"I need your help, Maki. I can't stay here anymore." Umi said in her shaky tone of voice.
Maki softened her eyes, "Even without you saying it, I'd help you move out of the city. You can stay in my farmhouse in Texas. You'll be safe there."
"What if those people come back?"
"They won't. A worker of mine there once belonged in the Special Forces. I'll have her appointed as your bodyguard."
"Thank you, Maki.." Umi went and gave the redhead a tight embrace, "Thank you.."
"I'll come with you to ensure that you arrive there safely." Maki replied as she held the other back.
"You sure have a large farmhouse, Maki. Don't you get lonely here whenever you are not in the city?" Umi asked as she finally got out of the car and spun around to look around the vast field with horses running around from the distance.
"Nah, my employees usually accompany me so I don't feel lonely at all." Maki replied as she got out of her car as well, moving beside the blue-haired.
At the large barn nearby, there are two females in their cowgirl attire chattering when the shorter one with black hair tied into twin tails saw them and elbowed the taller one with blonde hair, "Hey hey, there they are."
The blonde looked at the raven-haired then at the two, "Oh, thanks." She hurriedly marched towards them with a soft smile, "Maki!" she called her owner's name and waved.
As Umi caught the glimpse of the blonde, her jaw slowly and slightly dropped as she stared.
"Ah, here she is." Maki smiled back as she faced the blonde, "Umi, I want you to meet Eli Ayase. My best employee around."
"Oh please, stop with the compliments." Eli chuckles before turning to the blue-haired, "Hi, Eli Ayase at your service ma'am, you must be the woman I will guard around!"
"A-Ah yes. Indeed I am." Umi chuckled, "I'm Umi Sonoda. Just call me Umi."
"Well then, call me Eli." The blonde let out a cheeky grin.
"I entrust you with her safety, Eli. I will have to get back to the city." Maki said.
"Well," Eli shrugged as she spread her arms widely, "welcome to the safest place on Earth. Just call my name and I'll be there in a heartbeat!"
"You sure are enthusiastic when talking to people huh?" Umi asked, watching the horses run around with Eli from behind the wooden fences.
"Well, can't survive life without interacting with people, am I right?" Eli looked at Umi with a smile.
"Can't even do that much. I've only interacted with my high school friends so far."
"Guess you need to learn how to talk a lot. I can be your friend to that."
"Oh? Talk to me then."
"Alright, so when I first met you, I was actually starstruck because you look like that one singer. Only difference is that you are more beautiful."
"Oh jeez." Umi groaned while rolling her eyes before she turned around to walk away.
"Hey! I was talking to you!" Eli said as she just watched her walk away with her arms spread out in confusion but she still has that smile plastered on her face.
"You weren't talking, you were flirting! I'll go get the scrubs!" Umi said without bothering to look back. But as she walked away, she had a smile on her face.
"Guess you are loving it here now, Umi. Peaceful isn't?" Maki asked with a smile as they stood in the balcony while staring at the starry skies mixed with darkness of the night.
"Very peaceful. This is the lifestyle I had always wanted." Umi chuckled.
"You can stay here you know." Maki looked down at her with her eyes softened.
"Can I, really?"
"Of course!" Maki chuckled, "And it is much healthier here."
"Alright then! No reason to turn you down. I will find a place of my own once I get a job nearby."
"There will be a job fair this coming Saturday, you should attend."
"Alright then. I'll bring Eli along since she might know as well!" Umi grinned.
"She sure does, that's how we met."
"Wait wait wait, you love pets?" Eli asked as they looked around the place where there are hiring posters and stalls.
"Yeah! As much as possible, I want to work at a kennel." Umi said while she was filling up a form.
"Well, this place is pretty much modern as well like in the city you had lived in minus tall buildings so I know you could get a job right away."
"I doubt, they have processes here as we-"
"Oh wow, you love pets?! Welcome aboard!" A woman smiled as she saw the form.
Umi looked up at her in surprise then shifted her gaze at Eli, who shrugged.
"Told you."
"So, how are you and Umi?" Alisa asked, smiling while she was quilting a bracelet.
"What do you mean by that?" Eli asked back.
"Oh, you know, like have you two been dating or something?" Nico teased while smirking.
"W-What? No! I'm her bodyguard!" Eli said.
"I see that you don't want to be just her bodyguard." Alisa said.
"Hey! How old are you to get into this business!?" Eli asked.
"Well, I'm 22." Alisa answered.
"Well, you can't escape from her, your sister is sharp, too." Nico said, laughing.
"Aw shut up!" Eli said as she left the room.
"Is this your secret place?" Umi asked as she and Eli walked around the small forest with white flowers and leaves filling the trees. The petals are gently falling and making a mess on the ground.
"Yes it is. Liked it? I usually go here whenever I am stressed." Eli said.
"I love it!" Umi then faced the blonde with her happiest smile.
Eli smiled back and leaned down towards her to give her a soft kiss on the lips with her eyes closed, which left Umi speechless and shocked.
However, Umi closed her eyes as well and responded to the kiss.
The wind began to play around the two of them, allowing the petals to encircle them.
"Hey miss. Sonoda. I believe you should come with us." A tall man in a black suit as he suddenly grabbed Umi's wrist.
"Let go of me! Eli!" Umi yelled.
"Hey, didn't your mother teach you about not to touch a woman that way?" Eli said from behind before she suddenly grabbed a hold of the man's neck in a Sleeper hold, making the man gag and let go of the blue-haired to hold Eli's strong arms so he could free himself but to no avail.
The blonde dragged him away from Umi and threw him onto the ground before giving him a hard stomp on his crotch that made him flinch and howl in pain, blood soon became present from that part.
Eli looked at the remaining four men in black, who were obviously stunned. She extended her arm and pointed her index finger at each one of them, "And you! Don't you ever touch her again!" She shouted in her firm and clear voice that could shake someone in fear.
"They had been chasing me all this time. It was because I accidentally saw what they did back in that alley. I-I just want to go home. I.." Umi broke down in tears while Eli listened to her.
The blonde then wrapped her arms around the blue-haired and held her tightly, "You are home now."
Umi bawled like a baby, "I want to forget Eli, help me!"
"I will.." Eli responded in her most soothing voice.
"I will help you forget, Umi." Eli said as she passionately kissed Umi's lips while gently pinning her on the bed. The two of them are already naked and have initiated their own heated night.
"What can I do for you so then you would love me back, Umi?! I had always looked at you that way ever since we met!" Maki shouted.
"You can't just force me to love you when my heart doesn't want to!"
"What do you see in her, Umi? Was it because you feel safe around her?!"
"Yes! I do feel safe around her! But now those scums have come back, I have to leave! I don't want her and everyone else to be in trouble anymore! All of these happened because of me!" Umi answered with tears overflowing her eyes.
"So that's it? After those guys came in, you think you could just leave and make me forget?" Eli asked as she softly glared down at Umi.
"As long as I am here, you won't be safe. I won't be safe. This is for the best, Eli. I want you to forget about me."
"How can I ever forget about you when you are the woman who became my everything?!" An enraged Eli shouted as she slightly slammed her fist on the table, which created a sharply loud sound that made Umi flinch.
"Umi, don't leave. There's no safer place here on Earth than with me. In my arms." Eli said as she went to kiss Umi's nose.
"I'll protect you."
"I don't understand why Umi loves Eli instead of me. Am I not good looking enough? Am I not wealthy enough?" Maki asked, groaning.
"I don't think it relies on how good looking or wealthy you are. If it does then it is not love." Nico said.
"Is that so? Then tell me, Nico. What makes you love someone?"
"Love me and you'll find out."
"Ever since we got together, I had always wondered about something, why do you love me?" Umi asked as she stared at Eli lovingly.
"There's actually no reason so I can't answer that. But all I know for sure is that you are worth spending forever for. In my life, you are my haven." Eli replied before Umi leaned up to kiss the other's lips passionately, their eyes closed while they stood in the middle of the field with horses running around them.