What should we do? That was a big question, and one that Akiko had rather been hoping that Shiraishi would have easy answers to.

“Don’t you know?” The priest shook her head.

“Like I said before, my training really didn’t cover this sort of situation.” She looked out of the window as she spoke, and then started to get up. “The weather has brightened up. Let’s walk in shrine grounds while we talk about it.” Akiko’s legs were getting sore from kneeling, so she readily agreed, standing up slowly and massaging life back into them.

The weather really had improved. A few wispy white clouds were scattered across the blue, but the sun shone on the shrine, making the leaves of the trees and the grass of the precincts gleam. The air was fresh, with a hint of the smell of pine, and the noises of the city were distant, drowned out every time a bird sang among the trees. Shiraishi led the way off the path, and towards the rear of the shrine.

“So, you say you’ve seen the kami several times. Has he said anything to you?” Akiko shook her head.

“No, he just looks at me, like I’m supposed to know what to do.” The priest sighed.

“And what about the kegare spirits?”

“The what?” It was that word again.

“Ke-ga-reh. Pollution. Loss of energy. Bad stuff. It’s what you get rid of when you wash your hands and mouth at the water basin, or have a harae done.”

“Harae?”

“A ritual to get rid of kegare. Anyway, the other spirits you are seeing sound like kegare spirits to me.”

“Hmm, yes. I suppose that would describe them.” Akiko paused to think, but nothing leapt out at her. “They just seem to appear in places, and then chase me.”

“Decaying places, right?”

“Well, the laundrette’s building, certainly. And I suppose the one at the building site appeared from the bamboo grove that was being cut down. The love hotels weren’t decaying, though.”

“Not physically. But they aren’t exactly happy and hopeful places.”

“I suppose not. My old flat wasn’t decaying, though.”

“No, but you had just been evicted.” They were round the back of the shrine, near the stones, and the priest paused.

“Akiko, do you have anywhere to live?”

“What? Oh, I’m all right. I’ve got a job interview this afternoon. I think this is just going be a really difficult week when I look back on it.”

“Mm, OK.” The priest didn’t sound completely convinced, but she wasn’t looking at Akiko, instead staring into the stones. Akiko remembered the light she had seen, and looked as well, but there was nothing unusual. The priest noticed where she was looking.

“That’s the iwakura. It’s where the kami was honoured before the shrine building was first built. You said you saw a light there?” Akiko nodded. “But not the snake? The snake was always in the shrine building?”

“Well, sometimes it wasn’t in the shrine at all, and it did come out, but…”

“But it lives in the shrine building.” The priest frowned and looked between the iwakura and the back of the shrine. “I can’t help feeling that’s significant, somehow.”

Akiko glanced at her watch, and gasped.

“I’m sorry; I really have to go. I’ve got to get changed before I go to the job interview.”

“Do you want to change here?”

“Oh, thank you, but I didn’t bring the clothes. I really have to go; I’ll come back soon.”

“Yes, please do.”

Once again, Akiko was running from the shrine, but this time she turned at the torii to wave good bye.

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Akiko checked her clothes in the mirror at the manga cafe; she looked smart, presentable, ready for work. She nodded, satisfied with the effect, and let herself out of the shower. The guy who was waiting to use it whistled and clapped as she emerged, but he also stepped back well out of her way, so she just smiled at him, and headed for the exit.

She took the advert out of her bag, confirming the address and the nearest bus stop, and went down to the bus stop. It was one of the ones in the area behind the railway station, the area that hadn’t been redeveloped yet, and the buildings were getting old. As she looked at them, the walls sagging and some of the windows cracked, she remembered what Shiraishi had said about kegare, and looked more carefully, wondering if any of the kegare spirits would be in there. Crossing the road, she kept her distance as she made her way to the bus stop.

Even while she was waiting for the bus, she kept glancing at the buildings, worried that something would appear. She tried to tell herself that the fear was unreasonable, but she didn’t believe it. There really might be something in there.

There was.

The first time it moved she thought it might just be paranoia, but then she saw it again. It wasn’t very big, and she couldn’t make out any details, but the way it moved across the walls of the building was wrong; it certainly wasn’t a bird or anything. She looked down the road, and saw the bus in the distance. Checking her watch, she realised that she couldn’t afford to miss this one if she wanted to make the interview on time. Biting her lip, she looked back at the kegare spirit.

It had crawled down from the building, and was weaving along the edge of the road, as if looking for something. It hadn’t reached the main road yet, and didn’t seem to have noticed her. She looked back the other way; the bus was getting closer, but it had stopped at the previous stop.

The spirit hadn’t moved far, but it had stopped, as if listening for something. Akiko couldn’t hear anything over the traffic, including a motorbike that needed its silencer fixed. The spirit seemed to be looking up, alert, and Akiko felt sure that it was looking in her direction. She glanced the other way; the bus was on the move again, getting ever closer.

The spirit definitely seemed to be waiting for something. A car went past, blocking her line of sight for a moment, and when she could see it again the spirit had started running along the side of the road. The bus was very close now. She looked back, the noisy motorbike coming up past the spirit and blocking her view for a moment.

She saw the spirit leap on to the front of the bike, grabbing the wheel. It swerved and skidded as the rider lost control, falling and sliding along the road to slam into the side of a building with a deafening crash.

As the bus came to a stop, people were already running over, and someone had a cell phone out. Akiko got on the bus, which was abuzz. Everyone was staring, so she didn’t seem out of place, but she wasn’t looking at the same thing as them.

The spirit had vanished.

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The bus moved off, past the accident, but there was still no sign of the spirit. Akiko sat down, heavily, and realised that her hands were trembling. She had thought she was afraid of the spirits before, but maybe not scared enough. She clasped her hands tightly, and tried desperately to calm down.

I have to be calm for the interview, she told herself, sternly.

With a high-pitched whine and a grating thud, the bus came to a stop. Akiko looked up, but there was no bus stop, and no traffic lights. There were a couple more groans from the engine, and then the driver announced that the bus had broken down, apologising for the inconvenience.

Akiko looked out of the window as it began to rain.

I don’t believe this, she thought. Then, No, I do believe it. He is not going to beat me.

Standing up, she pulled her umbrella out of her bag, and went to the exit.

“Could you let me off? I need to get to an interview.” The driver nodded, and the door opened. At least this bit is still working, she thought, as she got off.

The rain was heavy, and the wind, gusting from all directions, kept trying to steal her umbrella. Fighting the wind, and trying to keep as dry as she could, Akiko starting walking as quickly as she could. She risked a quick glance at her watch; she might just make it.

The road was slippery with rain, and Akiko twice nearly lost her footing. There was a sound of sirens, not too far away, as the wind shifted to blow from directly ahead of her. It snatched her umbrella around, turning it inside out, but Akiko managed to get it facing back into the rain, and behind its shield she struggled forward. The wind wasn’t strong enough to actually hold her back, just enough to make it a bit difficult.

And then, in a moment, it switched to blow just as strongly from behind. With a crack, her umbrella flipped inside-out, the ribs snapping as Akiko stumbled forward, nearly losing her balance, losing her grip on the umbrella, and steadying herself by grabbing a wall as the broken umbrella sailed into the distance, pulled up into the grey sky by the wind.

The rain kept falling, matting Akiko’s hair and running into her eyes.

You are not going to stop me, Tamao. I am going to this interview.

She climbed the hill, working out what she was going to say, and wondering whether her dedication would count in her favour. She had to keep her head down, against the wind and rain, watching the ground in front of her lest she lose her footing, but she knew she was nearly there.

Looking up, the first thing she saw was the tower of smoke, whipped around by the wind, ugly flames at its base, where fire engines clustered. She could just see a sign with the company name on it.

You win, dammit. You win.

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Akiko stood watching the fire for a few more minutes, still not quite believing it, until she became conscious of the rain soaking her clothes. She looked around for somewhere to get out of it, but there didn’t even seem to be a convenience store. Resigning herself to being drenched, she turned and headed back to the station.

The rain got lighter as she walked, and by the time she was back it was nothing but a light drizzle. The motorcycle was still there, with police tape around it, but there was no sign of the spirit. Akiko hoped that the rider wasn’t too badly injured.

After changing into dry clothes, she found herself sitting in the manga cafe, idly surfing the net. She had meant to be looking for job vacancies, but really, what was the point? Tamao was willing to set fire to a company’s offices to keep her out of work, and was probably responsible for the bus’s breakdown and the weather, as well. How on earth was she supposed to fight that?

She rested her head in her hands, all her energy and enthusiasm gone. Her life was over. No husband, not even a boyfriend, no job, pursued by a giant snake and threatened by kegare spirits. What was the point of going on?

Stop being melodramatic, she told herself, sternly. It’s not that bad.

Yes it is, insisted a small voice in her mind, but Akiko wasn’t going to let that defeatist voice win. She had lost her job, her boyfriend, and her home. Fine. The kami wasn’t going to let her have them back, either. Fine. She would just have to build her life again. What would people think if she just gave up at this point? She had to be stronger than that.

She finally talked herself into getting up and leaving the cafe.

The shrine, she thought. I’ll go to the shrine and tell Tamao that he can’t beat me that easily.

The walk was surprisingly pleasant, despite the grey and overcast sky; the rain had stopped completely, and the wind was very gentle in the warm air. When the shrine came into view, the leaves were bright green, washed clean by the rain, and as she climbed the steps it smelled fresh, invigorated.

As she washed her hands and rinsed her mouth, she felt her spirits lift a little, and she marched over to the shrine, bowing and clapping to get Tamao’s attention before giving him a piece of her mind.

“I hope you’re happy now. You’ve driven my boyfriend away and got me thrown out of my flat, and, not content with getting me fired from my old job, you are doing all you can to stop me getting a new one. Well, you win. I can’t fight you. I give up. You don’t want me to have a happy, normal life. I don’t know what kind of misfit you want me to be, and I don’t really care. I can’t be normal? Fine.” She spat the word out. “I’ll just do…” What? What would she do?

“Er, Ms Tanahata?” It was Shiraishi. Embarrassed, Akiko spun round to face her, looking down at her from the veranda. “Can we talk?”

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Akiko stood there for a long time, wishing that she could sink into the ground and disappear. She really hadn’t intended for the priest to hear that rant. She hadn’t really wanted anyone apart from Tamao to hear it, in fact. And now that she thought about it, yelling at the kami may not have been the most intelligent thing to do. Although, what else could it really do to her?

Shiraishi was still waiting at the bottom of the steps, saying nothing but keeping her eyes on Akiko. Akiko forced herself to nod, not trusting herself to speak for the moment, and, after making a perfunctory bow to the shrine, came down to stand next to the priest.

“I take it the interview didn’t go well?”

“There was no interview. The bus broke down, then there was a rainstorm, and by the time I got to the company, their building was on fire.” Akiko saw Shiraishi suppress a smile, and had to fight to keep a scowl off her face. It wasn’t funny!

“I can see why you might feel cursed.” Akiko suddenly felt bad; she’d been accusing Shiraishi’s kami of cursing her.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to suggest that…” What? She had stood in front of the shrine and directly accused Tamao of cursing her. It wasn’t easy to get around that.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Curses from the kami are at least as common in the legends as blessings. Usually when they want something.”

“Like what?”

“A shrine. A particular priest. A festival. Those sorts of things.”

“So, you think Tamao wants something from me?”

“It seems likely. The kami don’t make people’s lives miserable for fun, at least not in the legends.”

Akiko wasn’t sure whether that was a relief or not. On the one hand, if she wasn’t just being tormented for the sake of it, she might be able to stop it. On the other…

“What does he want from me?” The wind was picking up a bit, and it was cold. The first drops of rain began to fall, and Akiko shivered a little.

“Let’s discuss that inside.” Shiraishi didn’t wait for Akiko to reply before hurrying into the house, but Akiko was not far behind; the rain was getting heavy. Shiraishi led her to the reception room, and then asked her to wait for a little while. Akiko sat on the floor, and looked out of the window, at the rain falling on the garden, churning the surface of the pond and dancing off the stone lantern in a cloud of spray. Very heavy, already.

Shiraishi was back very soon, with a hot water pot and a tray of things.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to wait while I got the tea ready, so I’ll have to heat the water a bit here.” She put everything down, setting out more Japanese sweets, but Akiko wasn’t in a mood to eat.

“What do you think Tamao wants from me?”

“Ah. Yes.” The priest looked down at her hands, which were clasped on the table in front of her.

“You have an idea?”

“Mm.” Akiko was getting frustrated.

“Well, what is it?” That was rude. “I’m sorry, please tell me what you think.” Shiraishi took a deep breath, and looked up.

“Think about what has happened. Tamao has driven you out of your job and your flat, and stopped you getting a new job.”

“And driven my boyfriend away.” The priest shook her head slightly.

“I’m not sure about that. Your boyfriend seems to have had a problem with the shrine; Tamao didn’t do anything against him directly.” Akiko thought about that for a moment, and it was largely true. There was only that one time, in bed, when Tamao had done something directly to come between her and Naoyuki. She nodded.

“Go on.”

“Tamao also drove you to come here, and clean up.” Akiko started to get a sense of where this was going, and nodded again.

“So…?”

“I think he wants you to be here, at the shrine.” Shiraishi said it quickly, and then looked down. Akiko turned to look out of the window. It did make a lot of sense.

“Doing what?” That was still a question.

“I’m not sure. Being a miko, perhaps?”

“A miko? I’m not qualified.” Shiraishi looked surprised.

“Not qualified? What do you mean?” Akiko felt herself blush.

“I’m not… you know. I had a boyfriend.”

Shiraishi laughed.

“Miko don’t have to be virgins.” Akiko felt her blush getting hotter. “I suppose you think that they don’t wear knickers, either?” Akiko said nothing, but her deepening blush gave her away. Shiraishi chuckled again. “You’ve been reading naughty manga, haven’t you?”

“No! Well, not really.” Shiraishi shook her head, waving her hand to move off the issue.

“Anyway, you don’t have to be a virgin, and most miko wear knickers. In winter, they wear long, thermal underwear. Although… How old are you?”

“Twenty six, why?”

“Hmm, half my age.” Akiko was surprised. She had put Shiraishi in her late thirties, very early forties at most. “That’s actually a bit older than most miko; it’s normal to quit around twenty five. Still, not unheard of.”

“Great, too old for this as well.” This time Shiraishi blushed.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It wasn’t supposed to come out like that. You’d be fine as a miko, really.”

“Yes, but I’m not sure I want to be one.”

“I’m not sure that Tamao really wants to offer you a choice.”

Akiko scowled, and looked out of the window again. Shiraishi was right about that. There was a pause, but Akiko had no intention of saying anything, and just waited for the priest to continue.

“Actually, the shrine isn’t doing that well at the moment, so I wouldn’t be able to pay you much. However, there’s only me in the house, so there’s plenty of room. You could stay here, at least until we figure out what Tamao wants.”

Akiko looked back at the priest, surprised. It was a very generous offer.

“Why? You hardly know me…” Shiraishi blushed again, and looked down.

“I said I had chosen to believe you. If the kami is talking to you and driving you here, I can’t really object.” Akiko nodded slowly. She felt that she ought to turn the offer down, but…

But she didn’t have anywhere else to go. She thought about the shower room at the manga cafe, and compared it to the enormous bathroom in the shrine house in her mind.

“What if I don’t want to be a miko?” Shiraishi shrugged.

“That may not be what Tamao wants. I’m fairly sure he wants you here, but beyond that, it’s not clear to me.”

“So, it’s all right if I think for a while?”

“Yes. What do you say?”

Akiko looked out of the window again. She was going to say yes, she knew it. How could she turn this offer down? She looked back at the priest.

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

The sun broke through the clouds, turning the rain to a curtain of shining silver outside the window.

On to Part 3: Takenaka.

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Akiko put her bags down on the road and shook her aching arms, wishing, for the fifth time, that she had called for a taxi. Again, she considered doing it now, but she didn’t know how to give directions to where she was, and anyway, she was very close to the shrine now.

Why did I think trying to carry all my worldly possessions from the storage room to the shrine was a good idea? She knew the answer, of course; a taxi cost money, which she didn’t really have, while carrying them only took time and energy. And she had thought she had plenty of both of those. Groaning, she settled the rucksacks, back and front, once more, and gathered up the other bags, grabbing the handles of the cases. Feeling like a pack animal, she started off again.

At least the weather was good. The rain had stopped soon after the sun came out, but some clouds remained, keeping the temperature pleasant. The streets were still damp, but they were drying out quickly, although the river had been high again when Akiko passed it. She wondered whether she should be thanking Tamao for giving her good weather to move in, and, with a shock, realised that that was a serious question.

After two more pauses for breath, she finally reached the bottom of the shrine steps. They looked twice as steep and three times as high as she remembered, and she carefully unloaded all the luggage, piling it at the bottom.

I am not trying to get everything up the steps at once, she told herself.

In the end, she did five trips, heaping everything just outside the torii so that she didn’t have to go through and bow so many times. On the last journey, Shiraishi appeared, having apparently heard her.

“Do you want any help?” Breathing hard, Akiko put the last bag down on the pile, and stood there for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

“Yes… thank you. Help… would be… very good.” A bit earlier would have been better, she thought, but she knew she couldn’t say it, not to someone who was offering her free accommodation. Shiraishi picked up a couple of bags, taking them to the house, and Akiko followed. They stacked everything in the entrance to start with, then Shiraishi stepped out of her sandals and up into the house.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”

She led the way down the hall, and slid a door open, indicating that Akiko should go in.

The far wall of the room was large windows, overlooking the pond in the garden, with the shrine wood as a backdrop. There was a large alcove, with shelves, and the door panels were painted with scenes of mountains, dragons, and waterfalls. Akiko had no idea what to say.

“This was the main guest room. It seems a real shame for it not to get any use, so…” Shiraishi sounded almost apologetic. Akiko was still trying to get over the sheer size of it; her whole flat would have fitted inside. “There are futons in the cupboard, but I’ve put a couple out on the veranda to air.” Akiko could see them, and she slipped out of her slippers to walk into the room. The sun sparkled off the surface of the water, and the iwakura came into view beyond the other wing of the shrine house.

She still had no idea what to say.

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At first, Akiko did not know what had woken her. The house was quiet, isolated from the noise of the city by the shrine grounds, the room illuminated by a gentle light from outside. She sat up in bed, straightening the yukata that Shiraishi had lent her, and looked around the room, glancing out of the window.

In the heart of the iwakura, she could see a red light, pulsing to some inner rhythm, casting changing shadows across the precincts towards her windows. She pushed the futon off her legs, and walked over to the windows. They slid open easily, and the night air was surprisingly warm around her as she walked out onto the veranda. She walked along it a short distance, until the shrine building came into view as well. A warm, golden light, much steadier than the red glow among the stones, spilled out of the front.

Curious, Akiko stepped off the veranda, into the sandals left there for when people wanted to go into the garden, and made her way carefully over the stone bridge crossing the pond. A stone basin of water stood at the gate out of the garden, and Akiko quickly rinsed her hands and mouth, pulling the yukata more closely around her as the chill of the water made the air feel cooler.

As she stepped out of the garden the red light among the stones started to fade, but the light from inside the shrine remained strong, and the faint rustling of bells teased at her awareness. She walked across the grass to the foot of the steps into the shrine, and looked up.

The doors were wide open, and the interior was brightly lit, the light spilling over the balcony, casting hazy shadows of the railings on the ground around her, dark bars on green grass. Akiko, on impulse, stepped out of the sandals as she began to climb the steps, almost holding her breath in anticipation.

Standing on the balcony, Akiko felt that there was something strange about the shrine, but for a long moment she couldn’t put her finger on it. The stools were lined up as normal, and a single square tatami mat sat on the raised platform, directly in front of the doors to the inner shrine. She stepped into the building, and was climbing the steps to the dais before it struck her.

The lights were all out, but the room was filled with brilliant illumination.

Her breath now coming quickly, Akiko walked to the tatami mat and knelt on it, facing the doors. As she settled herself, the doors swung outwards, opening apparently by themselves.

Tamao filled the doorway, his golden eyes fixed on her as lightning played around his lips, refracted into dazzling colours from the red, green, and purple jewels of his skin.

Akiko bowed her face to the floor, twice, then, sitting straight, clapped her hands together twice in front of her chest, before bowing her face to the floor once more.

As she raised her face she saw the doors closing, and the light within the shrine began to fade. Hurriedly, she got to her feet, turning at the door to the shrine to bow once more before leaving. The precincts were rather darker now, but there was still enough light for her to find her way back to the garden, and back to her room. She carefully, trying not to make any noise, closed the window behind her, before lying back down on the futon and soon falling asleep.

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