“Akiko! Akiko! It’s all right.” Akiko opened her eyes on hearing Shiraishi’s voice and looked around her room, not really taking anything in. There was no sign of decay, no sign of kegare. Breathing a sigh of relief, she relaxed back into the bed.

She couldn’t get comfortable, though, and a noise from outside, something she couldn’t quite place, kept distracting her, just as she thought she was about to get to sleep. Finally giving up, she flung off the futon and got up, pulling a yukata on for warmth as she went out through the windows into the garden, picking her way carefully around the pond in the dark and the mist.

She could hardly see anything, and almost felt her way towards the entrance, the apparent source of the sound. It was clearer now, someone muttering and occasionally shouting, but she couldn’t make out any words, just sounds that hovered on the edge of clarity before falling back into mere noise once more.

Just inside the torii she stopped, one hand on the cool, rough stone of the upright, peering out into the gloom. She caught sight of motion, someone pacing, up and down the steps, and across them from one side to another. The shape was vaguely familiar, and then she placed it: Mr Takenaka.

At that moment she could understand what he was saying, catching even his mutterings.

“Betrayal. Lies. That’s what it is. Ingratitude. None of them put any value on what I’ve done for them over the years. None of them care about anything other than making as much money as possible. No loyalty. No-one is honest any more. No-one. Look what they did to me! Look what they are doing to the area!”

Mr Takenaka walked all the way up the steps, right to the threshold of the torii, but he didn’t look at Akiko. Rather, he was staring into the precincts. Akiko glanced over her shoulder, but she could see nothing, the shrine building lost in the mist, the lights apparently not working. She looked back, and Mr Takenaka was still standing there. He raised his fists and screamed at the shrine.

“You too! You have no loyalty. I’ll show you all. You will all regret what you did to me! All of you! But the ones who betrayed me will regret more than most. Sugiyama! I mean you! You will pay for abandoning me.” His hands dropped back to his sides, and he looked down, breathing heavily, his distorted face slowly relaxing.

“An electrician. That’s what you were, Sugiyama. You betrayed that. And so electricity will betray you.” It was almost whispered. “Yes, you will feel its anger. And my anger, through it.” His voice was getting louder again, and he looked up, then spun round to face out over the city. “Lightning, Sugiyama! I’m going to strike your house with lightning! You cannot escape it. Your house cannot run. Your excuses are no good now!” Takenaka was screaming into the darkness again.

“Lightning will burn you!”

03: Takenaka, Episode 18 | 3 Comments »

“We have to warn them!” Akiko shouted, sitting up in bed and looking round the room. There were running footsteps, and the door slid open as Shiraishi came in, quickly followed by Akira Takenaka.

“Akiko, are you all right? You shouted…” The priest looked concerned.

“I’m fine, but we have to warn them. We have to warn them before the lightning strikes.”

“Akiko, calm down.” Shiraishi knelt by the bed and put a cool hand on Akiko’s forehead, frowning as she did so. “Lie down, Akiko. You need to sleep more.”

Akiko shook the priest’s hand off, and tried to push herself up, but her arm shook, and seemed to have no force. Her legs were heavy, as if wrapped in concrete, and she couldn’t move them, either.  She groaned in frustration, shook her head, and then groaned again at the pain that lanced through it.

“We have to warn them now! The lightning could strike at any time.”

“Shush, Akiko. It was just a dream.”

“It wasn’t! I saw Mr Takenaka! He was shouting, standing outside the shrine.” Akira stood up and took a step back, but he didn’t leave, just blinked rapidly.

“Akiko, Mr Takenaka is dead.” The priest’s voice was gentle, as if she really thought Akiko might have forgotten.

“I know!” Akiko almost cried in frustration. “I know he’s dead! But he’s going to strike them with lightning! We have to warn them; they can’t move the house, but they can get out. He said he’d strike the house. If they get out, they’ll be safe.”

“Akiko!” Shiraishi’s tone was sharper. “Stop it! Lie down!”

“It’s all right, reverend.” Akira’s voice was strained, but calm. “It’s the fever. I understand.”

Akiko collapsed back on to the bed for a moment, breathing heavily and gathering her strength before she pushed herself up again.

“It’s not the fever. I saw him. He was threatening them.”

“Akiko…” Shiraishi was trying to shush her again.

“He’s going to strike them with lightning! He said Sugiyama was an electrician and so deserved to be struck with lightning just as he was. No, that’s not right. Betrayed by electricity, just like he betrayed.”

“Akiko, lie down,” the priest said, but Akira had moved closer.

“Who? Who did he say he would strike?” His voice was very strained, on the verge of crying or screaming. But Akiko was out of energy, and she collapsed back on to the futon, drenched in sweat, tossing her head from side to side as the pillow dug into her. “Akiko? What was the name?” Akira’s voice was gentler now.

“Akira, I don’t think…”

“Please, Revd Shiraishi, let her answer. Akiko, what was the name?”

Yes, the name was important. If they knew the name, they would know whom to warn. What was the name? For a moment, Akiko thought that she might have forgotten it, but then she remembered the dark figure in the mist, ranting at the sky, calling down his vengeance on…

“Sugiyama. Sugiyama the electrician.” She looked at Akira, who was sitting back, shock etched on his face.

03: Takenaka, Episode 18 | Comments Off

Akiko pulled her trainers on in the entrance hall and went out into the shrine. She walked slowly across the grass, looking around her, paying attention to the shapes of the trees, the motion of the leaves, the birds darting among the branches. The quiet was broken only by the occasional snatch of bird song, and the gentle sound of her own footsteps. She looked up, at a blue sky brushed with white filaments of cloud, and down, at the blades of grass still sparkling with dew.

She was waiting for something, but she didn’t know what. She walked a bit further into the precincts, stepping on to the path from the torii to the shrine. She glanced both ways; the bell rope swung a little in the breeze, in front of the open shrine doors, and she could see little through the torii, the trees lining the steps blocking most of the view. Bowing her head as she crossed the middle of the path, she went to the water basin to purify herself.

The water was cool on her hands and sweet in her mouth, and her heart was calm as she walked to the shrine and climbed the steps. She rattled the rope, the bell clattering above her, and bowed twice.

As she clapped for the first time, a deafening crack of thunder split the air. The second clap was the same, and when Akiko rose from the final bow Tamao was emerging from the rear of the shrine, golden eyes shining and the jewels of his skin sparkling in the light. His eyes met Akiko’s as he slid forwards, and she instinctively stepped back out of his way before dropping to her knees and bowing her face to the floor as he passed.

The snake glided easily down the steps, and as Akiko followed him with her eyes, she saw things moving on the steps beyond the torii. Her breath caught in her throat, which was suddenly dry and tight, and then came faster. Whatever they were, they were not healthy, not pure. They seemed to leak, or smoke, and in one case she could see the stench coming off it, although no odour reached her. They were climbing the steps slowly, shaped like feral cats, emaciated and disfigured with sores, and one of them hissed, a sound that made Akiko shudder, and filled her with an urge to wash.

Tamao crawled along the path, and then paused just inside the torii, looking out. The kegare creatures looked back. For several moments, all was still, as Akiko held her breath, not daring to move a muscle.

One of the cat-things leapt up at the torii, and Tamao’s head moved swiftly to meet it, catching it in mid-air and hurling it back and away, into the trees. Another sprang, and another, but always Tamao was there to meet the challenge.

But now there were other shapes among the trees, scuttling, far too large. One came to the edge of the clearing, a cockroach the size of a small car, apparently made of mould pressed together, oozing the juices of decay. Lightning flashing from his mouth, Tamao sprang sideways, and drove it back. Its place was soon taken by another, this one made of fragments of broken glass, most coated with dried fluids, blood, milk, vomit. It put one leg within the ring of trees, and Tamao, rearing up, spat lightning at it.

Shrieking, the creature drew back into the woods, but there were many more where it had come from, and Tamao was moving without ceasing, blocking entry, spitting lightning at those that dared to cross the border. Akiko looked to the other side, where the shrine house should have been, and saw Tamao again, driving back creatures like large worms made of chain fences, trailing barbed wire like drool from their faceless mouths.

She looked back to the torii, where the cat-creatures were gathering again, pacing in front of the gate and hissing, occasionally darting towards the gap before running back into the pack. They did not have enough courage to enter yet, but it would not be long before they did.

Akiko sprang to her feet and ran down the steps to the path, shouting at the things to go, waving her arms in an attempt to scare them. As she approached, she could feel her tee-shirt against her skin, the fibres rough, abrasive, while the stiff fabric of her jeans fought against her motion. She winced as the shirt grazed her armpit, and then stumbled, tripping and falling to the floor as the jeans refused to bend.

As she fell, the cats sprang, leaping through the torii towards her. Fear gave her greater strength, and she scrambled to her feet. The leading cat hissed again, its drool smoking green, black, and orange in the air, and terror took control, driving Akiko back as she ran back into the shrine.

Behind the shrine building, a red light pulsed within the iwakura, reflected in the pool at its base. Clothes, red and white, were draped over the stones, and something metallic sparkled beside them. The cats were getting closer, and Akiko ran forward.

The light within the stone pulsed, and a wave of intense heat passed over Akiko, leaving her clothes charred, smoking, on the verge of bursting into flames.

For once, Akiko understood what she was supposed to do and, pulling her clothes off, she plunged into the pool, ducking her head under the water.

It was icy cold, but pure and clean, penetrating her and washing all pollution away. When she stood up, pushing back hair that was suddenly dry, she could see a ring of red light surrounding her and the stones, while the cats prowled on the other side and, beyond, Tamao fought back the creatures in the woods.

She stepped over to the clothes on the stones, and quickly dressed, the white kimono and the red hakama, the miko’s uniform. The metal was a small implement, bells covering a cone on a short handle, with long ribbons, yellow, white, red, green, and purple, flowing from the bottom. She picked it up, and as she swung it through the air, the bells tinkling, the red light vanished.

The kegare beasts sprang forward, but Akiko was ready for them, sweeping the bells across their path, watching as they all dissolved into nothing when touched by the sound. Tamao was still fighting at the borders of the grass, and Akiko ran round to the front, to take her place at the torii.

03: Takenaka, Episode 18 | 6 Comments »

Akiko opened her eyes. Her mind was clear, her body comfortable, but she lay still for some time, staring at the ceiling. She could remember the dreams, visions, whatever, very clearly. She remembered Mr Takenaka’s threat against the Sugiyamas. She remembered the scenes in the shrine grounds, which even she could interpret as instructions to become a miko.

But how much of it was just the fever? she wondered. As she watched the light reflected from the pool playing over the ceiling in complex patterns, she sighed. Probably none of it.

She tried to sit up, and was astonished at how weak she was. She finally managed to push herself to a sitting position, but then had to stop there for some time, catching her breath. As her breathing returned to normal, there was a knock on the door, and moments later Shiraishi pushed it open and came in. Seeing Akiko sitting up, she came hurrying over, concern on her face, but by the time she had reached the side of the futon, her expression had settled into relief.

“Are you feeling better, Ms Tanahata?” Akiko nodded.

“Yes, thank you. I feel fine, just very weak.” The priest sat down by the bed.

“I’m not surprised. You hardly ate while you were ill.” As she said that, Akiko suddenly noticed how hungry she was.

“How long was I ill?”

“Four days. It’s Tuesday today.”

“Four days?” Akiko was shocked. It really didn’t seem that long. Shiraishi nodded.

“The doctor said it wasn’t unusual for this fever, and I should keep you warm and make sure you drank.”

“A doctor came?” The priest shook her head.

“Too busy; there are a lot of cases of this fever. No, I just phoned him and got advice.”

Akiko let herself sink back into the futon, coming to terms with how long she’d been ill.

“Would you like something to eat?”

“Mm.” Akiko suddenly turned her head to look at the priest. “I remember saying something to you and Akira Takenaka while I was ill. Did that really happen?” Shiraishi nodded, looking a little embarrassed. Akiko looked back at the ceiling, thinking over what she had to do.

“Revd Shiraishi, I think I have to become a miko.”

“Have to?” The priest sounded slightly… offended. Akiko looked back at her, searching her expression.

“Yes. I had a vision while I was ill. Tamao wants me to become a miko, so I really have no choice.”

“Being a miko isn’t like working at McDonalds, you know. You should have a bit more enthusiasm for the job. A bit more enthusiasm for the shrine.” Akiko shook her head impatiently; why couldn’t Shiraishi see?

“I don’t want to be a miko. I want a normal job, in an office. I want to marry a man on the career track, leave work, have children, maybe study flower arranging and work part-time in Takashimaya.” With a start, Akiko realised that she was on the verge of crying. “I want a normal life. I just want to be happy.” She took a deep breath, getting herself back under control, and turned back to the priest.

“But I don’t think Tamao is going to let me do that. So I have to become a miko.”

03: Takenaka, Episode 19 | 4 Comments »

The conversation went no further that day; Shiraishi quickly changed the subject by offering Akiko a meal, and Akiko, ravenous, could not turn it down. She then fell asleep again, waking twice more to eat and go to the toilet (and why couldn’t she remember doing that while she was ill? — She was definitely too embarrassed to ask Shiraishi).

When she woke up on Wednesday, however, she felt much better. Pulling on a yukata, she went out through the garden to pay her morning respects to Tamao. The shrine was quiet, with no sign of monsters or kami, the air cool and clear, birds singing in the woodland.

As she finished paying her respects, Akiko realised what she had to do. It might just have been the fever, but if it wasn’t too late, she had to warn the Sugiyamas. She remembered Akira’s reaction, or at least the reaction she thought she’d seen, and suspected that he knew who they were. So, the first step was to call him.

She found a business card inside the house, and called, hoping that Akira would pick up. Fortunately, he did.

“This is Akiko Tanahata,” she said. “Sorry to disturb you.”

“No, it’s good to hear from you. I hope you’re feeling better?”

“Yes, thank you. Um.” Akiko paused, aware that what she was going to say next would sound a little strange. “Could you tell me the Sugiyamas’ address?”

There was silence from the other end, long enough for Akiko to wonder whether the connection had been cut.

“Mr Takenaka?”

“Yes, I’m still here. Yes, I can tell you their address. Just a moment.” There were rustling sounds, presumably as he looked for the address, and then he read it out to her.

“Ms Tanahata?”

“Yes?”

“Ah… nothing. Excuse me.” And he hung up. Akiko closed the phone, a little puzzled. She couldn’t work out what he was thinking, not at all. As she thought back over their encounters, she decided that that wasn’t surprising, but still, she wanted to know.

Putting that problem to one side, she went to have a shower and get dressed.

Shiraishi was fairly obviously waiting for her when she emerged, even though she was pretending to be working on something; she looked up far too quickly.

“Ah, Ms Tanahata.” There was a pause. “Are you going out?”

Did Akira call her? Akiko wondered.

“Yes, I have an errand to run.”

“What?” The question was very abrupt, and Akiko was suddenly sure that Akira had called the priest.

“I have to warn the Sugiyamas.” Akiko looked straight at Shiraishi as she spoke, keeping her voice neutral. “If Hideo Takenaka hasn’t struck them with lightning yet, there might still be time to get them out of the house.”

“Akiko…” Shiraishi sounded worried and annoyed in equal measure. “That was just a fever dream.” Akiko shook her head.

“I don’t think so. I only remember a few of the things I saw while I was ill, but that’s one of them. I think it was a real threat.”

“From a dead person?”

“From a dead person. Don’t you have legends of angry ghosts? I’m being persecuted by a kami; I can hardly dismiss ghost stories out of hand.”

Shiraishi looked like she was about to say something, but then, apparently, she thought better of it, and just waved Akiko towards the door.

“Take care. There are masks in the entrance; don’t forget to take one.”

03: Takenaka, Episode 19 | 4 Comments »

Akiko put the mask on as she strode purposefully out of the shrine house and down the steps from the precinct, pulling the straps over her ears. She glanced around as she reached the bottom, but the street seemed normal; no monsters, no signs of decay. The only people she could see were wearing masks, just like her, but they didn’t seem to be suffering from anything. Akiko felt a brief uncertainty; was she just imagining all the things she saw? Then she remembered the ridiculous sequences of events preventing her from getting a job, and her confidence returned. She had to warn the Sugiyamas.

Waiting for the bus, Akiko noticed that everyone she could see was wearing a mask. She looked around to confirm it; she could see a couple of people in a coffee shop who weren’t wearing them, but they were drinking coffee, which they could hardly do through a mask. She wondered how much worse the fever had got while she was ill, and it suddenly occurred to her that it might be connected with the corruption she had seen.

On the bus, half-empty, and with only one person without a mask, that possibility continued to bother Akiko. She peered out of the window, squinting, trying to look out of the corners of her eyes, doing anything she could think of that might enable her to see the kegare again. Nothing worked, however, and the streetscape remained stubbornly mundane.

As the bus reached her stop, Akiko turned her thoughts to the warning.

The ghost of Hideo Takenaka threatened to strike your house with lightning. You need to get out while you still can.

As soon as she formulated it, she could see the problem. These were people who didn’t know her, and almost certainly didn’t believe in curses and the like. Were they going to listen to that? No. Better to find some other way to phrase it.

Have you had your home checked for lightning risk?

Akiko grimaced as she got off the bus. That made her sound like a con-man, about to charge them hundreds of thousands of yen to put a wire on the roof. And how could she follow it up?

Does Hideo Takenaka have any reason to hold a grudge against you?

She checked the address plate on an electricity pole, and set off towards the area where the Sugiyamas’ house should be. She wasn’t happy with that opening, either. It was too personal, and probably not something that they would want to discuss with a complete stranger. It also didn’t lead into the warning.

I’m a weather scientist, and I think that lightning might strike your house soon.

Akiko tried to remember what the proper word for “weather scientist” was, but couldn’t. Keeping that story up was likely to be difficult, then. The Sugiyamas were unlikely to trust her enough to take the warning.

Akiko found herself outside the house. She hesitated, on the verge of abandoning the foolish errand, when she noticed that black clouds were gathering overhead, heavy and menacing. She hurried up the path and pressed the doorbell, not letting herself dwell on the difficulties. As soon as the door opened, she blurted out her warning.

“The ghost of Hideo Takenaka threatened to strike your house with lightning. You need to get out while you still can.”

03: Takenaka, Episode 19 | 1 Comment »

The man in the doorway just stood there, staring at her, his hands frozen in the process of putting his mask on. Akiko was silent as well, berating herself internally.

I decided that was a really stupid way to put it! Still, she had said it now. What should she say next to recover from it? Her mind was blank. That was all of her message. What else could she say?

The man, presumably Mr Sugiyama, blinked, and finished adjusting his mask. He squinted at her, but the white material over his nose and mouth made it difficult to read his expression.

“Are you from that shrine?” His voice, muffled as it was, was suspicious, even hostile. Akiko didn’t know how to respond for a moment. Why would he jump to that conclusion? She even glanced down to make sure that she wasn’t, somehow, wearing a miko’s uniform, but she was dressed normally.

“Er, Tamao shrine?” she asked, unsure.

“I don’t know. Whichever one he was obsessed with.”

“I don’t think he was obsessed…” Mr Sugiyama interrupted her.

“I thought so. Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage already?”

“Sorry?” Akiko was really confused now. What damage had they done?

“You drove him to suicide with your outdated superstitions. Hounding a decent businessman until he couldn’t make any sensible decisions anymore. Everything depended on that shrine; it had a stranglehold over him.”

That didn’t sound right to Akiko; certainly, the things Mr Takenaka and Akira had said didn’t suggest that, and she couldn’t see Shiraishi controlling anyone that way. Of course, if Tamao had been hounding Mr Takenaka in the same way as he was hounding her… She wondered again whether Mr Takenaka had known what she was seeing. Still, his ghost hadn’t been blaming the shrine.

“I don’t think it was the shrine that caused his suicide…” she began, but Mr Sugiyama interrupted her again.

“Oh? Where did he kill himself? Don’t you think that’s some sort of message?” He paused, almost as if he expected an answer, but Akiko had nothing to say.

“Look, I don’t have time to stand here talking about ridiculous superstitions. My wife and daughter both have the fever, and I have to look after them. Take your ideas of cursing gods, and pointless offerings elsewhere. I’m not interested in the inherent superiority of the Japanese nation, or the importance of loyalty to the Emperor. The Emperor! What importance does he have today? We’re a democracy now, not some sort of theocracy ruled by divine right. You and all the other Shinto people are just throwbacks to before the war, to the nationalism that led to our defeat. I’m sure you heard about that in school; there were two atomic bombs involved. That’s what Shinto brought to our nation, and Shinto led Takenaka to suicide. So why, tell me why, should I listen to what you say? Just get out, OK? Leave now, before I call the police.”

Akiko, stunned by the torrent of words, could only nod, and turned to walk down the path. As soon as she stepped onto the street, she heard the door slam behind her.

03: Takenaka, Episode 19 | 4 Comments »