At first, Akiko did not know what had woken her. The house was quiet, isolated from the noise of the city by the shrine grounds, the room illuminated by a gentle light from outside. She sat up in bed, straightening the yukata that Shiraishi had lent her, and looked around the room, glancing out of the window.

In the heart of the iwakura, she could see a red light, pulsing to some inner rhythm, casting changing shadows across the precincts towards her windows. She pushed the futon off her legs, and walked over to the windows. They slid open easily, and the night air was surprisingly warm around her as she walked out onto the veranda. She walked along it a short distance, until the shrine building came into view as well. A warm, golden light, much steadier than the red glow among the stones, spilled out of the front.

Curious, Akiko stepped off the veranda, into the sandals left there for when people wanted to go into the garden, and made her way carefully over the stone bridge crossing the pond. A stone basin of water stood at the gate out of the garden, and Akiko quickly rinsed her hands and mouth, pulling the yukata more closely around her as the chill of the water made the air feel cooler.

As she stepped out of the garden the red light among the stones started to fade, but the light from inside the shrine remained strong, and the faint rustling of bells teased at her awareness. She walked across the grass to the foot of the steps into the shrine, and looked up.

The doors were wide open, and the interior was brightly lit, the light spilling over the balcony, casting hazy shadows of the railings on the ground around her, darks bars on green grass. Akiko, on impulse, stepped out of the sandals as she began to climb the steps, almost holding her breath in anticipation.

Standing on the balcony, Akiko felt that there was something strange about the shrine, but for a long moment she couldn’t put her finger on it. The stools were lined up as normal, and a single square tatami mat sat on the raised platform, directly in front of the doors to the inner shrine. She stepped into the building, and was climbing the steps to the dais before it struck her.

The lights were all out, but the room was filled with brilliant illumination.

Her breath now coming quickly, Akiko walked to the tatami mat and knelt on it, facing the doors. As she settled herself, the doors swung outwards, opening apparently by themselves.

Tamao filled the doorway, his golden eyes fixed on her as lightning played around his lips, refracted into dazzling colours from the red, green, and purple jewels of his skin.

Akiko bowed her face to the floor, twice, then, sitting straight, clapped her hands together twice in front of her chest, before bowing her face to the floor once more.

As she raised her face she saw the doors closing, and the light within the shrine began to fade. Hurriedly, she got to her feet, turning at the door to the shrine to bow once more before leaving. The precincts were rather darker now, but there was still enough light for her to find her way back to the garden, and back to her room. She carefully, trying not to make any noise, closed the window behind her, before lying back down on the futon and soon falling asleep.