Heian Love: Prologue, part 1 (or, IT BEGINS)

My name is Haruka Tamoe, and this is my story. Wait, that sounds… really cliche. Whatever.

As you may already know, I’ve recently been appointed to join the imperial court as a lady attendant to Emperor Kuze. This really isn’t a bad job, you know. I have Hinata as my attendant, so really, if I wanted I could delegate some of my work to her. Not that I would. But I could! Just the boring stuff, of course, since Kuze-sama is sexyfine is a very honorable man and deserves no less than my best service.

Anyway, not long after, Kuze-sama held a poetry contest. I wanted to go, really I did, but I’d already made plans with a friend to go spy on some guys flower viewing, so I told everyone I had a stomach ache and wouldn’t be able to show up. They believed me, what do you know. They say I cried tears of sorrow, but really, they were tears of laughter.

Someone sent me a love letter the day afterward. When I first saw the letter, I thought I’d been busted, but it turns out it was a very sweet poem to me! Now I have to put my detective hat on and figure out who my mystery admirer is!!

After that long-winded and boring recap, we begin my story!

I was minding my own business, daydreaming about my undoubtedly hunky admirer, when Hinata showed up.

How does she read my mind like that? I really don’t know. Of course I said yes. So then she starts ragging on how I don’t even know what this guy looks like.

… That is SO what I needed to have in my mind while I’m trying to daydream about my poet, Hinata. Thank you ever so much. Now I’ll be thinking of mule butts whenever I read my poem. The romance is gone already. Dammit.

So I reply that of course no one who writes such pretty stuff could be ugly. Hinata just shakes her head at me and mutters about love making people blind. Whatever. She says she’s going to do her best to find my poet for me. I say thank you, but really I’m not sure if I want Hinata finding my poet. That could do very bad things for my chances with him. She knows everything about me. That’s not good.

I open up the poem and start reading it again, with Hinata poking her head over my shoulder and digging for clues. What was the poem? Right, I forgot to share that.

“Lonely at night

Thinking of my rose

Poems a sole respite

On the road I chose”

Hey, I didn’t say it was an excellent example of language use, I just said it was romantic.

Hinata mentions that this implies that he’s shut himself off, and he awakens at night to think of me.

Oh my god. Is someone.. having “private time” at night and thinking of me? Jesus, Hinata, are you purposely trying to destroy my dreams of romance?

I tell her this, but in a much nicer way. By which I mean that I just tell her that that is embarrassing me.

She huffs and asks who I think it is. Naturally, my thoughts go to my sexyfine honorable new employer, the emperor. Because he is lonely, I think, and there is only one emperor, so he’s unique. I think.

Then I remember what happened when I met him.

I’d gotten nervous and… greeted him a bit too enthusiastically.

Okay, I yelled in his face. Still, he didn’t have to scold me so much about my lack of manners. Then he went on about how awesome my dad is and how I should not disgrace his name by acting like a twit. Well, he didn’t say the word twit. He probably thought it, though.

Then he smiled and said at least I was high spirited. Huh? Talk about a complete turn around.

That’s kind of sweet, as long as he doesn’t mean dandelions. People kick those around and burn them.

First you call me a wildflower, then you give me a room with a flower name, then you say the garden is a big mess. Are you trying to give me a compliment or an insult? I’m really not sure.

He then tells me he’ll send me a gardener so that I can do as I please. In general, or with the gardener? I’ll take it to mean the latter, thank you.

I whine about how he never saw me as a woman, and only some kinda half-dead flower, and Hinata consoles me.

…. What, is he gay? Is that your idea of making me feel better? It just gets better. Then I stop and think about the “other” emperor I met. For some reason, I tell Hinata about it.

Kuze-sama had just left and I was standing there, still trying to figure out if he’d insulted me or not, when I heard someone else.

What?

What? Wait, I may have a very bad memory, but something doesn’t seem right here. I just saw you. I know I just saw you. Unless Hinata spiked my tea this morning. I don’t think she did.

He says some stuff about how I have a “frisky face,” whatever that means, and how I’d fit in well around here. My confusion only increases. This is nothing at all like what he said earlier. If that was him. I mention this, and he says something about how he wasn’t himself when he saw me earlier.

So I get an idea. And I spring it like a trap. A tiger trap.

God, I’m so smart.

Fool! Your ass is now mine! Oh wow, Hinata would kill me if she heard me talk like that. Please don’t ever tell her.

So yes. I bust him. Hard. I call him out on how KUZE-SAMA called me a wildflower, and didn’t mention lilies or my hands at all. If he even noticed I had hands. *sniff*

He folds like a wet house of cards. As I said before, “God, I’m so smart.”

Sakuhito, huh? Well, you’re not bad looking, I’ll give you that. I mean, you do look just like Kuze-sama. He turns poetical, saying that he is the moon to Kuze-sama’s sun. A shadow warrior, forever stalking the night like a great black panther. Okay, he didn’t say that last part about the panther, but I thought it sounded good.

…

?

Whatever. Moving on. He tells me not to tell anyone about this, or my life would be in danger. Wait. FFFFFUUUUUUUUUU-

Too late now.

Yeah… well, I’m okay as long as you don’t tell anyone!

Shut up. That is completely irrelevant, here. We’re talking about you, not me. Anyway, Hinata goes on to say that maybe Sakuhito wrote this for me. I think about it, and I guess it’s possible. She than tells me to drop this whole thing before ninjas come to kill us. Sigh. Okay. That’s when… *drumroll*

Why, helllooooo. You must be the gardener that Kuze-sama told me I could have my way with. Errrr, I mean, order around like a slave. Why don-

Hinata, you’re so lucky I love you. You’re such a cockblock. Ahem, language.

What? My love life is just not going my way at all. And what’s with that reaction? I’m not naked! I checked! I know I’m not!

He goes on to introduce himself. With his eyes closed, because Hinata doesn’t want him to sully me with his lustful gaze.  His name is Izo, and he was just here to inspect my garden.  Hinata gets fed up with me being flirty with him and tells him to go away and come back later.

I get the feeling I will never see you again, Izo, so know that I think nothing but the best of you. Even if you did taint my purity forever simply by looking at me. Or something like that.

… I hit up my PDA. What, you think I don’t have one? With the job I’m going to have? How else am I supposed to keep track of Kuze-sama’s mile long list of needs?

Huh. Okay, then. Either Hinata thinks he’s on a diet, or she thinks he’s a eunuch. Why do I not simply ask her? Because I would get a several hours long lecture, that’s why.

We discuss how Izo could be my mystery poet. I mean, he’s a gardener, and the poem did mention roses, right?

Hinata! That is so classist of you! Hinata bugs me to try and think of another possibility that’s at least somewhat higher class than someone who digs up weeds for a living. Oh, what about…

To be continued in Part 2!