Okay, sorry for the long awaited update. Hopefully you'll like this highly climatic chapter. This is the high point folks. Enjoy!

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Chapter Seventeen -

"Your both in danger"

Yuki was dumbfounded. He didn't have a minute to think, beacuse Akito suddenly walks into the room. "Yes Hatsu is right, you are in danger. But it's only your fault. A person who commits a sin, must atone for it."

Both cat and rat take a few steps back and clutch the other's hand. "Aww how sweet. Your both going to witness the other's punishment. The cat first I think. Come on Kyo, my little kitty. Come to your master."

Kyo and Yuki stood transfixed. Yuki could only think one thing. Protect Kyo.

He moves to stand in front of the cat. "Akito no. Don't punish him. I'm the one to blame. Please!" The rat asks pleadingly.

Akito's eyes flash dangerously. "Yuki, such insolence. I never would have thought you would defy me. The cat has brainwashed you I see. Kureno, pull my pet away from this filth." Kureno comes out of the shadows and pulls Yuki off to the side. The rat struggles and a bed ridden Haru and Kyo somehow snap out of their stupor. "Let go of him!" They both shout.

"Oh so now everyone has decided to revolt. Well I shall take pleasure in punishing you all." Akito approaches Kyo and strokes his cheek with a pale hand. "I'd like to know why you thought it was okay to touch my Yuki, to make love to my Yuki."

Kyo's eyes go wide, and Yuki flails his arms harder, trying to get out of Kureno's grasp. "No Kyo, don't listen to him. Fight back!"

Akito roughly grabs the cat's wrists and hisses, "If Shigure hadn't informed me of what he saw this morning, then I wouldn't be able to correct it."

Kyo tries to move, but Akito executes a perfect round house kick, and knocks the cat's legs from underneath him. He lay on his back trying to regain his breathing, when Akito jumps on him, and pins him to the floor. The Sohma God's legs pinned down Kyo's, and his hands were held tightly above him. How he could keep Kyo down, was a mystery.

Yuki watches as Akito extracts a knife from his jacket pocket. Kyo freezes and watches the object in Akito's hand. Akito un-snaps the case and draws out the blade.

Kyo begins to thrash around more fiercely than before, finally sensing the severity of the situation. "Akito you damned bastard! Get off of me. I haven't done anything wrong. Yuki isn't yours."

Yuki watches in horror as Akito, with hate filled eyes, smacks Kyo hard across the face. While the cat is stunned, the Sohma God takes the knife and cuts Kyo's cheek, from under the eye down to his chin.

The cat grimaces, but does not whimper in pain. "Mmmm I think you look better this way." Akito whispers.

A trail of blood runs down Kyo's face, and Yuki gasps. "Knock it off Akito!" The rat shouts. He struggles against Kureno's grasp, and is able to break free. He runs to Kyo's side and pushes Akito back.

The cat scrambles up and Yuki stands in front of him.

"How dare you!" Akito seethes, standing up, and still clutching the knife.

"Yuki get out of here and save yourself. I can take care of myself just fine." Kyo hisses as he swipes at his cheek. The wound was bleeding freely now.

"No! I won't just leave you here. I won't leave you alone!" Yuki says standing firmly in place. Akito looked ready to kill. "Well this has been nice, but I believe both of you need to be taught a lesson." The Sohma God steps forward menacingly. Yuki takes a few steps backward right into Kyo.

Akito had always tormented him, and now he was trying to keep him and Kyo from each other. The rat wasn't going to let happen.

"Since your so persistant Yuki, I think maybe you need to be punished now." Akito says. He raises the knife, but just before he brings it to the rat's cheek, Haru suddenly appears in front of him. He shifts funny and one of his injured legs gives out.

Yuki watches in horror as the ox falls forward right onto Akito's knife. There seemed to be a collective gasp in the room, the silence. Haru grunts and falls to the floor. Blood begins to pool around the ox. "No!" Yuki gasps. He falls to his knees and drawls Haru onto his lap. "Haru! Why did you do that? Why did you do something so stupid."

Haru coughs and blood spills from his mouth. The knife must have punctured a lung or his stomach. It was a fatal wound. The ox coughs again. "I love you Yuki, and I would never want to see you hurt. I'm sorry Kyo got hurt too." He breaks off in a fit of wet coughs. Blood was everywhere, and Yuki felt sick. Big tears fall down his cheeks and land on Haru's pale face.

"Don't cry Yuki. Be happy from now on. Don't let..." Haru coughs again, and his breathing becomes labored. "Don't let this have been in vain." The ox slowly closes his eyes, and his breathing becomes slower. "Thank you Haru. I'm sorry I couldn't return your feelings." As the ox draws his last breath, Yuki places a gently kiss on his forehead, and begins to cry harder. He screams in saddness then turns to face Akito.

"Look what you've done." Akito had a shocked look on his face and promptly drops the knife. "No no no no!" The Sohma God says. He backs away and Kureno suddenly pulls him from the room.

Yuki sits staring at Haru's lifeless form. He gently brushes the white hair and whispers, "You really loved me that much uh? I'll never forget you Haru. Never." The rat feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to see Kyo, tears in his eyes.

"Kyo!" Yuki says hoping up. He swipes at his eyes before taking Kyo's face in his hands. Both teens were covered in blood and Kyo's cheek looked nasty. "We-we need to get home, and take care of that." The rat says, hating the fact they would have to leave Haru. Kyo's face held no emotion, and this scared Yuki. "Oh Kyo, are you alright?" Kyo pulls the rat into an embrace and nuzzles his neck. "Yeah don't worry about me. It's just a lot to take in." The cat runs his hand through Yuki's hair and down his neck.

Hatori walks into the room and stops. "What the hell happened?" He asks. He spots Haru's lifeless body. "Oh my God!" He exclaims. The dragon rushes forward to where Haru lay.

Yuki couldn't stand to be in that room a second longer, and turns to shield his eyes against Kyo's shoulder. "Can we go now please?" He asks quietly. "Yes. Let's get home." Kyo grips Yuki's shoulders and steers him out of the room. They find themselves alone in the hallway. Shigure must have already left. That cowardly bastard. This was all his fault. Yuki hoped he didn't run into the dog the rest of the night. Who knows what he would do, but it wouldn't be pretty.

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OKAY! So there's that, and I'm going to go hide now. Review or flame on. Doesn't matter cause that's how the story goes. Haru sacrificed himself for Yuki and Kyo's love. Will things work out? Stay tuned for the update, please don't stop reading. The next chapter will be shorter cause this was quite long. So sorry in advance, but know that it will be sooner than the others have been. Promise.