It had been a few weeks since Madara had been staying at his place, and Hashirama was slowly becoming slightly exasperated by this young man. Madara seemed to be very fastidious and generally hard to deal with. But the Senju graciously accepted it, making sure to help Madara in any way he could. The Uchiha often got annoyed with him at attempts to help.
"Hashirama-san, stop babying me," Madara growled. After around three months, the teen had become annoyed of Hashirama's apparent over-affection. The Senju pouted slightly, before gently tapping the other on the nose with a wooden spoon he had been using to make the mix for a strawberry meringue. "Mada, I promised to help you out. Oh, do you like meringue, by the way? I've been on a dessert making spree and I'm not sure what you liked…"
"I don't like sweets," Madara said, wrinkling his nose and wiping the strawberry meringue mix that had gotten on his face. Hashirama gasped dramatically at Madara's confession, but then chuckled. "Oh, I guess I'll have to eat this all by myself then," He pouted, feigning a sort of depression. "At least I exercise otherwise I'd probably weigh a ton." Madara just shrugged. "You should really think about that before you start cooking, idiot," He responded.
Hashirama then laughed softly. "Are you sure you won't want some later?" He offered, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, I never met a person who totally didn't like sweets." Madara just scoffed. "I'm sure, Hashirama," He stated. Hashirama just nodded. "If you say so," The Senju replied, going back into the kitchen to resume his baking. "I'll leave you some just in case you do want it after all." Once Hashirama had left the room, Madara licked his fingers, tasting the strawberry mix. He blushed faintly, then went off to do his own thing.
Living with Hashirama, as much as the other nagged and hounded him about everything, was actually really pleasant. Of course, the first few weeks had been awkward and Madara had been rather snippy at him. But Hashirama was actually the first person who had actually shown him kindness. Except for Izuna. But then again, Izuna still wasn't fully aware. Madara had been afraid of telling his younger brother of his sexuality because of not wanting to lose the only person who treated him kindly. But maybe he should have told him. Hashirama had assured him, during some of the worse times, that if Izuna cared and loved him then he wouldn't mind who Madara loved, even if it wasn't considered "normal" by anyone else.
Madara sighed lightly, playing with the cat. Hashirama was indeed very much like an overbearing yet well-meaning mother. Well, how he'd imagine such a mother, at the very least. His own mother died when Izuna was around three years old, and his stepmother wasn't a very caring or warm lady. But, there was warmth here, staying with Hashirama.
The Senju was someone who he genuinely liked, and who genuinely appeared to like him. Madara had never felt more welcome in a place before, especially after the past few years of being unwanted and disgraced just for one thing he couldn't really control and could not actually change about himself. Maybe it was due to the fact that when he was found by the other that Hashirama had been the one to save him, it was pretty late out, but Hashirama seemed sincere about helping him out.
Even if he tried to push the other away, the rather cheerful Senju was still actually trying to help him. Hashirama was the one who would comfort him whenever he had struggled to keep from hurting himself. He would hold him and comfort him. And no matter how many times he was pushed away, Hashirama would keep helping him out. Madara had felt bad once he'd calmed down. This man was seriously trying so hard to care for him. Hashirama didn't have to care, and he could just so easily kick him out on the streets.
A weird thing was that he'd never seen the brunette raise a hand or his voice. Never used violence. Whenever Mada had done something wrong or made a mistake, Hashirama would just chastise him gently, but never too seriously. But that was something that Madara was grateful for.
Hashirama continued to make the meringues, putting them into the oven and humming lightly, thinking. It had been around three months now since Madara had come to live with him, and he felt like the kid was what he needed. Someone to talk to and someone to help out. Tobirama only came around every so often, and even then it was awkward at best, with the younger brother berating the other for whatever decision he had made currently. But Madara never really complained much. Not seriously complaining, at the very least. And the Uchiha was cute, the brunette had decided. Cute and good company. Hashirama hummed as he moved about the kitchen, preparing the strawberries for when the meringues were ready.
As Hashirama cut the strawberries, he chuckled as he realised they looked like hearts. Maybe he could show them to Madara, but then the teen would probably give him a weird look and call him stupid again. A slight flush came over his cheeks and he shook his head. How silly was he to feel all fluttery like a young teen just at the thought of Madara and hearts. Silly.
As Hashirama continued to move about, he thought about the things he had learnt about Madara. The boy was around eighteen, and his brother was a couple of years younger, having turned sixteen in February. Madara enjoyed really spicy foods for some reason, and his favourite animals were cats. The Uchiha had quickly befriended his own cat, Gin and he was often seen petting the grey tabby kitten. He chuckled to himself, blinking a little and trying to will his blush away.
Why was he thinking about all of this? They were just friends, more like acquaintances. And Madara was still quite young, and Hashirama was aware that he was reluctant to embrace his sexuality. The Senju didn't see how sexuality mattered, but he had always just gone off with the principle of "love is not restricted by gender". But he knew not everyone thought like he did.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He wasn't in love with Madara, they'd only known each other for three months, and they were just friends. Madara would probably want someone his own age or younger probably. The oven beeped finally and Hashirama carefully took out the tray of meringues, carefully adorning them with some of the cut strawberries. He tossed some into a blender with some vanilla and a little honey, making strawberry sauce.
He smiled proudly. "Mada, come here," Hashirama called from the kitchen. Madara sighed, petting Gin's ears and putting the cat back on the ground, heading to where Hashirama was. The cat followed at his heels, brushing against his and Hashirama's legs, meowing for food. Hashirama chuckled. "One minute, Gin," He said, showing Madara the strawberry meringues.
The Uchiha blinked a little, mildly impressed. Though, being bad at cooking meant that he would be impressed by those who were good at it. "Well, they look pretty good," Madara admitted. Hashirama smirked slightly. "Now, are you really sure you don't want one, Mada? They're not too sweet, I promise." The Uchiha blushed as the other nudged him gently. "Hn," He sighed after a while. "I'll take one. If it is too sweet for me though, then I won't eat any more of them."
Hashirama grinned, taking one of the meringues and plating it up, handing Madara a spoon. "I'm glad you're willing to try it, at the very least," He responded with a gentle smile. The Uchiha flushed faintly, turning away as he took a spoonful. "Yeah, yeah," He stared at it for a few moments, before placing the spoonful in his mouth. Madara swallowed, glancing over to Hashirama, who was watching him eagerly.
"Hm, it's okay," He responded, continuing to eat the rest of his meringue. Hashirama chuckled softly, secretly pleased that Madara seemed to be enjoying it. The raven-haired male glanced to him, raising an eyebrow slightly. "What?" He questioned. The brunette just ruffled the younger's hair. "Oh, nothing. I'm just happy that you're enjoying it, Madara." Madara blushed, swiping at the other's hand as his hair was ruffled. Hashirama smiled gently. A few months back, the raven-haired male would lash out more fiercely if he was touched. He was glad to see the other finally starting to settle and relax in his presence.
Meanwhile, back at Madara's old dorms, a young male was wandering, knocking on doors and asking about his older brother. When he had arrived, the boy had found Madara's dorm was actually empty and so he wanted to know where the Uchiha had gone, asking classmates and dorm mates. Most hadn't given him an answer, or just called him awful names and slammed the door in his face, much to his distress. A white-haired male was walking down the halls, returning from a night lecture and bumping into the boy.
The dark-haired boy fell back, landing on his butt and making a slight sound of pain. The snowy-haired male put his bag down carefully, leaning down to help the kid up, studying the boy calmly. "You're a little young to be wandering this place," He stated. The kid nodded. "Ah, I know, sir. But I'm looking for my older brother. Do you know him? Madara Uchiha? Last time I talked to him… he was here…" He frowned slightly. The older male raised an eyebrow slightly. "Who are you, kid? Madara's not here anymore," He explained.
"He's not here? Do you know where he went?" The younger asked, tilting his head to the side. "Oh, Izuna Uchiha is my name." The snowy-haired male raised an eyebrow. Madara had mentioned a younger brother plenty of times. And the kid looked like Madara. "Name's Tobirama. Senju Tobirama," He introduced himself. "And I do know where your older bro is. He's living with my own older brother, Hashirama. He dropped out of college around three or four months back, due to issues."
Izuna nodded, listening to the older teen speaking and sighing. "Ah, so you know where Madara is now? I'm worried about him. He hasn't tried to contact me in a long time and he won't pick up his phone…" Tobirama nodded slowly, looking to the kid. "I do. It's about thirty minutes away by car, longer by foot. I don't want a kid like you walking alone, especially when it's dark out. I could take you there, if you want."