Heian Romance: 15. Ayawaka the Kitten

15. Ayawaka the kitten

The Seimei is the memorial day of the ancestor; it is also the 2^nd biggest event of the year after the New Year. Everyone in the palace is obliged to attend the praying ceremony early in the morning follow by the usual feast and performance session.

Again Yuiko was seated among the wives of officials and courtiers and directly opposite Yorinaga’s seating quarter. Thru the blind Yuiko saw that Yorinaga is as tired as she is for they haven’t got a chance to sleep after back from the old shrine. Yuiko’s kitten Ayawaka suddenly appears on her thought.

“Where is Ayawaka?” asked Yuiko to her lady in waiting Ryoko.

“I…I haven’t seen it since yesterday…”

“What?! Haven’t I told you to take care of it while I’m gone?”

“I am sorry… I was worrying about your safety yesterday…”

“Gosh!”

Yuiko rises, leaves the event hall and gone looking for her kitten. Her peculiar waddling walking style due to her injured leg had caught Yorinaga’s attention. He too then leaves the hall and follows her.

“Ayawaka! Ayawaka! Where have you been?”

Yuiko searches high and low but still no sign of her kitten Ayawaka.

“Meow.”

“Ayawaka!” Yuiko heard Ayawaka’s meow and run towards the sound, where she found that someone is petting it.

That person is a six foot tall man, wearing a white official formal robe, has fair complexion, a pair of round eyes, straight nose and a delicate mouth. He also dyes his teeth and paints his eyebrow in the courtiers’ fashion, making himself a good looking aristocrat. And that person is…

“Yorinaga?!”

“Is it AYAWAKA the kitten that you are looking for, my lady? No, should be the physician of Oxen Street Abe no Koremitsu!”

“No, you had made a mistake, Minister of Left Yorinaga. I’m not the physician you said. But please return the kitten to me.”

“The kitten eh, it’s name Ayawaka? That’s odd; it’s just that this name happens to be my childhood name.”

“How I know your childhood name. That’s just coincidence!!”

“Admit it, my lady! What happen to your right leg then, bitten by snake I presume?”

“That’s really none of your business, Minister of Left Yorinaga.”

“And suppose I’m the one who help you to suck out the snake venom. Have you forgotten about it?”

“Enough!”

Yuiko walks towards him and try to snatch Ayawaka back; however she twisted her injured leg along the way. Yorinaga then drops Ayawaka and quickly holds Yuiko up before she starts to fall.

“Stop it! What are you doing? People are looking you know?! Let me down!”

“No I won’t! Not until we reach your quarter! You better keep your voices down or you’ll attract other’s attention!”

This leaves Yuiko no choice but to keep quiet and let Yorinaga carries her back to her quarter…

Heian Romance: 14. The Snake

14. The Snake

    Yuiko quickly releases Yorinaga when she realizes that she had been hugging him tightly during the thunder. After that there’s silent among them…

“Koremitsu…are you…are you really a man?”

“Yes I AM!! This is insulting you know?

“Sorry…It’s just that….”

“Ouch!!”

A long green snake emerges suddenly and bites Yuiko’s leg. Immediately Yorinaga took out his knife and slices the snake into half before it could start menacing again. He then came to Yuiko and put his mouth on her injured leg to suck out the snake’s venom.

 “Yorinaga, what are you doing?!”

“Suck out the venom, you fool!! Are you really a physician?”

“Thanks… Could you pass me the herbs pouch, I would like to apply some herbs onto my wound.”

“Sure. Are you well?”asked Yorinaga when he saw Yuiko’s face getting redder and redder.

“Yea…why ask?”

“Well it seems that your face is getting redder. Was it the effect of the venom?”

 “Perhaps, but don’t worry I’ll be all right after applying the soothing herbs.”

“If you’re tired please sleep then, I’ll help you guard the night.”

“Thanks but I insist to stay awake, who knows what will happen next in this weird place.”

“If you insist…”

Both of them stay awake the whole night chit –chatting on and off until the beginning of another day. They went back at dawn after the rains stop; Yuiko gave Yorinaga some herbs to heal his servant Kimiharu, but rejects to heal him personally.

***

Back in the palace,

“My lady, where have you been? I have been looking for you the whole night!”asked Ryoko Yuiko’s lady in waiting worrying.

“Was caught in the rain while collecting herbs.”

“Really, thank God to see you in perfect shape!! Clean up and dress up quickly for we’ll be late for the Seimei Prayer Session!”

“Gosh, I almost forget about it!! Here comes another troublesome festival of the year!!”

“What to do, you’re obliged to attend. So please be hurry. By the way my lady what happen to your right leg?”asked Ryoko when she saw Yuiko’s bandaged leg.

“Bitten by a snake.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry, already been taken care of. Now let’s proceed.”

Heian Romance: 13. The Old Shrine

13. The Old Shrine

 

One particular cloudy evening, Yorinaga was looking for Yuiko urgently. So he went to Oxen Street but found that she had left the clinic and went to outskirt of the capital looking for certain herbs sometime ago. Hence, he hastened his horse in order to catch up with her.

 The reason Yorinaga looking for Yuiko, is that his affectionate comrade and servant Kimiharu was hurt by a poisonous arrow while running his master’s errand. Ever since Yorinaga was promoted to the Minister of Left, he had made many enemies who resented his disapproval of the current Emperor Konoe. His enemies namely consist of his own brother the Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi, the Empress Dowager Bifukumon and her brother Fujiwara no Ienari. When they heard that Kimiharu was hurt, they would bride all the physicians in the capital not to treat him. Therefore it left Yorinaga no choice but to ask for Yuiko’s help.

Yorinaga found Yuiko picking wild flowers along a small stream when he reached the site stated by the servant in the clinic.

“Physician Abe no Koremitsu, I beg you to come with me immediately!”

“Yorinaga?! What are you doing here?”

“My servant Kimiharu was hurt by a poisonous arrow, he is in need of your help!”

“Why should I? That’s none of my business. I only treat poor people, not dog from prestige family!”   

Yuiko get back to her horse before Yorinaga could make any replies.

 “Get back here!!” Yorinaga got up his horse and started a cat and mouse chase with Yuiko.

The sky turns darker as they went farer and farer from the capital, and eventually heavy rains fall which cause them to stop at an abandoned old shrine.

“I guess the rain won’t stop until the next day.” Said Yorinaga.

“Well thanks to YOU, we are trap in this broken shrine!!”

“Why me?”

“If you didn’t follow me then we won’t end up here!”

“If you would accept my invitation to help Kimiharu then we won’t end up here!”

“Why should I accept it?”

“Why shouldn’t you?”

“Stop it! Stop it! This conversation is getting nowhere!”

“Fine!”

They set up a fire inside the shrine and Yorinaga started to take off his outer garment to dry them beside the fire.

“What are you doing?” asked Yuiko.

“Are you blind? I am drying my garment! It get all wet and damped because of the rain. You should do the same either, before you catch cold.”

“I am fine!! I like the wet and damped feeling though! Hachoo!!”

“Here let me help you get rid of your clothes.”

“Get off of me!! I am fine!!”

“What a weird person. Saw you picking wild flowers just now, makes me wonder about your gender.”

“NONSENSE!! I am truly a big man! Not like you white face, red lips sissy!”Said Yuiko while striking her chest.

“You should be the sissy not me!!”

Their menial argument continues until a loud thunder strikes.

“Hey, do you know this place?” asked Yorinaga.

“No…actually I never been to as far as the stream just now...”

“Really? Hmm… this place gives me a creep! Do you think it is haunted?”

“Silly you how can it be?”

“Think about it Koremitsu, an abandoned shrine in the middle of nowhere on a rainy day!! They said there will always be a parade of hundred demons during night like this!!”

“Stop it Yorinaga! You are scaring me!!”

“Ha-ha!! So who’s the sissy now?”

The thunders strike again. This time more vigorously.

 “Ah!!”

Both of them were shocked and hugged each other tightly.

While hugging a sudden indescribable feeling grows in Yorinaga…

Heian Romance: 12. The Kitten and the Wicked Minister of Left

12. The Kitten and the Wicked Minister of Left

One evening as Yuiko was about to leave the Oxen Street’s clinic, she saw Yorinaga sitting quietly at the corner of the clinic’s veranda.

“Minister of Left Yorinaga what are you doing here?”

“…Nothing…”

“Are you feeling well? You seems pale to me…”

“Can we have a talk?”

“Sure….what is it? By the way, congratulation on your promotion.”

“That’s not a thing worth for congratulate! Because of this position I had lost my beloved father Tadamichi. Although he may be my foster one but still I’m truly fond of him. Never have I thought that he would hate me so much. What had I done to anger him? I had been following his instructions and words for the past 21 years… What I did was for the good of him son, but WHY till such extend to kick me out of the house?!  ”

“……”

Yuiko wasn’t the person with words she couldn’t think of any words to comfort him, hence, she took a lute from the clinic and play a tune for him. Yorinaga was back to himself again after a few songs.

“Thanks…”

“You’re welcome.”

“By the way what are you doing at the palace during the New Year Ceremony?”

Before Yuiko be able to respond to him, a cute little white kitten crawls by the veranda, stops in front of Yorinaga and meow at him innocently. He picks up the kitten and caresses it softly; the little kitten enjoys it a lot and turns to the belly up position as an invitation for belly rub.

“I used to have a white kitten just like this when I was young. I named him Ayawaka after my childhood name. When someone needs me to do cumbersome tasks, I would call Ayawaka the kitten to go instead of myself…”

“What a wicked minded boy you were!!”

The appearance of the kitten had made Yorinaga forget about his sorrows and also the reason why Koremitsu the physician was in the palace during the New Year Ceremony…

  

***

The little kitten comes to the clinic everyday looking for Yorinaga. Yuiko takes pity of this little fellow and decide to take it back to the palace.

“I’ll name it Ayawaka!” said Yuiko happily.

“My lady how can you name a cat after the Minister of Left’s childhood name? It’s rude you know?” questioned Ryoko, Yuiko’s lady in waiting.

“Well in the beginning I was planning to name it Yorinaga! But then again it’s too obvious, so I choose Ayawaka instead.”

“I know I won’t win the fight with you so instead I’ll keep quite.”

“Good!”

“My lady, speaking of Master Yorinaga there’re lots of rumors about him. After him being promoted to the position of Minister of Left, he had become a dogmatic activist. He gave severe punishments to those courtiers who are late for work such as burning their houses or canning penalty. As if he had possessed by the evil or so, people are fearful to him and call him ‘Akusafu悪左府 – The Wicked Minister of Left’ at his back.”

“True. I notice about that too. Wonder what happen to him? His attitude at the Oxen Street the other day is totally different from this.”

“Also there’s another rumor about Satou Norikiyo’s disappearance.”

Yuiko had never seen Norikiyo after the incident in front of the palace gate at the New Year day. No one really knows what happen to him and it seems that he had disappeared into thin air.

“Although there have been a lot of gossips about Norikiyo’s mysteries. The most plausible statement is that Yorinaga had instructed his servant Kimiharu to kill him for he had an affair with his wife*…”

“What?! That’s impossible! Ryoko, please I beg you to help me to investigate this event!”

“Yes, my lady!”

 

 

* After Yuiko’s rejection at the arrange married interview, Yorinaga was married to a lady named Sachiko who is older than him by 8 years old. Perhaps because of the age gap both of them never get along and they never have any children.  

Heian Romance: 11. The Seed of Flame

11. The Seed of Flame

The year was 1143 when The Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi’s first son was born. It has been 20 years ever since Tadamichi married, the poor couple wasn’t gifted a son until the age of 40.

Before that due to the demanding of an heir for the Fujiwara Regent Clan, Tadamichi’s father Fujiwara no Tadazane instructed him to adopt his brother Yorinaga with the age gap of 20 as his own son.

Yorinaga was adopted by Tadamichi at the age of 6 and was given the name of Ayawaka as a child. With his born with intelligence and adorable look, Ayawaka had earned the hearts of people in the clan at young age. His real father Fujiwara no Tadazane the head of Fujiwara Regent Clan in Uji is especially fond of him and looks high on him as the one who will bring back past glory to the clan. Tadazane’s overly pampered attitude towards Ayawaka had made him became a spoilt child afterwards.

Ayawaka refused to learn poetry and preferred horse-riding instead, this gave his adopted father Tadamichi who is also a talented poet a migraine. Even until now Yorinaga doesn’t ever compose a poem; he would call his servant or teacher to write for him, which makes Tadamichi very angry as this is plagiarism.

Things changed when Tadamichi first son was born. As day after day Tadamichi’s love towards his new born son grows, his hatred and disgusts on Yorinaga became more and more obvious.

The patience of Tadamichi reached his limit when he saw Yorinaga caning his 7 years old son for he had failed to memorize the Chinese philosophy Four Books and Five Classics properly.

“Stop this madness immediately, Yorinaga! You don’t have the right to cane my son! ”

“But I was teaching him for the sake of becoming a good politician.”

“You have no authority in my son’s education! Get out of my sight and never set foot to my house again!!”

One month later Tadamichi went to Uji to beg his father Tadazane to cut off the foster father and son bond between him and Yorinaga. Tadazane was furious with this idea due to the fact that he knew his son’s plot. Tadamichi wanted his own son to become the heir of the clan instead of his younger brother Yorinaga.

Tadazane rejected his son’s request many times until Tadamichi called the involvement of the Emperor, which leaves Tadazane no choice except to accept the request but on one condition that is to make Yorinaga the head of the clan. Tadamichi accepted the request reluctantly as this is the best bargain he could get.

As the new head of the Fujiwara Regent Clan, Yorinaga was promoted to the Minister of Left and was given the power to inspect the Emperor’s edict a job which equivalent to his older brother the Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi.

Thus it marks the beginning of a series of unending quarrels and wars not only within the clan but the whole capital which cause the downfall of the monarch and the upraise of the Warrior Class in the not far future…  

Heian Romance: 10. The Intruder

 10. The Intruder

Quiet and peacefully another year had passed. Here comes the beginning of a new year with the era name of Hougen which means longevity.

On the first day of New Year or Ganjitsu, everyone in their formal suite will gather at the Celestial Hall early in the morning for Ganjitsu praying sessions by the Court Onmyoji and follow up by a series of dancing and drinking festivals till late night on the 2^nd day of the year.

It is a complicated and tedium occasion. However the event is compulsory for everyone in the palace even Yuiko too get no exception, if any bad things occurs during the New Year, those who unable to attend the Ganjitsu event will be the head of blame.

Yuiko was seated among the wives of the officials and courtier behind the blind next to the emperor and empress’s seats. She saw Satou Norikiyo guarding the ground in his full armed brand new uniform in red; due to the fact that it is New Year he had taken an extra step to trim his hair making himself as neat as ever. He made the ladies giggles when the Emperor called him up to compose a poem.

“What a handsome man!” “How talented he is!” “I wish I am married to him!” etc… That was their exclamations when seeing Norikiyo.

Opposite Yuiko’s seating quarter are the Fujiwara Regant clan’s seats. Yuiko saw Yorinaga sitting directly opposite face to face with her. He is wearing the official formal robe Sokutai in white, which matches his fair complexion perfectly, making him very good looking indeed.

For some unknown reasons Yuiko couldn’t take her eyes off Yorinaga, she would pay attention to his trivia actions and movements, such as the way he holds the wine cup or his facial expression after the performance of some courtiers by peeping through the blind.

“My lady is there any wrong?” asked Ryoko, Yuiko’s lady in waiting.

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Well…it seems that you keep looking at the Minister of Center Yorinaga, and so I thought something puzzling you…”

 “I….Did I really fix my gaze on him? I mean is that that obvious?”

“I’m afraid so my lady…”

“Gosh! It is all stupid Norikiyo’s fault, making me fall into his word’s trap!!”

Yuiko was too ashamed that she excuses herself and back to her quarter. She then changes into Koremitsu and plan for a visit to Oxen Street that afternoon. While she was about to reach the palace gate, she saw Yorinaga right in front of him.

“Physician of the Oxen Street Abe no Koremitsu ?!”

Before Yuiko could replies, someone shouted ‘intruder!’ loudly few quarters ahead. Yorinaga turns his head back and saw that Yuiko was long gone. She bumped into Norikiyo after safely past thru the palace gate. She was frightens by Norikiyo’s serious facial expression, as if he had just committed a murder…

Heian Romance: 9. The Definition of Beauty

9. The definition of beauty

It was a windy afternoon where Norikiyo came to Yuiko’s quarter to teach her archery. The lesson was held at a small yard in front of her quarter. Norikiyo would watch Yuiko practices and correct her posture when mistakes occur. She managed to hit the bulls-eye that afternoon no matter how far the distances given to her.  

“I made you proud am I?”

“Don’t get yourself too haughty my dear apprentice. This is only the beginning, and now let the fun begins!”

Norikiyo then took a piece of cloth and blind-folded Yuiko’s eyes.

“What are you doing?!”

“I want you to hit the bulls-eye again without looking at it.”

“What? How’s that possible?”

“Use the inner eye, heart of yours. You will eventually hit it when your mind reaches tranquil and peaceful state. ”

“How’s that related to archery?”

“That’s related to everything. From poetry, archery, horse-riding, music playing and even cooking, the inner state of mind is very important. Everything is beautiful if you pay full attention and a serene mind in doing it.

I always tend to get complains among the courtiers saying my poets not innovative and too much exaggeration. But still all of my life had been looking for things that are beautiful; when I found it I would write poems to commemorate this experience. These thoughts genuinely come from my mind, and so which makes them touching and beautiful.”

“You have a point… Nonetheless, the way you speak today makes me feel that I never knew you before. Satou no Norikiyo, truly you are a man of mystery…”  

“So my apprentice can you prove my theory correctly?”

“Yes master!”

“Close your eyes clear your mind. Focus mainly and directly onto the bulls-eye. Stay calm and now pull the bow strings backwards. Release it when you are full of confident!”

Yuiko releases the arrow and it hits directly to the bulls-eye.

“I did it!! I DID IT!!”

All of the excitements made Yuiko threw away her bow and hugged Norikiyo happily without thinking of the consequences.

  “Ugh! What a disgrace!!”

Yuiko and Norikiyo turned back and saw that Yorinaga was standing at the nearby corridor.  

Ever since he had been promoted to the post of Minister of Center, Yorinaga had entitled to gain excess to the royal secret achieve, hence to go there he would have to pass Yuiko’s quarter.

“Yorinaga?!”

“Shame of you Norikiyo, how can you hug the princess openly in the middle of the day? And you Princess Yuiko, you should learn elegant skills like music or poety instead of this rowdy lowly warrior’s hobby! This is absolutely intolerable!!”

“I….I….”

Yuiko was stunned and couldn’t think of any words to retort Yorinaga. The incident at the Oxen Street still vividly imprinted on her mind. Whenever she saw Yorinaga the scene that he kissed her would reprise again and again.

Yuiko get back to herself again after the leave of Yorinaga.

“Oh my, why couldn’t I think of any fowl words to return to that HIGHLY respectable Minister of Center? What happen to me? My mind seems not function properly.”

 “Perhaps you are in love, my dear apprentice. I find that your gazes were different when look at him…”

“In love with him?! Seriously NO!!”