Even though the morning frosts had ended as winter grudgingly had long since passed into spring, once the sun dipped behind the thick shelter of white within the sky, it could still feel somewhat cold. Coupled with the blustery winds, it was almost as if the blossoming trees and blooming flowerbeds were an illusion and that the chilliest season was not over at all, that summer really wasn't just around the corner.

One such strong breeze, whipped down the street in a frenzy, grasping at the notice stuck to the door and ripping it away. It tumbled a short while before landing at the feet of a man nearby, who picked it up and glanced over it with narrowed, black coffee eyes. The man sighed and continued to approach the locked door where a different notice was stuck on the inside of it;

"Ichiro is currently indisposed at the moment, the dojo will be closed for the foreseeable future.  Thank you."

The man couldn't help the rising frustrations within his gut, taking a deep breath before exhaling once more, trying to induce some calm. This was for his younger brother's happiness after all.

Seriously, he couldn't believe what Zandre had told him, what he had admitted to. Talk about messed up! The family knew about some of it, from the newspapers and of course from Zandre himself, just that until now he'd remained pretty tight lipped about the fact the ring wasn't totally Elani's delusion and about the very male Omega he'd fallen in love with hard. Ever the gentleman, thinking of his partner's (and ex-partner's) feelings and reputation first. And the whole confession had come over the phone of course, as Zee had been in no position to back his bags and fly home again so soon to the next match abroad.

"I knew Elani was no good!" Braelin had exclaimed, pouting like the princess of the family that she was.

"Weren't you the one who'd been disappointed that she and Zee had split up?" Their fifth born brother, Romaine, had teased her, poking her ribs with a finger.

"That's only because she said she take me to the set she works on!" Braelin had retorted. Naturally, she would always side with a brother over an ex-girlfriend. "And besides, don't you think that this, Jason, looks better beside Zee?" She brought up the unclear image on her phone of the pair in an intimate hold.

"Ichiro," Zee's voice had murmured down the phone. "His name is Ichiro."

"Then why does it call him Jason in the newspapers?" Braelin had asked.  Zee had not answered them, unable to admit that he didn't know as much about this Omega he claimed was his fated pair as he should.

Their mother had hushed her, berating her with a stare before asking; "So how will you fix this, Zandre?" She had asked her fourth child.

"Why does he need to fix this?" Braelin demanded to know. After all, just because the Omega was good looking doesn't mean he deserved to be her big brother's man! Especially if those rumours were true. The firm hand of her mother landed upon her shoulder, the warning clear; this was none of her business. The teenaged girl began to pout once more.

"I don't know," there was much pain in his tone as he blurted out these words. "I can't reach him, I can't reach his brothers, even my emails have been ignored. I had planned to get on the next flight home and go see him personally, but my agent and the team managers stopped me. There's potentially two matches left to play, the semi's and the final. My time out here would be no more than a week, but if I pull out now, forget ever being able to play for the country again, I might even find I can no longer play rugby for my team! And then there's the endorsement... actually, I don't give a shit about that, but screwing up my career could screw up my future, not to mention my future with him."

"Very good," his mother agreed satisfied. She was aware how much Zee loved the sport, to the point he neglected the more academic side of his education and it would do him nor the man he'd set his heart on any good if he had no career to support them both. "Seeing as you can't speak to him personally, let Kahlil go speak to him in your stead."

"What me?"

Hence why he was visiting the dilapidated hall, of which had received a sudden demolition notice; he wondered if the young man, Ichiro, even knew about it. Certainly, the notice on the inside of the door indicated that they had planned to return at some point. But there was no one around now.

Kahlil sighed again. He had already tried the convenience store that Zee had mentioned, only to be told that there was 'no fucking Omega working here and never had been', as if those words didn't indicate they were a load of crap. So he had tried the apartment, the block to him looked more worthy of the demolition notice than the hall, however the Landlord had claimed that the three youths that had been living there had absconded, leaving over a month's rent of debt behind them. He'd ranted for a while, claiming how kind he'd been to even let those Omega's stay here, offering them shelter and allowing them to delay payment of rent now and then as well as letting them pay cash rather than insisting on direct debit... Kahlil had coughed up the remaining rent, just to shut him up. This type of man would likely run to the papers to smear even more dirt, so long as he got some recompense. The money wouldn't silence him, but it would calm him long enough to think before he did something stupid, like reveal he charged people to be able to live in this dump.

Kahlil checked the time on his phone; it was late afternoon, so deep into the night for Zandre. The semi-final's was tomorrow afternoon, Kahlil couldn't help but wonder if telling Zee the situation would be the right thing to do this close to the game. It could mess up his concentration, but not telling him might make him dwell on it any way, still messing up his concentration... damnit.... this was so messed up.

He pocketed his phone and left the hall to get into his car and drive home, so he could complain to his beloved wife and get her warm sympathy.

*****

Ichiro's eyes were dim as he sat down at the small table in the large room, one of many placed in an orderly fashion along its length. There was light coming in from thick glass windows on one side, but somehow the room, with its white walls and sturdy furnishings looked cold and stark. Other visitors were not so subdued, as if used to these conditions, simply sitting at the tables where men awaited them with bated breath.

Ichiro looked at the person he was meeting. He was thinner than he remembered, the silver white blending into the dark blond strands of hair which had yet to thin. His eyes were much more inset and the lines at the corners of them had deepened. There was also a fresh set of lines marring his forehead and the edges of his dry lips. He grinned brightly, slapping his leg as he welcomed Ichiro, his son.

"Jason, my boy," he said, his voice raspy due to the number of cigarettes he'd lit up over the years. "What, no hug for your old man?" Ichiro was reluctant, but leaned forward and was held in his father's embrace. This was one of the small conditions for Keith helping them out and taking them in; he had to resume these visits to his father. And just to make sure he did not wheedle out of them, he'd been forced to take Keith's place for today.

"So what's all this shit about you dating a man?" After some small talk, wondering how he'd been, why he'd not managed to visit before, all of which Ichiro had given small, weak excuses, his father decided to get to the bottom of gossip printed in the newspapers of late.

"We weren't dating," Ichiro denied, while inwardly upset. He'd been ready to, though, ready to give in and to admit that he had feelings for Zandre that couldn't be ignored. But the Alpha had let him down, probably not able to accept that he'd dated women for money. Thinking about accompanying those women, being by their side and taking them to bed so that he had extra cash with which to raise his brothers made him feel uncomfortable now. He didn't hate the women, didn't hate himself, they all had their reasons for what they did, but he wished he could have earned money a different way in retrospect. "You couldn't really consider us close either." He'd pushed Zandre away time and time again, was it any wonder the man used this scandal as an excuse to give him up?

"Ah, I knew you'd never be one of them homosexuals," his father nodded a few times. "Newspapers just like to sensationalise these things. It'll blow over when some other scandal comes out."

Ichiro laughed, bitterly. Yes, just like the time when the newspapers reported an Alpha's arrest for his part in the death of his Omega wife. To be honest, the report was printed on page nine of the newspaper he'd read at that time and there had been a picture of his old man in handcuffs along with the unlicensed doctor, who'd been charged with one count of manslaughter and five counts of child destruction. The snapshot of his mother was small in comparison, with her name and age, but what seemed to be emphasised most was that the aborted child in her womb had been tested as an Omega girl.

That had lead to an article about the newly developed gender testing methods within the city hospital as well as a journalist's opinion on whether such was a good or bad thing. After all, it could lead to more cases of illegal abortion of healthy embryos and possible campaigns to allow abortion of Omega children, maybe even Beta children, would gender discrimination end?

That journalist idealistic principals sounded great in print, completely unlike general public opinion or even the 'neutrality' of the original reporter. As for the courts, they had been less interested in the loss of his Omega mother than the illegal abortions the 'doctor' had carried out. His sentence was much heavier for them, being that they were premeditated, while his mother's death had been an accident. That man was sentenced fifteen years and banned from ever practicing medicine, even though he'd not had a license to begin with!

Ichiro's father, the man who had lead his mother to slaughter after finding out his wife was pregnant with her fourth Omega child, was currently serving ten years, but could probably get out for good behaviour in around three more.

The old man continued to 'reassure' him, suggesting that he got himself a girlfriend to help push down the rumours for good. Let them see that his son was not gay! Not that he had a problem with gay men of course, just that his son could not be one. As if him being gay would be more proof that he was not an Alpha child nor even a Beta. But as he had acknowledged his firstborn son, unlike the two other Omega offspring of his wife, he could not be wrong about him. His Jason was strong, masculine, handsome, would become a fine man and make him proud.

Ichiro wondered when his father would ever allow himself to admit that his Jason did not actually exist.

Author's note; Stupid autocorrect tried to make unclear into nuclear!