Akiko was woken the next morning by the insistent ringing of her cell phone. She lay in bed for a while, waiting for the answering service to get it, but after a moment it started ringing again. Whoever it was, they weren’t willing to wait. Sighing, she crawled towards it, pulling it back into bed with her before looking to see who was calling.

Naoyuki.

Quickly, she picked up.

“Hello, Naoyuki?â€

“Yes. Akiko, we need to talk. Come to the cafe near the station as soon as you can.â€

“What?â€ Naoyuki sounded upset and angry, and Akiko had no idea what it could be.

“Just come, OK?â€

“OK.â€ Her answer came a bit slowly. “But…â€ Naoyuki had already hung up, before she could ask what it was about.

For a moment she didn’t get out of bed, but she quickly realised that she was falling asleep, and forced herself to sit up, and then stand. She’d better get going.

A quick shower and can of coffee from the vending machine later, she was almost awake, and ready to talk to her boyfriend. When she got to the cafe, he was pacing outside, looking at his watch, and when he saw her he came hurrying over.

“What took you so long? Come on, we need to talk.â€ He grabbed her arm, and almost pulled her towards a bench at the back of the park, a long way from almost all the people there.

“Naoyuki? What is it?â€

“You’ve been back.â€ It was clearly an accusation, but not one that made any sense to Akiko.

“What?â€

“You’ve been back to the shrine. Someone saw you.â€

“Well, yes…â€

“I told you not to go there!â€ He was very nearly shouting, and he suddenly looked around, dropping his voice to avoid drawing attention. “I told you not to get involved with Shinto.â€

Akiko thought that that wasn’t entirely accurate, but she was mostly puzzled by the vehemence of his reaction.

“I’ve only been once or twice…â€ she began, but Naoyuki cut her off.

“What will people think of you? Come to that, what sort of person are you? Going to that sort of place, and after I said not to!â€ He sounded almost incredulous, but Akiko was just getting more and more confused.

“It’s a shrine…â€

“Exactly! People haven’t gone to shrines for decades!â€

“Lots of people go at New Year’s.â€

“That’s different, and anyway you should go to a temple then.â€ He stopped, taking a deep breath and obviously struggling to get himself under control.

“Look, I just want you to promise me that you aren’t going to go back again. Ever.â€

Akiko looked at Naoyuki. He seemed completely in earnest, equal parts disappointed and angry, and she was at a loss. Why on earth was this so important to him?

“Naoyuki, why…â€ she began, but he cut her off again.

“Just promise, OK?â€

For a moment, she thought that she would be only too happy to never go again, but she didn’t think that the kami would allow that. The thought of explaining the problem to Naoyuki passed briefly through her mind, instantly rejected.

“I’m sorry, really, but I can’t.â€ Naoyuki looked really shocked.

“Well… Well then, I’m not sure I can keep seeing you.â€ Akiko almost stopped breathing for a moment, and Naoyuki hurried on. “Call me again when you’ve thought about it some more. Or I’ll call you.â€ So he wasn’t dumping her just yet, then. “But really, you can’t go to the shrine.â€

He started walking away, and although he looked back a couple of times, as if he were going to say something more, he never did.