Chapter Text
Madara flares his chakra as he steps onto the engawa.
Not too much, nothing like what he'd do on the battlefield, he doesn't want to wake little Kagami, but Hikaku is an excellent shinobi and Madara knows that his cousin will feel it. And so, when Hikaku silently slides the shoji open with a raised eyebrow, Madara simply holds out the bottle of sake with a grimace.
He knows that he should be ashamed of what he did this afternoon, and he is. Hikaku is part of the clan, isn't interested in romance of any kind for all that he has a small son, and his only relationship with Tobirama is one of simple friendship.
And yet... and yet Madara can't suppress the urge to wedge himself between Hikaku and the man who village gossip suggests will soon be Kagami's other father.
It's ridiculous, and the tired exasperation on Hikaku's face only makes it worse.
"I'm sorry," Madara hides behind his hair but knows that Hikaku will see how embarrassed he is - no one with a Sharingan could miss it. "For pushing you."
He hopes that his cousin will accept the apology for his foolish action, and not only because he was wrong.
He doesn't want Hikaku to leave him to manage all the clan's paperwork alone after all.