"I'm fine," Tobirama complains as Tōka hustles him out of his office. Really, there's no reason for this. He's not been working for too long and he doesn't need to be take a break or any such thing. He's no longer sixteen after all.
Tōka hums in that tone of voice she really just perfected for him and Tobirama. "That would be a bit more believable if I didn't notice that your hands have been shaking for the last ten minutes. You really need to stop. How much coffee have you had lately?"
Scowling, the only reason Tobirama doesn't shove his hands deep into his pockets is because Tōka would see it as an indication of guilt—and if she's already noticed, there's no point trying to hide.
"Three," he mutters.
"And how much caffeine in them?"
They have a stare-off, before Tobirama looks away. "Five expresso shots in the last one."
"You are definitely having the rest of the day off then," Tōka says. "Which should be a given considering the fact you're not actually at work or anything. Do you have a hobby for when you're not at work? You're aware of what hobbies are, right?"
Rolling his eyes, Tobirama deigns not to answer. He's aware of what hobbies are and he has them too, just because they tend to have a large crossover with his work projects, well, that's not something he's going to bring up to Tōka solely to avoid the disappointed expression she's bound to turn his way.
"The good news is that since you're no longer allowed to spend time in your office, you can join our family bonding which is today."
Tobirama presses his lips together. He'd thought that they were all going bowling tomorrow—which is probably an indication of how much time has actually passed and is mildly worrying.
"Who else is coming?" Last time, Tobirama hadn't been able to make it and nor had Itama, but everyone else had made it. Thanks to his siblings, Tobirama had received many pictures of what had gone down during mini-golf—which had included a video of Tōka losing her shit and somehow breaking a golf club in half.
Tōka hums. "Hashirama will be there, as will Mito. I think all your siblings are able to make it this time, so that means Itama and Kawarama. Hashirama invited Madara too, so that means most of the Uchiha siblings will be coming. So long as no one else in our family figures out what we're up to, we shouldn't have any gate crashers."
Shouldn't, of course, doesn't mean they won't. One time, the family outing had been at a beach—which had left Tobirama red and feeling rather sunburnt for weeks—and an aunt had dropped off five other kids before leaving. Tobirama just feels lucky that the children hadn't been that bad, but it does mean that family outings are subject to gate crashers.
"Let me get my jacket," Tobirama says, because there's no point protesting otherwise. Tōka will see him to bowling, whether or not he wants to be there which…
Well, it's not wrong to say Tobirama wants to be there. After all, his family will be there and he loves to see his siblings if nothing else, even if they do have a habit of causing him many headaches. But it's also his family and his siblings delight in causing chaos, not to mention they have a habit of harking on about his work-life balance—which is perfectly fine in his opinion.
Bowling's bound to be loud as well, and Tobirama doubts he'll appreciate it after working straight for so many hours. He can already feel the oncoming headache.
"Here you go," Tōka says, holding out the jacket in hand. Clearly, she's thought ahead—or just made contingency plans to make sure he can't avoid bowling. Really, it's unnecessary. "I've stored some Panadol in there as well for if a headache pops up."
"I take back every mean thing I've ever said about you," Tobirama tells his cousin, who just rolls her eyes. He loves her, really, but he definitely has plans to soundly defeat in her in bowling.
Tōka snorts. "Sure, and I'm sure you're going to say something mean in, hm, about an hour when I'm smashing you at bowling."
"I'll let you keep your delusion," Tobirama replies with a smile. He locks the door behind them, pocketing the key. It's a short drive to the bowling alley, so Tobirama doesn't annoy Tōka by changing the radio station. The last time he'd done that, she'd almost crashed the car in sheer rage at having the settings changed that she'd only just perfected.
Honestly, sometimes he wonders why he bothers to get in the car with her—but then when his alternative is usually Hashirama, well, anyone's better even if that person is Tōka and he's not allowed to change the radio station.
"Looks like Hashirama's already here," Tōka says, clearly spotting the small green car that Hashirama drives around. Tobirama doesn't know why all of his brother's cars are green, but he has made plans with his younger brothers to repaint the car without letting Hashirama know. It'll be a blessing for everyone's eyes and for the good of society; how could Hashirama argue with that?
Opening the group chat, he checks who else is here. It looks like Itama is running late due to a bus delay—as to be expected considering the state of public transport—and Kawarama is already inside. Izuna reports that he and Madara are just pulling into the parking lot now. All in all, it looks like the bowling is going to kick off very soon.
Just before they exit the car, Tōka turns to him, and Tobirama raises an eyebrow in question. "Want to make a bet?" She asks.
It's an awful decision. Tōka stole all of Hashirama's luck in bets, but Tobirama's managed to win a time or two. "Let's hear it," he says, only slightly challenging in tone.
Tōka grins, knife-sharp, and says, "I bet you that Hashirama embarrasses us so badly that everyone pretends not to know him at least twice."
It's a sucker bet, but… perhaps Tobirama can see this bet a draw rather than a total loss. "And I'll bet you that he gets lost in the arcade section when we've finished our bowling."
They shake on it, and then head inside. Tobirama gets exactly thirty-three seconds of peace before he's almost knocked over by Hashirama colliding into him for a hug. But, well, that's family for you, isn't it?