23 Years Old
In the kitchen of the Spacetime Tower, Utsusemi concentrated on putting the finishing touches on a cake.
She had poured her heart into the birthday celebration. The cake she had baked was sweet and delicious, and the chocolate plaque bore a neatly carved message: "Happy 23rd birthday, Hashirama Senju."
She thought back to the hastily arranged banquet for her own birthday a month ago. The wooden carving Hashirama had given her stood quietly in the entryway, and this time, she had chosen a large succulent as her gift.
Itama pushed the door open with a bouquet of lilies of the valley in his arms. He skirted the wet chocolate on the worktable and chuckled softly. "We have to surprise big brother this time."
With that, he pulled a scroll from his sleeve, a record of all the fun they had had in childhood and on the training grounds.
Utsusemi and Itama carried their gifts to the Senju residence. The food box in Utsusemi's arms gave off an enticingly sweet aroma, while Itama carefully protected the bouquet of lilies of the valley, still damp with morning dew.
Tobirama Senju had long been standing quietly in the courtyard, waiting. The three worked together in silence to decorate the living room, setting the cream cake on the low table.
At that moment, on a distant mountain road, Hashirama Senju was returning from a mission, looking up at the same bright moon.
Moonlight washed over the forest path like water, guiding him home.
"He's here." Tobirama rose to answer the door a little faster than usual.
Hashirama Senju stood half-hidden in the shadow of the porch, carrying a food box with crooked bamboo strips.
He scratched the back of his head shyly. "I meant to pick some matsutake mushrooms to add to the meal... but I accidentally lost track of time..."
A green vine suddenly poked through a gap in the food box and curled affectionately around Utsusemi's wrist.
The lanterns came on, bathing Hashirama in warm light. A soft chuckle escaped Tobirama's throat, while Itama was already leaning forward to reach for the food box.
Hashirama Senju gazed at the beautiful cake. "You actually..." His Adam's apple bobbed. "Went to all this trouble."
Candle flames flickered over the Senju Tribe crest and Wood Release patterns on the cake, casting an even warmer glow on the message on the chocolate plaque.
Hashirama Senju's eyes went round. "You eat this on your birthday? Do you make a wish before eating it too?"
Though Tobirama Senju maintained his usual restraint, his widened pupils and the way he unconsciously leaned forward betrayed his astonishment.
Itama nodded eagerly, and Utsusemi smiled gently. "This is how we celebrate birthdays in my hometown."
The ever-rational Tobirama gazed silently at the exquisitely crafted cake, a rare expression of admiration appearing on his usually stern face.
He put out every light, leaving twenty-three dancing candle flames to form a cluster of stars in the darkness.
Hashirama Senju's smiling eyes shone brighter than the candles as his gaze lingered on the piped cream flowers. "Such a delicate work of art. I can hardly bear to eat it. If only I could keep it forever."
In the end, the birthday boy pressed his palms together, blew out the candles, and made a wish.
The lantern Itama relit cast an enlarged shadow of the tribe crest onto the sliding screen. As light and shadow flickered, the young man pushed the cake, topped with fresh fruit, toward his elder brother.
Amid clear laughter and the sound of the cake collapsing, Hashirama raised a silver table knife.
The blade hovered for a moment before he carefully cut into the intricate cake, taking special care to leave the chocolate tribe crest intact.
When the first bite of cake disappeared into Hashirama's mouth, the sight of his cheeks working made Utsusemi smile.
Watching his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, Hashirama pressed his palms together and sighed softly. "Utsusemi... this is... the taste of happiness!"
Just as the tip of his fork pierced a strawberry that was about to fall, Tobirama offered him a freshly cut piece, with a glistening Qiuyue pear nestled in the white cream. "Try this."
Hashirama Senju swallowed his younger brother's rare display of tenderness in one big bite, his wide eyes filled with candlelight. "Thank you, Utsusemi. Not just for my birthday... every day with you is like being wrapped in honey."
Utsusemi swirled her wineglass. "I'm the one who should be thanking you, for always treating me so kindly."
She smiled warmly, fully aware of the Senju brothers' tolerance.
These gentle people made her never regret leaving the Spacetime Tower with Itama and stepping into the other world she had thought would be hell.
Itama secretly replaced his brother's favorite plum wine with juice, and Tobirama glanced at him knowingly.
If their brother got drunk, the three of them would be the ones to suffer!
After the cake came the gift-giving. Utsusemi smiled and gave him the succulent, and Itama presented the scroll at just the right moment, earning a kiss on the forehead from the birthday boy.
Tobirama frowned and looked away, his expression hiding an instinctive aversion to the intimate gesture.
Hashirama Senju looked aggrieved because Tobirama had not prepared a gift.
His watery eyes and aggrieved expression gave him the look of a large dog soaked through by the rain.
He caught his younger brother's look of distaste and made as if to hug him too.
Startled, Tobirama immediately handed over the birthday gift he had prepared in advance: a wooden carving by a master.
Everyone drank in moderation this time. The embarrassing scenes of drunkenness at the last birthday banquet were still fresh in their minds.
Memories came flooding back to Tobirama Senju. After getting drunk, his elder brother had forcibly wrapped his arms around him and Utsusemi.
Utsusemi had struggled between the two brothers, leaving several red scratches on him with her nails.
When he bathed, the red marks had stood out in the mirror. Though almost all of them had faded by the next day, still...
Harder to explain was the strange sensation caused by Utsusemi's delicate fragrance and body warmth, which still surfaced suddenly at certain moments.
Though all three had made peace afterward, he had never stopped blaming his brother!
That drunken bastard had no sense of propriety!
In the flickering lamplight, he saw that his brother was still sober. Perhaps the friendship he had newly formed with Utsusemi had made him overly excited.
At that moment, he was holding out his arms like a child, asking Utsusemi for a hug of friendship.
Utsusemi responded without the slightest hesitation, even affectionately nuzzling his cheek.
But her expression was one of natural joy, like that of someone drawing close to nature or stroking a ninja beast.
As the laughter grew rowdier, the silver-haired young man stepped forward without a word to take control, just as he had cleaned up after his brother countless times before.