“Good morning, Akira,â€ Shiraishi replied. “I’ll go and get changed; come and wait inside. If you’ll excuse me, Ms Tanahata.â€ The priest bowed briefly to Akiko, who quickly returned it, and then disappeared into the shrine house.

Akira made no move to go into the house, just standing on the path. Akiko thought she might be in the way, and took a step back, away from the door, but he still didn’t move.

“Ah… Have you come for a ceremony as well?â€ he asked, sounding a little nervous.

“No, I was just returning a coat.â€ Akira said nothing, but looked like he was waiting for Akiko to say more. She was about to make her excuses and leave, when she realised that she did not, in fact, have anywhere to go or anything to do, and extending the conversation suddenly seemed like a very good plan. “Are you here for a ceremony, then?â€

“Yes,â€ Akira replied, enthusiastically. “I’ve come to have a business success ceremony performed for my father.â€ He stopped, suddenly, and Akiko was sure he had been planning to say more. She glanced behind her, but Shiraishi hadn’t reappeared.

“A business success ceremony? What’s that like?â€

“Like most other ceremonies, except that the norito is a request for business success.â€

“Norito?â€ It was a word Akiko had not heard before.

“Oh, the words that the priest says to the kami. The main bit of the ceremony, I suppose.â€

“Oh, the prayer?â€

“Yes, I suppose it is a lot like a prayer. Actually,â€ he grinned suddenly, “I’m not at all sure what the official difference is. Apart from noritos being in old Japanese, I suppose, but I don’t imagine that’s the most important distinction.â€

“Hmm, no.â€ Akiko fell silent for a moment, as she couldn’t think of anything else to say about noritos.â€So… is there any particular reason for this ceremony?â€ She wondered if there was something special about the day, or some rule that you were supposed to have the ceremony every year.

“Well, my father’s business isn’t doing well. I don’t know the details, but I know that there aren’t as many clients as there are normally. I think he’s worried about it, so I decided to have an extra ceremony done. It can’t hurt.â€ Akiko felt very awkward, unsure that she wanted to have been told all of this. Akira suddenly blushed, and continued. “Don’t tell my father, will you? I haven’t told him I’ve come to have the ceremony done.â€

“No, of course not. I probably won’t have the chance to.â€

“Well, you do seem to bump into him quite a lot. You saw him yesterday, right?â€ Now it was Akiko’s turn to blush, and she could feel her face heating up. How much had Mr Takenaka told his son about her protest to the kami? Or the fight with Naoyuki? How much had he seen, come to that? Akira’s face became slightly quizzical, which, after a moment, was a relief. If he didn’t know why she was embarrassed, his father couldn’t have said very much.

“That’s true, I did. But it was pure chance.â€

“Still outside, Akira?â€ Shiraishi’s voice came from inside the house, and Akiko and Akira both turned to see her standing there in full ceremonial vestments. “If you would like to come in now, we can do the ceremony.â€

“And I should be going,â€ Akiko said. “Thank you again for the loan of the coat, Revd Shiraishi.â€