Claude would react to Reina's blatant provocation. However, he felt someone walk up to his side. He turned to find Len smiling down at him. The look in those eyes shifted as soon as Reina pulled Eugene across from the table. Len chose to intervene, effectively chasing away the woman with a single question. Even everyone at the table felt relieved at his appearance.
Perhaps only Claude had to keep hiding his face. That guy kept stroking his head as if he were a pet. When Claude met his peers' gazes, he used a hand to stop Len. "Hey, thanks again."
"Even women like them have friends." Len swept his gaze across the table, noting everyone who sat with Claude. He then smiled at the embarrassed guy. "I'll keep an eye on them. They won't dare hurt you or any of your friends."
"Uh, yeah, thanks…" Claude couldn't help but dismiss the other person. He kept hiding as if scared of Len's stunts. He didn't want to know if the public eye could deter Len from kissing him.
"Feel free to call me if I missed anyone." Len chuckled and patted the head twice before leaving.
Everyone else at Claude's table followed Len to his own with their eyes. They saw Len's usual friends and women gathered around him. The girl named Courtney even glared in their direction before looking away, prioritizing Len's image over theirs.
Eugene frowned, massaging his neck, which was hurt by his collar. However, before he could say anything, someone walked up to his side this time. Irving smiled down at them like a polite person. He placed a plate of fried chicken as if Len had bought it for them. It was just that… Irving moved to Claude's side and put a bowl of ice cream.
"Please don't be scared. I brought that from the counter." Irving only left them with a reminder. He quickly walked to join Len's table for their lunch.
"…I thought that suitor card was just an excuse…" someone from their table said. "Hey, Lavallee, are you really dating Dietrich?"
A quiet growl came from Claude. He didn't want to talk about those things with other people.
That was why Eugene took everyone's attention when he reached out to take a piece of chicken leg. He said, "Who cares, yeah? We got free food!"
…
The GE class they shared would start in a few minutes. Claude assumed his seat at the same desk as last week. As expected, Len soon came and sat beside him. His elegant entrance wasn't overshadowed by the yawning Jameson following him.
Unlike earlier, Claude sat up and smiled at Len with resignation. He said, "I owe you too much now. Stop collecting debts as a hobby."
"I merely do what I like, given the situations." Len chuckled in response. He leaned on his supposed back support. "No need to worry about Reina. We will deal with her problems soon. For now, avoid speaking to those women from the group date. Without Gracie accounted for, they will go after everyone they feel has answers for them."
"You wanted me to feel like I didn't bring trouble. Should I say something now?" Claude sighed and leaned his chin on his hand on the table. "I wonder how they will react…"
"Perhaps different from what you think they will." Len didn't follow Claude's movement. When Claude moved, his body cleared Len's view of Eugene. Their eyes met, and the other person froze.
Eugene stiffly sat down… only to scoot inches away from Claude. He even leaned his arm on Claude's back to keep the other person from sitting up properly. A hand covered Eugene's mouth as he asked Len, "Hey, what's up with that girl from earlier? Didn't you tell her friends not to look anymore?"
Len smiled in response, but Eugene felt threatened. He answered, "Do you assume I randomly walk up to women and whisper words in their ears?"
Eugene's eye twitched. He leaned closer as if calling a bluff. His eyes even narrowed at Len's face. "Well, you sound like you do just that. I don't want Claude getting in trouble again. You promised to help. Don't chicken out now."
"You're quite the annoying one." Len chuckled a lot more dangerously. He could tell the exact second chills ran up Eugene's spine. The other person pulled back and waddled back to his seat.
"What was that? What were you talking about?" Claude quickly leaned on the back support and squinted at Len. "Did you just threaten my best friend?"
"No." Len smiled sweetly.
Claude didn't want to blush for no reason. However, this person surely knew how to push buttons he didn't realize he had. The violinist only cleared his throat and turned away. However, he still murmured, "Don't take his words to heart too much."
Len hummed in response. He moved his gaze to the teacher's podium, noticing the professor setting her things down. Class started, and Len only stayed quiet.
…
The sounds in the locker hallway subsided as soon as Claude walked in with his peers. He noticed how some students glanced at them and visibly rushed to finish their business. A few would stare at them and watch them like they had done something awful. Claude didn't like that feeling. However, he couldn't shut down when he was not the target.
Eugene didn't really show anger. When he got to his locker, he saw a lot of stickers slapped on it. The words 'coward'. 'kidnapper', 'predator', and 'incel' peppered the space. It was as if some people were too convinced that he knew something about Gracie's disappearance.
How could he deny it when he was the last person to see her alive?
"I'm so sorry…" Claude whispered when he caught Eugene just staring at the locker. "I don't know how to reverse things, Eugene."
"Dude, no sweat." Eugene prepared to enter his locker code, but his hand only stayed mid-air. "If you didn't intervene, it could have gotten worse. You didn't hear what they wanted to do to me. They wanted to stream a rape I couldn't possibly get over. This is way better."
Claude flattened his lips. He heard that part, but their coming to reality was hard to imagine. Gracie and those guys were mauled to death. Claude simply forgot how vicious they were to another person.
Eugene didn't look at Claude. He just used an arm to push Claude gently, keeping him out of anything that might come from the locker. Eugene unlocked the locker and opened it… only to find nothing wrong. He inspected his books and found nothing amiss. He wore a smile and heaved a deep sigh.
Turning to Claude, Eugene chuckled. "Looks safe…!"
His smile didn't last long. He saw a group of seniors headed their way. Those guys zeroed in on Eugene and stood around them, making others back off. Claude remained close to Eugene, but their other peers couldn't help but fear the aura coming from those guys.
Their leader looked over. "You're Eugene Roth, right? Come with us."