Chapter Text
Kagami wasn’t sure how exactly he’d gotten the man to agree. Most likely he had worded it in such a way that Tobirama hadn’t really thought he was serious or maybe the older man was simply humoring him on the assumption that he would never actually win their little bet. Whatever it was, the fact remained Tobirama had agreed over a round of shogi that on the day Kagami beat him in a game he would accompany his one-time student on a date. Not just any old friends-hanging-out-together date either, a proper romantic date with romantic implications and possibly a few instances of actual romantic overtures. If he was lucky.
There was something that Kagami had realized, however, that he didn’t think his friend had. While that in itself was a rare thing to say and should have filled him with triumph, he still found himself much more excited for the promised rewards than for the accomplishment of coming out on top of an agreement with one of the slipperiest people he had ever known. That more than anything would have made it obvious how important this was to him if he were bold enough to admit it to anyone. Just like any other Uchiha, he was quite fond of outsmarting someone notably smarter than him.
Armed with this juicy little secret up his sleeve, Kagami made his way through the busy Hokage Tower with a smile on his lips and a bounce in his step. When he knocked on Tobirama's office door he knew very well that it was merely a formality. The man had definitely felt him coming before he’d even set foot inside the tower, had probably been tracking his staggered progress through the hallways and smirking in amusement each time he stopped to talk to someone. Still, Kagami didn’t presume to enter the other’s space until a deep voice which sent familiar shivers down his spine called out for him to do so.
As offices go, Tobirama’s was fairly typical. It hadn’t changed much over the last few years while peace settled deeper and deeper in to the bones of the village. His bookshelves were perhaps a bit more full and the small couch against one wall was perhaps a bit more well used but he still sat behind the same old desk, pushed up close to the same old window where the man could stick his head outside and holler up at his brother one floor above.
Hokage he might be but there was nothing which motivated Senju Hashirama more than fear of his younger sibling’s waspish temper.
In keeping with a pattern they had been playing out since the first year they trained together, Tobirama pretended to ignore him at first, appearing as though he had lost himself in the papers strewn about his desk. He kept his head down while Kagami wandered the edges of the room fiddling with this or that until finally the older man deigned to look up at him with one brow raised.
“Did you need something?” The twitch of his lips belied the irritation he pretended to affect. Kagami grinned brightly.
“I came to challenge you to a game,” he said.
“Hm. Again?”
“As many times as it takes!”
Kagami took it as encouragement when all Tobirama did was huff out what passed for a laugh when it came to him and shake his head, one arm gesturing for the board still neatly packed with all its pieces and set in the same spot as always. He didn’t need any further words to hurry across soft carpet and pull out the shogi board, hauling it over to the desk while his friend cleared some space for them to play. A grin sat wide and open on his face as he shook the wooden pieces out of their holding bag and began to set them up.
“You’re looking particularly cheerful today. Feeling confident?”
“I’ve got something up my sleeve that you won’t expect for sure!” Kagami chirped. Tobirama graced him with an indulgent nod. “Today’s the day! And I mean it this time! No backing out at the last minute either!”
“We made an agreement, did we not? I am a man of my word after all.”
The younger only smirked as he spun the board to offer Tobirama the first move. Usually he was offered the advantage of moving first but today he was confident that no matter what happened, he was going to leave this office a winner. Today was the day he earned himself a bona fide date with Senju Tobirama.
As they usually turned out, the match wasn’t a particularly long one. Kagami wasn’t a stupid person by any long stretch but there were few outside the Nara who could hope to match this man’s intellect and shogi had always been one of Tobirama’s favorite leisure activities. It came as no shock when Kagami was once again thoroughly trounced without any hope of winning only halfway through the game. Yet it appeared to shock Tobirama when he retained his cheerful smile without a single hint of faltering. Piece by piece his defeat grew closer and yet, even as he was finally declared the loser of this round, Kagami did nothing but sit quietly and do his best imitation of sunshine.
Clearly confused, Tobirama sat back in his chair with a thoughtful expression.
“Would you like a second game to try again?” he ventured, obviously trying to feel out what kind of situation was going on here. Kagami hummed, stroking dramatically at his chin.
“I dunno. You’ll probably beat me again.”
“Yes, true.” Tobirama’s face scrunched together in irritation. “But if you leave then it’ll take me longer to figure out what you’re up to.” He didn’t look too impressed when his one-time student laughed at him.
“Alright, how about this? Roshambo. If you win I’ll stay.”
“Odd choice but fair.”
Leaning forward, he set one palm flat one the desk and raised the other in a fist, eyeing the younger man somewhat challengingly. Kagami happily took that challenge. He was barely holding in a snicker while he made his way back over to the desk to hold out his own fist, ready for battle, as it were.
Together they counted to three and bobbed their hands three times – only to both choose rock. On the second try they both chose scissors. Kagami laughed and said they could try just one more time, biting his lip to keep the triumphant laughter at bay. He knew Tobirama better than anyone else and in all likeliness the man had never bothered to note his own habits during the rare game of roshambo someone might convince him to take part in.
On the third round Tobirama chose paper, the only option he hadn’t chosen yet and thereby unconsciously completing the set in his mind. Knowing he would do so allowed Kagami to make the smart decision and choose scissors again to come out the winner. Upon presenting their choices he reached over and pretended to snip Tobirama’s fingers with his own, grinning so wide it made the muscles in his cheeks hurt.
“I win,” he breathed. “One date, please.”
“What?” Tobirama blinked at him, nonplussed. Kagami cleared his throat.
“You agreed that if I won a game against you we could go on one date. But you never specified at the time that the game had to be shogi so by the wording of our original agreement…I win. And you owe me one date. Does tomorrow work for you?”
It took a moment for Tobirama to process that but when he did he look stunned as he realized that it was true. “Well I’ll be damned. You’re right; I never did specify that it had to be shogi. Well done Kagami. Excellently played.”
“So…?”
“Tomorrow does indeed work for me. Or if you prefer, I am also available tonight.” He smiled ever so gently, giving Kagami a very serious case of weak knees.
“Yeah! A-alright! Tonight is good too! Awesome!” Swallowing around the nervous lump which had just appeared in his throat, Kagami held fast to his suddenly wobbling smile. “I really thought I’d have more time to prepare myself but – okay! Yeah!”
“Prepare yourself? For what?”
“Nothing! See you tonight!”
Whirling on his heel, Kagami dashed out of the room and made it halfway down the stairs before he had to turn around and creep back up, sheepishly peeking his head around the door to see Tobirama still standing there with an amused expression.
“You may pick me up from my home at six o’clock.”
“Right!”
And with that he took off down the hall once more.
The next several hours were a blur for the young man. If asked he would not have been able to say what he had done with his day, only that he’d had Tobirama on his mind the entire time and his stomach had been a constantly churning mess of nerves and excitement. It was finally happening. Tonight he would have his shot. He’d been waiting for this for so long that he could hardly believe it was actually happening.
When he checked the clock and noticed that it was getting a bit late Kagami supposed he must have gotten at least most of his duties done that day considering Koharu hadn’t tracked him down for another lecture about responsibility. He wasn’t really irresponsible, only forgetful. Actually, he’d always thought that he and Tobirama would balance each other rather nicely in that respect; Tobirama would help him stay more focused when it was appropriate while he was one of the few people able to convince the older man to take a break every so often.
In fact, there were a lot of ways Kagami thought they might complement each other and he had every intention of trying to work all of them in to their dinner conversation that evening.
At six o’clock sharp he was standing on Tobirama’s doorstep in a clean, wrinkle-free yukata which his poor exasperated aunt had assured him brought out the faint hints of blue in his typical blue-black hair. With a steadying breath in and out – then another because the first didn’t help – Kagami rapped three times on the door before him and did his best not to look like he was about to faint. He almost did anyway when Tobirama answered the door in a simple yukata of the softest gray edged with little silver rain droplets that gave his skin a luminescent glow.
“Wow,” he breathed. “You – am I allowed to tell you that you look amazing?”
“Compliments are always appreciated,” Tobirama replied easily as he breezed down the front steps, leaving Kagami to scramble after him.
“Good. Yeah. Cause you look amazing. Well, I mean, you always do but you’re usually not dressed like this and it’s nice to see you so casual every once in a while, you know? So I think you look extra good and now I’m going to stop talking.” His cheeks felt like he’d swallowed one of his own grand fireballs. He really thought he would make it longer than ten stupid seconds before embarrassing himself like this.
Thankfully Tobirama was good enough to brush his nattering idiocy aside as easily as always. “I’m pleased you think so. And might I add that you look rather nice yourself in that color.”
Kagami very much hoped the helpless whine he made at that comment went unheard.
Dinner was, in a word, amazing. He’d never had Tobirama’s attention to himself like this for so long. Usually one of their other former teammates accompanied them or they saw each other briefly at the tower before work sent them their separate ways. Playing shogi in the office had become the only time they shared alone but it was usually no more than an hour due to Tobirama’s busy schedule. Kagami was thrilled when they finally left the restaurant and his date suggested a walk through a nearby park, ensuring that he would have just a little more time to live in this transient dream-come-true.
At the park they wandered around the edge of the large pond three times and weaved around each individual tree at least twice, their conversation ranging from Tobirama’s latest research to whether or not Kagami’s neighbor might be a retired assassin from Kiri in disguise. It was absolutely amazing, more than he could have ever dreamed of, and yet by the time he found himself escorting the other back through the wide avenues of the Senju district Kagami couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough. He could spend weeks on end in this man’s presence and when the time came to part he would still beg for just five more minutes.
They paused at the bottom of the three stairs which would take Tobirama back to his home, facing each other in silence for a few heartbeats until the older man tilted his head to one side with a curious furrowing of his brow.
“I did have fun tonight, if that was your worry.”
“Oh! No, sorry. I don’t mean to spoil it all, I was just, um, a little sad that it’s over now.”
“What do you mean ‘over now’?”
Kagami shifted his weight, dropping his eyes to watch his hands fiddle with each other. “Nothing. Doesn’t everyone wish every good date could last forever?”
“I’m flattered you consider me so.” There was humor in Tobirama’s voice but he couldn’t bring himself to look up to see it until the man continued. “Doesn’t a good date usually end with a kiss?”
“Please don’t make fun of me,” Kagami said, hoping his voice would behave and not wobble.
His companion blinked, clearly startled.
“Make fun of you? What gave you the impression I was making fun of you in any way?”
“I know this was a pity date. You don’t actually think of me this way. And that’s okay! Really! I’m grateful that you humored me; but I know that you didn’t think I would ever actually win and you only came because you try to always keep your word. So please don’t make fun of me by pretending. I did have a good time tonight. Just…I’m just sad that it’s over and I have to go back to…you know. How things were before.” Kagami shrugged and caught his bottom lip between his teeth, worrying at it nervously.
Obviously Tobirama had been aware of his feelings for a while now but it still went against his instincts to make himself so vulnerable, to open his heart and ask another man to smash it. Tomorrow and the weeks ahead of them promised to be quite awkward as he tried to fit himself back in to that space where he pretended that mere friendship was enough. He couldn’t bring himself to regret any of this, though. Pretending was something he could do on his own with a little imagination. Having the chance to actually glimpse what the reality might be like was an amazing experience, something he would hold on to for a very long time to come.
Kagami was startled out of his maudlin thoughts by the hand that grasped his chin and wrenched his face up to see the displeased expression on Tobirama’s face.
“ Pity date ,” the man snarled dismissively.
Then suddenly they were kissing, lips hot against his own, devouring, destroying, demanding until it was all Kagami could do to remind his poor heart to continue beating. A whimper escaped him and Tobirama swallowed it, nipping at him to encourage his lips to part and then licking inside to draw out a helpless moan.
He was gasping for air when they parted, only avoiding embarrassment because it was clear that Tobirama was having a little trouble catching his own breath as well.
“You kissed me!”
“I did.”
“W-why did you kiss me?” Kagami heard his voice crack but he couldn’t be bothered to worry about it, not when the answer to his question was much more interesting. He dared not move lest the hands framing his face let go and leave him devoid of their warmth.
“Honestly,” Tobirama scoffed. “Why does one person usually kiss another?”
Squirming inside, Kagami said, “ Usually because they like each other. But you–!”
“Do you really believe me so cruel as to allow such behavior and then to strip it all away as a joke?”
“Um…”
“Is it so hard to believe that I might actually return your interest?”
“Yes?”
“Ridiculous. And worrisome. I had not realized you believed all of this to be merely a humoring of your desires. Had I known I certainly would have explained myself a long time ago.”
Feeling a little off-balance and possibly also slightly nauseous with so many conflicting emotions, Kagami took a deep breath to ask, “Explain what?”
Tobirama paused to look closely at him before speaking, the hands still framing his face sliding down the sides of his neck and across his shoulders to squeeze gently. It was a more affectionate gesture than he had ever seen the man grant to anyone besides the Hokage himself – and even then only on very rare occasions. His expression was so gentle it was nearly heartbreaking.
“When I accepted your wager it was not because I was hoping to put you off with an impossible task. In truth I was wary that your interest may not be…entirely genuine. Not to say that I doubted you but I worried that your feelings were the product of misplaced hero worship.” Tobirama pinched his face in to a well-worn look of self-deprecation. “I can admit now that it was not the best method of assuaging my fears but my intention was to gauge your perseverance, to see if you were serious enough to pursue this or if you would lose interest when attaining my affection came with road blocks. It is…within my nature to test things I don’t fully understand.”
“So you were making me work for it just to see if I would?” Kagami summarized.
“I was trying not to put it in to such crass terms but yes.”
A part of him wanted to be a little offended but the rest of him was already reaching that floaty state of disbelief as he finally came to terms with the impossible: the man he was in love with actually liked him back.
“Holy crap,” he mumbled.
“Very eloquent,” Tobirama teased, tucking his head down until they were but a hairsbreadth apart and the proximity stole Kagami’s breath all over again. “Now, I should very much like to kiss you again. I think we’ve both been waiting long enough for this. A reward seems to be in order for such diligent patience.”
“Gods yes .”
“Charming.”
His date smirked at him and Kagami’s knees almost folded underneath him. He remained standing only through sheer force of will, eager to taste the older man once again. Tobirama didn’t keep him waiting long.