What went wrong? Akiko stared at the flame within the iwakura, willing the aramitama to tell her something useful. Why didn’t you purify the school? The flame seemed to flicker a bit more than usual, but it didn’t offer any useful advice.

Akiko’s reverie was interrupted by the sounds of an argument from the entrance to the shrine. Groaning inwardly, she looked around to see whether anyone else was available, but it seemed to be down to her. Reluctantly, she went to the steps, and looked down.

“How can you turn against us like this?” It was Naoyuki, who seemed to be the only person currently protesting.

“Look at you! The whole area is cursed. Only the people who are coming to the shrine are protected from it.”

“It’s all dangerous superstition.” It didn’t sound like his heart was entirely in it, and now that Akiko looked, he really didn’t look well. She started down the steps, and both men looked up at her.

“Ah, good morning. I was hoping to have a purification ceremony…” said the former protester. Akiko nodded at him.

“Of course. Please go up into the shrine; Revd Shiraishi will be happy to perform the ceremony for you.”

“Oh.” He looked a bit taken aback for a moment, and then glanced at Naoyuki, and nodded to her. “Of course. Thank you.” He climbed the steps, and Naoyuki sat down heavily on a small folding chair. He really looked bad; like he needed several days’ sleep, for one thing, and at least one proper meal, for another. Akiko knew she should look for his kegare, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was all too easy for her to imagine the sort of thing she would see.

“What?” Naoyuki was looking at her, and she realised she had been staring. Blushing, she looked down, to cover her confusion.

“I think you’d benefit from a purification ceremony,” she said, as she looked up again. Naoyuki sneered at her.

“I’m not as easily led as some of these people. I know too much about what your so-called “priests” get up to.”

Akiko wondered for a moment what he was on about, and then pressed on.

“OK, you don’t need to have a ceremony, but shouldn’t you go home and get some rest?”

“I don’t give up that easily, either!” he said, a bit fiercely.

“Naoyuki, you really don’t look well. Maybe you should see a doctor.”

“I’m fine!” He was shouting now, pushing himself up to stand facing her. “The only problem is the lies that your shrine is spreading! You might have managed to suborn some of us, but those of us who are left know about your plans, and we aren’t going let them pass without a fight.”

Akiko was completely baffled now.

“Naoyuki, what are you talking about?”

“I was right to get rid of you.” He wasn’t meeting her eyes, Akiko realised. Did he regret breaking up with her? No, it had to be more than that. She remembered his mother’s story. How much does he know about what happened? How much does he want to admit about what happened?

“I’m sorry, Naoyuki. It clearly was for the best that we broke up.” She turned and started climbing the steps again, pausing to look back.

“You really should see a doctor or something.”

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 3 Comments »

Akiko paced around the tree, hoping that Yoshiko would put in an appearance tonight. Neither she nor Shiraishi had been able to come up with any alternative ideas for purifying the high school, and she really wanted to talk to the other miko. Kazumi had wanted to come too, but Akiko had finally convinced her not to.

A flickering light approached through the trees, and Akiko felt a great sense of relief. Yoshiko emerged into the clearing, and bowed formally.

“I have been most remiss in contacting you.”

Akiko bowed in return.

“No, it is I who should be apologising.”

They straightened up and faced each other, and Akiko realised that she had no idea where to start. The silence stretched on, until Akiko had to break it.

“Shall we continue not asking those questions for a while?” Yoshiko looked a bit surprised, and then nodded.

“I think that might be better. I don’t understand what I saw. It was real, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. Yes, it was.”

“Then… I don’t think I’m ready to ask about it yet.”

“No,” Akiko agreed, “I don’t think I am, either.”

There was another awkward pause.

“I do have a different question, though. About purification.” Yoshiko visibly relaxed.

“I might be able to help with that. What is the problem?”

Akiko explained about the school, and the heavy kegare. Yoshiko shuddered at the description.

“I’ve never seen kegare spirits like that. So, you want to purify the place?”

Akiko nodded.

“But it’s very difficult. Normal harae doesn’t seem to work.” She described their first attempt, and then the attempt with the gohei, following Tamao’s instructions. Yoshiko was shaking her head as Akiko finished.

“I’m not surprised it didn’t work. You had the kami present in the gohei; waving it around might make the kami more energetic, but it wouldn’t purify the area.”

“It kept the spirits away,” Akiko pointed out.

“Well, yes. The aramitama would scare any kegare.”

Akiko leant back against the tree, letting her tension drain away for a moment.

“So, what should we do? We need to purify the place.”

Yoshiko nodded, obviously thinking.

“I think you must be right about somehow involving the aramitama. I think that is what Tamao meant. But…” She paused, looking up at the tree as she thought some more, and then looking back at Akiko. “I don’t know. If the kami somehow performed the purification, that might work. But,” she said, quickly raising a hand to forestall the obvious question, “I don’t know how you would make the kami perform the purification. It’s a difficult problem,” she concluded.

“Mm.” Akiko was silent for a few moments, lost in thought, and then she shook herself, and stood up. “Well, we did solve one problem. I know how to get back out of the kami forest here, rather than at that other place.”

“Oh?” Yoshiko suddenly looked interested.

“We just chose the wrong tree. Each of the trees in the forest seems to be connected to a different tree.”

“Ah. Yes, that makes sense,” Yoshiko admitted.

“So… Should we practise the dances in the forest?” Yoshiko looked at the ground.

“It is a good place to practise,” she admitted, without looking up, “but…”

“No, it’s OK,” Akiko said quickly. “We can practise out here. I brought the kagurasuzu.” She held it up, and Yoshiko quickly brightened, soon becoming engrossed in the dance lesson.

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 2 Comments »

Akiko sat at the kitchen table, her third cup of coffee in front of her as she tried to keep her eyes open.

Next time, I’ll insist on going into the forest, she thought. Kazumi had finished breakfast, and had been sent to watch the shrine, while Akiko and Shiraishi discussed the problem of the school. Akiko explained what Yoshiko had said, and Shiraishi nodded as she finished.

“That makes a lot of sense, actually. Waving the kami’s yorishiro around isn’t normally part of purification.”

“Yorishiro? Oh, yes, the thing the kami is inhabiting. Well, it didn’t work, so obviously we were doing something wrong.” She took another sip of coffee, and frowned. “But what can we do to do it right?”

“Well, if we could get the kami to perform the harae, that might well work.”

“Tamao doesn’t have hands,” Akiko pointed out, “and the aramitama doesn’t even seem to have a body.”

“That would make it a bit difficult,” Shiraishi conceded. “Although I think there are other ways to do purification; the ohnusa is just the most standard one today.”

“Like what?”

“Well, washing in a river or under a waterfall is the classic one. Using salt water or boiling water is also common. Transferring the kegare to a paper doll, and either burning the doll or dropping it in a river. Er…” The priest paused a moment. “I think there are some shrines that use small pieces of rope, as well.”

“None of those sound like things that Tamao could do, though,” Akiko said, and Shiraishi shook her head.

“You’re right. They are all designed for people, after all.”

“Do you think I should try to ask Tamao what sort of purifications he can perform?”

“Wait, do you remember? He purified Kazumi with light when we saw him in the other shrine. Do you think he could do that for the school?”

“Maybe…” Akiko thought for a moment. “But he didn’t suggest it. I know Tamao isn’t always as helpful as he could be, but failing to suggest that seems really obstructive.”

“Maybe he’s testing us?”

“I don’t think so. I think he really wants the kegare to be cleared. The aramitama certainly seemed very angry about its presence at the wild festival; I don’t think Tamao would endure it for longer than he had to…” Akiko fell silent as something occurred to her. The aramitama had possessed her at the festival, and before, when she had worn the mask. “Revd Shiraishi, what about if I performed the purification while possessed by the aramitama? Would that work?”

“Could you?”

It was a good question. In the previous possessions, Akiko had not been fully in control of her own body.

“I don’t know, but it might be worth a try. I was able to take the mask off during the wild festival, so I don’t completely lose control. Maybe if we explain to the kami first, I’ll be allowed to keep control.”

The priest looked at her for a few moments, and then stared up at the ceiling for a while. When she looked down, she nodded.

“It’s worth a try. I’d better teach you how to do the purification properly.”

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 3 Comments »

“No, hold it a bit higher. About here.” Shiraishi lifted Akiko’s hands, so that the ohnusa was at chest level. “Now, left hand up a bit. You want to hold the head of the ohnusa a bit higher than the handle.” The priest stepped back, as Akiko held her position, and considered her for a minute, before nodding. “That’s good. Now, walk forward, left foot first.”

Akiko carefully followed the instructions, although she couldn’t shake a worry about them. Finally, they finished, and Shiraishi said she could take a break before practising again.

“Revd Shiraishi, am I going to be able to perform all of these movements correctly while possessed and being attacked by giant cockroaches?”

“Well, if you practise them…” Shiraishi suddenly came to stop, and then grinned, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I took that question completely seriously.”

“But…” Akiko started to protest, and Shiraishi raised a hand.

“I know. It’s just a straight question about the circumstances you are studying for. But… ‘while possessed and being attacked by giant cockroaches’? That’s weird.”

“Well, they aren’t really giant cockroaches,” Akiko offered, but she could see the priest’s point. When had such things become everyday matters of course for her? And, more to the point, how? They turned up in your everyday life, a voice said in the back of her mind. You are really quite adaptable. “Anyway, am I going to be able to do it?”

“If you practise enough, I think so. It needs to be more-or-less automatic.”

“I suppose I’d better do plenty of practice, then. Let’s try it again.”

The movements were not the only thing Akiko needed to practise; she also had to practise reading the purification norito.

“You carry a piece of paper with it written on,” Shiraishi explained, “but given the giant cockroach situation, you’d better try to memorise it.”

“‘Giant cockroach situation’?”

“Sorry.” Shiraishi did sound apologetic. “I just can’t shake the sense that it’s somehow ridiculous.” She grimaced. “Maybe I should apologise to Kazumi for shouting at her about joking about it; it does have a weird side. Anyway, let’s try it again.”

It was lunchtime before Shiraishi let Akiko try a full harae, and Kazumi volunteered to be the subject of it. As Akiko knelt in front of the ohnusa, reciting the norito, she felt something building up inside her, something like tension, like the crackle of static electricity in the air, like the ominous calm of an approaching typhoon. Fragments of kegare suddenly became strikingly obvious to her, tiny deformed insects scuttling across the grass even as they were consumed by a light that seemed to come from the green blades.

When she picked up the ohnusa, she could see the light within it, and as she swung it she felt an incredible sense of release, as the power that had built up inside her swept out, a wave of light that obliterated all kegare before it.

“That was good,” Shiraishi said. “You seem to be getting the hang of these ceremonies.”

“Revd Shiraishi, is it possible to do the harae without any tools?”

“No tools? Well, I’m sure we could think of something. Is it in case you drop them?”

“No, although that’s actually a good point. No, I was thinking about the kami forest. Maybe I can purify the trees, and get back through them.”

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 4 Comments »

“Are we going back to the school tonight?” Akiko asked Shiraishi.

“No, I think you need some more practice first,” the priest replied. “You can do the purification well enough here, but you might have trouble while possessed and being attacked by giant cockroaches.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“I think so; I don’t think we can afford to wait too long.”

Akiko had to agree with that.

“In that case, I think I’ll go to the kami forest tonight.” Akiko couldn’t read Shiraishi’s reaction to that, which was strange. “I’ll be able to practise the version without the ohnusa, at least, and if last time is any guide, I won’t need to sleep.”

“Mm.” Shiraishi’s response wasn’t a refusal, at least.

“Is there a problem?”

“What?” The priest sounded a little surprised. “Oh, no, no problem.”

“Well,” Akiko said, still not entirely sure, “I’d better get changed. The vestments take a bit too long to get in and out of.”

“Oh! Are you going to the kami forest?” Kazumi had just been passing the office, and now she stuck her head through the window. “Can I come too?”

Akiko’s first reaction was to refuse, but she didn’t really have a good reason to, and it wouldn’t hurt to have someone else around in case something went wrong. She nodded, and Kazumi’s face lit up.

“I’ll get changed too.”

Within half an hour, Akiko and Kazumi were both standing in front of the tree in their yukata. They paid their respects, bowing twice, clapping twice, bowing once, and then Kazumi pulled her yukata off and stepped up to the tree. She looked back just before embracing it, and her face turned puzzled.

“Come on, Akiko!”

Taking a deep breath, Akiko undid her belt, and dropped the yukata to the floor.

She felt the rough bark of the tree against her skin for a moment as she embraced it, warm and soothing, and then she was plunged into a wall of spray, fine needles of water driven by a strong wind, driving into her.

She was standing in the forest, with Kazumi next to her. The girl looked around, and then grinned broadly.

“It’s still here!” she shouted, before leaping for a tree and almost running up the trunk into the branches.

“Kazumi!” Akiko called. “Pay attention!”

The upper half of the girl’s body appeared, hanging down below the foliage.

“What?”

“This is the tree that leads back to the shrine. Don’t forget.”

“Right.”

“Seriously.”

“Seriously. I don’t want to end up on the other side of Kawasaki either, you know.”

While Kazumi played, Akiko made her way across the roots to another tree. Looking within, she could see nothing but another tree, an old keyaki, surrounded by darkness. Suddenly, her plan to step through the tree and then purify it seemed really, really stupid. The purification ceremony took a few minutes, and the tree might be on the side of a busy road. She might not be able to finish it before someone interrupted her.

Frowning, she stepped back to consider her options, just as Kazumi dropped from the tree to stand beside her.

“Are you going to purify it?” she asked.

“I… Well, I suppose I could try doing it from here,” Akiko replied. “I need a twig or something…” She looked around among the roots, and soon found a fallen twig with enough branches to look a bit like a tree.

“That’s going to absorb the kegare, right?” Kazumi asked.

“Right. It’s a substitute for the tree.”

“Then what?”

“Normally, you’d burn it or throw it in a river. Here… Well, we’ll see what seems appropriate. Any more questions?” Akiko was smiling slightly as she asked, but Kazumi was utterly serious as she shook her head.

“Well, then…”

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 1 Comment »

Akiko started to recite the purification prayer, concentrating to make sure she did not slip over any of the syllables. The level of life and energy in the forest was making her a little light-headed again, especially with her vision tuned to the spirits, and it wasn’t as easy to focus on the words as she had thought.

I do need more practice, she acknowledged, and almost lost the thread of the norito.

As the prayer continued, Akiko saw wisps of darkness, like scraps of cloud in a windy sky, gather and stream from the tree, towards the twig she held in her hand. Within the tree, the darkness around the tree at the other end was receding as it was drawn through and into the twig. Earthen ground came into view, and then the base of another tree.

The norito finished, and Akiko bowed, the twig held in front of her. As she straightened up, there was a sudden flare of light, and a roaring in her ears, as the twig burst into flames that consumed it in a moment, leaving a light scattering of ash over Akiko’s hands.

For a long moment, Akiko and Kazumi stood in silence, looking at where the twig had been.

“Well,” Akiko said at last, “that answers the question of what we do with the twig.”

“Are you all right?” Kazumi sounded concerned, and Akiko quickly nodded.

“Oh yes, I barely even felt the heat. Certainly no burns.” She held up her hands as evidence, and Kazumi smiled in relief.

“So, did it work?”

“I think so. I can see more of the area around the tree at the other end now.”

“What can you see?” Kazumi sounded a bit impatient, and Akiko remembered when Shiraishi had wished she could see the spirits.

“Just earth and some more trees. Maybe the tree is in a wood somewhere.”

“No-one around?”

“No,” Akiko replied, without thinking, and Kazumi sprang up to the tree, wrapping her arms around it and vanishing.

The girl appeared in the image Akiko could see within the tree, looking around, walking around the tree, and then embracing it once more.

She appeared back beside Akiko.

“What did you think you were doing?” Akiko exploded at her. Kazumi took a step back, her face shocked.

“I… I just wanted to test it.”

“You could have ended up anywhere!”

“I could get back!” Kazumi was almost shouting back now, and Akiko suddenly realised that things were about to get out of control. Dropping her gaze, she took a deep breath.

“OK. It worked.” She looked up again. “It was still a stupid risk.”

“We have to take risks. We aren’t going to find anything out otherwise.” She still sounded sulky and defiant, and Akiko had to admit that she had a point.

“Well, at least tell me in advance.”

“You’d have said no.” Another good point.

“OK. So, where did it go?”

Kazumi smiled.

“Ah, it was dark, so it was a bit difficult to tell. A woodland, though. Quite a big one. Maybe the forest park? Or Ikuta? At least, if it’s within Kawasaki.”

“Was it in a city?” Akiko asked, and Kazumi thought about it for a few moments.

“Yes,” she replied, at last. “I could hear traffic.”

“Hmm.”

“We should have a look at some of the others,” Kazumi said, but her tone was more pleading than the words suggested. Akiko thought for a moment, and then smiled.

“OK. We won’t learn anything if we don’t explore.”

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 1 Comment »

The dark fog of kegare was close around Akiko, and she nodded, trusting that Shiraishi would be able to see the signal. She heard the priest begin the harae norito, and looked around, hoping to see some change.

They were back in front of the school, Akiko carrying the mask from the shrine, but there was no way that they could try calling the kami into such a polluted area. So, the plan was for Shiraishi to purify the area around them first, and hope that this did not draw the attention of the spirits in the school.

The fog began to visibly shift, and Akiko caught a glimpse of light. She looked in all directions, but there was still no sign of any spirit larger than a mosquito, and the smaller ones were all driven off by the faint aura surrounding her body.

The light brightened suddenly, as Shiraishi swung the ohnusa and drove the kegare back. She swung again, and the fog was driven away, leaving Akiko and Shiraishi in a clear area. With the final swing, Shiraishi completed the purification, and a glow seemed to settle on the ground and in the air, holding back the corruption. Akiko looked around once more; still no sign of the spirits.

“It looks OK,” she said, as she walked a bit closer to the edge of the purified area. She could see the fog rubbing up against the light, now, like sandpaper, slowly eroding it. It wouldn’t last for ever, but they should have enough time. She looked back at the priest, who nodded, holding the ohnusa ready.

Akiko stepped back to the centre of the purified area, and took a deep breath as she raised the mask towards her face. She remembered the pain of the previous times the aramitama had taken her, and for a moment her hands froze, the mask still only halfway up.

“I see the spirits,” Shiraishi warned. “I think they’ve noticed us.”

Swallowing her fear, Akiko quickly lifted the mask the rest of the way, settling it over her face, reaching back to tie the strings.

The rage filled her like the wind in sails, driving all other thoughts from her mind. The wall of kegare in front of her still blocked her vision, but now it was painful to look at, as if the sandpaper was rubbing on her eyeballs.

Taking a deep breath, she blew at the fog, and the wind that sprang up around her caught the kegare, twisting it, scattering it, and leaving the school clear to view.

She could see no spirits, but the kegare was obvious, veins of black running through the structure of the building, weaknesses in the pillars supporting it. Currents in the air spoke of fatigue and malice, while the ground was barren, parched and ready to soak up any water, any life that might be poured out on it. The rage flared within her again, and she took a step forward, shifting her weight, ready to run.

“Akiko!”

Shiraishi’s shout was barely audible, but it was enough.

No, Akiko thought, throwing all her willpower into not moving. Not like that. Not. Like. That.

She took two steps forward, and stopped, breathing hard. The rage was still boiling inside her, and sweat was streaming off her. She could still see the light from Shiraishi’s purification, sparks being sucked off and into the school, where the currents of darkness absorbed them. Those currents were shifting now, starting to flow out of the building and towards Akiko. But she still couldn’t move. The aramitama wanted to run straight into the school, and fighting that urge was taking all her effort.

Harae, she thought, directing it at the rage within her. Purify the place.

The currents of decay had reached the edge of the light now, but although they scythed off a bit of the illumination every time they touched it, it was still slow. They still had time.

Harae, Akiko thought again, and turned towards Shiraishi.

The priest was pale, staring at Akiko, and the ohnusa was shaking slightly in her hands, but she still stood there, holding it ready.

Akiko stopped in front of the priest, and bowed. The second time was much easier, the aramitama no longer resisting. She began to recite the norito, aware as she did so that the darkness surrounding them was crowding in, pressing on the barrier of light, as the rage began to build within her again. Forcing herself to focus on the ohnusa, she continued the norito. Light appeared within the shide, and the words flowed out easily, two days of practice showing their worth.

She caught a glimpse of the movement out of the corner of her eye, and felt something cold and empty brush against her skin. She remembered failing a test at elementary school, one she had bragged to all her friends was really easy. She remembered a really bad choice of boyfriend, dumped after an excruciating week. Failure after embarrassing failure came back to her.

And were swept away by the rage, and by the flow of words, as the norito continued to fall from her lips, and the light in the ohnusa strengthened, blossoming into fire.

She took the ohnusa from Shiraishi, holding as she had been taught, and turning to face the school.

In front of her loomed a gigantic figure, like a centipede formed by a rent in the air, a rent into a dark void, an emptiness, a lack in the world. Its jaws clashed together above her head, with a sound like the death of music. As Akiko raised the ohnusa, the thing fell back a pace, its head lowering towards her.

She swung, and the centipede flinched back, dozens of legs scrabbling for purchase as a wave of fire swept over it, illuminating the void, a hundred sparks in the blackness.

She swung again, and the sparks within the centipede grew brighter, flaring in moments into a hundred suns, light that filled the void and vanished, along with the creature itself.

The school was visible now, hunched over, the decay running through it all too obvious. It was in the walls, in the floors, in the water and the books, in the very air of the classrooms. Fear, exhaustion, despair; no sign that the building was normally filled with people on the verge of adulthood.

Akiko swung the ohnusa one last time, and the fire rushed from it in a towering wave, burning red and purple, green and gold, silver limning the edges of the flames. The school grounds vanished in a burning lake, and the buildings were surrounded, covered, hidden in the light.

The flames burned brighter, blindingly so, and Akiko felt the rage within her change to exultation. She could see nothing but the light, hear nothing but the roar of the fire, feel nothing but fierce joy in purity.

And then it was over, the mask falling from her face, bouncing off the ohnusa to land on the ground, spinning a few times before rocking to a stop in the darkness.

07: Spreading the Light, Episode 48 | 9 Comments »