Hikaku's daily life is wonderfully, terribly routine these days.
They have many duties in this village called Konoha, but chief among them all, Hikaku is the one who manages the mission availability of nearly every active shinobi in the village. They know who works where, for how long, and the last time they have had a break, because yes those are necessary for someone to perform at their best. They even got Tobirama to agree.
Hikaku might feel a bit passionate about the matter. War had its own rhythms, but by its nature was unpredictable. Sometimes those rhythms asked for months of back to back missions or fighting without pause. Hikaku has seen it lead to death, and easily. If the village is meant to improve on how things were done in the past, this is Hikaku’s way of contributing.
Managing what is essentially Konoha's schedule is a quiet, thankless task, and Hikaku would not have it any other way. So long as they keep things running smoothly, their schedule remains their own, and when in charge of their own days, Hikaku tends to plan them like this:
Wake up, about an hour before Izuna to get ready for the day and make breakfast for the two of them. After several years of living in peacetime Hikaku's partner has discovered that she is not actually a morning person and would like to never have to be one again, so after that hour Hikaku typically has to coax her awake and make sure she doesn't fall asleep in her food. Usually, the two of them walk to the administrative office together, though Izuna likes to take missions more than Hikaku does and sometimes heads out to those instead.
Hikaku will then spend the next several hours buried in meetings and paperwork, until Izuna comes to find them and drag them to their next meal. But Hikaku isn’t the only one who gets this treatment; occasionally at first, now nearly every day, she also drags Tobirama with them to whatever restaurant or food stall she's deemed suitable that day.
It was interesting at first, to finally spend time with the woman who has always consumed so much of Izuna’s attention. The more time Hikaku spent with here the more it became a lovely sort or torture.
Hikaku was dragged into loving Izuna by the whirlwind of her personality. Years of what they thought were quiet pining broken by a blunt 'so you like me too, right?'
With Tobirama it’s been a much slower growing thing, feelings unnoticed until Hikaku was too full of them to ignore any longer, and by then they were already in too deep to call for help, much less swim to shore.
They take comfort at least in knowing that they aren't the only one -- every time Tobirama excuses herself from lunch (or dinner, or their more and more common excursions to teahouses and bars, or walks by the riverside or in this or that new park -- ) Izuna will inevitably sigh and drape herself over Hikaku and say something like "She's so annoying, I just can't stand her."
Izuna always invites Tobirama out the next time, of course. Even if she didn’t, Hikaku works with Tobirama so often that she can't be avoided anyways. And it's not as though they want to, really, except when they do; when Tobirama presents some new proposal, or wins an argument at a council meeting, or just greets Hikaku on the street with her gaggle of students behind her, and Hikaku feels as though they're drowning all over again.
They're not alone in that either. Izuna complains frequently.
But Tobirama Senju is not interested in anything more than friendship. She does not seek companionship and she turns away those who seek it from her. It --
Well, it is what it is.
Hikaku is reading a novel by the hearth when they hear the front door slam shut.
Izuna does not call out that she's home, but instead kicks off her shoes, stomps over to where Hikaku is sitting, and collapses to her side, forcing her head into their lap like a cat demanding attention. All of this would indicate that she’s had a perfectly normal day.
But then Izuna sighs deeply, just once, instead of launching off into a rant about her day like she usually does, and it’s immediately clear that it isn’t. Hikaku folds their book closed and sets it aside to start running fingers through Izuna's hair instead, carefully working her hair tie free as they go.
"Bad day?" Hikaku asks. That Izuna doesn't immediately start complaining even when prompted means that she's really in a mood. She hums a noncommittal noise and for a long minute allows Hikaku to comb through her hair in silence. And then suddenly, like she can't hold it back any longer, she asks, "Do you know who's courting Tobirama?"
Hikaku's hands freeze, the question, the possibility is so unexpected that they don’t even know how to begin processing it at first. Tobirama is frequently so busy between administrative work, missions, and her lab, that the two of them have to drag her away to do anything else. As far as Hikaku is aware, they're the only ones that spend any significant amount of time with her. If someone is courting her that means she's been hiding it. Hikaku finds their frown quickly growing to match Izuna's
"No." They answer slowly. "I haven't heard of anyone who even might be. Where did you?"
Izuna rolls on to her back so she can meet Hikaku's eyes, upset evident in the pinch of her brow.
"Aneue. I stopped by on the way home and she was asking me why Hashirama was asking her about Uchiha marriage contracts. On her sister's behalf!"
Izuna sits up suddenly, hands pressing down hard on Hikaku's thighs.
"Which means it's been going on for ages! And that whoever it is never told her about Uchiha marriages. And that whoever they are, they're from our clan!"
She's so upset that her voice chokes on the last words, and when she leans forward to rest her forehead on their shoulder, Hikaku brings their hands up to rub her back. Alright their mind is running -- the only other Uchiha that Hikaku knows to spend any amount of time with Tobirama is Kagami, who is so young that a declaration of courtship would be brushed aside as a childhood crush. It would have to be someone Tobirama works with, certainly, but Hikaku doesn’t know offhand which Uchiha are on the many projects Tobirama manages.
"Where does she get the right to keep secrets from us, huh? Where do any of them? Fuck."
"Izu." Hikaku says softly, and thankfully she's not so far gone into anger that she hears it, the tension leaking out of her in a long breath. "We don't actually know anything, you know? It could be another try at a political marriage, or…"
Hikaku trails off, throat aching. There's really not that much more it could be, as far as they can see. Regardless of how it's come about they'd thought that Tobirama was a friend, that they’d won enough closeness from her by now that she would confide in them about something as big as a marriage.
"Well, it is Tobirama." They settle on saying, "It would be like her to decide that something like this isn't even important enough to her to be worth mentioning at all."
That finally earns a choked off laugh from Izuna, and from there she takes a deep breath and presses her eyes harder into Hikaku's shoulder before leaning back again, eyes rimmed red but dry.
"Now that you mention it, I'm almost positive I've heard her say something like 'at least an arranged marriage would be useful' the last time her sister tried to meddle in her lovelife. Ah… she probably thinks it's her duty or something, doesn't she?" Then the full implications of what she's said hit her, and Izuna's face runs through half-a-dozen emotions before settling back on outrage. "She's not just going to let her sister marry her off is she? Or chain her down with a baby, is she? How do we convince her to change her mind? That's disgusting."
Tobirama probably does not see that as much of a burden as Izuna always has, considering her obvious care for her own students, but ah -- some part of Hikaku agrees with their partner. Not that it's disgusting, but that Tobirama shouldn't have to carry through with such a thing for duty alone. She is a Senju, after all, so she should be allowed to be much more free with when and how she chooses to carry on her bloodline.
But then again, they are speaking about Tobirama. There’s a high likelihood that she went to her sister and demanded the most politically advantageous marriage possible should be arranged.
…That doesn’t feel right, either. If that was the case, no doubt all of Fire Country would have heard of it.
They need more information. If she’s doing it for duty, then going to argue without all of the facts will only Make Tobirama dig in her heels even deeper. And if it isn’t -- if she truly has been having some sort of secret love affair -- Then hopefully they can at least find some answers about why she’s been hiding it this long.
"You're plotting." Izuna says, and Hikaku offers her a smile in return.
"Just thinking." They agree. "I'm pretty sure Hokage-sama has tomorrow. afternoon off. I do too."
Izuna hums, high and conniving. "I don’t, but I think I could move some things around…"
Izuna has always been very efficient at getting herself dressed to go out. After a morning of work assigning top-secret missions and receiving reports, she’s still full of energy. It takes her less than twenty minutes to wind herself up one of her favorite visiting kimonos -- stark black and white lattice pattern to match with her nail lacquer, which is the kind hard enough to leave gouges in stone without chipping, and less than ten to finish her hair and makeup. Nothing less than proper would do, considering who they’re going to drop in on unannounced.
Izuna is, clearly, very excited for the chance to bully the Hokage.
Hikaku, in contrast, is wearing a plain purple kosode that they know makes them look soft by comparison. It's not exactly this first time they've done something like this, after all.
Izuna likes to call the act 'good shinobi, bad shinobi', although half the time it ends up becoming either 'bad shinobi, indifferent-to-your-problems shinobi' or 'bad shinobi, trying-not-to-cause-an-incident shinobi. Since it's Hashirama, Hikaku should probably be preparing themselves for the latter, but the woman is so forgiving that they might not have to do any work at all.
They make their way across the village arm and arm. Hikaku feels a bit like they’re on a date. Maybe they should have called it one; Izuna probably would have liked that.
It’s a nice day, if a little hot out in the streets. Hikaku always finds themselves surprised at just how bustling Konoha has become, and again when they are allowed to walk right up to the Hokage’s residence without so much as being questioned about it.
The trouble is that when Izuna traipses through the front garden and knocks on the door, it isn't Hashirama who answers.
"Izuna-san, Hikaku-san." Mito smiles at them politely, without a hint of malice or scheming showing through. Hikaku has no real reason to suspect that she might be, and yet the feeling remains. "We weren't expecting you."
It's not as though they’ve never visited like this before, and their individual relationships with Mito are both perfectly amicable, but the woman does not direct them to where Tobirama is as she normally might, and she does not move at all from the doorway to allow them a glance inside. Her expression remains nothing but genial, eyes crinkled in some secret amusement, which on this woman is more threatening than anything else she might do.
"Mito-hime." Both of them bow appropriately, but Izuna is the one to continue on. "We only wanted to stop by for a brief chat with your wife, nothing so formal."
"Could have fooled me, I don't believe I've ever seen you out of your work attire, Hikaku-san." Mito hides her mouth behind a sleeve. "In any case, I'm sorry to tell you that my wife isn't home at the moment, she's gone off to tend to one of her gardens -- but I have been meaning to invite the two of you over for tea for some time now, so we might be able to salvage this afternoon after all."
Unfortunate. And there isn't a good reason to deny her since their business with Hashirama wasn't made out to be urgent, and they're the ones who intruded on her home.
"That would be lovely, thank you." Hikaku says with another slight bow. Izuna follows after a moment -- after shooting Mito some sort of look that only makes the amusement in her eyes sparkle all the more obviously. Whatever she finds so funny must be at their expense, somehow.
As soon as they are allowed inside it becomes exceedingly obvious that this was a setup. The tatami room is already set up for tea, a pot with a self-heating seal -- one Hikaku would very much like their own copy of -- sits on the table, a soft glow leaking from the bottom the tell-tale sign that the water is already being heated. Mito gets them settled in and then bustles off to bring a plate of snacks to go with it.
Hikaku can’t imagine that their arrival here, right at this time, was due entirely to Mito's manipulation. Far more likely she found out that they were coming and decided to use the opportunity for her own purposes, whatever they are. Hikaku has only interacted with the woman sparingly. Izuna would be more able to guess at the reason for all of this, but when they turn to her she only shrugs.
Mito is of course nothing less than the perfect host. Only once she's poured and they've all downed half their cups does she finally speak.
"Are either of you familiar with the term 'a spring invitation?'"
It only takes the briefest of glances towards Izuna to know that she has no idea what that's meant to mean. Seeing that Hikaku doesn't either, they both shake their heads.
Mito hums a note, like she's disappointed, but not surprised.
"Mm. It's… Something of a tradition back on Uzushio. If a couple was interested in inviting someone else into their relationship, they would get together and offer them a branch of orange blossoms to indicate their interest."
Hikaku feels as though they’re missing an obvious piece of the puzzle. Mito wouldn't bring this up for no reason, but they don’t know anywhere around Konoha to even find an orange tree.
"The Senju have a similar tradition." She goes on, having obviously made note of the blank looks on their faces, "Though instead of orange blossoms they usually give plum."
The two of them must connect the dots too slowly for her liking, or more likely she wants to see the look on their faces as she says it.
"Tobirama-kun has kept the entire vase under a stasis seal so that the blossoms don't wilt and fall off."
Hikaku doesn't know what face they're making and doesn't dare look over to see Izuna's, but the way she reaches over to squeeze their wrist says enough -- she remembers.
It must have been almost half a year ago, done totally on a whim. Tobirama had been cleaning her house, 'getting rid of useless clutter' as she'd put it, but Tobirama owned so little that such spring cleaning had left her house nearly bare. She hadn’t asked for help, but they had been there anyways; allegedly to offer assistance, in reality to poke around Tobirama’s home and laze about.
"Honestly." Izuna had chided. "You've known me for how many years and you still haven't managed to pick up a sense of style just from proximity?"
The mood had been good, and Hikaku had been in the mood for teasing, so they'd said, "Maybe we should get her a gift, that way it would be rude for her to get rid of it."
"Hmm, good idea." She'd tapped a knuckle on her chin as though in deep thought before her eyes lit him. "Oh, I know just the thing!"
Tobirama had rolled her eyes and otherwise ignored the two of them as Izuna had dragged Hikaku out to the Senju's front garden. Tobirama had built her home on the edge of Konoha for privacy's sake; most of the land around was still mostly uncleared woodland. Izuna walked across the dirt road directly to a blossoming plum tree, pulled herself up onto the largest branch and set to looking them over like an art critic at an exhibition.
Hikaku hadn't even made a token attempt at hiding their snort. Izuna was too obvious -- a flowering branch is fine enough for seasonal decor, but when the flowers fall off and Tobirama inevitably discarded the dead wood, Izuna will inevitably use it as an excuse to whine and bother Tobirama into paying for their drinks or something of that sort. Still, despite the obvious plot Izuna seems dedicated to picking out the most aesthetically perfect twig from the whole tree. After nearly an half an hour of overwrought consideration. Izuna jumped down from the tree brandishing a thin branch about as long as her forearm, fresh white blossoms dotted all along its length.
"Ah, hold on." Hikaku had said, activating their sharingan for a blink, "You picked well. I think it would look good in a painting."
A painting they'd thought that Izuna would probably also find giving to Tobirama very funny, later. But right then she'd only grinned at them, smoothed out her coat, and looped her arm around Hikaku's elbow to drag them back to Tobirama's house.
"Tobiramaa~" She'd called when the woman hadn't been in the main room where they'd left her. "Don't run away, we got you something."
There had been a sound suspiciously like a sigh from Tobirama's office, a thump, and then the woman had appeared at the door to her office with a scowl -- a scowl that was quickly replaced with frozen shock as Izuna brandished the branch.
"Here, see? It's perfect isn't it?"
Tobirama's wide eyed look didn't falter even as the silence grew uncomfortable.
"What…?" But before Izuna could finish Tobirama snatched the branch from her fingers, face flushing bright red before she spun away.
Hikaku thinks she might have muttered something about having to buy a vase. They think she might have looked back at the two of them smiling at her and blushed harder. They think they hadn't thought it as anything more than odd, but cute, at the time.
When Hikaku glances over at Izuna her ears are red and her eyes pinned to the ceiling as if praying for guidance, or perhaps to be suddenly struck down by lightning.
Mito takes another sip of tea and calmly continues nailing their coffin shut.
"I'm sure you can both imagine how confusing it would be if someone got offered a courtship gift like that and then saw no change in their relationship."
"Of course, Mito-hime." Hikaku tries diplomatically. She mercilessly carries on.
"The people who care for them might have to resort to drastic measures if nothing is done." She sets her cup down with a clink that sounds as threatening as a sword being drawn. "But I'm sure we're on the same page. No one here would want to see that person suffer, do they?
"Of course not!" Izuna answers, voice shrill and cheeks still burning. She tugs on Hikaku's wrist again. "If you'll excuse us, Mito-hime, tea was wonderful but we have urgent business to attend to."
Dismissing herself like that is incredibly transparent, but it's also apparently the right answer based on the way Mito's eyes become crescents as she smiles at them.
"Of course. We should do this again sometime, after everything is settled."
The offer is only mildly terrifying right now. It will probably become even more so if they handle this poorly.
"Ah, and take some snacks with you." Mito presses a box into their hands as they're almost out the door. "There's mizu manju."
They're some of Tobirama's favorites, which Hikaku gets the sense that they're going to need soon. They accept the gift before Izuna begins bodily dragging them away, without a clear direction at first but more obviously in the direction of Tobirama's lab once Izuna stops pacing around the street block in circles.
"…Are you sure you want to go see her right away?" Hikaku asks. "We should probably talk about this first, right?"
Izuna groans, spins on her heel, and thunks her head against Hikaku's collarbone.
"Probably. But I don't really want to!"
Hikaku really does, though. Izuna must be able to tell because she doesn't fight as they lead them over to a park. It's in the style the Senju prefer, mostly old growth that didn't get cleared as the village grew around it. It's empty at this time of day, so the stone bench just off the main path is private enough.
"So." They start. "Tobirama."
"We don't actually have to clear anything up, you know!" Izuna answers right away, loud and fast. "Like, if we act like we knew what we were doing all along and say that we just wanted courting to move slowly, she'll never have to know!"
"Is this your way of saying you want to court her on purpose?"
Izuna sputters, her blush returning with ferocity.
"Well, yeah. If I had known it was an option, I -- urgh." Izuna's words fail to properly explain the woman, as they often do. "I mean, it's Tobirama. She's… Well. You know. I know you know."
Hikaku's cheeks pinken, too. They know.
Tobirama is one of the most compelling people they have ever met. If Izuna hasn't found a way or a want to escape her orbit after a lifetime, Hikaku stands no chance. Not that they intend to try.
"Not allowed to be with anyone else?"
"Exactly!"
"And just to say it out loud, we're both going to court her."
"Don't be stupid!" Izuna smacks their shoulder with the back of her hand, no real force behind it, "Obviously. And we already gave her the secret symbolic tree branch or whatever so we don't even have to worry about figuring out how to bring it up."
Hikaku allows themselves a small smile.
"But we do need to worry about explaining what exactly we've been doing for the past six months. She's going to have questions."
"Yeah, but again… Tobirama. She's going to have gone right past any of the reasonable questions by now."
"…You're probably right." Hikaku agrees. They sit together in silence for a long moment. The solution, just like the problem, feels tantalizingly out of reach. Izuna stretches her arms above her head, then behind her back.
"We should bring her a courting gift, right?" She says suddenly. "Like, a really traditional one. A hair stick or something."
"…Actually I might already have something?" Hikaku refuses to acknowledge Izuna's sudden smirk or the way she leans in with a hand curled under her chin. "It was meant to be a birthday gift before, well… But it should work."
"Hmm." Izuna hums, and then deciding that things are private enough, leans in all the way and plants a wet kiss on their cheek. "Always thinking ahead, even when you don't know it. Let's get your gift and go meet her then."
"Now?"
"Clearly thinking about what we're going to say isn't getting us anywhere. We can improvise."
Improvising sounds like it’s going to go horribly, but sometimes there aren’t any other options. No good plan survives contact with Tobirama Senju.
Approaching Tobirama's lab should always give cause to be nervous. Relationship misunderstandings aside, Tobirama has likely been in there for days, assuming that it's where she's been instead of the office -- and Hikaku knows that she hasn’t been there. That much unbroken time with her experiments has almost always proven to be cause for concern in the past, so Hikaku thinks that it's only fair to be wary. Izuna, who has herself been chewed out for barging in and ruining experiments, is also appropriately cautious. They stand outside for an unbroken two minutes before Izuna curses and steps forward to pound on the door.
The feeling of the wards being deactivated shifts so much chakra that Hikaku can feel it in their jaw. It takes another minute for them to drop enough for the door to open, just enough for Tobirama's face to peek through, eyes narrowed.
"Oh." She says, relaxing right away and pulling the door open further. "It's you two. You have good timing, come in."
Izuna makes a sound high in the back of her throat. Such a declaration from Tobirama is very alarming, and from the way this day has gone they will be very lucky if it's not related to what they've just learned. Both of them follow Tobirama inside without further greeting, not that Tobirama seems to notice. She immediately goes over to a lab bench to start straightening and organizing the piles of paper and stacks of books that have accumulated there over the course of her research binge. She's shed anything formal after being here so long, now dressed down casually in loose fitting blacks, her hair mostly escaping the tie she had put it in to fall around her face.
It is terribly cute, which Hikaku is glad to finally be able to admit to themselves without feeling any shame about it.
Tobirama, efficient as always, quickly sets aside the mess and plucks out a few specific scrolls from the pile.
"I believe I've figured out a solution to our marriage problem."
"…Marriage problem?" Hikaku asks, voice kept carefully even, very afraid that their fears are about to be proven correct.
"Our marriage problem." Izuna echoes, though she says it with a hint of glee.
Tobirama nods and rolls out one of the scrolls to show them what appears to be a diagram of cellular division so thickly covered in annotations that Hikaku would have to activate their sharingan to read it in any reasonable amount of time. Instead they close their eyes and brace for the worst.
"Your clan appears to only arrange marriages in service of keeping your bloodline as strong as possible. But if you were able to have a child with only one parent that would no longer be a concern. I believe I can trigger parthenogenesis in humans -- that is, developing an embryo from an unfertilized egg -- so at that point the only concern would be who is required to carry the child.
Izuna catches up to what Tobirama is saying far faster than Hikaku could ever dream to.
"Are you… Offering to give birth to my clone?" She asks this far more casually than Hikaku thinks she should be -- another casualty of dealing with Tobirama for so long. "Actually, don't answer that. Let's go back to what the marriage problem is."
Tobirama scowls and crosses her arms. "Isn't the reason you refuse to move past a platonic relationship because I'm not eligible to join your marriage by Uchiha law? Well--"
Oh no. Hikaku thinks.
"Me and Hikaku aren't married, though?" Is what Izuna says, which draws Tobirama up short, before her frown deepens even further.
"You would have a good reason for thinking so!" Hikaku interjects, free hand held up in a placating gesture that doesn’t tend to actually work on Tobirama. "Izuna has said as much before. But most of the time that's just to give me the impression of authority."
The rest of the time is because Izuna is sick of dealing with someone and needs Hikaku to smooth over her exit. "We're together, obviously, just not legally married."
Tobirama's face is starting to go red now. Irritation, from being faced with information she thinks she should have known, but the deep wrinkle between her brows means it's probably more than just that.
"I see." She says, voice tight. "So it's all been a misunderstanding."
Izuna sets the box of wagashi on the lab bench, dropping it from just high enough that it clacks when it hits the table. Tobirama stares at it.
"To be clear, we would have given you that branch on purpose if we'd known what we were doing." She says.
Tobirama's face does not move much, yet still manages to convey very much in a matter of moments. Her frown softens in confusion, cheeks pale in realization then flares with color again in embarrassment as she turns her head away.
"Mito meddled." She sulks.
"Yeah, she did." Izuna sounds equally put-out.
"I told her I could solve this on my own."
"Your older sister was also asking mine about Uchiha marriage contracts."
Tobirama's shoulders slump as she puts her face in her hands.
"…If that was the problem, this would be a good solution to it." Hikaku assuages. "…The clan will probably want to get their hands on it either way, honestly."
Hikaku and Izuna share an uncomfortable look; neither of them plans to be the one who brings it to their attention. Hikaku shakes their head and draws their own box from their sleeve and presents it to her. There are more important things to talk about right now.
"Consider this a more formal declaration from us. Made with full knowledge, this time."
"We can get you another tree branch though, if you want." Izuna adds.
"That won't be necessary." Tobirama answers, muffled. She peeks between her fingers at the box Hikaku holds out for her, and after a moment of deliberation reaches for it. "I still have the first one."
Tobirama normally resists having her hair styled in anything fancier than a loose bun, and so ordinarily a hair stick would make a terrible gift. But this one, aside from being made of beautiful twisting silver and pale blue gemstones, has a series of seals carved into it that make the stick so light the wearer shouldn't even notice that it’s there. And of course, it can also be used as a knife, if needed.
Tobirama is very methodical as she takes it from the box to examine it, turning it over to see every angle and no doubt cataloging all of the seal work against her own knowledge.
The tips of her ears remain pink even as she cycles her chakra to remove the color from her cheeks. The hairpin is carefully placed back in its box.
"I hope that means that you're going to behave more seriously about this."
"Well, in terms of courting you, yes." Izuna answers, eyes sparkling, "But also, is now an appropriate time to mention all of the very non-lab-safe things I've imagined us doing in here? How many dates do we have to take you on to get you to allow that to happen?"
Tobirama does not react for a long moment, red eyes unblinking somewhere between the two of them. Then the not-even-really-an-innuendo hits and all of the furious chakra cycling in the world can stop a flush from crawling up her neck. Instead of shouting an argument, Tobirama very deliberately picks up the scroll she had been showing them, rolls it back up, and throws it directly at Izuna's face.
"I cannot believe I am still entertaining this." She says -- but Hikaku has known her long enough now to recognize the tone. Not true upset, more like someone trying not to admit that she's just lost an argument. Presumably with herself. "You have about six months to make up for before I even begin to think about anything like that."
It isn't a no. Not even close. Izuna brightens immediately, but Hikaku decides to step in before she can say something that will cause Tobirama to self-combust.
"If the Lady Senju has time, we can start that right now." They bow, deep and formal. Tobirama makes a strangled noise that makes Hikaku think that maybe they didn't help so much after all.
"Right!" Izuna chimes in. They don't even have to glance at each other to understand what the other is trying to do. "You've been in here since your last shift, right? So you haven't eaten anything besides ration bars?"
"They're perfectly acceptable for--" Tobirama immediately tries to start up that old argument again only for her voice to sputter out as the two of them move in sync to pin her in on either side, shoulder to shoulder.
"For replacing meals." Hikaku finishes, giddy. "But I can think of a better first date than that."
"Second date." Tobirama scowls. "At least."
"Ooh, what are we counting as the first?" Izuna loops her elbow around Tobirama's and Hikaku does the same on her other side. She does not fight except to gesture for someone to grab the box of wagashi to take with them. "The Tea Country Mission?"
"Missions are not dates." Tobirama argues as she's pulled out the door. "If you're only counting the time after you gave me the plum blossoms, then one of our teahouse meetings--"
She relaxes into their arms as they argue, giving in to the familiar flow of conversation, as sharp and brilliant as she always is. As they step out into the sun, Hikaku exchanges a helpless smile with Izuna and starts to lead the way towards the food stand that Tobirama pretends isn't her favorite.
It's a bit like searching for a treasure only to find out you stashed it in your pocket ages ago. Hikaku is just glad that they found it after all.