OMG I AM SO SORRY. I seriously did not realize how long it's been since I've last updated. I was seriously not feeling like writing for so long I have no idea why, and then I moved to a whole different state and am now working almost full time so I haven't had that much time. I'd had a serious writer's block for the longest time its so weird. Hopefully this will work to kick myself into gear once more and I'll be able to work on my other stories as well.

Thank you all for being patient with me(even if some of you haven't actually been all that patient but I understand completely) so may I present the newest installment of The New God!

I own nothing

"Here! Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo blinked at the colorfully wrapped shape in front of his eyes, taken off guard, before he turned to see the presenter. It was one of his female classmates, a nice girl, who was blushing fairly hard for some reason. He took it with another clueless blink, "Thanks….?"

She only blushed harder and ran off to a group of her friends, two of which ran over to him after and presented their own brightly colored boxes. He took them with the same courtesy as he did before, though he still had no idea what in the world was going on.

Nothing much had been going on since his visit to the Sohma household with Uotani and Hanajima, other than finding out Hatori's Zodiac form completely by accident. Why the Dragon turned into a sea horse he had no idea but it wasn't very practical, at least it was a real animal, though why he didn't turn into a lizard was beyond him, it seemed closer to a dragon than a sea horse to him at least. He had had to smother his laughter so he wasn't noticed but couldn't suppress it once he was home, making Yuzu worried about his mental health. It was a weird transformation.

But now he just kept being given presents for some reason. It wasn't his birthday; he hadn't even told anyone his birthday, so why were they giving him things? And only the girls too, what was going on?

He was approached and gifted dozens of times throughout the day, still with no idea what was going on. He would have opened the presents to see what they actually were to see if he could get a hint at what was happening that he had apparently missed, but that seemed rude to him so he left them be, though he had to request a bag from the teacher to hold all of them.

He was also getting glared at fairly often, this time from the boys, and again for no apparent reason to him. None of them confronted him however, which didn't really surprise him since he wasn't the most approachable person. He figured if they wanted something they could get up the courage to talk to him about it.

He finally understood what was going on when he was passed at high speed by Kyo being chased by Kagura. He blinked stupidly at the rapidly disappearing pair before walking up to where Tohru was standing with the Rat and heard "Valentine's Day."

"Ohhh so that's what's going on. I was wondering why girls kept giving me stuff."

Tohru turned with honest surprise, "You didn't know what day it was? Kyo-kun didn't either and by the time he realized and he tried to leave Sensei stopped him." She seemed sheepish for Kyo's sake which Ichigo thought was rather cute.

"How could you not know the date?" Yuki was looking at him skeptically, probably thinking he was dumb for not knowing.

Ichigo scowled deeper at the pretty boy, "It's not my fault okay! I never received any chocolate back in Karakura, this is a first for me, not that I care about the holiday any way. I did take down names for White Day in case, since I didn't know what was going on."

"You've never received chocolate Ichigo-kun?" Tohru seemed amazed at the fact, "But you're so handsome and nice!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow when she immediately went bright red while Yuki was taking mental notes at her behavior, "Nah, everyone thought I was no good in Karakura because of my hair and most of my friends are guys, so no chocolate for me. I like it though so I don't hate the holiday, been getting glares from guys all day, though none of them approached me about it."

Like they'd be able to do that, Yuki thought, he looks about ready to punch somebody if they so much as look at him wrong. I'm surprised he isn't a delinquent, he's almost as intimidating as Uotani. Maybe even more so, no one approaches him and even Uotani has people pick fights with her, just who is this guy?

Ichigo sighed as he made his way to his new classroom, which was still different than the one everyone he knew was in. How they manage to all be in the same class I'll never understand. The teacher must be troubled with Uotani and Kyo in the same class.

He had decided not to attend the assembly for the new students, figuring there wasn't really any reason he should have to go since he was a second year again. He still wasn't entirely sure that it was the right idea to repeat his first year of school, but it seemed like a good idea, he missed a too much school with all the shinigami business, even if he did manage to pass in the end, it didn't really feel like he actually learned all that much in his first year. He was walking through the hall where his class had been last year when he saw a familiar head of dark orange hair and ducked into a hallway to watch.

Kyo was talking to someone in one of the first year classroom, asking after two Sohmas (there are more of them going here?) but pulled back with a sharp look in the direction opposite of where Ichigo was spying. Ichigo followed the other's eyes and felt his face harden in a deeper scowl than usual, there were two boys muttering to themselves about Tohru, and looked about to approach her when Kyo stormed over and put an arm protectively over her head, glaring at the boys. The boys, predictably, fled and Kyo chastised Tohru, only to embarrass himself while Tohru remained oblivious.

Ichigo chuckled to himself, in some way reminded of Inoue. His amusement almost immediately turned to surprise when he saw Momiji, the Rabbit, come down the hall, dressed in….. Is that a girl's uniform? What the hell?

His surprise had nothing on Kyo though, who smacked the blonde down and started yelling, making the younger boy cry. Luckily it didn't take him long to stop, a bland comment from the white and black haired boy Ichigo had seen at the marathon seeming to do the trick.

So his name is Hatsuharu? Another Sohma. Do only members of the family have the 'curse'? Ichigo had sent in his report before the end of term and received minimal instruction on what to do, which was basically to keep watch and make sure they weren't a threat. They sure didn't seem to be a threat, other than being slightly stronger than normal humans, they were normal, besides the turning into animals thing that is.

He raised a brow as the now-named Hatsuharu randomly spread his arms, walking around Tohru to greet Yuki. So they get along apparently. Not surprising, they seem to get along as a whole apart from Kyo, who has reason to dislike the rest of the Zodiac if the curse is really based on that old story.

Ichigo tucked himself further in the hallway as he heard the loud and frankly annoying voice of the Student Council President. He didn't want to deal with the senior if he could help it; it was just a pain in the ass to be constantly hounded about his hair color. Luckily the older student was a bit of a coward, at least to him, because the glasses wearing student and his similarly dressed aides could barely muster up the courage to approach him in the first place. He never had to deal with this in Karakura, he wasn't even sure if there had been a Student Council, much less who the president had been. They definitely didn't have nearly the amount of power this school's president supposedly had.

He did his best to block out the boy's voice though it was a bit difficult with the volume it was. He seems to think he's some important guy, not like the school needs him to function. Not like this school needs a 'School Protection Squad', there's barely any delinquents here. Plus it's not like he'd be able to actually make a punk listen to him. Seems like he's got a thing for Yuki though, does he swing that way? Meh, doesn't matter.

The glassed boy was seriously pissing him off though, how he thought he was better than others and talked down to Momiji, and turned the treatment on Tohru when she tried to defend the smaller boy.

Hatsuharu snapping did surprise him, if only because of how abrupt the change was, almost as if he was bipolar. Ichigo was well aware he had a temper, but it was more of a constant thing, it did escalate, but it was more gradual, he wasn't even close to mild mannered to begin with so it didn't surprise anyone.

Ichigo smirked at how Kyo managed to get involved and start arguing with Hatsuharu, before the monochrome-haired boy talked the aides into imagining an older Momiji in the boy uniform and then turned it around on the president when he protested, only making him picture a crossdressing Yuki. Ichigo finally left his hiding spot when Hatsuharu dragged the president into the bathroom to 'prove' that his hair color was natural, making Ichigo snicker to himself, that was obviously the surest way of proving it but there was no way Ichigo was going to show people evidence that his own hair was natural, as far as he was concerned it was none of their damn business what color his hair was.

Ichigo had reached the group just as the two returned from the bathroom, the president stunned and Hatsuharu smug. Unable to resist Ichigo felt a wolfish grin spread across his face, "Shall I prove that mine is natural as well, President-san?"

The whole group spun around, not hearing his approach, and the president immediately blanched at the look at the taller's face. "N-no thank you, that will be unnecessary," he stuttered before retreating and resolutely avoiding looking at Hatsuharu or Ichigo.

"What did you do in the bathroom to give him proof?"

All the boys froze, Ichigo glancing at her for a second before looking away determinedly, there was no way in hell he was going to tell her, she was way too innocent.

Hatsuharu apparently didn't have the same restraints, but Yuki and Kyo immediately acted in place of them, punching him and apparently knocking him out of his weird behavior. Black Haru huh? Guess it's as good a name as any. Fits.

Ichigo decided to leave before they remembered he was there, no need to cause any questions he might not want to answer, like for how long he had been watching for, besides it was nearly time for class and it wouldn't do to be late on the first day. He'd see the new boys later if Tohru wanted to introduce them to her friends. Could be fun.

He hadn't gone far when he felt a familiar spiritual pressure, it was that woman from the Sohma compound, the one who had seen him. He headed towards it but paused just out of sight, hiding in the shade of a building so he could watch the interaction between the woman –Akito- and Tohru without being seen. He had a bad feeling about that woman, her smiles weren't at all genuine, and he knew he was right when he saw the look on Yuki's face when she whispered something about locking him in a room, it was sheer terror. No way someone who caused that much fear could be a good person. It was even worse that she was apparently the head of the family, which meant she had power over the rest, and Ichigo really doubted that she didn't abuse that power.

He let out a breath when the woman finally left with a completely false-innocent request for Yuki to visit her. As if he'd willingly go to someone who tormented him, how stupid does she think he is?

"Ichigo-kun!"

Ichigo turned at the sound of his name, having wandered towards the sports fields for a little peace, and saw Tohru standing with the crowd from earlier, carrying what looked like badminton racquets.

"What's up?" He was pretty sure he already knew but figured he'd ask anyway.

She grinned at him and showed him the racquet and birdy she was holding, "We're all going to play badminton! Would you like to play with us?"

He smiled at her, unable to resist her cheer, "Sure, I'd love too."

He ended up being on a team with Hanajima, Kyo, and Hatsuharu, which could work but was more likely to end up in a massive shouting match, especially with Uotani on the other side. Surprisingly it turned out well, time passing so quickly it was dark by the time they stopped, everyone but Hanajima and Ichigo panting for breath, which Ichigo found amusing. Ichigo was understandable with his monstrous stamina, not that they were aware of it, and Hanajima just because she didn't move around unnecessarily. He smiled at the interaction between Hatsuharu and Yuki and said his goodbyes, knowing he'd probably see them tomorrow and talk more then.

Nothing much happened on the spiritual pressure front until November when he felt a new reiatsu, one that felt somewhat similar to both Yuki and Shigure for some reason. He followed it to see a man who looked startingly enough like an older Yuki, though one with long silver hair instead of the dark grey. The man was having lunch with Tohru in a restaurant in town and obviously confusing everyone else in the vicinity with his androgynous looks, much like Yuki. He heard a little bit of their conversation, not wanting to be seen by them, before retreating to think about what he had heard. So the new guy was Yuki's older brother, but didn't spend very much time with him, possibly because Yuki had been separated from the rest of the family. It seemed to be a major part of what shaped the grey haired boy's personality and would be something to keep in mind.

Ichigo really wasn't sure what to think about the new man, Ayame, after hearing Hatsuharu talking about what kind of shop he had. He couldn't help but be grateful that Tohru and the younger two Sohmas didn't know what cosplay was, and was weirded out that Yuki's brother actually owned such a questionable store. He sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell them what kind of store it was, he'd much rather they stay innocent of that kind of things; they were still high schoolers after all. The only reason Ichigo knew was because Keigo was an idiot and overshared absolutely everything, especially things that Ichigo most definitely did not need to know about, thank you.

Ichigo had been wandering the halls during lunch break when he saw Tohru and her two friends coming down the stairs making plans for the weekend, talking about it being a year already. "It's been a year since what? You guys planning something?"

The three startled, not having noticed him at the base of the stairs, but recovered easily, though Tohru looked uncomfortable for some reason, though she still explained, "It's been a year since my mom passed away, we're planning on visiting her grave this weekend."

Ichigo felt his eyes widen and cursed his bluntness, "Damn, sorry for your loss, she must have been a great woman to be your mom."

Tohru's own eyes widened at the compliment to someone he had never met, "Un! She was the best!"

Ichigo smiled, touched that she loved her mother so much and felt sad that such a beloved person was gone, leaving Tohru alone, since it was obvious she didn't have a father either or else she'd be living with him.

"Oh! Would you like to come visit her grave as well Ichigo-kun?" Tohru suddenly offered, hoping that her friend would like to meet her mother, "I'm sure mom would love that!"

Ichigo was surprised at the invitation, not having expected to be asked to visit the grave of a friend's relative, only ever having visited his own mother's grave with his family. Once he thought about it however, he figured why not? He'd like to meet the one who raised Tohru, even if it was only talking to her gravestone, "Sure why not? When and where are we meeting?"

Tohrus' face lit up at having more people visit her mother, "How about 10 in front of the Sakura Temple? I'll bring lunch!"

"It's a plan, see you then."

Ichigo tightened his obi self consciously, not sure how the others were going to react to his strangely traditional outfit. He wasn't sure why he had randomly given in to the impulse to buy an outfit almost exactly identical to his shinigami shihakusho when he had been living in Karakura but found he was actually thankful, he really felt most comfortable in the clothes he had spent so much of the last year in Karakura. He knew no one else would be such traditional clothing but couldn't help thinking that Ichigo was actually in proper dress, as one who ushered on the souls of the deceased, to visit a grave.

He felt marginally better when he reached the meeting place and saw what Uotani and Hanajima were wearing, Hanajima actually in mourning dress that would fit right in anywhere in Europe and Uotani actually wearing what looked like a gang member's long jacket. They stared at him in turn, taking in the black kimono with white undershirt and traditional toed socks and reed sandals and he couldn't help feeling incomplete without the weight of Zangetsu at his back and hip but there was no way he was going to find replicas of them in the human world.

None of them mentioned the other's clothing outside of raised eyebrows on both Ichigo and Uotani but they all turned to greet Tohru who had arrived with Yuki and Kyo and Ichigo almost burst out laughing at the looks on the boys' faces.

"Why are you three dressed like that?!" Kyo yelled, Yuki looking too shocked to even speak.

"Is there are problem?" Uotani obviously didn't see anything wrong with what she was wearing but from what Ichigo had heard in the rumor mill at school about the tall girl he wasn't really surprised.

"Is it too plain?" Hanajima took the question in a completely different way, making Kyo respond blandly, "That's not it!"

Ichigo didn't even try to say anything while Yuki questioned Uotani about her own outfit, resulting in Uotani proudly displaying the back depicting a red butterfly design and the name "Red Butterfly member uniform" that Tohru's mother, whose name was apparently Kyouko, had given her.

Having Tohru laughingly admit that her mother had been the leader of said gang made even Ichigo look at her in disbelief at her light-hearted admittance because Kyo apparently turned his attention onto Ichigo's own outfit.

"And what the heck are you wearing? I'd figured formal clothing would be impossible for you."

Ichigo merely raised an eyebrow and wondered what the younger actually thought of him, "I'm in traditional clothing for a grave visit, I figured I'd show Kyouko-san the proper respect she deserves. Besides its bad to disrespect the dead, they are carried on in our memories and should be shown the necessary respect."

The other boy couldn't say anything to that so they made their way to the grave site, seeing that it had already been cleaned and visited by Tohru's grandfather. Ichigo listened quietly as Tohru spoke about her father's death and couldn't help but feel proud at how Tohru could still be so strong despite what tragedy had befallen her.

Kyo's questioning if Hanajima could see spirits made Ichigo turn to watch the shorter boy, wondering why he wanted to know. Hanajima immediately denied it and explained what her powers actually were and Ichigo listened intently, wanting to know just what she could pick up with her powers.

Kyo had obviously forgotten that Ichigo actually could see spirits but he wasn't feeling too inclined to remind him, especially since the other boy was feeling regret, something wasn't right about this. Kyo looked far more bothered about the grave visit than Yuki did, which was strange since neither boys had met the woman. Ichigo would keep Kyo's strange behavior in mind in the future, to see if he could learn anymore about the strange behavior.

The boys' reaction to the rest of them eating in front of the grave was funny though, Ichigo only had his own grave visits as reference, but they always ate in front of his mom's grave, it made them feel closer to her. "It's no big deal, it means we can be closer to Kyouko-san so why does it matter. My family always does this."

That stopped everyone and they all turned to him, realizing that he had been pretty quiet the whole time.

"Your family eats at gravesites? Who were you visiting?" Kyo asked bluntly.

Ichigo eyed them all for a moment before sighing and giving in to the inevitable, "My mom, though we had to made a longer trip this year to visit her, she's buried back in Karakura."

Tohru blinked at him while Kyo seemed to realize how insensitive his question had been and winced. Yuki just watched him quietly, seeing his acceptance and asked softly, "When did she die?"

"When I was nine years old, we were walking home and it was raining when it happened."

"You were there when it happened?" Uotani asked disbelievingly while Tohru held her hands to her mouth and Hanajima looked concerned.

"Yeah, she was walking me home from karate practice. She was hit by a car, she pushed me out of the way, she was trying to protect me. The ambulance didn't arrive in time to save her, there was too much damage." He told them the official version of his mother's death, there was no way he could tell them she had been killed by a Hollow after all.

"I'm so sorry Ichigo-kun." Tohru looked seriously upset which was not what Ichigo wanted when they were supposed to be celebrating her mother.

"It's fine, it happened a long time ago, I've gotten over it. I still love her and think about her every day but I know she's gone, it doesn't bother me anymore." Especially since he knows the monster who had killed her was gone for good, it gave him closure even if it was several years late.

Tohru brightened knowing that he loved his mother as much as she did hers and the mood lightened, Uotani and Hanajima sharing stories about Kyouko Honda as Tohru joined in every now and then until it was time to leave and he, Uotani and Hanajime watched Tohru head for home with the boys.

He did agree that Uotani was right about the atmosphere around the three was becoming similar but couldn't help chuckling when Uotani said they would confess to Tohru eventually and Hanajima responded like she was Tohru's mother. "I don't think you'll have to worry about either of them dating Tohru, I don't get that kind of impression when I see Yuki with her and as for Kyo… well I get the feeling his attentions will be changing direction soon."

He smirked when they turned to him questioningly and their eyes lit with realization when his smirk turned into a wolfish grin. Things were going to change, he knew it.

And cue Ichigo showing that's he's interested in Kyo, I still have to figure out how Ichigo is going to end up making Kyo develop a crush on him, maybe just by being his awesome smexy self? I dunno, suggestions will be welcome.

Sorry again about taking so long, I'm seriously going to try and update again soon, and I'll probably be working on another of my stories, New Power, tomorrow and maybe even finish up Captains Turned Wizards since I only have another chapter or two before it's done.

So I think I'll work more on this story tomorrow or the next day, though it is somewhat daunting when I realize how much more of the storyline I have to cover, or I could just not go through every single event in Ichigo's pov. I'll see what works. I need to sleep for now. Review please? I know I'm not exactly deserving of them right now but they'll probably help me rekindle my writing motivation as well as give me some new ideas since it's been so long since I've worked on the story. Ciao.