The boy didn’t stop crying, and Akiko and Shiraishi glanced at each other. Akiko wasn’t sure what to do, and it didn’t look as though the priest had a clear idea, either. After a moment, Shiraishi continued with the ceremony, concluding it as quickly as possible and then starting to clear away the equipment. Akiko hurried to help her, glancing back at the Itos, the parents attempting to comfort their son.

Once the equipment was gathered, Shiraishi turned to bow to the Itos, and excused herself.

“The ceremony is finished. Thank you for your devotion.” Mr Ito looked up and nodded to them, and Shiraishi beckoned to Akiko, leading her quickly out of the house.

In the car, Shiraishi just sat there, her hands on the steering wheel, staring out of the windscreen. Suddenly, she turned to Akiko.

“Akiko, tell me what you see.”

“Kegare, I think.”

“No, in detail. How do you see kegare?”

“Oh.” Akiko turned to look out of the car, gathering her thoughts. “It… varies. Decay, normally. Vines, fungus, insects. Larger animals, often deformed, although those might be spirits rather than kegare itself. Smells of decay, as well.”

“What about the Ito boy? Did you see why he was crying?”

“Ah.” Akiko shuddered a little at the memory. “He was utterly covered in something, like a cocoon. It was leaking pus where his movements had cracked it at the joints.”

“But why? What was it.”

Akiko sighed, looking down and then looking back at Shiraishi.

“I don’t know. When the shrine was polluted, after… after Mr Takenaka died, I saw kegare a lot, but it looked different every time. I assume it was the same kegare, though.”

“So different kegare doesn’t look different?”

“No.” Akiko considered for a moment. “At least, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that the same kegare can appear in a lot of ways, and I don’t think the different sorts of kegare appear differently. Actually, I’m not even sure that there are different sorts of kegare.”

“So you don’t know why the boy was crying?”

“No. He had more kegare than his parents, I think.”

“You can see amounts?”

“I think so. Mr Ito only had a bit wrapped round him, maybe because he’d just had the harae. Mrs Ito had more. Their son, well. Like I said, a cocoon.”

“What about me?”

“None. I seemed to be clean, too.”

“And it all vanished after the harae?”

“Yes. And Mr Ito said that he felt better after the last harae. Actually, the boy didn’t start crying until you’d purified him of all the kegare.”

“What about other people?”

The questioning was starting to make Akiko a little uncomfortable; she was realising how little she really knew about what she was seeing.

“Other people. Yes, they have kegare. Mr Takenaka had a lot when he came to the shrine the morning before he died. Akira had a lot after that, until the ceremony to purify the shrine. Mr Wakabayashi always has quite a lot.”

Shiraishi banged her hands on the steering wheel.

“Wakabayashi has it because he’s hostile to the kami, I think. Hideo had it because he was on the verge of suicide. But I think Akira had it because he had been near his father’s death.” She turned to look at Akiko.

“It doesn’t really tell us anything useful, does it?”

Akiko shook her head.

“I just see the pollution. I don’t see causes.

“I don’t see answers.”

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | 1 Comment »

There were still people gathered near the entrance to the shrine, and Akiko wondered whether they would have trouble getting in. In the event, however, it was easy, with nothing more than a few hostile looks. The shrine precincts were cold, and Akiko shivered a little in her vestments; she remembered Shiraishi saying something about miko wearing long thermal underwear in winter, and understood why.

She had just finished changing into her normal clothes when the doorbell rang. Akiko arrived in the entrance hall just as Shiraishi was opening the door. Mr Wakabayashi was waiting outside. Akiko stiffened, even as he smiled and bowed.  What did he want this time?

“Revd Shiraishi, could I come in and speak to you?”

“You can speak to me here. I will not sell you the shrine.”

Mr Wakabayashi just smiled, and Akiko felt herself go cold. She didn’t like that smile, not in the slightest.

“You borrowed a large sum of money recently, secured on the land, did you not?”

“None of your business.” Shiraishi was clearly trying to keep her annoyance in check. Akiko stayed in the background, not sure what she should do, but sure that it was better for her to be there.

“Oh, but I am afraid it is. The company from which you borrowed the money was having cash flow problems, and was willing to sell the debt to me.”

Akiko didn’t quite manage to suppress a gasp, and she took a step forward before catching herself.

“I don’t believe you.” Shiraishi’s response was flat, but Akiko could not tell whether it was sincere. Wakabayashi shrugged and reached into his bag.

“This is why I suggested that you let me in. If you would look at these papers, you will see that it is quite in order.”

Shiraishi almost snatched the offered papers from him, looking through them, her body becoming visibly tense and her face reddening as she did so. Finally, she looked up, her lips pressed firmly together.

“All right,” she said, after a pause. “It looks like you now own our debt. We have been making the repayments, and we will continue to do so. You only get the land if we default.”

“That is true, of course. I am, however, willing to cancel the loan and pay you one billion yen for the land. You must admit that that is a good deal.”

In purely financial terms, it did sound like a good deal to Akiko. In fact, it sounded like he would lose money on the deal, no matter what he built on the plot. City regulations wouldn’t let him build enough flats to recoup that sort of money. But if he wasn’t just a greedy developer, what was he?

“I have told you over and over again that I will not sell.” Shiraishi wasn’t quite shouting, but Akiko imagined that the self-control must be hard for her.

“In that case, can I ask you to take another look at the loan agreement you signed? Particularly clause 32.”

He held out a sheaf of paper, which Shiraishi almost snatched from him, leafing through it. Akiko moved up to read it over Shiraishi’s shoulder. Clause 32 gave conditions under which the contract could be ended. Akiko read it over, and then read the last one again, as the blood drained from her face. Shiraishi’s grip tightened on the paper as she read it as well.

“In accordance with that clause,” Wakabayashi said, “I hereby give you formal notice that you have one week to repay 80% of the initial loan.”

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | 4 Comments »

Shiraishi seemed stunned, staring at the paper in her hands. Wakabayashi bowed again, and left. Akiko had no idea how to react. How could Shiraishi have signed such an agreement? She clamped her mouth shut on the question before she could ask it, however; this wasn’t the time. But what could she say? She suddenly realised that she was likely to lose her home, again.

There was a sudden sound of cheering from outside. Shiraishi looked up sharply, her face crumpling, and then sat down, hard, on the floor, her shoulders shaking. Akiko hesitated for a moment, then ran out of the house to see what was happening.

Looking down the steps, she could see the protesters gathered at the bottom, around Wakabayashi, cheering. Naoyuki was there, and Mrs Watanabe, although she couldn’t see Mr Akiyama. Wakabayashi had obviously just told them what was happening. Akiko could feel tears pricking at her eyes as a gust of wind struck her, quite strong and laden with grit.

The wind drew the protesters’ attention, too, and they looked up, seeing her. Mrs Watanabe pointed at her, exultant.

“You’re finished! You and your kami, you’re all finished!” And then she laughed.

Akiko realised that she had clenched her fists, and forced herself to relax. She couldn’t help the situation by shouting at the protesters.The wind buffeted her again as she turned and went back into the house.

Shiraishi was still sitting on the floor, now crying quietly. Akiko sat down beside her, wondering what to do. Tentatively, she reached out a hand, resting it on the priest’s shoulder. The older woman stiffened for a moment, then let out a wail and leant against Akiko’s shoulder, sobbing.

Akiko had no idea how to react, and finally, tentatively, put an arm around the priest.

When Shiraishi quietened down, Akiko asked the question that had been bothering her.

“How much are we short?” If the lender called the loan in early, only 80% had to be repaid, and Akiko knew that they hadn’t spent all of the money. Could they actually make it up? Shiraishi sobbed a couple of times, and then managed to answer.

“About twenty million yen.” Akiko sucked her breath in sharply. That was a lot of money. More than they could borrow easily, that was clear.

“Can we find it?” Outside, the wind had picked up again, howling round the entrance.

“Twenty million yen!” was Shiraishi’s only response. It was true that Akiko couldn’t see any obvious way to raise that much money, certainly not in a week. It was enough to buy a reasonable-sized flat.

Akiko wasn’t willing to give up. They couldn’t give up. They couldn’t do anything about the kegare if they didn’t have a shrine, and how would Tamao react if the precincts were destroyed? They had to think of something.

“Revd Shiraishi…” she began.

“Leave me alone!” the priest shouted. Then she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she said, more quietly, but without looking at Akiko. “I just…” She stopped, her shoulders heaving a couple of times, and then tried again. “I can’t…”  Again, she couldn’t finish, but Akiko understood enough. She stood up.

“I’ll be outside if you want me, Revd Shiraishi.”

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | 1 Comment »

The wind was stronger when Akiko stepped out of the front door, whipping her hair around her face and blowing dust up and into her eyes. The branches of the trees were swinging back and forth, and even the trunks were swaying.  Akiko walked to the top of the steps, looking down. There was no-one there, and as the wind flung a twig against her face, she realised why.

Wincing, and rubbing at the sore spot, she turned back into the precincts, staggering a little as an even stronger gust caught her. There was a snapping sound as a branch came off a tree, flung to the ground in front of her. The wind swept round, changing direction, pushing Akiko back towards the steps, then, as she tried to brace against it, changing direction abruptly, blowing from behind her so that she fell forward, catching herself with her hands. The soil pressed into her palms, and her knees stung where she had banged them. Her hair was still blowing into her eyes, and two small twigs bounced off her back before she had properly regained her balance. She had to go back into the house.

Akiko pushed herself back up, struggling to her feet.

And froze.

The wind was no longer just wind. Tamao flew through the air, riding the currents, his jaws agape as he belched out the windstorm. Lightning danced around his open mouth, and Akiko could feel the anger coming off him.

The kami swept down, across the open area of the precincts, through the space that had once been occupied by his shrine building, and then climbed into the sky, twisting in the air. The wind twisted with him, and Akiko lost her footing again, falling to one knee, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the kami. Even angry, he was beautiful, gems shining against the dark sky.

Tamao dived again, into the woodland, wrapping his body around one of the trees and shaking back and forth. The roar of the wind filled Akiko’s ears, filled her mind, as Tamao’s body shone from within the woodland. Leaves filled the air, ripped from the trees by the fury of the storm, plastered against Akiko’s body by the wind, driven into her mouth. She raised a hand to ward the twigs off from her face, and then started across the precincts as she realised what Tamao was doing.

“No! Tamao! Leave the tree!” she shouted, but the wind whipped the words away. The kami seemed to hear, nevertheless, because he fixed his eyes on her, opening his mouth to roar and shaking his head, as the tree, with a terrible groaning sound, tipped sideways, and then fell with a great crash, shaking the ground as it glanced off the trunks of the other trees around it, settling to the ground in a great cloud of dust and leaves.

Tamao sprang up into the air again, hovering over the shrine precincts as clouds gathered around him, thickening, becoming ever blacker. Lightning leapt from his mouth to the clouds, and Akiko heard the first rumble of thunder. The wind was as strong as ever, and a clattering sound suddenly drew her attention.

Hideo Takenaka’s shrine. She could just see it, still in place, but straining against the cords they had used to tie it down. One of them snapped.

Akiko ran over to it, the wind blowing from behind her, helping her on her way. She reached it before the second cord gave way, wrapping her arms around it and holding it down.

“Thank you.”

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | 4 Comments »

Akiko knew the voice, and she looked up, mouth open in shock.

Hideo Takenaka was standing beside the shrine, dressed in a suit. He looked grateful, but also a bit worried.

“I don’t know what I would have felt if that had blown away, but I doubt it would have been pleasant.”

He looked alive.

Akiko looked away, out to the centre of the precincts, where Tamao was still twisting through the air. There was another crash of thunder, and the rain started. Akiko was soaked in a moment, but she couldn’t make herself move. She managed to look back. Mr Takenaka was still there.

Well, if I can see Tamao, and Mr Takenaka is now a kami, I suppose it makes sense. And I saw him before. Even if it was in a fever dream.

“Mr Takenaka?” Akiko could feel the water soaking through her clothes and starting to run down her skin, and noticed that Mr Takenaka’s suit was not getting wet. “Are you really there?”

“Yes, I’m really here.”

“How?”

He shrugged, with a half smile.

“I don’t know. I remember hanging myself — an experience I do not recommend, by the way — and I remember being enshrined here. The bit in between…” He shrugged again. “That’s more like a dream memory. Or hallucinations.” Akiko remembered all too well what he had been doing then, and decided not to say anything. “And so you can see me.”

Akiko nodded; that was obvious.

“But not all the time, right?”

“All the time?”

“Yes. I’m always here, you know. This is where I’m enshrined; I’m not sure I can leave the precincts.”

“So you know what’s going on?”

He nodded.

“Wakabayashi drove me to my death, so I pay attention when he comes.” His face suddenly became completely serious. “Ms Tanahata, this is very important. You have to find a way to preserve the shrine.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t. You think you do, but…” He seemed to take a deep breath. Do kami breathe? Akiko wondered.

“Aramitama,” Mr Takenaka said. “You have heard of it?” Akiko nodded, and he continued. “Tamao’s aramitama is enshrined in the iwakura.” Akiko remembered the pulsing presence within the stones, and nodded slowly. “Ah. I see you have had some dealing with it.” He paused again, as if deciding what to say.

“The storms have been Tamao’s nigimitama. The aramitama is much more forceful, more violent, and it cares a lot less about whether people get hurt.

“If the shrine is destroyed, the aramitama will be furious. Floods, earthquakes, storms, all at once. Even volcanic eruptions.”

“Mount Fuji?” Akiko asked, without thinking.

“No,” Mr Takenaka shook his head, “the kami of Mount Fuji is too powerful for Tamao to interfere. No, Tamao would create a new volcano, here.”

“He can do that?”

“I fear so. He is certainly threatening it. Even if he can’t, the other disasters would kill hundreds, at least.”

Akiko swallowed hard, and nodded.

“I understand. I don’t know what we can do, but I understand.”

“Good.” Mr Takenaka paused, and this time he looked almost embarrassed. “Ah, could you give my son two messages?”

“Oh… Yes, of course.”

“Thank you. First, tell him that the password for the encrypted directory is “obviously”, in English. And second…” The kami paused, looking really embarrassed. “Second, tell him I’m proud of him for continuing the company.”

He vanished, and when Akiko looked around there was no sign of Tamao, either. It was still pouring with rain, but the wind had dropped. Her clothes and hair clinging to her skin, Mr Takenaka’s warning heavy in her mind, Akiko stood up to return to the house.

And how am I going to tell Akira?

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | 5 Comments »

When Akiko got back into the house, water dripping off her onto the floor, Shiraishi was nowhere to be seen. Akiko thought about calling out, asking for a towel, but it didn’t seem appropriate. Where were they going to find twenty million yen? And what was going to happen if they didn’t? Akiko quickly pulled her shoes off and ran to the bathroom.

After drying off a bit and putting a yukata on, Akiko went in search of the priest. It didn’t take long to find her; she was sitting in her room, her head in her hands, the sake bottle and glass in front of her.

The sake bottle was still unopened.

“Revd Shiraishi?”

The priest looked up, her eyes red and her face streaked with tears.

“Is Tamao going to produce money to save us?”

“Ah…”

“No. Stupid question. He never does anything helpful. Always asking, never giving.”

Akiko sat down opposite the priest.

“We aren’t doing this for Tamao, though. We’re doing it for everyone who lives here, right?”

“You and me?” Shiraishi’s voice was on the verge of tears, but she seemed to want to talk now.

“Bigger here. This whole area. We have to protect them from the kegare, and from Tamao.”

“Is that what you think we do?”

Akiko nodded, thinking about how to put it.

“It was just before you made me a miko. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do it; what had Tamao ever done for me? Then I realised that I had to mediate between Tamao and the people living here. I think he can help with the kegare; he stopped the thing that was chasing me, remember. And, on the other side, we have to protect people from his anger.”

Shiraishi was almost smiling.

“You make Tamao sound like an adolescent.”

Akiko just managed to stop herself from laughing, as she realised that was exactly how she’d been thinking of him. A delinquent teenager. No, a talented delinquent teenager.

“Um. That’s, er, not very respectful, is it?” Akiko could feel herself blushing a bit.

“Accurate, though.”

There was a crash from outside, something blown over by the wind, and both women jumped.

“I think he heard us,” Akiko said.

“Yes, well, if he has any sense he’ll realise that he has bigger problems than the two of us running out of patience with his tantrums.” The priest sighed. “I think it’s over, Akiko. Maybe we could have survived Hideo’s suicide, and the fire, but not this as well. I don’t know…”

“Revd Shiraishi,” Akiko interrupted, “I just spoke to Hideo Takenaka.”

“What?”

“He’s a kami now, in the precincts.” Shiraishi had gone pale, and was staring at her. Then, slowly, she nodded.

“Right. And you see the kami. I… I really hadn’t thought that through.”

“He warned me about Tamao’s aramitama. He said that it would get really angry if the shrine was destroyed, and could kill a lot of people.”

“Oh… wonderful.” The priest buried her head in her hands again. “I don’t think Wakabayashi will take that as a reason for not taking the shrine off us.”

“We have to do something. Couldn’t we sell a bit of it?”

“Not in a week. And we shouldn’t sell any of the precincts, not really.”

“What about the ujiko?”

“Twenty million yen, Akiko.”

“Refunds from the craftsmen?”

“Not enough.”

“Revd Shiraishi, we can’t give up!”

The priest reached for the sake bottle, and then let her hand fall onto the table.

“No, you’re right. We mustn’t give up.

“But what can we do?”

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | Comments Off

That was the pressing question. Akiko sat down across from Shiraishi, and tried to be as positive as possible.

“Well, we could call the ujiko. I’m sure Akira would help, and Mr Ito. And it wouldn’t hurt to call other people as well. They might also want to help the shrine.”

“We’d need about a million yen per person,” Shiraishi said. For a moment, Akiko was shocked. Only twenty people?

“There must be more people than that with some connection to the shrine. And,” inspiration struck, “we don’t need gifts from them. Loans are fine. We just need to pay Wakabayashi off; paying them off later is not a problem.”

“Without a shrine building? We can’t rebuild without the money.”

“Let’s save the grounds first!” Akiko realised that she was shouting, and quickly calmed herself down. “I’m sorry. I’m just a bit stressed after seeing the kami. Tamao knocked a tree over in the precincts, you know.”

“I thought that was the wind?” Shiraishi asked. Akiko shook her head. “Well,” the priest continued, “it sounds like we can’t rely on much help from Tamao; he’s just making things worse.” She paused, but Akiko said nothing and waited for her to go on. “So we have to do it ourselves.” She pushed her hands down on the table and stood up. “I’ll make a list and start calling round the ujiko. You can… er…”

“I think I should clean the precincts after the wind and rain. Tamao might cause even more damage if the shrine is a mess.” Shiraishi looked at her for a while, and then nodded.

“That might be best. I can’t think of anything you could do to get the money, in any case.”

Akiko stood up, and had already left the room when the priest called after her.

“Oh, Akiko. Wear your miko vestments.”

“What? Why?” Akiko was puzzled. It was hardly a ceremony.

“It makes the shrine look more active. And, come to think of it, makes it clear that it’s a shrine. We don’t want people to think we’ve already closed.”

That did make sense, so Akiko nodded in agreement and went to get changed.

The storm had already passed by the time Akiko was changed, and she concluded that Tamao had got over his temper tantrum. It was almost dark, however, and Akiko soon realised that she couldn’t clean effectively that night. She paid her respects to the site of the shrine, and the iwakura, and then went back inside.

She was up early the next morning, in her vestments again, and out to start properly on the cleaning. The precincts were a mess, with leaves and twigs everywhere, not to mention mud from the rain, and the fallen tree in the wood. She had a quick look at that before she started, but it didn’t look dangerous, and it did look far too big for her to do anything about, so she left it to concentrate on the things she could do.

She had cleared the largest branches away, stacking them by the shrine house until she could talk to Shiraishi and decide what to do with them, and had just got the broom out when she heard a commotion from the bottom of the stairs.

The protesters again, she thought, and, with a sigh, went to see what was going on.

It was the protesters, blocking the way of another older man whom Akiko had not seen before. He was wearing traditional Japanese dress, a haori and hakama, which surprised Akiko. She had never seen a man wearing it anywhere but a wedding. She hurried down the steps, glancing at the protesters. She had seen them before, but Mrs Watanabe wasn’t there, and nor was Mr Akiyama. By the time she reached the bottom of the steps, she was fairly confident that she could deal with it.

“What is the problem?” she asked.

“I would like to enter the shrine and have a norito said, but these… people,” the man indicated the protesters, his voice heavy with contempt, “do not want to let me past.”

Akiko bowed to him, trying to remember everything she had been taught about manners. There was something about his bearing that said that he would notice, and remember, any lapse.

“We would be pleased to perform the ceremony for you.” She turned to the protesters, and one of them spoke before she could.

“Why bother? It’s not like there’s going to be a shrine here next week.”

Akiko clenched her fists and her jaw, trying to keep control. She wanted to see how the man reacted to that, but she didn’t want to be obvious about it. Forcing herself to relax, she did her best to keep her voice level as she replied.

“There is a shrine here now, and this gentleman would like to have a norito said. Are you going to obstruct him as he goes about his lawful business?”

The protester held her gaze, defiantly, for a moment, before dropping his eyes and shaking his head.

“Good,” Akiko said, and then turned back to the man. “This way, please.” They started climbing the steps, and Akiko felt the need to explain to him. “I’m afraid that the shrine currently lacks a honden or a haiden…”

“Yes, the fire. I heard.”

“So the norito will have to be offered at a himorogi.”

“Yes, that is fine. I understand the necessity.”

He waited outside while Akiko fetched Shiraishi from the office. When they came out, the man and the priest both bowed.

“My name is Fujimura,” he said. “Pleased to meet you.”

“I am Shiraishi, the chief priest of this shrine. Pleased to meet you.”

He’s not an ujiko, then. Akiko was surprised. Why was he there, in that case?

“I should like to have a norito offered.”

“Of course. What kind?”

“I should like you to pray for the health and prosperity of their majesties the Emperor and Empress, and for the peace and prosperity of the Japanese nation.”

“Of course. Please come inside; I will get changed.” Shiraishi showed him to the reception room, then pulled Akiko aside in the corridor.

“Get him tea and Japanese sweets, as quickly as you can.”

“Who is he?”

“I don’t know, so he may become a new supporter for the shrine. Hurry.”

Akiko got the tea and took it through, bowing as she set it on the table. Mr Fujimura bowed his head back, in acknowledgement, but said nothing to her. Akiko felt slightly awkward, and withdrew to wait in the corridor.

The norito was offered without any problems, or direct intervention from the kami. As they were starting, Akiko tried to switch to seeing kegare, to see whether Mr Fujimura was polluted, but she couldn’t quite get it, and then Shiraishi did the initial purification, which would cleanse him anyway, so she stopped bothering. One of the protesters did come up to the precincts, but he didn’t interfere with the ceremony.

Afterwards, Mr Fujimura thanked them, and handed over a box, wrapped in a square of silk, as his offering. Shiraishi accepted it gratefully, and Akiko escorted him to the top of the stairs. He turned to bow to the shrine, but then did not look back as he swept past the protesters.

Akiko returned to the office to find Shiraishi unwrapping the offering. The priest looked up as she entered.

“I wonder what this is. Actual rice? Or maybe silk cloth? That would be very traditional, and he did look the traditional type.”

Inside the cloth was a lacquer box, simple but apparently well made. Shiraishi whistled softly.

“This is nice,” she said. Carefully, she lifted the lid from it, and she and Akiko both gasped.

The box was full of ten-thousand-yen notes.

On to Part 5: Spirit Busters.

04: Commitment, Episode 28 | 6 Comments »