As normal on a Friday, it was late before Akiko got away from the office. She  fell asleep on the train and almost missed her stop, and had to fight to stifle repeated yawns as she bought a bento from the shop by the station. She set off walking, and then realised that she was going to pass Tamao Shrine. Turning down a side road, she decided that she did not want to face the shrine that night.

The noise of people shouting at each other got louder as she went forward, and continued. Rounding a corner, she saw a group of young people, men and women, scattered across the street, hurling insults and occasional punches at each other. They were obviously drunk, with quite a few of them bright red and all of them unsteady on their feet, and Akiko did not fancy walking through the argument. Still, the only sensible alternative route, particularly at this time of night, was past the shrine, so she waited for a moment, to see if they would move on, or make up.

With a yell, one of the men launched himself at another man, and the others soon piled in. As the brawl developed, Akiko decided that the shrine was a safer option, and beat a hasty retreat.

The top of the hill was quiet, and the dark mass of the shrine forest kept watch over the houses. The leaves murmured secrets to one another in the wind, which brought them to Akiko along with a scent that promised flowers to come. For a moment, she thought that she could almost make out words in the rustling of the leaves, and strained her ears to hear better.

Shaking her head at her foolishness, she walked on, as the torii emerged from the undifferentiated darkness, a more solid mass of shadow at the top of a channel of darkness running up between high banks and higher trees. The rough surface of the stone stood out, a pattern of characters that Akiko could almost make out, almost read…

She tripped and fell, sprawling on the road right at the base of the steps to the shrine. Sucking in her breath and brushing grit from her hands, she picked up the bag with her bento in, relieved to see that it had not suffered too much damage. Standing, she glanced up the steps into the precincts.

The torii was hidden in the darkness. Akiko stared in disbelief. She had been looking at the patterns on it moments before; how could it be invisible now? Everything around her was quiet, as she took an involuntary step towards the stone stairs. Maybe she would be able to see the markings if she went closer, she thought.

She began to take a second step, but then turned away from the shrine, looking out at the twinkling lights of Tokyo, the skyscrapers sprinkled with late workers. There was no reason to go into the shrine. It was the middle of the night, it would all be dark, and if the priest saw her she would probably call the police. It was much more sensible to go directly home.

Fortified by a sense of her own rationality, Akiko walked away, ignoring the leaves as they called out to her.