CHAPTER 71: LOVERS IN THE SHOWER.

What happened?" Kaito asked as they got into the room. Though he threw the question to everyone, he expected only one person to answer. But instead, they all started speaking at once. The voices clashed, making it hard for him to hear anything clearly. His patience ran out.

"Will you all keep quiet?" he shouted.

The room fell silent immediately.

Renn, sitting on the couch, let out a laugh as he looked at them. It had been a while since he witnessed such drama. "The three musketeers can’t even explain themselves," he said with a smirk.

"So funny," Angela muttered beside him. She was still upset with him.

Kaito stood with his arms folded. "If one person doesn’t explain, I won’t listen," he said, his voice firm. Then he looked at Alex. "You. Explain."

Alex swallowed hard. He didn’t want to make things worse. "Whatever is in that video... it’s not the truth. It was edited to make us look like we were doing something wrong," he said quietly, choosing his words with care.

Kaito’s eyes darkened. "Why would anyone do that?"

"The person is after Angel, not us. He made an account with the name Mr. Anonymous. He posts fake videos about Angel all the time," Alex replied.

"The last video about Renn and Angel was edited. That’s what this Mr. Anonymous keeps doing," Stales added. He leaned against the couch, speaking with honesty that Kaito could sense.

"A video about me?" Renn asked, confused. He brought out his phone. He hadn’t paid attention to the trending videos lately. He had no idea he was in any of them.

"There are about two or three videos that mention you," Stales told him.

"I never saw them," Renn said as he scrolled through WolfBuzz. He watched each video, his expression darkening with every clip. "This never happened. Why would someone do this?"

"He wants you and Kaito to hate Angel," Alex said. "And there’s more. He’s been sending threat notes to Angel. The first one was written in fresh animal blood inside his locker, warning him to leave the Academy."

"What?" Kaito and Renn said at the same time, shocked.

They both stared at Alex, not believing what they were hearing. Alex continued, telling them everything—except the part where Angel was called a bitch. That was too much. He couldn’t let them know Angel’s secret.

"I’m disappointed in you," Kaito said, shaking his head. His voice was low but heavy with anger. "When did you start handling things this way? Why didn’t you come to me the moment you saw that note in Angel’s locker?"

Alex couldn’t respond. His head stayed low, filled with guilt and shame.

"Kaito is right," Renn said, rising from the couch. "You should’ve told one of us. Blood? That’s not a joke. That means this person wants Angel gone. For real. Dead, if he doesn’t leave."

He looked around the room, his mind filled with thoughts. How scared Angela must have been, going through that alone. And what had he done? Instead of standing by her, he had been stressing her more these past few days.

"We were trying to solve it on our own," Angela finally spoke, her voice low. "I didn’t think it was that serious. I planned to report it to Principal Valois..."

"We’re not involving her," Renn cut in sharply.

Angela’s brows drew together. She remembered the talk Renn had with Kaito the night before. He clearly didn’t like Valois, but she couldn’t understand why. The woman seemed kind. She was graceful and warm. Why would Renn hate her?

"Renn is right," Kaito said, letting out a deep breath as he sat on the edge of the bed. "We have to be smart about this. We can’t rush. Who else knows about the threats?"

"No one," Angela replied with a small shrug. She hadn’t shared it with anyone else. She was going to tell Taros later that night.

"These threats aren’t jokes," Renn said quietly. "This person knows something about you. Something we don’t. Maybe that’s why he wants you out of the Academy... or maybe he just hates you."

"And Mr. Slade didn’t even let you explain yourselves?" Renn added with frustration.

"He didn’t," Kaito muttered with a bitter chuckle, trying to hold in his anger. Mr. Slade had always found a way to get under his skin. He didn’t listen to anything they said, maybe because they were all from his house. "I know how to deal with him. It’s not hard."

"But how was the video even recorded?" Renn asked suddenly. The thought just hit him. "Someone must have been there when you went to Evan’s room."

"They raided him. That’s exactly what they did," Kaito growled. His patience was wearing thin. What bothered him more was how calm Renn was being about it. Normally, Renn’s temper rose first.

"No," Angela said slowly, thinking back. "We didn’t see anyone in the room."

"Then I need to go back and check the room myself," Renn said. "Whoever did it might have used the bathroom, or hidden near the door or the wardrobe. There has to be a clue."

"You’re right. But Mr. Slade won’t let us near that place again," Kaito rubbed his forehead, trying to calm the fire building up inside him. Sitting back and doing nothing wasn’t an option.

"Who gives a damn about him?" Renn snapped, his voice rising. His anger had finally cracked through. His fists were clenched. His girlfriend was being threatened. He didn’t care about Mr. Slade, or the Academy, or anyone else.

"That’s the Renn I’ve missed," Kaito smiled faintly. "This is getting interesting. We can’t let this Mr. Anonymous know we’re onto him. We’ll pretend we’re clueless for now. I’ll go to Mr. Slade, try to convince him to drop the punishment."

Kaito turned to Angel. The boy was shaking slightly, eyes still haunted by the blood in the locker. "Go take a shower. Try to rest. Stales and Alex, you’re coming with me."

"I’ll stay here with Angel," Renn said. He watched as Angel quietly walked into the bathroom. His looked completely drained, like she was about to break.

"Fine. We’ll wait for nightfall. Then we pay Evan and his roommates a visit," Kaito said as he opened the door and stepped out. The other two followed silently behind him.

Renn sat down on the couch and dropped his head into his hands. He had to breathe. He couldn’t afford to let his rage drive him. Angela’s safety came first. He wasn’t alone anymore. She was his responsibility now.

**

After ten minutes of waiting, Renn started to feel uneasy. It was taking too long. He wondered what Angela was doing inside. But then again, he reminded himself—she was a girl. Girls usually took their time in the bathroom.

He tried to shake it off, but something didn’t feel right. The only sound he could hear was the water running. He called her name. No answer.

His heart skipped. Fear slowly crept in. He walked to the door and knocked three times. Still nothing. He turned the knob. It wasn’t locked. The door opened.

Steam hit his face. The shower was still on, water falling steadily onto the tiled floor.

He stepped inside and gently pulled the curtain aside.

Angela stood there under the water, arms wrapped tightly around herself, her body shaking as she cried. The sight of her broke him. His chest tightened.

She was hurting, and he couldn’t do a thing to fix it. Not yet.

Renn stepped closer. The water hit him too, but he didn’t care. She had only her shorts on, her bare back facing him. Her skin was wet, and he could tell she had nothing on above. He tried to keep his eyes from roaming, tried to focus on her pain, not the heat rising within him.

"I’m sorry," he whispered, voice low. "I should have been there. I didn’t know you were dealing with so much."

But she didn’t let him finish.

Angela turned suddenly and threw herself into his arms. Her soft chest pressed against him, wet skin against wet skin. He froze, a cold shiver running down his spine.

Did she know that she was bare and what she just did was dangerous?