The cubes of black and white newspapers tied with string and wrapped in plastic were sent out in lorries to be delivered in a multitude of supermarkets, petrol stations, convenience stores and stands, ready to be sold. In these daily additions of varying names, were printed a statement clarifying the state of two small celebrities relationship, being that it was null and void for a few months. It vaguely mentioned that the ring upon Elani Van Zyl finger was not an engagement ring but something she purchased herself while abroad and that it happened to be captured upon her left ring finger by coincidence. And as for the argument upon the street, nothing was mentioned as videos and photographs were too poor of quality to really be certain that it was an altercation between actress and sportsperson. However, one newspaper, aptly named the Daily News, seemed to have a different take upon the whole thing. It suggested that for Elani Van Zyl and Zandre Kotze, perhaps the ring was not fake, although it did declare that no official announcement had been made on an engagement between the two nor could family members of either party be contacted for a statement about it. It also went onto say that during the unmentioned argument Elani could clearly be heard accusing Zandre of an affair, which contradicted the entertainment agency's statement. Again, while no confirmation had been obtained regarding whether Zandre really had an affair or if he had moved on from the relationship as suggested in the official statement, proof had been obtained that there was a new beau in the picture. Beau, not belle. In addition to a slightly clearer image of the altercation, which made it more obvious that the arguing pair really were the minor celebrities, was a grainy image of two men making out. One looked quite a lot like Zandre Kotze, though the other had not yet been identified. That person was currently blurry eyed, with hair sticking out in all directions, sitting up in his bed after just waking. He yawned wide, not bothering to hide the fact of it as there was no one else in his room to witness. He tossed off the covers, escaping from the sheets in just a pair of boxers, before heading to the shower, seeking the spray to help clear his head. Not long after the sound of running water emanated from the small room, off tune crooning could be heard which then became a rendition of some unidentifiable pop song; neither word nor melody was clear. Finally refreshed, Ichiro stepped out of the bathroom and returned to his bedroom to dress. Breakfast was bland; slices of buttered toast. Saburo poured him a cup of coffee and after being stingy with the milk explained; "We are almost out." "I'll grab some after work at the store," Ichiro replied, thinking the change in his wallet should about cover it. Still he dared ask; "Do we need anything else?" Saburo shook his head. He had enough ingredients to whip up something for dinner, though it would probably be just pasta and sauce that night. "Ah, I forgot to tell you," Jiro said suddenly as he came into the living space. "The electric bill came." He picked up from his computer desk to show it to his older brother. "Final notice," he added when he saw that the man was considering ignoring it. An expression of annoyance and resignation marred Ichiro's features before he let out a heavy sigh. Well, there went tomorrow's pay check. And what with the rent due this weekend, all he had left to rely on for food for the next week would be the fees he charged for lessons at the hall... oh but he was due to pay the rent for that place as well wasn't he? "Ichiro..." Jiro began as he noticed the worries ripple across Ichiro's face. Ichiro cut in immediately, knowing what Jiro wanted to say, what he wanted to offer; "It'll be fine!" He wasn't about to let his cute brothers be concerned about money matters, they just needed to focus on schoolwork! Swallowing the last mouthful of toast, he went to grab a jacket and his phone, when the antique device decided to ring. Ichiro glanced at the caller I.D and a bright smile appeared upon his face. "Livvie! Long time no hear! How's my favourite news editor?" "Ichiro, I'm calling to warn you," she said in a quiet tone down the phone. "Someone captured a picture of you and Zandre. It was printed in the Daily News." The Omega paused, before scratching his head in thought. While he'd been aware that Zandre was somewhat in the public eye thanks to being a professional rugby player, it had also not seemed such a big thing. They'd been out together in public before and while it was not that Zee had not been approached, mostly he was left alone. Well, Ichiro figured that there were a lot of rugby-clueless people out there, not everyone was a fan after all. There were those who'd seen him in magazines, but there were also many who probably hadn't. Plus, it's not like Zandre acted like some big time celebrity hot shot, so to Ichiro, he was just Zandre, that big, muscly not soft Alpha who kept chasing him! And, his heart whispered to his stubborn brain, had pretty much captured him. "Do I look good?" Ichiro blurted out in the end, still uncertain about how he felt over the matter of the photograph anyway. "Ichiro, be serious!" Livvie hissed at him. "Look, you got lucky this time! The picture isn't brilliant, they don't mention you by name, so unless someone knows about the thing between you and Zandre, no one would figure it was you. But I really recommend that you and he put together some sort of statement about your relationship, so the papers and gossip magazines don't turn it into something scandalous!" "Pfft, I think your exaggerating," Ichiro laughed at her serious tone. He and Zandre weren't even officially dating yet, just how 'scandalous' could they make things?! "Ichiro..." her voice was filled with exasperation as she struggled to find the words that would get through to him. Only, someone decided at that moment to knock on the door to interrupt. "Oh, sorry," her assistant apologised as she entered the office room straight after knocking. "I'll call you back later," Livvie could only give up and try to talk sense into the man later. A pity that she was thrown into a flurry of work and by the time she remembered, a certain paparazzi would have tracked Ichiro back to that Hall and taken a whole set of much clearer pictures as well as found out his name, his career and his secondary gender... Ichiro glanced at his phone, before shrugging at putting it in his jacket pocket and heading to work at the store.