Chapter Two

Soft groans accompanied the tangling of naked limbs and breathless gasps punctuated the damp sound of smacking lips.  Their horizontal dance was performed to music only they could hear; the loud beating of their racing hearts.  The man moved on top of the woman, not in dominance, but because this is what she wished.  She was the boss, in charge during her daily life as the editor of a national newspaper, thus for this moment, she had chosen for him to lead, while she enjoyed the pleasure of following.

And Ichiro was nothing if not eager to please her.

He stroked the curves of her body, teased the pebbled peaks of her generous breasts and tasted the sensitive roof of her delectable mouth.  Although her welcoming warmth drew him in and touched his sheathed member in all the right places, he held back from his climax.  This was not his moment, this was all for her.  However, he had played with this body a few times before and knew where to touch and what would make her succumb to heaven.  And as if to prove his point, her soft body stiffened and shuddered with an audible cry and she tightened around him, inviting him to fall with her.  He did not let her down.

Withdrawing from her body, he flopped to her side and she smiled delighted by their joining so turned to kiss his cheek even as her body lay boneless upon the bed.  After catching his breath, he returned her smile, before rising from the bed to dispose of the protection filled with his weak seed.  And without pause, after he returned from the bathroom, he reached for his underwear and strewn clothes.

"Leaving so soon?" The woman pouted as he pulled on his pants and chinos.  She eyed what remained exposed of his body.  The smooth and hard flesh of his lightly shaped chest, the compact biceps and lightly haired lower arms attached to those talented hands.

His smile was lopsided, that air of cheekiness and immaturity was what had attracted her to him in the first place.  She was the proverbial 'older woman' and he was a boy toy that would never get serious, but this was fine with her.  There was no weight of expectation between them, no talk of weddings, children and who should raise them, who should be the breadwinner.  She had had enough of her ex-Alpha boyfriends thoughts and feelings on those matters.  She was a career woman, why should she be the one to give all of that up, just because it was expected of an Alpha woman?

"I need to get home to my brothers, Livvie," he told her and she couldn't help but be a bit jealous of those two boys that he was so fond of.  Not because she wanted him, their older brother to love her, but it would have been nice to have had such affection from her older sister.  But they hadn't spoken to each other in nearly five years.

Still, there was time before Ichiro left to enjoy the view, she thought as he threw on his crumpled shirt and pocketed the couple of hundred she had left on the side.  Yes, theirs was a business transaction, but one that she always felt worth it.  He treated her like a Queen and Goddess, the only one to exist before his eyes... at least until their time was up and she had to watch him walk out of the door, until next time she called for his services.  She was not foolish enough to believe that she was the only woman he took care of either, after all, she had met him through a close friend.

"Before you go," she purred, wrapping herself in her bed sheets and rising from her bed.  She took two tickets from a drawer and passed one to him.

"A rugby match?" He queried looking at the ticket.

"Hmm," she confirmed with a soft hum.  "Go with me?"  He looked a little dubious, but that was not surprising.  Ichiro spent his evenings with the women who wanted him to 'love' them, but was known to keep his days to himself.  "Just this once, please!  I love rugby, but none of my girlfriends feel the same."

"I'm not sure how I feel about the sport myself," he admitted, still torn.  True it was on a Monday, so he had no plans on opening the dojo, but considering how far the stadium was from this city and the time of the game, they would not get back until late.  That meant a whole afternoon without his adorable brothers!  She whispered five hundred good reasons for why he should come with her, five hundred more if he could stay at her hotel for the night.  Thinking of what he could use that money for, thinking of all the inconveniences his brothers had to put up with at home due to their lack, he saw no benefit in refusing her.

*****

"Right fist!" Ichiro cried out, the two words echoing in the small hall, not due to its space or dynamics, but due to the fact that there was little equipment to prevent the sound from bouncing about the empty walls.

"Ha!" Shouted six small voices, well five for the sixth lagged a bit in issuing the word.

"Left fist!"

"Ha!" The word was this time punctuated by the slapping of bare feet upon the exercise mats beneath them as the six children stepped forward (almost) as one and thrust out their left fists together.  They were a mixed bunch, even though there was few of them, five boys and one girl, wearing a mix of new or secondhand gi's, or just a p.e kit from school as that child's mother couldn't afford the correct gear.

"Left kick!"

"Ha!" This instruction always turned into a mini competition between the six youngsters; who can kick the highest.

"Ha!" Came the delayed voice of the smallest child as he bent his knee and kicked too high for his body, causing his stance to destabilise and the child to fall. This caused an explosion of giggles, even as the child bloomed red with embarrassment.

"Enough!" Ichiro declared though not so loud as to scare his little students. "Time to cool down. Jog around the mats, circle the hall three times before returning to do stretches."

"Yes sensei!" The five standing girls and boys agreed instantly as Ichiro bent down and helped the fallen child to his feet.

"Now, what did you do wrong?" He asked the boy gently.

The child looked thoughtful, placing a finger to his lips in gesture. It made Ichiro nearly lose his serious composure and reach out to squeeze his chubby cheeks. "I fell down..."

"And why did you fall down?" Ichiro asked, but the little one couldn't answer so he explained; "you tried to kick too high and lost your stance. Focus on kicking where you still feel able to stand without falling, high kicks can come later when you have more experience."

The small boy nodded and grinned, probably not absorbing a single word Ichiro said, but the man didn't worry about it, the child would learn in his own time. He sent the boy to run around just twice and noticed that the children's mothers were beginning to gather at the entrance of the hall.  With a wave of his hand, he called them in, before helping the quickest runners to stretch out their small legs and arms.  One by one, they ran to their mothers, still filled with energy even though it was possibly a little bit less than as if they hadn't attended his lessons before.  He simply lamented that he couldn't do much more for them; all of the children were white belts, technically speaking and that was what they would remain, unless they went to another club.

It was not that he was not qualified, in fact prior to his fifteenth birthday, he had already qualified as a second degree black belt.  He had taken courses; in first aid and in basic health and safety, he'd made sure the hall he had picked to teach in was up to code, he had even managed, though it was a struggle, to obtain the necessary insurances.  But...

His smile wasn't fixed, no matter the turmoil in his heart as he ushered mothers and children out of the door. "Oh, about the fee," the mother of the smallest child and his big brother, another of Ichiro's students began...

"It's alright," he said, understandingly. "Just pay me when you have it next." The woman guided her children away grateful, the children waving a last goodbye as they disappeared down the street. He watched them a while for this neighbourhood was not the safest of places; the boarded up houses scattered either side of the street the hall was on attracted the homeless, gangs of bored youths and worse, criminals. But the rent was cheap and was his to use as he pleased so long as he kept up with the payments.

As he also ran a class for 'exercise' purposes and another for 'self-defence', coupled with the four small classes of children, he was just about bringing home enough, after expenses to pay the rent on their apartment... and nothing else. But what else could he do since he had given up the chance to go to university to take care of his brothers, rather than their broken family be shattered further and very few places would pay a decent wage to an Omega.

He sighed, entering the building in order to change clothes before locking up and returning home. Only, before he managed to turn the second key in the old lock, did he realise that he was in the company of another. He turned to see a tall, older man, smartly dressed with wire framed glasses and peppered grey brown hair. The man offered him a caring smile.

"Hello, Jason," The man greeted.

Ichiro frowned and turned to complete what little form of security he could give the old building. "Don't call me that," he said, coldly. "I don't go by that name anymore."

"It is the name your father gave you when you were born," the man chided, disapprovingly.

"Precisely," Ichiro replied in the same icy tone.

"So you'll now only answer to your middle name, which your mother gave you," he sighed as if Ichiro's attitude was too much to bear. "I understand that you miss her..."

"You understand nothing!" Ichiro spat, angrily, before taking a deep breath to calm himself.  "Look, what do you want?"

"Can't your Uncle say hello without alternative reasons?"

Ichiro glared at the man that he happened to know was born a Beta. He was always like this, always acting so reasonable and kind, it was just that he had one fatal flaw which meant that no matter his personality and no matter how well he had treated Ichiro and his brothers, especially in the last few years, saving them from a life in foster care until Ichiro was old enough to take responsibility, helping them with the deposit on their apartment... Ichiro could not bring himself to fully accept this man's kindness.

"You are not my Uncle. But I can guess that you are here about dad."

The man's eyes softened immediately as he stated; "He misses you. Won't you please visit him? He's been asking about you."

Ichiro chuckled without mirth. "Did he perhaps ask about Jiro or Saburo while he was at it?" There came no answer for there was only one and that was too damning to speak of. Instead the man could only ignore the question and ask once more;

"Please. Jail has been hard on him."

"Hard on him? Hard on him?!" Ichiro felt his anger turn into inextinguishable fire within his belly. "So what!? Perhaps he should have thought what might be the consequences of his actions before he took her to that slaughter house!"

"The pregnancy was harming her, he only did that to try and save her!"

"Is that what he told you?" Ichiro sneered. "Keith, I know that you love him. But don't be blinded by his lies. What he did, he did for himself. Because he couldn't bear to be the man that sired four Omega children." Seeing the man appear torn, wanting to believe, not wanting to believe, Ichiro let go of his hatred of his anger, knowing that it wasn't what she would have wanted and told him with all honesty; "You are a good man, Keith. Loyal. But he really doesn't deserve your love. Just as he didn't deserve my mother's."

And with that said, Ichiro walked away.