After a quick shower, Akiko sorted out some more of her clothes, deciding what to wear. She hung her work uniform up, her heart sinking as she realised that she was going to have to return it at some point, but chose jeans and a sweat shirt, because she planned to spend the day collecting as much litter as she could from the woodland. The kami certainly didn’t seem to mind her doing that, and she wanted to take advantage of the good weather.

She passed Shiraishi in the entrance hall, and the priest mentioned breakfast, but Akiko wasn’t hungry. She just wanted to get outside and into the woods.

Once in the shadow of the trees, she started sobbing, and at first she could not understand why. Although her tears blurred her vision, she kept going deeper into the woods, trying to get far enough from the shrine buildings that no-one would notice. The sobs got stronger as she walked, until finally she could go no further, and sat down, leaning against a tree, and let herself cry, crying for everything that she had had, been, and hoped.

At length, her tears stopped, and she wiped her eyes, looking up at the leaves of the tree waving gently in the breeze as shards of sunlight scattered across them. Something white fluttered above her and, twisting round, she realised that there was a rope with white papers on it tied around the tree. She got to her feet, and slowly walked around it.

The twisted trunk had its own beauty, and as she touched the bark she felt shivers run down her back. She was sure, then; she had seen this tree before, when cleaning the shrine in the rain. It smelled of sap and life, and its solidity, stretching up into the sky, was somehow reassuring. <em>Your problems are smaller than you think</em>, it seemed to be saying to her. <em>Every ending is also a beginning.</em>

She smiled to herself, a little wryly. <em>Very down-to-earth wisdom,</em> she thought. But still, not without elements of truth. She walked round the tree once more, tracing a line around the trunk with her fingertips, and found herself wanting to embrace it. She looked around, feeling slightly foolish. Why did she want to hug a tree? She did, though, and there didn’t seem to be anyone to notice. Biting her lip, she stepped back a bit, considering the best way to do it, then stretched out her arms and pressed herself against the bark.

All of her tension and worry disappeared, as if washed out of her. She pressed her cheek against the bark, rubbing against the wood, breathing the the smell of the tree in deeply, feeling every lump and whorl of the wood against her skin. For long moments there was nothing but the tree, but then she became acutely conscious of the fabric between her and it, cutting her off, isolating her.

She stepped back, and looked at the tree again. She was still calm, and it was with a slight smile that she said,

“No <em>way</em> am I going to get naked to hug you.â€

Then she realised that she was talking to a tree, and looked round to make sure no-one was there. She relaxed again on finding that she was alone, and, remembering her original intention, started looking for litter.