Left alone in front of the shrine, Akiko wondered what to do. This time, there was no sign of a snake behind the blind, although a pair of lamps were burning there, their light flickering through the gaps. A curtain hung across the top of the blind, gathered in the centre, and embroidered on each side with a string of beads coiled into a spiral. Akiko stared at the mark for a few moments, sure that she had seen it somewhere before, before deciding that it must have been the last time she visited the shrine.

Thinking of that reminded her of the etiquette she had been taught.

<em>If it really is the kami trying to get me to visit, I’d best be polite,</em> she thought, and she took out her purse, searching for a 100 yen coin.

When she straightened up from the final bow, her breath caught in her throat as her stomach lurched and her heart pounded. The golden eyes were mesmerising, shining with their own light, twin suns rising in a bank of clouds all the colours of the rainbow. The sound of her blood surging in her ears faded, replaced by the whisper of scales sliding over each other as the snake moved. Its tongue flickered, lightning dancing around its mouth, reflecting off and refracting through the scales, sending shards of green, red, and purple light dancing over the inside of the shrine.

The snake had its head raised, as normal, and alternating bands of gold and silver formed a track down its belly, into the mass of coils that covered the dais like a living necklace. They shifted slightly, and then picked up speed, the whisper turning into the sound of a stream rushing between rocks, and there was even a scent of wet stone on the air. The snake’s enormous body descended gracefully from the dais, catching the light from the lamps and scattering it around the interior in a dazzling display. Akiko started breathing again, rapid pants that sounded loud in her ears, as her fingernails dug into her palms. Her stomach lurched again, but she could not tell whether she was afraid, or excited.

<em>Fear would be sensible,</em> said one voice in the back of her mind, but it was being shouted down by another repeating <em>so beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful…</em>

The snake writhed between the chairs until its body filled the space in the front of the shrine, and its head hung over the offering box, its nose mere centimetres from Akiko’s. Still she didn’t move, feeling almost trapped in those eyes, those pools of golden light, candles in a bejewelled setting. The lightning tongue flicked out again, and Akiko felt a tingle across her lips. Again, across her forehead. As the prickling faded, so did her tension; she felt as safe and comfortable as she ever had, even as a child.

Once more the tongue flicked out, across her eyes, and the brilliant silver of lightning filled her vision, blinding her.

“So, what did you want to talk about?â€

As her vision cleared, the shrine was empty, and Shiraishi stood beside her.