“Akiko! Akiko! It’s all right.â€ Akiko opened her eyes on hearing Shiraishi’s voice and looked around her room, not really taking anything in. There was no sign of decay, no sign of kegare. Breathing a sigh of relief, she relaxed back into the bed.

She couldn’t get comfortable, though, and a noise from outside, something she couldn’t quite place, kept distracting her, just as she thought she was about to get to sleep. Finally giving up, she flung off the futon and got up, pulling a yukata on for warmth as she went out through the windows into the garden, picking her way carefully around the pond in the dark and the mist.

She could hardly see anything, and almost felt her way towards the entrance, the apparent source of the sound. It was clearer now, someone muttering and occasionally shouting, but she couldn’t make out any words, just sounds that hovered on the edge of clarity before falling back into mere noise once more.

Just inside the torii she stopped, one hand on the cool, rough stone of the upright, peering out into the gloom. She caught sight of motion, someone pacing, up and down the steps, and across them from one side to another. The shape was vaguely familiar, and then she placed it: Mr Takenaka.

At that moment she could understand what he was saying, catching even his mutterings.

“Betrayal. Lies. That’s what it is. Ingratitude. None of them put any value on what I’ve done for them over the years. None of them care about anything other than making as much money as possible. No loyalty. No-one is honest any more. No-one. Look what they did to me! Look what they are doing to the area!â€

Mr Takenaka walked all the way up the steps, right to the threshold of the torii, but he didn’t look at Akiko. Rather, he was staring into the precincts. Akiko glanced over her shoulder, but she could see nothing, the shrine building lost in the mist, the lights apparently not working. She looked back, and Mr Takenaka was still standing there. He raised his fists and screamed at the shrine.

“You too! You have no loyalty. I’ll show you all. You will all regret what you did to me! All of you! But the ones who betrayed me will regret more than most. Sugiyama! I mean you! You will pay for abandoning me.â€ His hands dropped back to his sides, and he looked down, breathing heavily, his distorted face slowly relaxing.

“An electrician. That’s what you were, Sugiyama. You betrayed that. And so electricity will betray you.â€ It was almost whispered. “Yes, you will feel its anger. And my anger, through it.â€ His voice was getting louder again, and he looked up, then spun round to face out over the city. “Lightning, Sugiyama! I’m going to strike your house with lightning! You cannot escape it. Your house cannot run. Your excuses are no good now!â€ Takenaka was screaming into the darkness again.

“Lightning will burn you!â€