<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko crouched and carefully picked the mask up; it appeared to be undamaged. Looking up, there was no kegare to be seen over the school, or for some distance around it. Beyond that, however, the banks of fog still rose, and even as Akiko watched they began to move in, the exploratory tendrils they sent out dispersing in the air, but not stopping.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Well?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes,â€ Akiko replied. “Yes,â€ more confidently this time, “it worked. The school’s kegare is gone.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Are you all right?â€ The priest sounded really concerned, and Akiko turned to her, nodding.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I managed to convince the aramitama to do things our way, rather than just charging in.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You burst into flames.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I <em>what?â€</em> Akiko just stared at the priest. “I remember feeling hot, but…â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You were enveloped in fire. I couldn’t see you at all.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">There was a sound of distant sirens, and Shiraishi drew a deep breath.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“OK. That happens. The important thing is that the harae worked.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Not for the whole city, though,â€ Akiko pointed out.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“It’s progress. We should get back.â€ She grinned. “We have to break the news to Kazumi.â€ Akiko laughed; Kazumi would not be happy about going back to school.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The sirens were getting louder, and Akiko suddenly realised that they were approaching.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“We should go now, before they arrive.â€ Shiraishi nodded, and they set off, walking quickly, but not running. The fire engines rushed past the end of the alley, clearly on their way to the school.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;"><em>Fire engines?</em> Akiko wondered. <em>But there was no </em>real<em> fire.</em></p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Do you think anyone else saw the flames?â€ Shiraishi asked, the same thing apparently occurring to her.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Did you see the flames at the end?â€ Akiko asked, unsure just how much the priest had seen. Shiraishi nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“The whole school was covered with them. It was really quite spectacular.â€ She paused. “But I was rather assuming that most people wouldn’t be able to see them.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko nodded in agreement.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Kazumi couldn’t see the fire around the shrine before, could she? Maybe there’s just someone living nearby who can see the spirits,â€ she suggested, but then shook her head. “No, in that case they’d have seen the spirits at the school, and something would have…â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Suddenly, the ground shifted beneath them, as windows rattled and car alarms sounded. Akiko flung out her arms for balance, and ran to the middle of the road. She could feel the waves of kegare under the surface of the city, shifting and roiling, not angry, not conscious, but strong, and not happy with being confined. The fog had formed into dozens of tiny tornados, which tore at the ground, trying to dig down and release the forces below.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The shaking stopped, and the fog spread out once more, hiding the houses from Akiko’s view. It took a few moments for her to force her vision back to the mundane, and when she did the first thing she saw was the mask of worry that was Shiraishi’s face.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Akiko? Are you all right? That wasn’t a very big earthquake, but you’ve gone white…â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“The kegare…â€ she began, and then shook her head, starting the sentence again. “That wasn’t just an earthquake. That was the kegare moving. I think we’re running out of time.â€</p>