Hi guys! for a Christmas special, i decided to post this next one! hope you like it! hmm... soon i shall post chapter 10!


~Safe Zone~

"You cuties look like you can help us" he wrapped his arm around Mikan. "Wha-what can we help you with misters?" she tried to act like she didn't know what was happening. He chuckled and held her chin to make her face him "You can start by letting me take your body" He and his friends started to come closer to the girls.

Mikan spat at the guy's eyes, which made him, drop her on the ground. "Mikan!" the girl's shouted. "WHY YOU LITTLE!" the man started to pin her down to the ground, while his friends watched the show.

Mikan looked at Hotaru, who looked like she was on the verge of tears, and mouthed "RUN!" Hotaru nodded, took the other girls, and ran.

"Aww… You wanted to save your friends, now you're in big trouble"


Hotaru and the girls were crying and panting when they started running towards the boys. "NATSUME, Mikan's in trouble!" Sumire shouted. Natsume didn't think twice, he dropped the paper bag that he was carrying and ran to where Mikan was.

"Dammit!" he repeated over and over as he ran. Natsume spotted a group of guys and a girl pinned by one of the guys on the floor. "MIKAN!" he shouted.


Mikan couldn't do anything, she was pinned to the ground, she couldn't move. No one was in sight; they were all on the main road while they were near an ally. Mikan started crying. "Shh… Don't cry, I'll take good care of you" he started kissing her neck, making a red marks.

"Natsume…" she whispered over and over, hoping that he would hear her little whisper. "MIKAN!" She heard Natsume's voice shout. The guy looked up and without a second warning; he was kicked to the nearest wall.

Natsume rushed to where Mikan was, he saw that her neck was full of red marks. Blood rushed to Natsume's head which made him charge to the guy "You Bastard!" Natsume started punching him until he started bleeding.

Natsume was punched by one of the guy's friends. "Why you little punk!" one after another, punches were being thrown towards Natsume. "Natsume!" Mikan cried out as she tried to reach for him but failed to do so.

Before another one of the guys could punch Natsume, Ruka managed to kick the guy which made Ruka call his attention "You pick on one of us" Koko appears beside him "You pick on all of us!" Ruka threw a punch which knocked the guy unconscious.

The girls rushed to Mikan's side as the boys started fighting the gang of guys. "Nat-sume" she staggered. Natsume's face was bleeding from the punches; Mikan wanted him to stop fighting. She still couldn't move her body due to shock and aches.

"Hotaru, Call the police" Anna and Nonoko shouted simultaneously. Hotaru ran towards the square's guard house.

The police, as well as Hotaru, came. They took custody of the gang and gave Natsume medical attention. But before they could finish, he stood and carried Mikan bridal style.

"Natsume, you need to… rest" she could barely speak. "It's ok Mikan, I'm fine" He asked Ruka to take his and Mikan's paper bags and to drive them to Mikan's house.

Youichi brought Aoi home, who told Ioran and Kaoru the entire story. They ended up calling Yuka and Izumi to tell them about the news. Everyone went home, except for Hotaru and Ruka, who brought Natsume and Mikan to her house.


"Natsume, make sure she gets plenty of sleep ok?" Ruka wanted to ask just to be sure "Yeah, I'm going to stay until she gets better" Hotaru nodded, she knew that Natsume was kind enough not to do anything perverted while Mikan was hurt.

Natsume placed Mikan on her bed, the look in her eyes seemed like she was in pain. She was guilty for what happened. Their eye contact broke when Natsume's phone started ringing.

"Yes? Yes, she's safe now. I'm really sorry for not protecting her in time. Are you sure? Yes, I understand, thank you" as soon as he placed down the phone; he slipped under the covers with Mikan.

"Was that my parents?" he nodded. "What did they say?" Before he answered, he positioned her head to lie on his chest as a pillow and started stroking her hair. "They asked if you were safe, then they kept on saying that it wasn't my fault and they told me to live here until they get back"

He could feel her body stiffen "I won't do anything Mikan; they know that I'll keep you safe" Mikan smiled, "Thank you Nat, It really isn't your fault… It's mine" she looked at him "If I wasn't in that position; you wouldn't have gotten hurt like this!"

Natsume kissed her forehead "No, I wanted to save you, and besides, it doesn't hurt at all" he laughed. Mikan started crying "I'm really sorry Nat" "He-hey… Don't cry Mikan please?" He kissed her lips this time; it was a soft and safe feeling for Mikan.

"I love you Mikan" he whispered. "I love you too Natsume" she smiled and closed her eyes. "Goodnight" Natsume mumbled before he too, fell asleep.


Mikan awoke from the smell of her favorite food, pancakes and bacon. "But Mom's not home yet!" She rushed to the kitchen, only to find a familiar face behind the counter.

"Good morning sleepy head" Natsume smiled. "But I guess calling you bed head is more like it" he teased. Mikan immediately shot her hands up to her hair "The heck!" she shouted and ran back up to her room.

She came back down, wearing her favorite shorts and blue top. "You sure look fine now" Natsume was seated on the dinning chair, waiting for Mikan to have a seat beside her.

"Good morning to you too Nat" she sat beside him, and to her surprise, there were pancakes and bacon on her plate beside a glass of orange juice. "You made this?!" "Wow, a guy can cook too ya' know" he commented. "Just eat already" he said before he took a bite of his bacon.

Mikan followed. "Yummy!" she ate and ate until her stomach was satisfied. Natsume ended up watching her the entire time "Glutton" he muttered.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
"I said Futon" he stood up, took both of their plates and headed to the sink.

"AH! I'll do that Natty, since you did all the cooking" she took charge of the cleaning while Natsume went somewhere.

"Where did that sly cat head off to this time?" she sat on the couch and turned on the TV, Mikan was still tired from what happened yesterday, so she decided to take a little nap.

'It's raining? No, I'm inside the house. Then what-?' the brunette awoke, her hazelnut orbs met once more a pair of crimson orbs. Something was still dripping on her face; her eyes adjusted a bit and noticed that Natsume's hair was wet.

"Natsume, you took a shower here?" she asked in a calm voice as she sat up. "Yeah, sorry for getting you wet" he sat beside her. Mikan's eyes widened once more in realization "Wait! Where did you get your clothes?"

"Youichi and Aoi brought some of my clothes here" Mikan started to caress the bruise on his cheek. "So you really are going to live here for a few days" he nodded.

They sat there in silence; mikan was still caressing the bruise, while Natsume just stared at her blushing face.

"What a lovey dovey aura you guys have" Hotaru's stoic voice broke the silence. "Good morning Hotaru!" "Hey Ruka" Natsume didn't bother greeting Hotaru since she only cared about Mikan.

"We wanted to check up on you two love birds" Ruka smiled. "Good morning Ruka-pyon!" "Good morning Sakura-san"

"You didn't touch her while she was asleep did you?" Hotaru brought out her BAKA gun. "No Imai, now please stop treating me like a perverted weirdo" she placed her BAKA gun back into her bag and sighed "I know, it's just that… yesterday, I was so useless"

Mikan hugged her best friend "No you weren't, you helped by getting the other girls out and by calling the police" Ruka placed his hand on Hotaru's shoulder. "You saved Natsume too, by calling the police, they stopped hurting him"

"Yeah, Thanks Imai" Natsume mumbled. Besides towards Mikan and Ruka, he wasn't too fond of thanking people. So in an opportunity like this Hotaru always brought her recorder. (And yes, she did record Natsume's thank you)

"At least now that Natsume's here" Hotaru began as she smiled at Mikan. "You can call this your Safe zone" Mikan nodded in agreement and hugged Natsume's arm. "YUP!"


ok so that ends this chapter. hope you liked it. R&R everyone! Merry Christmas!