“There are a lot of them down there today,â€ Akira said as he came into the shrine. “Anything special going on?â€ Akiko looked at him for a moment, and then shook her head.

“Not really. Mr Yamamoto came this morning, but there’s not been anyone else since.â€

“Hmm. Maybe a lot of them had free time today. Anyway, they did seem to be just hanging around there, so maybe it’s nothing to worry about. How are you, anyway?â€

“Me? Oh, I’m fine.â€ She was, as well. Provided she kept busy, so that she didn’t remember the vision, she felt great. All her exhaustion seemed to have vanished, something that she suspected was due to the vision. <em>Not worth it,</em> she thought, and quickly tried to take her mind off it. “How are you?â€

“Not too bad, thank you for asking. Work is holding up, which is good, and I’m steadily getting a better grip on how everything functions. Give it another six months and I might actually be running the company, rather than just following lots of advice.â€ He grinned, blushing slightly. Akiko smiled, and nodded. It did sound like things were going quite well for him. “Actually,â€ he continued, “I was just wondering…â€

At that moment, Shiraishi appeared, with the equipment for the ceremony.

“Ah, Akira. Thanks for coming again. I’m sorry we have to keep asking you.â€

“Oh, really, it’s a pleasure.â€ Akiko was sure he looked at her as he said that.

“Well, thank you anyway,â€ the priest replied. “Akiko, could you take this pile down to the car, please? See you later, Akira.â€

“Yes, take care.â€

Akiko picked up her pile and, with a quick smile for Akira, headed for the exit, followed by Shiraishi.

At the top of the steps, she paused, looking down. There were a lot more protesters than normal and, while they were quiet at the moment, they were lined up along the sides of the steps; there was barely room to walk down the middle. Akiko could see Mrs Watanabe, and some other familiar faces, including Naoyuki, but Mr Akiyama wasn’t there. She started to feel nervous, and glanced at Shiraishi. The priest also didn’t look pleased.

“Well, I guess we’re going to have to walk down the centre. I’ll go first.â€

As soon as she set foot on the steps, the protesters started chanting.

“Shinto: NO! Fascism: NO!â€

Doing her best to ignore them, Akiko followed after Shiraishi.

When they reached the highest protesters, Akiko realised that there really was only barely enough room to walk down. She tried to pull herself in, make herself smaller, but she couldn’t help brushing against them.

The first push came a couple of steps down. It wasn’t very strong, and Akiko easily kept her balance. She kept her eyes forward, refusing to acknowledge it, but then she was pushed again on the next step. This time she did glance to the side, and the protester there was glaring at her, her face angry. Akiko looked back to the front.

The next push was quite strong, knocking her into the protester on the other side, who pushed again. She lost her balance, and dropped her pile as she flung her arms, grabbing onto the protesters, who pushed her off, and finally stumbling against Shiraishi’s back. The priest, fortunately, did not fall.

Grateful that she hadn’t been carrying anything fragile, Akiko began gathering the scattered objects. The protesters were not helpful, but at least they had stopped pushing.

At the bottom of the steps, they passed Ms Yamanaka, still in her kimono, an expression of shock on her face.