Crows Zero

Chapter Three

"Friendship doesn't require deception!"

"Would you honestly have looked twice at me if you knew I was Tamao's cousin?" His jaw tensed as he looked away briefly. "Would you?" He didn't answer, but she already knew. "No one ever does! Even my own classmates are scared of me because of him, and the only people willing to give me the time of day are the ones like Suzuran! People who understand Tamao's lifestyle, except they hate me because he's their enemy, or they use me to get to him! Tamao and his crew are the only ones who are willing to see me for who I am, and not because of who I'm related to!"

"You keep him tucked away when you meet people to show how much he means to you?"

"That's not why!"

"Then stop with the bullshit and just fuckin say it!"

"Because I wanted you to see me!" She pressed her hands into her chest and felt it tighten to the touch. "Me! Not Serizawa Tamao's cousin, or some asset to the Suzuran game! But really see me!" She choked only a second, but her voice dropped. "Just Sumi."

His eyes weren't cold anymore, but his feelings were still unreadable. "Why me?"

Sumi lifted her arms limply and shook her head. "I don't know, I just…" She pressed her lips together and met his probing gaze. "I just wanted to be with you. I don't have any ulterior motive. I-I wanted you to be with me, as no more or less than who I am." She looked down at the pictures in her hand then dropped them. "But Serizawa is part of who I am. And it seems Serizawa can only be your enemy." She cupped her hand over her eyes, ducked under his arm, and walked away.

Sumi shuffled into the bathroom and planted herself in front of the mirror. She didn't look at herself but squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep, calming breath. He'd leave soon and never see her again. It was stupid for her to feel so attached to him after only a few brief encounters, but she felt things when she was with him.

Relationships weren't anything new to her. While it was true that boys rarely asked her out because Tamao threatened to throttle them, she more than once went behind his back and had secret affairs with boys. But she had never felt emotionally bound to them.

Tokio had been an unusual case. He was a good man and the first to openly ask her out in front of Tamao, not that it took much guts considering his and Tamao's relationship. Still, she loved the way it felt to be with him. He was kind and loyal; he treated her with respect and liked her for who she was, not for who she pretended to be. But they still had their differences. She didn't like that he got in constant fights alongside Tamao, and it lead to their inevitable separation.

Even then she never felt as lost being away from him as she did at the mere thought of being separated from Izaki. And she wasn't angry with Izaki and his attitude. She wouldn't like him if he wasn't that way.

But now he was going to leave, any minute now.

There were footsteps, scuffing on the linoleum floor of the bathroom, and she felt him behind her. His right hand scooped beneath her hair and cupped the back of her neck, using his thumb to keep the strands away from her skin. He stepped closer, and his lips lightly caressed her exposed left earlobe. "When I found out about Serizawa, I wasn't angry at you. My first thought wasn't that you were a spy or using me." He glided his smooth mouth down her hairline to the curve between her neck and shoulder then kissed it. "I'm angry at him. I'm angry that, when the time comes, you may be with him instead of me."

Sumi sighed against his ghosted kissed moving along her shoulder and leaned her head back against his chest. "I couldn't leave you. You'd have to keep me away."

Izaki's fingertips brushed the skin of her exposed back then drew them along to a strap, slowly pulling it down her arm to kiss the curve of her shoulder. His other hand released her hair and slipped the other strap down. "Never," he breathed against her. His left hand slid across her chest then gripped her other shoulder as his right arm encircled her waist. "Sumi-chan."