Sara's face.

She heaves another sigh. Like many of the lucky men and women who had been accepted into this teaching program, Sara had no idea what she was getting into. She had a romanticized idea of Japan that was largely Cherry Blossoms, temples and festivals.

"Japanese deodorant sucks. Look it up." With that her pale finger ended the call. It was too late, and she was too tired to deal with this right now. Sara would get the culture shock she has coming soon enough. Sara knew Michelle would never fallow through on a threat to hang up on her. It would always come with no warning, such as now.

Really, it is amazing they both made it into the same program at the same time. Sara holds onto the idea of how cool it would be if they were assigned to the same location, or even the same schools. Michelle, ever the realist, knows how unlikely that would be. Yet, she also knew how unlikely it was they both made it into the program in the first place and that vary thing did happen. She spent her last week telling her friend ' anything can happen' and cleaning out her apartment.

It would be pointless to keep paying rent for a home she wouldn't see for a year, maybe longer. She couldn't afford to do so if she wanted to anyway. In the past few months she sold much of her belongings and sent a few boxes off to friends' houses for safe keeping. She had little living family left and none she was both felt close enough to and was actually living close enough to hold onto her belongings.

Much of what she owned fit into the single suit case. In many ways she was looking forward to starting over. This is not to say she was not sad to part with some of her belongings.

She collapses onto the naked bed. It was one of the only things other than the suitcase and its contents not in storage. Her fire red hair is fanned out around her, green eyes drift close as the moonlight shines through the small window and kisses her skin. Sleep comes surprisingly peacefully tonight; the pitter patter of rain was helpful.

Her last night in America passed uneventfully with little time spent on worrying how her next year would pan out. The deed was done. She had signed the contract and would be an English teacher in some school, probably schools, in Japan for the next year. With her luck she would probably land in some small fishing village. God, how she hates the smell of fish.

Dreams came and went throughout the night, as they tend to do. Nothing she could recall that next morning as the screaming alarm on her phone pulled her out of bed at an hour far too early for a sane person.

Do sane people move around the world on a whim just out of college though? Michelle didn't think so as she slipped into comfortable clothes for the long day ahead.