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Tobirama looks up at the sky and traces the dance of the stars with his eyes.
Onmyōji his clan may be, but he doesn't need those cold and uncaring lights to know his own future. Unlike the man who just came to consult with him under the cover of darkness, he will never find a woman to love and marry, and his household will forever be as small as he can contrive.
Not by his own choice, for it's a lonely existence, but simply out of necessity.
No, ever since the day when he accidentally woke a kudagitsune, his life has not been his own.
"What are you doing?" Izuna peeks out of his sleeve, sniffing at air that's filled with the chill of winter. "You're crazy to be standing outside on a night like this, especially when we could be warm inside!"
"Perhaps I am," Tobirama strokes the small head of his companion, the source of his magic, and his oldest friend. "Would you prefer that we go in?"
"Yes!" The look Izuna directs at him is familiar, disdain mixed with bafflement, and easily read despite being on a fox's face instead of a human's. "Let's light a fire before we go to bed."
Ah, of course.
Izuna has an affinity with fire, an occasionally uncomfortably strong one since Tobirama has no desire to make curses or otherwise cause harm, and he prefers for there to be one in his presence always.
Still, sleeping next to a warm irori is no hardship, and it's always best to give Izuna his way whenever possible.
Tobirama lays out his futon and slides underneath the yogi, unsurprised when Izuna curls up on his chest, just over his heart.
"Now, why do you smell sad?" Izuna stares at him with eyes that reflect the dancing flames. "I know that man paid us."
"He did," Tobirama definitely doesn't want Izuna to get the idea that their client might have taken advantage of them - as with most of his kind, his ideas of revenge tend to be disproportionally bloody. "I was simply reminded that the good fortune of others does not apply to me."
"Yes, it does." Offended, Izuna bares his fangs, tiny, but sharp enough to wound the wind. "That's why I'm here. With me, you can have anything you want."
"Not this." Tobirama shakes his head, struggling to explain. Kudagitsune do not think like humans, and the human heart is less explicable than most. "If someone fell in love with me, if I used your magic to make that happen, then they would not truly love me. It would be a false emotion, and would evaporate like morning dew as soon as your influence was taken away."
"You would still have a lover though, a woman in your bed, to cook and care for you." Izuna cocks his head in puzzlement. "Does it matter how it happens?"
"It does." Tobirama reaches out, running his fingers over soft fur. "I'm sorry, but this is one thing you can't help me with."
"A lover, but one whose emotions I have not influenced..." Izuna's eyes close in contentment, and the fox presses up into his hand. "That's all? She doesn't need to be more beautiful than the moon or anything like that?"
"She doesn't even need to be a woman," Tobirama huffs a laugh when his friend blinks at him in surprise. "I would sleep with a man just as easily as you would another male of your own kind."
"Huh. I did not expect us to have that in common." Izuna scratches at his own ear thoughtfully. "I always wondered why you didn't bed other humans."
"Now you know." In truth, Tobirama has always been grateful for Izuna's preferences. With the way kudagitsune breed, he would otherwise soon have been overrun with more of them than he'd know what to do with. "Now, shall we sleep?"
"Yes, let's." Izuna closes his eyes again, and Tobirama copies his friend. "Rest is always good, for you never know what tomorrow may bring."