Chapter Seven

It was a strange sort of atmosphere that descended over the two men and one woman in the small, dilapidated hall, it was sort of heavy and thick with tension and mingling scents as the pheromones that could have easily been mistaken for cologne weaved through the air.  Olivia glanced curiously at both men.  It was well known that Omega's emit alluring scents while in lust, more so when they fell into heat, Olivia had experienced the former phenomenon a few times when she was the object of Ichiro's affections.  However, this was denser, not sickeningly so, but it wasn't affecting her libido in the slightest.  She suspected that was due to the other scent within the air.  That one made her feel suppressed; it was expressing both dominance and a warning.  It caused her to shiver with nervousness.  But she noticed its effect upon the Omega was far greater.

"Ichi, are you alright?" She asked of the man, who appeared to have turned to stone.

The Omega blinked and glanced at her with a slither of a nervous smile.  "Ah, Livvie... Oh let me just clean up this mess."  He fled towards the kitchenette and the cupboard where he stored the cleaning supplies.  From it, he grabbed a dustpan and brush and the mop and bucket.  He knelt before the shattered fragments of china and the pool of warm liquid, opposite Olivia, who was picking out the larger pieces.  All the while, he refused point blank to glance towards the Alpha man, who he was very much aware of.

Zee was not pleased about being ignored, but before he could shatter the shield that the Omega had thrown in between them, a resounding yelp pierced the air.   "Don't worry," Ichiro attempted to reassure Olivia, who had leapt up to retrieve the first aid kit.  "It's just a scratch."  Blood oozed down from a small slice in his finger.  Zee frowned, moving towards the Omega without thought, before squatting beside him and reaching to claim his wounded hand.

"Let me see," Zee demanded, allowing for no refusal.  The red bead was not large, the wound not deep enough to cause much blood loss.  It would likely not bleed for long, but it marred the long jade fingers captured in Zee's firm grip. The Alpha brought the finger to his lips. Perhaps he thought to kiss the wound, like a parent did with a child or blow away the pain. Perhaps he just couldn't bare for the red essence leaking from the Omega to be wasted this way. But whatever his notion, neither Olivia nor Ichiro imagined that he would suck that finger between his plush lips and lick the wound within the cavity of his mouth. Ichiro felt as if he had been poisoned by the saliva upon Zee's tongue, for the blood in his body decidedly acted against the laws of nature, flowing in whichever way it will and finally descending to a specific spot attached to his lower body. A wave of dizziness followed the loss of blood in his brain; that was his excuse anyway.

"When you two have stopped flirting..."

"We are not flirting!" Ichiro claimed loudly as those words woke him from his stupor. He snatched away his tingling hand and leapt to his feet. Olivia's eye rolled heavenward as she wryly thought;  I think ye protesteth too much! Still, she passed him the first aid box without a word.

"What brings you here, Livvie," Ichiro asked, trying to ignore the man now standing behind him, despite it being impossible.  He told himself that he was not glancing at that man using peripheral vision because he was attractive, but because he was keeping an eye on him. He didn't want to be caught unawares by the man yet again.

"Mr Kotze, here, believes you are his fated pair," Olivia said, almost nonchalantly as she resumed to clear up the spilled mess upon the floor.

"Zandre Kotze, call me Zee," the man said, that deep voice causing a shudder to run down Ichiro's spine.

"Ichiro and I'm not your fated pair," Ichiro declared, firmly. He didn't turn to face Zee, didn't turn to meet the knowing gaze in his molten eyes, he wanted to say his piece without distraction. "If I was to have a fated person, that person would be a woman, not a man."

"Oh and why couldn't your fated person be a man?" Zee questioned with a lazy drawl to his tone. His gaze felt as if it was burning into the back of Ichiro's skull and the Omega decided to create a greater distance between them, using the excuse of grabbing an old, empty coffee tin for the porcelain shards.

"I'm not attracted to men, I don't like men in that way," Ichiro replied, nonchalantly as he placed the tin from cupboard to worktop, before closing the cupboard. "I don't react to men.  I will not be held by a man.  Sorry if you felt otherwise, but it's impossible."

"Is it..?" One of those black brows rose upward in question as Zandre moved to corner Ichiro. Ichiro automatically stepped backward until his back was pressed against the wall and lifted his hands as if to prevent him coming any closer. But although Zee did not touch him, there was but a whisper between Ichiro's hands and his chest. Ichiro could feel the heat of his body upon his palms and felt his betraying member throb in anticipation against his trousers. He really wished he hadn't changed out of his gi, the thick fabric of the loose trousers and wrapped tunic would have hidden that place well. Unfortunately, wishes were simply wistful words within one's mind. Zee grinned, smugly. "Seems you are reacting plenty well to me."

"That's... well... there is an attractive woman in the building after all!" Ichiro stated, loudly.

"Don't bring me into this!" Olivia yelled in response as she tossed the wet kitchen towel onto the dustpan with the remnants.

Zee glanced down at the Omega, who still refused to meet his eyes. It seemed fate had paired him with quite the stubborn mate. Words were not going to work with him. Which only left... Zee's fingers had been itching all of this time, the memory of the smooth, clean skin of Ichiro's jawline branded upon them. He gave into their desires, reaching out to touch him, lightly stroking from just beneath the lowest tip of Ichiro's ear, down towards his chin, pausing before brushing the length of his neck. The collar barred his exploration, causing him to frown, but Ichiro was unable to hide the shivers his touch caused, from him, nor prevent the gasps from escaping his throat.  "Then what would you call this?" He asked the younger man.

"Disgust?... maybe..." Ichiro winced, his words sounding too cutting even spoken in defence of his body's reaction, but Zee didn't seem to take offence.

"That is definitely not an expression of disgust, Ichiro," he drawled. "Try again."

"Look, can you back off a little bit? I don't know if you are aware, but you can be a bit intimidating!" He was clearly panicking now, trying so hard to maintain his stance, but failing. Even Ichiro was aware of it.  And Zee wasn't about to let him off.

"Is that so.  Wouldn't think a man who teaches martial arts would be such a timid thing." A scowl formed upon the Omega's face causing Zee to sigh, inwardly. This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Ichiro to acknowledge the attraction, just as he did and to allow them both to explore it without obstacle. "I never expected to be attracted to a man either," he lowered his voice, hoping to soothe and coax his Omega more softly. "But I am not adverse to the idea. Give me a good reason why I, why we shouldn't pursue this?"

"I told you, I'm not into men. I'm a man! I like women, end of!"

"Can you not accept men liking other men? Does it disgust you?" Zee asked him, wanting to understand.

"What, no! Never!" Ichiro immediately denied. "My little brother is gay! Granted, I'll never let any man get within a hundred feet of him if he has any intentions towards Saburo, but that's not homophobia! I wouldn't let a woman close either, my brothers are too cute and innocent!"

Zee watched as a myriad of different expressions flowed over Ichiro's face, from fierceness to softness, with a mix of indignation, resolve and affection included. He couldn't help but chuckle, easing some of the tension in his shoulders, however, the deep tremor of which caused minor quakes within Ichiro's own body. He chanced a quick look up at the Alpha's face, noticing the slight curve of the other man's lips and his mind began to wander.

"Well, lovebirds, this has been fun," Olivia said, once more dragging Ichiro from his revere, "but this Lady has done her good deed for the month and wants to get going."

"Good deed? What good deed?" Ichiro slid against the wall, trying to look around the mammoth of a man shadowing him completely.

"Introducing a fated pair to each other of course!" Olivia smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She admitted to herself that she was slightly torn, jealous that there was no man as into her as Zandre obviously was into Ichiro. Would there come a time when she met her own soulmate? If that was even possible!  Ah Ichiro always brought the best and worst feelings out of her!  "No need to thank me. Just be sure to agree to accompany me to future rugby games when I ask, Ichi." He owed her that much!

Ichiro definitely did not agree. "Livvie! I hardly consider this a good deed!" He didn't bother to push the Alpha away, he knew that even with his ability, somethings were impossible. But he did dare Zee to stop him moving away with a glare.  As it happened, Zandre no longer had the intention of trapping him.

"I disagree," Zee turned a fraction to give face to Olivia, crossing his hands about his chest as his Omega deftly escaped from his reached.

"You can disagree all you like," Ichiro declared, waving his hands in dismissal. "In fact, you can disagree on your way out of the door. I need to lock up and get home to my brothers, they are waiting for me."

Zee inwardly sighed. Still, he had stated his intentions. And despite the rejection, he did not intend to give up on pursuing Ichiro. The Omega would just have to get used to his presence. "Phone," he demanded, holding out his hand.

"Eh?" Ichiro looked blankly at him for a moment.

"Phone. I want your phone number."

Ichiro's nose wrinkled as his face revealed a reluctant expression. Zee felt that he could easily become fascinated by that face, as it revealed whatever was running through the Omega's mind. There was even a moment where refusal was stamped clearly within the black of those eyes and yet, Ichiro handed the phone over in the end, much to Zee's surprise and subsequent approval.

"No bluetooth?" He said, examining the old model, incredulously. "You should still add a security lock," he added as the image with poor resolution of two youths appeared upon the phone. Despite the quality, he could see that there were similarities to Ichiro, around the eyes. He assumed these boys were the man's brothers. He placed his number into the phone and handed it back. "Your number."

Ichiro rattled off a set of numbers and watched as those fingers effortlessly added the number to the state of the art mobile phone before it was placed back into the inner pocket of the Alpha's coat.

"I expect a call once you get home this evening," Zee demanded.

Ichiro frowned. "Why?"

"Humour me."

Anything to get rid of you, Ichiro thought as he carelessly agreed, without any intention to follow through.