Crows Zero [fanfiction] [rewritten]

04: Amongst Families

Chapter 4:Amongst Families

"What's with that face?"
A raised eyebrow, "What face?"

A finger pointed at her, "That face – did you take a look at the mirror today?"

A scoff, "Very smart of you."
Snickering, then silence.

They were sitting in the nearly empty classroom, surrounded by dirty desks and other garbage on the floor. All in all, frankly, it wasn't a nice view to take a look at, especially not for moody Tanaka Yui, Izaki Shun thought, looking observantly at his territory.

Hell would most likely break out should someone unfortunate manage to press the wrong button in Yui's machine known as the brain.

"Is it about that transfer student?"

His question startled her, making her look at him and just now realise how close they were. It wasn't anything unnatural for them to sit next to each other and annoy the hell out of the other. She did it often with Tokio, Tamao, and Hayashida Megumi, "Rinda-man," as well – sitting close to them or standing behind them and testing her luck and limits.

Yui wasn't implying anything by acting like that, she simply liked the closeness and contact with people (she's uncertain of where this habit came from. Maybe it came from her yearning for people to treat her normally compared to how they usually treated her whenever someone discovered her affiliation with the Yakuza).

Scoffing, "News travels fast – what are they saying?"

Izaki Shun shrugged and lit another cigarette before answering, "Something about you wanting to make him into the king of Suzuran, using your position and status amongst us, as well as planning to overthrow Serizawa's position with the help of the new kid."

Yui stared at him, admittedly taken aback by those pathetic rumours, dumbfounded and jaw dropped. "Seriously - and not a word about us being cousins?"

When I'm gonna find out who started those shitty rumours – he's dead.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "He's got ties with Yakuza?"

She winced, "Forget I said it –,"

"No, you said you're cousins...and considering that you're somehow connected to Yakuza, it wouldn't be strange if that Takiya Genji was as well."

"...Have I ever told you, Shun, that you're too smart for your own good?"

He smirked, offering her a cigarette, which she accepted. Yui eyed it, then glanced at Shun and then back at the cigarette.

"It's not poisoned, idiot."

She smacked him, lightly and playfully, before taking a long and enjoyable puff.

"I know," she breathed the smoke out, creating greyish clouds in front of them. "But it never hurts to be too careful, especially with the way I was raised."

Shun's dark brown eyes stared at her, calculative and observant.

He admits that while he may know this Tanaka Yui (who's sitting next to him, appearing to be so relaxed and casual, with crossed legs revealing her gymnastic tights under the skirt). He'll probably never fully understand this self-centred girl.

Shun knew that Yui wasn't telling them everything about her past or her reasons for how she ended up in Suzuran instead of that all-girls school in the neighbourhood. He had seen the way, Yui sometimes looked in that direction – longingly, almost regrettably – but she never said anything.

During those three years, Izaki Shun has known her, but he hasn't managed to figure her out.

"For as long as you're a bystander and won't take a clear side – you'll need all the luck and protection one can offer you," he said, finally ending their long, but not uncomfortable silence.

Surprised, Yui's dark ebony brown eyes blinked at him before narrowing down into a wary and suspicious glare. She didn't like what he was suggesting, hell – Makise had said something similar to her. A week ago.

Yeah...it didn't turn out too well, not for his boys and for her as he kept pestering and sending his underlings to get her to join his group.

Everyone knew he had questionable motives behind his annoying requests, which was enough for the dark, fierce red-haired girl to refuse his proposal to join him.

"I know," Yui snapped, handing Shun back his half-dead cigarette, before jumping off of the desk and straightening her black skirt. "Stop reminding me all fuckin' time, Izaki," she threw him an annoyed glare. "You should start worrying more about yourself – the last time I checked, that pointless war to conquer Suzuran was still going on."

Izaki Shun shrugged, "Shut it – go annoy someone else," he said, shooing the girl away, not wanting to be bothered with pointless comments any longer.

Yui smirked, knowing that in a way she's won this personal bet of hers, "I may show up in that favourite shop of yours to play darts later. I'll let you know."

He nodded, saying nothing as he watched her swing her hips as she proceeded to walk out of Class 3-D, earning lustful looks and whistles from Izaki's men (and her classmates).

Just as she walked out of the classroom, her cell phone rang in a tone she quickly recognized – she did not like the timing of this call.