Rudy ran as fast as possible even though his legs were giving out. The sad look on Rias' face kept flashing before his eyes, giving him a reason and motivation to keep moving forward.

  After running for more than 20 minutes, Rudy stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath. His vision was getting blurry because he had never run that fast before.

  He took heavy breaths as his heartbeat loudly. He felt like his heart was about to explode.

  Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching him and stopping in front of him.

  Rudy knew without looking that it was Rias because of her sweet scent. He raised his head to look at her, only to find her grinning at him.

  "Why are you grinning?" he asked.

  "It was so funny and satisfying to see you running like that," she replied.

  "……" Rudy furrowed his brows and asked, "You…… you were watching me this whole time?!"

  "Of course, I was," Rias scoffed softly. "I was walking my way to my house and saw you running on the opposite street. I was confused at first and assumed I saw the wrong person since I didn't see your mother with you. But I still followed you to confirm, and it was really you."

  "……"

  "I wanted to call you out and ask where you were going, but then I noticed you were running in the same direction as my house."

  "And then you laughed your ass off while I was nearly dying here?" Rudy asked with a furious look on his face.

  "Something like that, yes," she nodded in response.

  SIGH!

  "Now I regret running after you."

  "Can I ask why you were after me?" she asked curiously.

  "Because I wanted to drop you off at your house."

  "But were you going with your mother—"

  Rudy interrupted Rias and said, "She asked me to go after you."

  Rias bit her lips and thought, 'So he only came because she asked him to? I got my hopes high for—'

  "But…. I also wanted to come after you," Rudy added.

  "……!" Rias' face flushed a little after hearing that. "Why… would you do that…?"

  "Because I love you…"

  "……"

  Rudy looked into Rias' eyes and said, "I am charmed by you! Whenever I look at you, my heart flutters. Whenever I hear my name coming from your mouth, I get excited. Whenever you couch me, I feel… calm…"

  Rias' mind had stopped working after Rudy confessed his love to her. She couldn't believe her ears because so far, Rudy had never shown any sign of affection towards her.

  "For… how… long?" Rias stuttered. "For how long have you been in love with me?"

  "For the last two months…?"

  Rias squinted her eyes and said, "And then you get angry at me for watching you run for a few minutes. When you were watching me try my best to make you fall in love with me."

  "There is a big difference between them. I was unsure of my feelings and embarrassed too. This is my first time falling in love with someone, and I was confused too. So I had to take time and understand my feelings for you."

  Rias didn't care about anything. She hugged Rudy tightly and buried his face under her breasts.

  "I am so happy right now!" she said cheerfully.

  For the first time in three months, Rudy hugged Rias back and enjoyed the warmth of her embrace.

  "……!" Rias couldn't be happier.

  "It's funny that you said vampires don't have body temperature, but I am feeling warm from your embrace…" Rudy uttered in a muffled voice.

  "You are just feeling your own body heat."

  Rias looked at Rudy's neck and said, "So now that you also love me, can I drink your blood?"

  "No. I am not ready for that yet. So let's wait for a few more days and let our relationship progress naturally," Rudy replied.

  Rias looked at the sky and noticed the sun had almost set. So she spread her wings and flew into the sky with Rudy.

  "Wait! You know I am afraid of heights! Please put me down!" Rudy yelled.

  "I won't."

  "Is this your way of making me say yes?!"

  "No. But I want you to get over your fear of heights since this is going to be a daily occurrence now."

  "You can't just ask someone to stop being afraid of something they had been sacred for their entire life!"

  Rias looked into Rudy's eyes and asked, "Do you remember what you said when you were stuck in my house?"

  "I said so many things, so I don't know what you are talking about…"

  "I am referring to where you were spouting and taking out your pent-up frustration."

  "Oh…… that. Yeah, that was embarrassing, so please forget about that," Rudy said with a groan and refused to look down.

  Rias caressed Rudy's face and said, "Always remember; be kind but not weak, be strong but not rude, be humble but not timid, be proud but not egoist, and be confident but not arrogant."

  "……"

  "Do you understand?" she asked.

  "Somewhat…"

  "Good. You will understand it fully eventually."

  Rias and Rudy stared into each other's eyes for a while, but Rudy still couldn't shake his fear of heights.

  "Can we go to the surface?"

  "First, answer me one thing." Rias kissed Rudy on the forehead and asked, "What is more impactful for you? Your fear of heights or your time with me?"

  "How am I supposed to answer that…" he muttered.

  "Rudy. You don't have to worry about anything. I am here for you, and I will always be there for you. I will protect you until the very end, and no one will ever break us apart."

  As soon as Rias said that, a bright, red beam dropped on both of them from the sky and slammed them onto the ground. But luckily, Rias managed to save Rudy from a fatal injury.

  Once the red beam faded away, a silver-haired girl who looked identical to Rias, hovered in the sky and looked down at Rias and Rudy with a lifeless gaze in her eyes.

  "Time to go home, sister…"

  "Jane…"

  ===

  Author's Note- The flashback ends with this chapter!

  Thanks, @clearwo, @Darkswan, and @Manuelito_Villega, for the gift!