Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 371 Shopping

　　When a boy would go to a mall, he would usually buy clothes. Some would buy games and consoles, others would buy toys as gifts, while the rest would buy something they wanted to. However, Rudy was built differently.

　　"But I don't want them, And it's… embarrassing," she muttered.

　　"What's so embarrassing about that?" he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I have seen you naked many times, and even today, I was staring at you this whole time— which activated my see-through ability— so yeah, for me, you are always naked."

　　Reina squinted her eyes at Rudy and said, "We will talk about this later. For now, let's leave."

　　"Wait." He grabbed her hand and said, "Even if you don't want to buy them, at least come with me."

　　"Why… would you want to buy them if I don't want them…?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

　　"For other girls, obviously," he chuckled. "The vampire squad will be moving to the human world soon, so I want clothes for them, including underwear."

　　"You can always buy them later when they are here. That way, you would know their perfect size too," she suggested awkwardly.

　　"Oh, don't worry about that. I know everything about their body. How many times do you think I have held them in my arms?" he said while grinning.

　　"There should be a rule in the harem; that you can't mention other girls when you are on a date with another," Reina asserted with a knowing look on her face.

　　"That would be tough."

　　SIGH!

　　Reina let out a soft sigh and took Rudy into the shop.

　　"If you are buying them, then I want one too, but that one has to be chosen by you. After all, I would want to wear your favorite pair. I bet you would be happy to see me wearing them when we have fun."

　　"Oho? Someone's getting bolder."

　　Rudy bought ten premium underwear pairs for Jane, Rias, and Niti. And one pair of simple underwear for Vriti.

　　"Now, time to buy them clothes."

　　They strolled in the mall for two hours and bought many pairs of clothes for all the girls, including Reina, Alice, and Angelica.

　　"Should we go home now?" Reina asked calmly. "The sun is about to set too."

　　"Umm… would you like to come with me somewhere?" Rudy asked with a distant smile on his face.

　　"Sure…"

　　'Are we going to a love hotel or something?' she wondered.

　　"Give me the bags." Rudy grabbed all the bags and teleported them to Reina's office. And the spot they teleported was the couch, where Alice was lying down to take a break.

　　She wasn't happy about that.

　　Rudy and Reina left the mall and flew away without being noticed by anyone. However, since the sun was about to set soon, he had no choice but to fly faster than ever before.

　　Reina was scared, but she trusted Rudy more than herself.

　　After flying for 5 minutes, they reached a beach.

　　"This is…?"

　　Rudy landed on the beach and said, "After watching movies, Elise and I used to come here, but only sometimes."

　　He pointed his finger at the broken fence in the distance and said, "This beach closes at sunset, so we used to break in from that fence and enjoy the sunset together."

　　Rudy grabbed Reina's hand and led her to a particular spot.

　　Waves were coming, and the water was hitting the shores, only to get washed by the next wave.

　　"This is… was… our favorite spot. Elise used to say that the sunset looked more beautiful from here," he said calmly.

　　"..."

　　Reina could easily feel the sadness in Rudy's voice, but she chose to stay silent and let him reminisce about his past life.

　　"Do you know what a memory box is?" Rudy asked Reina without looking at her.

　　"No… oh. Are you perhaps talking about the box where you write something and bury it?"

　　"Yes," Rudy nodded and looked at the far-away sky. "One time, Elise and I were sitting here, and an ancient-looking box was washed to the shore. I honestly thought it would have some valuable items since the box was antique.

　　The box didn't have any locking mechanism in it, and it could easily be opened by moving the lid in a specific pattern- like a puzzle box. But when we opened it, it was filled with nothing but water. Most likely, whatever was in there was already taken by someone else, or it got lost in the sea.

　　Elise and I joked about it for a while, and then she suddenly looked at me and said, 'Let's write something for our future self. We would come back here after ten years and see if our dreams came true.'

　　We had our bags with us, so we were able to write with a pen on paper. We both wrote a note and placed it in the box."

　　Rudy pointed his finger at the side of the cave and said, "We buried it there."

　　"Can I ask what you write?" Reina asked curiously.

　　Rudy chuckled softly with a distant smile on his face and said, "I wanted to have a family with you and spend the rest of my life with you."

　　Reina smiled bitterly and said, "That's… romantic…"

　　"We had promised to return after ten years, so we would have also had our child with us. I… thought about that when I was writing that not and smiled. It was hard to imagine myself as a dad, after all.

　　But regardless, just the thought of having a family with Elise was so exhilarating that I can't describe it in words. It was so… so…"

　　Rudy couldn't finish the sentence, and his vision was clouded by water in his eyes.

　　Reina hugged Rudy and said, "You have another chance."

　　====

　　Thanks, @ParadoxDreamer, and @blackpanda626_gami, for the gift.