Crows Zero

Chapter Three

Sumi didn't move as Izaki watched her from across the table. He wasn't glaring, but something else rested in his eyes that made him threatening as he sat silently in his school uniform, one arm reclined across the back of the couch. She wasn't sure what he thought, or what he'd do, but she made an effort not to make any sudden movements.

Izaki stood nonchalantly and slipped his hands in his pockets. His eyes never blinked or left hers. "Your cousin—the one you care so much about—is Serizawa Tamao." He sounded calm, but the lack of inflection only made him all the more intimidating.

Sumi shrugged defiantly. "Yeah, so?"

He suddenly kicked the coffee table, sending it skidding across the room, and the abrupt noise sent her sprinting across the living room and into her bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. His fist banged on it a second later. "Sumi! Come out here, now! Sumi!" He pounded furiously. "Sumi!"

Sumi collapsed against the door and took a shaky breath. How did he find out? Why did he have to find out! She pulled the clip out of her hair, and the black strands collapsed down her neck over her shoulders.

Her eyes stared at the floor, but she wasn't really seeing it. He continued to bang on the door, yelling out to her, his anger growing with each pound. She fell sideways onto the carpet and clenched her fists as tears spilled over her blurring brown eyes.

Why did he have to find out?

Strange. She must have fallen asleep. When did it happen? Sumi glanced at the clock on her nightstand as she sat up. 2:30. She got home at midnight, and the apartment was quiet. Did he leave? He must have; who would wait around for a girl for two and a half hours?

She got up, silently unlocked the door, and peeked out. The apartment was dark and silent, except for the lamp still on beside the couch. She glanced around then stepped out and walked to the coffee table.

The pictures must have slid off the table when Izaki kicked it because they sat askew in the middle of the floor. She picked them up and studied them, absently running her fingers over Tamao's happy face. "Tamao."

"You must care a lot about your cousin."

Sumi spun around and backed up a step as Izaki stood in the bathroom doorway with a yellow envelope in his hands. "Y-You're still here?"

Izaki was reading the papers in the envelope but looked up then. "You look out for Serizawa." It was a scold, not a question.

Sumi pressed the pictures against her chest. "Of course I do. Tamao's the only family I have."

He tossed the deed aside and gradually approached her. "Is that why you mingle with Suzuran? To help your cousin get a heads up on everyone else's business?"

"Tamao doesn't need my help to beat anyone at Suzuran," she snapped then gasped as he gripped her arms and slammed her back against the wall.

His gaze blazed fiercely down at her, not moved by her determination to maintain eye contact. He carefully released her arms and planted his palms flat against the wall on either side of her head. "Then why keep your last name a secret? What were you afraid of?"

"I wasn't afraid!"

"Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie!" she shrieked. "I never said I was anyone other than who I am! I haven't told you a single lie!"

"You deliberately withheld things from me, not for my protection, but for yours. You willingly deceived me, which is worse than a lie. Why?"

"I'm not part of Tamao's business at Suzuran, and I have no interest in being part of yours either! I can be with whoever the hell I want without needing ulterior motives!"