Len tilted his head to the side. A small smile curled his lips in amusement. "Why don't you let me know what your signal looks like?"
"I'm pretty sure you know. You can't bait me into kissing you this time."
What a cheap trick. Claude just chuckled as he exited the ensuite. Len followed him shortly, only for them to catch the door swinging in a hurry. However, it was so controlled that the person wouldn't have knocked against someone, even if someone stood around closely.
Ryan huffed and quickly entered the office. "I'm sorry I'm late. Lavallee should have been here. Did he come in already?"
Ritzy put down the folder she held and jogged to Ryan. As soon as Ryan closed the door behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist. She pecked at the guy's lips. "Yep, he's in the bathroom with Len. Don't worry. I keep my ears open. I will stop them if I hear a moan or something."
"It's roughly seven. Don't put that kind of scary picture in my head." Ryan didn't mind the kiss. He even stroked her head before taking out his phone. "I'll check in with the dean first. Campus security has escalated the Runaway Six to the police. The SCB would have to discuss recommendations. Also, no one has checked up on the dorms again. So many things to do…"
"Len and Claude are already here. Why don't you just ask them about it?" Ritzy leaned her weight against her boyfriend. "Claude isn't a real member, but Len is. He should handle those people just fine. Courtney can check with the girls' dorms. You won't have to deal with Len getting chased by half-naked women. That'll surely be one hell of a sight, though."
Ryan glanced at his girl. "I doubt it. They all know Len is after Lavallee. He's the one getting chased around by women with knives."
A small pout was Ritzy's answer. She leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder, only to find Claude and Len watching them from the bathroom door. She poked her tongue out.
Upon noticing the direction of Ritzy's gaze, Ryan looked at where she looked. He lowered his phone and spoke as if a girl wasn't pressing against him. "Lavallee, it's good to see you on time on your first day. Are you done with your business with Len?"
He glanced at the bathroom door. "Did you clean up?"
"The mop and the washcloths." Claude jabbed at Len before the other person could laugh. He walked closer to Ryan, who cued Ritzy to get decent. "What do you mean, check up on the dorms?"
"Oh, that? It's just a follow-up on the SCB's part." Ryan locked and pocketed his phone. "Student behavior usually settles around the second week of school. We ask around the dorms in case they have problems to report. The SCB can approve and fund programs designed to improve student welfare in their dorms. We normally go around to see if the dorm leaders need more help."
"We have to talk to them… now?" Claude asked again, and Ryan nodded, much to his surprise. Claude glanced at his watch. "It's already seven-twenty. I think we can make it somehow."
Len walked to the door, and Ryan pulled Ritzy to make way for them. He spoke to the brotherhood's senior VP. "We'll be off, then. Expect our report later at noon."
Ryan nodded. "I'll tell Courtney to help you with the girls' dorms. She would have done that by noon. Hopefully, you guys won't run into one another and cause trouble. And you, Lavallee, please remember you are not cleared yet."
"We'll make the report later at noon." Claude left with Len. He was supposed to shadow Ryan, but the SCB had a lot of things to do.
…
Interviewing the dorm leaders was Len's task, but Claude spoke to them more. Len only followed the other person around, merely intimidating uncooperative people with his gaze. Claude also didn't forget to read prominent thoughts from the dorm leaders' minds. The only ones who seemed worry-free were Joshua, the dorm leader of the General's dorm, and Tommy, who led the Cavalry's dorm.
Claude typed on his phone with both hands. He was making a draft of his report as they walked to their first class that Tuesday. It was a GE class, so they were headed to the same class.
"Hey, you live in the General's dorm, right?" Claude turned to Len, who walked with him shoulder to shoulder. "Do you think Ryberg is okay to think everything about your dorm is good enough? I didn't get a good feel of his thoughts…"
"You visited our dorm a lot of times. Do you think it's not enough?" Len chuckled, reminded Claude a few things. He could only smile when Claude's gaze on his face sharpened.
Claude shook his head and saved his draft. "But you're right. Your dorm gets the best things. It barely trickled to other dorms. We even lucked out when the dorm heads were meeting on their own. It made our task easy, but don't you think it's telling? We should include that in our report."
Len stretched a hand and pulled Claude closer to him. It happened so fast that Claude even lost footing. He could glare at Len again, but his eyes didn't miss that football that barely missed his head.
"Oh, shit, my bad!" Someone laughed behind them. "Is your head okay, baby girl?"
Claude broke out of Len's hold and glared at the person. However, Len reached out again to hold Claude's arm, asking him to calm down. With a low nod at Len, Claude stepped back and held back his anger. It just didn't help that the group behind them started whistling at the clear non-verbal exchange.
The person who threw the football arrived before Claude. He got someone to fetch the football for him. His eyes stayed on Claude's glare, though. With a provocative smile, he looked down at Claude. "Aw, look at you. You're a leashed dog, Lavallee. Do you think you can simply get away with kicking someone's friend? Who do you think rules this school, huh?"
"Senior, we have already proven we're capable of hurting you and your friends." Len attracted their attention with words alone. However, they all noticed how Len's eyes seemingly shone with red light. He didn't even smile when he spoke. "Your pursuit of Claude's anger should not continue.
"Stand. Down."
The senior stared at the freshman looking straight into his eyes. Len was tall; he didn't have to look up for these men. He didn't have to do more than just eye them like a silencing patriarch.
It was just that… Len was a freshman. The senior broke out with a laugh of ridicule. He drove a finger toward Len's face. "Listen here, you expensive piece of shit—"
Grab!
Len grabbed the senior's hand and squeezed it enough for the senior to yelp in pain. The senior couldn't even pull his hand away from Len's hold. Len then smiled dangerously at the frightened man. "Who said you have the right to touch me?"