The injustice of Shiraishi’s accusation stung Akiko, bothering her all through the night and even the next morning. She’d gone to talk about something that was probably quite important for the priest, after all. If the kami was appearing, the priest should want to know, surely. And not accuse the person bringing the news of being a con artist. Akiko replayed the conversation dozens of times, every time coming up with better responses, and leaving Shiraishi utterly convinced that she was in the wrong.

She was half way through constructing another one in the office when Satomi came to her desk.

“Akiko, can I have a quick word?” Akiko looked up, a little startled.

“What? Oh, yes, certainly.” Satomi left the desk, and Akiko realised that she wanted to have the conversation outside the office.

The break area was almost deserted, and it was easy to find a corner where they couldn’t be overheard. Satomi looked a bit uncomfortable, and Akiko wondered what it could be about. The shrine? Had Satomi seen the kami or something?

“Akiko, you’ve been a bit distracted at work recently.” Satomi pronounced  it as a question, but it was really a statement.

“Er, yes, I suppose I have.”

“I wouldn’t normally say this, but, well, other people have started commenting.” Akiko felt her face heating up, but didn’t know what to say. “An off day now and then is to be expected, but you’ve been like this for several days. Is it anything serious?”

For a moment, Akiko had no idea how to answer that question. She wasn’t going to have anything more to do with the shrine, so even if it were the kami he should start leaving her alone. And the hallucinations would surely stop, if that’s what they were. But if she were going mad… Then mentioning it wouldn’t help her situation at all. Better to say nothing.

“No, not really. Just…” What? Keep lies simple, she remembered. And something that she won’t follow up. “Just something with Naoyuki.” Yes, that’s good. She can’t politely pry into that.

“Oh, I see.” Akiko caught a flash of a smile on Satomi’s face, before her co-worker suppressed it. “Well, I guess we’ve all been there. Look, it’s not really a problem yet; if you pick up your work again everyone will have forgotten in a few days, I’m sure.” That didn’t quite ring true.

“So why go to the trouble of having a little talk about it?” Akiko was sure Satomi flushed a little at the question, but she really was very good at keeping her expression under control.

“Because I overheard Mr Kanayama mention it to Tanaka. If they’ve started talking about it, you want to nip the idea in the bud, before you get a reputation. If people think of you as the slacker, you’ll be the one to lose your job.”

“That’s…” probably true, Akiko thought. “Very kind of you.” Satomi shrugged.

“You actually need the job, I think, unlike Megumi and me. Anyway, I hope it’s no problem.” She smiled again, and headed back to the office.

That really was very kind, thought Akiko, so why do I feel so patronised?

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Akiko tried to get back into the swing of things through the rest of the afternoon, but found that things had built up while she’d been distracted, and it took her the whole time to get everything straightened out. It was almost six before she felt she could leave the office, and there was a text message from Naoyuki on her phone.

“I’ve got out of the drinks tonight. Dinner?” Akiko checked the time it had been sent; only a few minutes earlier. Relieved, she texted back a positive response, and then left to meet him.

As regular customers of the restaurant they were greeted warmly and shown to their usual table, in a fairly private corner at the back. Naoyuki looked very cheerful.

“Oh, I wish I knew which idiot had decided that drinking yourself into insensibility was an essential part of office work in Japan.” He paused.

“Mmmm.” Akiko knew that he wasn’t really complaining, just leading up to what he really wanted to say.

“Still, when they’ve just decided to promote you, it’s hard to begrudge them their little pleasures.” He was grinning all over his face now.

“A promotion? Really? Congratulations!” Akiko was really excited. “What to?”

“Well, deputy section head, so only one step, and not until next month. Actually, it’s not official yet; the section head has just recommended it to the department head.”

“Oh.” Akiko felt the stirrings of worry; what if it didn’t happen?

“Oh, no, it’s really rare for the department head to overrule the section heads on appointing their own deputies. Not something to worry about, really. I told you the business trip went well.”

“Yes, you did. And you were right, as usual. Congratulations!”

“Thanks. Well, have you been back to that shrine?”

“What?” Akiko was shocked that Naoyuki had remembered their conversation.

“Well, I’m going to be a deputy section head soon. I’m already dating an older woman; I don’t want people to think she’s old-fashioned, as well.” He was smiling as he said it, but Akiko could tell that he was serious.

“No, I’ve not been back.” How could he find out? It was only once more. “And I’ve got no plans to go back again. Well, barring truly torrential rain.” And that’s true, she thought. I’m finished with people who think I’m a con artist.

“Probably best to stay away from it even if the rain does fall, you know. There are some strange people hanging around shrines. They put salt in the doorway, and have those little shrines in their houses. It’s really not the right image for this day and age. All superstition, you know.”

“I only visited. I didn’t say I believed it.” Akiko was surprised at how earnest Naoyuki seemed.

“Well, true.” He suddenly smiled, seeming to relax. “That’s right. Why would you believe in the kami or any of that rubbish?”

The image of a giant, shining snake flashed through Akiko’s mind, but she just nodded and smiled.

“Well, then,” Naoyuki continued, looking more relaxed, and with a sly look, “once we’ve eaten, why don’t we go back to my place and celebrate some more?”

Akiko knew she had turned bright pink.

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The sun was warm on her back through the light dress, and her hat cast a welcome shadow over her eyes. The bright red and blue check of the ground cloth stood out against the verdant grass as she spread the picnic things over it. She sighed a little as she did so, because everything was from a convenience store, all wrapped in packaging, nothing handmade. But she didn’t have time to make things. Naoyuki smiled at her, the torii gleaming white behind him in contrast to his smart, navy working suit, and reached for a can of beer.

“Well, let’s get started.”

“Oh yes, me too.” Megumi took another can, sitting there in her sailor suit school uniform, and Akiko had a vague feeling that there was something wrong with that. She thought about having a beer herself, but then she saw Tamao’s iridescent bulk gliding past behind Naoyuki, and decided to have a bottle of green tea instead.

Naoyuki pulled the tab from the can, and tossed it over his shoulder. It caught the sunlight, tumbling and sparkling as it fell.

It touched the ground, and Tamao was seized by a spasm, part of his body kicking into the air. Akiko could see a gash opened in the skin, and the red of blood mixed with the colours of his skin.

A cloud passed across the sun as Megumi opened her beer, laughing, and dropped the tab beside her. This time, Tamao only quivered, but Akiko could see another bleeding wound open. She twisted the cap off her bottle, and dropped it to the ground.

Tamao’s tail lashed, and the new wound was just behind his head. Akiko laughed at Naoyuki’s joke and raised the bottle to her lips as clouds gathered overhead, casting a chill on the scene.

Megumi grabbed a rice ball, throwing the wrapper to one side, and Tamao reared up, blood flowing from just behind his head as the clouds darkened. Naoyuki cast the lid of his beef on rice behind him, and Tamao flopped onto the ground like a wounded fish, the scarlet blood leaking underneath him as the grass around them started to turn a sere brown.

Still smiling, Akiko reached for some sandwiches, dropping the plastic package and pushing it off the ground sheet. Tamao turned to look at her, one eye hidden by the blood pouring from the wound above it, and behind him the leaves dropped from the trees, turning from green to brown in moments as the black clouds boiled above them.

Akiko put her beer down and stepped off the mat to pee, squatting beside it. As her urine hit the ground, the remaining grass was washed away, the surface turning to mud writhing with blind white maggots. As she pulled up her pants and sat back on the sheet it started to rain, the maggots swarming up onto Tamao’s body to attack the wounds.

Naoyuki offered her another bottle of sake.

And Akiko saw the devastation around them, the kami being devoured alive, the foul yellow rain pounding into the grey mud, and she laughed.

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The memory of the dream remained vivid after Akiko woke up, even when she had got out of bed. In the toilet, she remembered squatting in the shrine, right in front of Naoyuki and Megumi, and was horribly embarrassed even as she lectured herself that it was just a dream, and a particularly weird one at that.

The sound of the rain on the window reminded her of the polluted rain at the end of the dream, which they had ignored.

She opened the rice cooker, and for a moment the grains of rice were the maggots that had attacked the giant snake; she could almost see them writhing, and had to close the lid again for a moment to recover her composure. Bizarre dream, nothing more, she told herself.

“What’s the matter?” Naoyuki’s voice came from over by the door, and she looked over. “Not that I disapprove, of course.” He smiled at her, sliding into a leer, and she suddenly realised that she was only wearing her pants. How on earth could she have forgotten to pull a robe on? “Will you be eating breakfast like that?” Akiko could tell Naoyuki liked the idea, and a part of her wanted to, even if the embarrassed part of her was trying to shout it down. Then the cold part made her shiver, and she shook her head, dashing for the bedroom.

“On reflection, no. Maybe in summer.”

“I’ll look forward to summer, then!” Naoyuki patted her behind as she ran past, and then grabbed her for a kiss as she was trying to get the gown on. “Do you have to do it up? It’ll still keep you warm.”

“It’ll get in the food. Now let me get breakfast.” Naoyuki slipped his hands inside the robe, running them over her skin and then pushing down on her pants.

“You can close the robe if you take these off.”

“Naoyuki! You’ll be late for work!” Akiko twisted away, pulling the robe shut and hurrying into the kitchen to cover her embarrassment.

“True, alas. I’d better shower.”

Naoyuki disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Akiko to set the table. Laying out the breakfast things reminded her of the dream, of putting the picnic food onto the ground sheet, before the whole area was devastated by their litter.

Shaking her head, she realised that she had become distracted again. This is no good, she told herself. I have to concentrate, at least when I get to work. Why am I dreaming silly environmental allegories anyway? It’s not like it has anything to do with my situation.

Still, the dream kept coming back to her, all three of them laughing and joking amid the devastation, completely oblivious to it even though she could remember every detail with perfect clarity. There seemed to be some significance to the dream, something that Akiko couldn’t quite place.

She suddenly realised that she was standing stock still in the centre of the room, thinking about a dream with that stupid snake in. She had to stop herself thinking about it.

When Naoyuki came in to eat, already smartly dressed in his suit, Akiko’s pants were neatly folded in front of his plate, and she was sitting quietly in her robe, blushing bright pink, and staring at the table.

He didn’t bother asking why she seemed a little distracted.

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Akiko had thought it was funny when Naoyuki ostentatiously slipped her pants into a pocket of his bag. She thought it was less funny when she went to get dressed and found that he had taken her clean pair as well; fortunately, she just had time to make an emergency detour to a convenience store on the way to the station, and by the time she was on the train she was starting to see the funny side of that, too.

I’ll be thinking of you working hard today, said his text message.

Convenience stores are really useful, she texted back. Naoyuki’s reply was a single picture: a sad face. Akiko had to laugh, and for a moment wanted to tell her co-workers about it. But, on second thoughts, definitely not.

The good cheer buoyed her up as she arrived in work, despite the continuing rain, and Satomi gave her a warm smile in response to her bright greeting. Things were going well, too. She felt the benefits of the sorting out she had done the previous day immediately, and there were three stacks of completed photocopying on Tanaka’s desk before he even arrived. When she next passed his desk, he looked up.

“Tanahata? Thanks for the copying.” She smiled, and bowed a little in acknowledgement. “Could you get me a coffee?”

“Certainly.” She made a detour to flick the switch on the machine on her way to the filing cabinets, and the coffee was ready to pour by the time she’d put the files away and got back. Tanaka only grunted a brief acknowledgement, but Akiko knew she was putting the whispers behind her.

Megumi invited her for lunch, but she made her excuses; there was still a backlog of jobs to be cleared, and working through lunch was the best way to get through it. She had bought rice balls at the convenience store, and she got a can of coffee from the vending machine.

“Working through lunch, Tanahata?” Mr Kanayama came over to her desk, and Akiko quickly pushed the shopping bag underneath it, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the two pairs of pants, in an opened package, still inside it.

“I want to get a few things cleared, sir. They built up a bit.” He smiled.

“That’s the sort of attitude we like to see. You know, you should join us for drinks sometimes.” Akiko’s response was a mixture of pleasure and panic. On the one hand, Mr Kanayama personally inviting her along was a first, and a good sign. On the other, she really didn’t like going, but it would be hard to turn him down.

“Thank you.” She tried to keep her answer non-commital, but Mr Kanayama didn’t seem to mind.

“Well, I’m going for lunch. If you could copy the papers on my desk, the ones in the green folder, before I got back, that would be helpful. Six sets.”

“Yes, sir.” Akiko sprang up as soon as he left, and hurried over to get the file. Not too many sheets; good. She should be able to stay on top of things.

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The rain still hadn’t stopped when she left the office. There were flood warnings on her cell phone, and the trains were all stopping at every station, having completely abandoned the timetable.

Once off her train, she put her umbrella up, hoping that it would do something to keep the rain off. There was some wind, but it wasn’t too bad, and her head, at least, stayed dry.

She hadn’t gone far before, turning the corner, she found the road blocked, under several centimetres of water. Some cars were trying, carefully, to get through, but it was obvious that it would come well over the tops of her shoes. Akiko didn’t fancy walking home with wet feet, but the only alternative route avoiding the low-lying area would take her right past Tamao Shrine, and she really didn’t want to go that way.

You’re being silly, she told herself. It’s just a set of odd coincidences. You can walk right past the shrine and go home.

Finally, she was convinced, and set off, climbing the hill. The wind and rain seemed to get stronger as she climbed, which, she realised, they might well be doing.

The leaves of the shrine forest seemed to shine in the gloom, their wet surfaces catching every bit of light and scattering it back out to her. Under the trees, everything was dark, which gave her an excellent excuse not to look as she hurried forward.

She reached the peak of the road, at the bottom of the steps, and stopped, looking at the road ahead in disbelief. Water flowing from both sides was rushing through the cutting as it descended, turning it into a river. It looked even deeper than the water she had come this way to avoid, and it was certainly flowing faster.

Akiko glanced at the steps, leading up and away from the flood, and for a moment she thought about taking shelter in the shrine. Then she remembered what Naoyuki had said, and firmly shook her head. The road ahead was impassable, so she would have to go back and round, but she could get home by another route.

As she turned to retrace her steps, she was buffeted by a strong gust of wind. It caught her umbrella, flipping it inside out and snapping several of the spokes, and pulled her hand backward. She staggered, and her left foot came down in the cold water of the flooded road. Its surface was slippery underfoot, and as the wind pulled the umbrella from her hand, carrying it off into the darkness, she lost her balance, falling over backwards into the water.

It soaked her to the skin instantly, and when she tried to stand, she lost her balance again in the flowing stream, falling forward this time, scraping her face on the tarmac. The rain continued to pound on her back, as she carefully struggled to her feet and retrieved her shoes. As her clothes clung, chill, to her body, she got the feeling that the shrine was watching her.

She turned her back and started wading downhill through the flood.

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Akiko slipped three more times before she got home, but she was already so wet and cold that it made no noticeable difference. As soon as she got in, she turned on the heater, started the bath filling, and took her things out of her bag, lining them up on the table, under the heater, to dry off. Everything, even her cell phone, still seemed to be working, which was a plus; the bag had kept most of the water out. She reflected that the Vuitton bags really were good quality; it had probably saved her as much as it cost.

As she finished, she realised that she was dripping onto the floor, and hurried into the changing area outside the bath. Hot water was filling the tub as she started to peel her sodden clothes off. They were literally sticking to her skin, and it took her a long time to get her blouse off. Even her underwear was so wet it was see-through, making her glad that her work uniform was dark-coloured.

She wiped some of the cold water from her body with a towel, and realised just how chilled she was. Pulling the door shut behind her, she stepped into the bath, leaving the water running to finish filling it up.

The warmth of the water slowly seeped into her body, and her shivering stopped. Leaning back in the tub, she started to relax. She hadn’t realised just how tense she was until that moment, but her stomach was a knot and her jaw was clenched shut. Gently massaging her face, she closed her eyes, deliberately remembering the good aspects of the day; work really had gone well. She wasn’t going to let the bad weather on the way home spoil everything.

The water level rose, steadily enveloping her in soothing heat. She let herself drift, listening to the sound of rain in the background… She suddenly realised that the water was overflowing, and sat up to turn the taps off before lying back once more, luxuriating in the warmth.

Something cold splashed onto her face, and slid down her cheek. She brushed it away, wondering why there was so much condensation building up. Then there was another one, and a third. Akiko opened her eyes.

She should have been looking at the plastic, pale yellow ceiling of her unit bath, but it was almost lost to sight behind black clouds, which boiled and raced across and around the room, seeming to dodge in and out between each other with no concern for wind direction. Rain was falling from the clouds, the drops falling into the bath, leaving expanding circles in the water, and splashing on the floor of the shower area beside it.

Akiko closed her eyes and opened them again, but the clouds were still there, and they even seemed to be thickening. The rain started to fall faster, chill on her exposed head, and Akiko’s calm disappeared, as her stomach churned.

Still not entirely believing what she was seeing, she stood up and reached above her head. Her hand vanished into the clouds, and she felt the cool, smooth surface of the plastic beyond. The clouds themselves, however, were cold and damp against the skin of her hand, and the falling drops of rain were chill on her body. She swept her hands through the clouds, trying to get rid of them, but they just swirled around her, mocking any attempt to grasp them.

The rain suddenly intensified, becoming as heavy as a cold shower. Akiko gasped as the chill penetrated her body, and for a moment lost her breath. The surface of the bath water was churned up by the number of falling raindrops, and a layer of water was building up on the floor beside it. Akiko stepped out of the bath, wincing as she put her foot down in cold water, and pushed on the door.

It didn’t open.

She pushed again, but it still didn’t move. Rattling it made a noise, but gave no sign that it might be about to open. The water on the floor was around her ankles now, and she was shivering as the rain streamed down her body. She reached to check the lock on the door, but it was open, as always. Desperately, she grabbed the handle again, shaking the door with all her strength. The cold water rose up her calves towards her knees, but the door would still not shift.

Realising that the water ought to be flowing away, she turned round, looking for the drain. She had to crouch down, into the chill water, to reach it, but as her fingers found it she could feel the tug of the current around them as the water flowed away, rushing down and out. Water flowed into her eyes, and she brushed it away. There was no blockage, then. The flow was just faster than the drain could handle.

When she stood up, the water was almost to her knees, higher now than the rim of the bath, and she felt her tension turning to fear, to panic. She turned back to the door, banging on it, rattling it, and calling for help, but there was no apparent response. The water had passed her knees, and was rising up her thighs, when she gave up, and looked around the room for something, anything, she could use to break the door open.

Directly behind her, a serpentine head broke out of the water, which flowed off it in sparkling rivers and droplets. The bright red, green, and purple shone in the dim light, and the gold and silver seemed to flow themselves as they reflected the chaotic surface of the water. The shining eyes were fixed on her, and Akiko screamed, backing away, until she came up against the edge of the bath. She was moving too quickly, and the floor was too slippery; she lost her balance and tumbled over backwards, plunging into the water, banging against the sides of the bath as she fell into the warm water.

When she surfaced, the room was back to normal, with the water all in the bath, and a single drop of condensation fell from the ceiling to splash on the floor in front of her.

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