Forced to Grow Up

Part 11

"Haha, okay I'll see you later. Bye!" Michiko waved to a friend as she began to leave school.

It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day out. The breeze was soft and cooling. It had been a wonderful day for Michiko.

Now that she had accepted her feelings, she felt lighter. Happier. She felt she was the person she was meant to be.

She walked along the streets, taking the way she walked everyday. She hummed a little song as she walked.

However, her humming immediately stopped as she saw Paul leaning on a wall in her direct path. She stopped walking, fear taking over her body. Her palms became clamy and her breathing was uneven. She felt her heart speed up every second that went by.

She quietly turned around, hoping not to be noticed. As she turned around, she realized that wasn't going to be easy.

She began to panic as she came face to face with guys who obviously didn't have good intentions. She looked around to see more of them coming at her, surrounding her.

She noticed they all had the same tattoo Paul had. The snake wrapped around a blade. A dark realization came to her: they were all apart of a gang.

"Michiko... Michiko... Michiko." Paul slowly walked over, the other guys making way for him to walk through.

Michiko tried to back up and walk away, but she would just get pushed back into the center of the circle of boys.

"P-p-paul." Michiko stuttered.

"Last time we hung out, we ended without actually being done. Isn't that right, pink." Paul put his index finger and thumb on her cheeks and squished them. Michiko quickly shook her head 'no', shaking his hand off in the process.

"Aw, silly pink. Did you think I would forget?" He got right into her face, "You. Still. Owe me." He growled.

"P-please. It was all a mistake. Just let me go, please." Michiko felt herself getting choked up.

"You obviously aren't aware just how pricey the 'snacks' I gave you can get. But I don't want money from you, no no." Paul shook his head. A dark expression appeared on his face.

"Grab her." He ordered and suddenly all of the guys surrounding Michiko grabbed her.

She kicked and squirmed trying to get out of their grip. She tried to scream but they held her mouth closed. They picked Michiko up off of the ground and took her down into a dark alley.

They yanked off the vest of her uniform and ripped open her shirt, buttons flying everywhere. She screamed at the top of her lungs, tears gushing out of her eyes. She fought and tried to escape, but their strength was overwhelming.

She begged and pleaded, hoping someone would hear her cries and come save her. She clenched her eyes shut and wished in this moment she could just leave her body.

"GET OFF OF MY DAUGHTER!" Natsu roared as he came in to save the day.

He ran at the guys who suddenly dropped Michiko to fight off the roaring salmon haired man. Natsu wasted no time knocking them out and calling the police.

Michiko stood at the scene of where everything took place, her eyes wide and full of shock. Her clothes hung off of her body as they had been stretch out from the incident, she held them up as best she could.

"Michiko." Natsu dashed over and grabbed her into a tight hug. Still frozen in fear, she didn't realize what happened.

Natsu pulled back from the hug, hands on her shoulders, "Michiko, talk to me." He begged.

Her eyes became full with tears once again, she finally came to realize her father had saved her. "Dad..." She fell into his arms.

"I'm here baby, I'm here." He told her.

"I'm so glad you were here." She cried.

"I'm glad I was too." Natsu held her until the authorities arrived.

Michiko explained everything that happened to the cops. She was checked out by a few paramedics just to make sure they didn't rough her up too bad.

"You're lucky your dad was here to save you," one of the cops mentioned as they walked towards her, "We've been after these guys for awhile, just been waiting for them to make a move."

"So they really were a gang?" Michiko asked.

"Yep, pretty notorious too. But now no one will have to worry about these guys anymore. They should be put away for a long long time." The cop told her.

"Oh... okay... Well that's good." Michiko said, slightly sad she had to be the "sacrifice" in order to get these guys put away.

"You're free to go home now. We're all very glad you're safe." The cop said.

"Thank you." Michiko gave a small smile.

"Come on, Michiko. Let's go home." Natsu wrapped his arm around Michiko and they walked a little ways down to their home.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" He hummed.

"How did you know where to find me?" Michiko questioned.

"I felt something was off. I just felt it in my chest. So I took the way I knew you guys walked home and when I heard that scream... I ran. I ran until I finally saw you." Natsu explained.

Michiko stopped walking for a moment which caused Natsu to stopped walking as well. She stared into his eyes, a big smile making it's way on to her face.

"What? Is there something on my face? Or in my teeth?" Natsu questioned.

Michiko gave him a big bear hug. "I have the best dad in the whole world." And with that, they then finished the walk home.

As they got home, they were greeted by a very panicked Lucy. Happiness filled her as she saw Natsu walk through the door with Michiko.

She let out a happy squeal and she quickly walked over to Michiko to hug her. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm okay, mom." Michiko told her.

"Hey, are they- Michiko!" Masato ran over seeing as they were home. He then joined in on the hug.

"I'm guessing dad told you guys?" Michiko asked, currently being squished in a big hug.

"Your dad called me and said that some guys had been trying to... do things to you. So I immediately called Masato. We were all so worried you had been hurt. We would have been down there had your father told us to just wait here. As much as I hated it, I had to trust him and just wait." Lucy explained.

"They got arrested, right? They better have or they would have to deal with me." Masato said as he cracked his knuckles.

"They're gone, they've been arrested." Michiko told him.

"Good."

Everyone was happy Michiko was okay and safe. Michiko hoped this was the end of her problems.