Kyo and Tohru were coming by for a visit and the house Haru and I shared wasn't exactly clean. We spent three whole days cleaning the house. Kyo and Tohru were returning from the honeymoon. We hadn't seen them since the wedding the month before. Kyo was spoiling his new wife. The day they arrived, I was in a complete panic. The dining area hadn't been cleaned yet. Haru locked me in our shared room while he did the last minute cleaning. He let me out when he was done.

The couple arrived. Tohru was beaming and Kyo always smiled with her. Kyo was so happy and continuously watched his wife that he never fought with me. I wasn't upset about it.

"We're going to the main house tomorrow," Tohru told me. "I haven't seen everyone in so long."

I smiled. "It's only been a month, Ms- eh... Tohru," I said.

She laughed. "You're still having trouble calling me that, aren't you, Yuki?"

I shook my head. "No, I admit that I'm not quiet used to it."

"I had to remind him at least twenty times in this past week," Haru said.

I blushed. "Yeah."

"Kyo, can I talk to you for a moment?" Haru said. He stood up. Kyo kissed Tohru's cheek and left.

"How has the rat been treating you?" I asked Tohru.

"Very well," she smiled. "I'm glad I married him. How is school going for you?"

"It just ended for the two of us," I explained. "We start again in August. Haru just got another job at the university. He's getting a credit of it."

"That's good," Tohru replied.

Kyo and Haru reentered the room. Haru made lunch for everyone. After lunch, Kyo stood up.

"We have to get going," Kyo said. "We have to be at the main house before dinner."

"Oh, why don't you two come with us?" Tohru asked.

I thought about the last time I was at the main house. It was the first night I confessed that I loved Haru. I didn't want to go back.

"We can't go with you," Haru said, "but we can meet you there. We have something to do on the way." He smiled at me.

"See you there then," Tohru said. The two left our house.

Haru took me out to a lake on the way to the main house. He took us to the beach for half and hour. He took my hand in his before we left. "Yuki, I have a serious question for you and I want you to answer whatever way you feel best." I nodded. He reached in his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box. My heart skipped a beat. "Yuki, we have been together for over two years. I promised I would protect you and I want that to be forever. Yuki, will you marry me?" He opened the box and there was a plain gold ring.

My heart skipped another beat and I thought I was going to fall into an asthma attack. I took one of Haru's hands to steady myself. I knew the answer, but I couldn't breathe.

"Yuki," Haru said, gently, "if you don't breathe, you'll fall into an asthma attack."

I looked into his eyes and took a deep breathe. "Yes, Hatsuharu, I will marry you," I said, breathlessly. Haru put the ring on my finger and hugged me. "I love you," I whispered to him.

"I love you, too, Yuki," he said.

We continued on our way to the main house. When I got there, I didn't have to see Akito. We entered the banquet hall, where the lights were off. I turned to Haru, who didn't even smile. He pushed me into the hall a little more.

"Happy Birthday," many voices screamed as the lights came on. I was in complete and total shock. My brother, Hatori, Shigure, Kagura, Kyo, Tohru, Kisa, Hiro, and Ritsu were all there. I was shocked that I had forgotten it was my birthday.

I turned to Haru. "You planned this, didn't you?" I asked him.

He smiled and grabbed my hand. "Yes, but it was Tohru's idea. She said it was okay if I gave you my present early." He played with the ring on my finger. "I hope you don't mind?"

I smiled. The rest of the day went great. Ayame gave me a plain ring that I was to give to Haru. I didn't let him see it. Tohru got me a new shirt. Kyo didn't get me anything and I wasn't upset about that. The party went late and Haru and I were forced by Tohru to stay the night.

The next morning, Akito wished to see me. Haru refused to let me go alone. Akito wasn't happy about Haru being there. Akito advanced on me and Haru jumped up to protect me.

"Sit back down, Hatsuharu," Akito snapped. Haru did. Akito stood in front of me. "You can't protect him from me." He grabbed my chin and pulled me to my feet. "Why didn't you move back like I said?" He grabbed my hand, seeing the ring. "What's this?" He took the ring off and threw it at Haru. "You're not marrying him." He took off the beads on my arm. I felt a pain in my body as I started to change into the monster that possessed the cat.

I screamed and clutched my head. It hurt everywhere. Akito smirked and stepped back. Haru held the ring in his hand and picked up my beads. He slid the beads on my wrist quickly. The transformation stopped and I fell to my knees. My clothes were a little stretched. Haru picked me up to my feet and took me out of the room. He set me down into the room we had spent the night in. I was shaking and having trouble breathing. Tears slowly rolled down my face.

Haru wrapped his arms around me. He cooed me until I fell asleep.

I woke up still in Haru's arms. He was asleep. He had something clutched in his hand. I slowly pried his hand open and saw the ring. I put it back on my hand and wrapped my arms around him. He stirred awake and smiled at me.

"Thank you, Haru," I whispered to him. I fell back asleep, still holding him. Haru's arms were tighter around me.

Haru woke me up around noon the next day. He got me to the car without waking me from my half-stuper. He drove back to the house and sat me at the dining table. He made me lunch and I finally woke up. We spent a few more days like this.

About a week later, I sat alone in the dining area while Haru cleaned up after dinner. I was eyeing the black and white beads on my wrist. Haru got it on before I transformed into the monster. He doesn't want to see me as a monster. I played with the beads.

Haru walked into the room. "Yuki, what are you doing?" he asked. He looked worried.

"You didn't want to see me as a monster, Haru," I muttered. "You got the beads on before I had transformed fully."

"Yuki, I didn't want you to be around Akito when you transformed," he said. "I was lucky to get the beads on at all."

Without warning him, I took the beads off. The pain pulsed through my body as it had before. I saw my hands swelling up and becoming larger. My shirt ripped as my back became longer. The bottom of my pants ripped as my feet became larger. When the transformation was over, I looked at Haru. He didn't looked frightened.

"Are you afraid, Haru?" I asked. "Do you want to run away? Run, Haru!"

Haru twitched. Instead of running away, he walked over to me. I took a step back, trying not to go through the paper doors. He put his arms around me. "I will not leave you alone, Yuki," he whispered. "I promised I'd protect you. If I run away from you, how can I protect you?"

I changed back shortly afterwards. Haru slipped my ring and beads back on.

"You're really something, Yuki," Haru told me. "I really love you." He held me tightly.

My rival and his wife were stopping by again. Tohru had some important news, but knew that I didn't want to see Akito. It had been three months since the incident after dinner. I still hadn't given Haru his ring yet. His birthday was still coming up and I would give it to him then. Tohru and Kyo came in earlier than they said.

"I was just so excited to tell you guys that I made him leave early," Tohru said, smiling. Her stomach seemed a little larger than normal.

"What is it that you wanted to tell us, Ms- Tohru?" I asked her.

She looked at Kyo who blushed. "Um... well, you should sit down first." We all walked to dining room and sat at the table. "Well," she paused, seeming too excited to speak. "I'm pregnant." She smiled bigger and took up Kyo's hand.

I looked at the rat. "How did you manage that?" I asked him.

He blushed. "It's... complicated," he muttered.

I glanced at Haru, whom was smirking. "I bet," I replied. "Have you already talked to Akito and everyone else about it?" I said Akito's name with a bit of anger.

Tohru nodded, ignoring the sound in my voice. "Yes, we told them this morning," she said. "Shigure was so excited. Ayame is waiting to hear from you Yuki."

A sweatdrop formed on my head. "He usually is," I said. "What did he want this time?"

She looked at Haru. "Can I steal Yuki for a moment?" she asked him. Haru nodded. Tohru grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. "He wanted to know if you gave Haru the ring yet?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to give it to him on his birthday," I replied. "It's in a week."

"Are you planning a party for him?" she asked me. I shook my head. "I think you should have one. I can do the planning myself if you want."

"Thank you, T-Tohru," I said, smiling. "I would really appreciate it because I'm not good at hiding things from him." Little did she know that I couldn't hide anything for Haru. If I didn't tell him, he would tickle it out of me. He always won in the end. I blushed.

She jumped up slightly. "Oh, don't worry about a thing," she said. "I'll let you know who is coming, when it will be, and anything else you need to know when the time comes." She smiled and I smiled with her.

We returned to the dining room where Kyo and Haru had started fighting. The table was broken and there were a few holes in the wall. Tohru tried to pull Kyo away from Haru by the hand. However, Haru had turned black. I knew I could turn him back to White Haru, but I was having too much watching. I hadn't seen Kyo so angry in a long time. It was nice that Kyo wasn't fighting with me.

The fight continued for a little bit until Tohru asked me to step in. I kicked Kyo through the door to the outside and kissed Haru on the cheek. He turned white again and beamed at me without smiling.

"Now, we have to buy a new table," I said to Haru.

"I'm sorry, Yuki," Haru said. "I'll go out and get it now." He kissed my cheek and left the house.

"I'll help you with the doors," Tohru said.

I shook my head. "I can do it," I said, smiling, "or I'll have Haru do it when he gets back."

"Seems you have him on a chain," Kyo said, irritated.

I ignored him. "So, what was Akito's reaction?" I asked, going back to her pregnancy.

"He wasn't happy, but he didn't go crazy and attack anyone," Tohru replied. "He seems to be getting used to the fact that Kyo's the rat now. I heard about what happened after your birthday, Yuki."

I looked down, hiding my eyes. "I didn't want you to know about that," I said.

"Haru's really good to you, Yuki," Tohru said. "He's been protecting you from Akito better than you think. Akito wants desperately to come up here as often as he can. Haru has Hatori keep him in bed for as long as he can, even if he's not sick. He was actually here last week. He told Kyo that you changed..." She looked at Kyo, who returned from flying through the door.

I didn't move. Akito knows. What is he going to do?

"Yuki," Tohru said, sounding worried, "Akito is on his way now. Hatori called us on the way saying that Akito gave him no choice."

"Haru knows," Kyo said. "I told him before he went black. That's why the fight started. I don't understand why he left you here alone. We have to leave soon."

"I'm not leaving, Kyo," Tohru said. "I need to make sure that Yuki doesn't get hurt." She was very worried. "I'll go find the paper and paste for the doors." She stood up and left the room.

"He probably went to meet Hatori and stop Akito," I told Kyo. "He's going to get himself hurt."

"It's your fault, you damn cat," Kyo said. "You let Akito control your life for so long that he doesn't want you to get out from under his thump."

"Don't talk about things you don't have any idea over," I snapped. "Akito never let me leave that house. I tried to run away. Every time I did, he would lock me in a room with no windows and one door." I closed my eyes. "I got sick easily because I was beaten by Akito! I didn't want to be under his control and I'm trying to get away from him!" I raised my voice. I left the room and stood outside.

Haru came flying into the driveway. He didn't have a table with him. He jumped out of the car and came up to me. "I tried to stop him, Yuki," Haru said, standing in front of me. "He wouldn't listen to me. I came back here as soon as I could."

"I don't want to stay here, Haru," I said. "Not right now. Not with Kyo here."

"Yuki," Haru started, "if we're not here with Akito arrives, he will find you. He's going to treat you worse than he treated Kyo when he was the cat. I don't want you to get hurt."

"If I stay here, he'll end up hurting me," I said. I was shaking. Fear and anger was controlling my thoughts. I wanted to run away.

"If he tries to hurt you, take off the beads," he said. "I'll hold onto you're ring."

"I don't want you to hold onto it," I said, playing it with it on my finger. "I need a string."

He took off his necklace and untied it. "Use this," he said. I took the necklace and put the ring on it. He tied it around my neck and kissed my cheek. "I'll stay with you as long as I can when he gets here."

"Even if Hatori pulls you away, I'll go to you," I said. I put my head on his shoulder. "I don't want to run away from him, but I want to run to you."

"That made no sense," he said, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the side of my head. "Don't always run to me, though. You're the only person who can make Akito see."

"See what?" I asked. "That he scares me more than anything else. That is exactly what he wants, Haru."

"You can make him see that you're not a little kid, Yuki. You can't let him control you anymore."

"Not you, too," I pushed away from him. "I don't want him to control me. Don't you think I fought back!" I felt angry. "You don't know what he did to me, Haru! You don't know that he would whip me when I could run! Sometimes he would he bind and gag me! I tried so many times to get away!" I had yelled at him. He looked frightened. I fell to my knees. He came next to me and put his arms around me. I shook him away. "Leave me alone," I whispered. "You can't protect me from him. No matter how much you try."

"But I'm going to try," he told me. "I can't protect you from yourself. You're the only person that can do that."

"You've gotten weak, Yuki," Akito said. I looked up and the head of the Sohma house stood in front of the porch. He was sneering at me. "Has being the cat made you as weak as Kyo?"

Tohru came out of the house. "Akito, you're here, why don't you come on in? Haru and Yuki will come in, in a moment."

"All right, Tohru," Akito said. He smirked at me and walked into the house behind Tohru.

Haru pulled me to my feet and hugged me fiercely. "I'll be right next to you, Yuki," he whispered. "I love you and I won't leave your side unless you tell me to."

I hugged him back. "Thank you," I told him. "Before we go in there, can I give you something?" I took out the box that Ayame gave the ring in. "I was going to give it to you for your birthday like you had, but... you deserve it now." I opened the box for him.

A sparkle came to his eyes. "That was what Ayame gave to you," he muttered. "You shouldn't give it to me."

"He gave it to me to give to you, Hatsuharu," I said, calmly.

He took the ring and put it on. He took my hand. "Gather your strength," he said. He opened the door.

Akito was the first person I saw. Hatori had come in through the front door. I sat across from Akito and Haru next to me.

"What brings you here, Akito?" I asked, trying to be as polite as I could.

"You don't come by the main house anymore Yuki," he said. "I thought I would visit myself. Why don't you show me around, Yuki?"

Haru squeezed my hand before I stood up. "If that is what you wish, Akito, then I will show you," I said, calmly. I left the room and entered the kitchen. I continued upstairs where my room was. He wanted to see inside so I let him in.

"You share a room with Haru?" he asked me while closing the door. I nodded to him, feeling scared. "When is the wedding?"

I shrugged. "We haven't discussed it yet. I'm thinking as soon as I finish college."

"When you figure it out, let me know," he said. "Now, why haven't you come visit me?"

"I've been busy," I replied. "It's really none of your business what I've been doing."

"My, aren't you angry," he smirked. He walked slowly to me and took my face in his hands. "You won't marry Haru like you say you will. You'll come back to me crying when he breaks your heart."

I glared at him. "In the three years that I've been with Haru, I haven't come to you crying, once."

"You can't escape from me, Yuki," Akito said. "I forgot to get you a birthday present." He grabbed my hair at the back of neck and pulled me towards him. He kissed me.

I tried to pull away, but he pulled my hair harder. I pulled the beads off. The transformation happened quickly and Akito stepped back, looking frightened.

"Do you want to kiss me now, Akito?" I asked him. "Do you want to watch me for every second of every day when I'm like this? Are you scared, Akito?"

Akito ran out of the room. Haru came in a while afterwards, when I had changed back. I put the beads back on and dressed.

"He grabbed Hatori and left, Yuki," Haru said. "What did you do?"

"I took off the beads," I explained. I started shaking and sat down. "He kissed me, Haru." I fell to my knees, suddenly feeling weak. I clutched at the ring on my necklace. "He kissed me, Haru, and told me that you would break my heart."

Haru sat beside me. "I'm not leaving you, Yuki," he said. "I'm going to marry you if that's what you want."

"I want to marry you, Haru," I said. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I began to cry.

He kissed my neck. "It's okay, Yuki," he said. "Don't cry. You'll have an asthma attack." He cooed me, like he had the last time I saw Akito. I fell asleep in his arms.

Haru and I started planning our wedding. Tohru called me the day before Haru's birthday and informed me when everyone was coming. Haru didn't bother to get out any information from me that night. I was to take him out for the day, as if nothing was going on. Tohru would get to the house and decorate. She had the cake already made. I took Haru out that day for lunch and a movie. We returned to the house afterwards.

"Happy Birthday, Hatsuharu," everyone screamed. I saw that Tohru had invited the other members of the zodiac.

"You'll pay," Haru said, evilly. I knew what he meant. He was going to tickle me until my face was blue. I shuddered.

The party continued and went until late. Haru kept his promise and tickled me until I was blue. Of course, I elapsed into an asthma attack and Hatori had to be called. Hatori asked what had happened and Haru told him that I had been screaming in my sleep, since it was the middle of the night. Of course, Hatori didn't believe it, but he allowed for the lie.

"Have you two discussed the wedding yet?" Hatori asked Haru.

"Yeah, but we're waiting for it to all be finalized between the two of us first," Haru replied.

Shortly afterwards, I fell asleep.

Haru was making breakfast when I woke up the next morning. The smell of breakfast woke me up from my half-conscious state.

"What do you think we should wear?" he asked me.

"Too early," I mumbled.

He came up behind me. He placed my breakfast in front of me and kissed my cheek. "I thought you might say that." He sat down across from me. "Both have tuxedos?"

I shrugged. "Sure," I replied.

"You finish in May," he said. "How about June?"

I shrugged again. "Sure."

"It is too early." He smiled and we ate.