The light filled the room, dazzling Akiko as the thunder’s crash seemed to shake her to the bone. She turned to look out of the window without thinking, and found the view almost entirely obscured by the falling rain, its roar quiet only compared to the thunder that had heralded it. She stood, leaving her book on the table, and went over to look out properly.

Thunder crashed again before she could reach the windows, rattling them, while the lightning scattered off the raindrops in a wall of light that left her blinded for a moment, blinking to get her vision back. The rain was churning the surface of the pond into froth, spray bouncing off the veranda in a cloud to be lost in the raindrops. The drumming on the roof sounded like a cry of rage to Akiko, and she stood still by the glass, staring out in fascination.

Lightning and thunder again, and she flinched back from the window.

“Quite a storm, isn’t it?â€ Akiko turned to face the priest.

“It certainly is. I don’t remember anything like this in the weather forecast.â€ Shiraishi shook her head in response.

“Clouds, at worst, I think. There seems to have been a lot more rain than expected the last couple of weeks.â€ Akiko nodded, glancing back at the rain, which showed no sign of weakening, let alone stopping. “Anyway, I was just checking that all the windows were closed properly.â€

“Oh, yes, good idea. I’ll help.â€

“Thank you.â€ The priest seemed genuinely pleased, but Akiko quickly noticed a problem.

“Er, I don’t really know my way around…â€

“Oh, true. We can go round together, then. It’ll still be quicker in each room. Come on.â€

Checking the windows and doors did not take much time or effort, although the house was larger than Akiko had thought. They did find one that wasn’t closed properly, and, after closing it, fetched cloths to clean up the water that had got in. The thunder and lightning did not let up, and continued to come at the same time.

At yet another flash and bang, Akiko looked up from wiping.

“This storm seems to be parked over the shrine,â€ she commented. Shiraishi wrung her cloth out into the bucket, and nodded.

“Maybe we’ve been cursed by the kami,â€ she suggested, with a smile. That didn’t seem such an amusing possibility to Akiko, and her reaction must have showed, because the priest hurried on. “That was a joke, you know.â€

“Mm, but what if? It could be a curse, you know.â€ Akiko started to get really worried, and she glanced nervously out of the window.

“Why would Tamao curse his own shrine?â€

“Why would he curse me?â€

“Well… ah.â€ The priest fell silent, and when Akiko glanced back she was looking at the floor, not making any move to clean up. Akiko looked back out of the window, but she could see very little in the darkness. Lightning flashed again, turning the whole scene white and brilliant as the window rattled at the thunder’s roar.

Kami’s curse? Akiko didn’t want to think so.

She and the priest both jumped when the doorbell rang.