<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko knew she was still smiling as she walked back to the shrine house after seeing Akira off, but she couldn’t seem to stop it. Kazumi ran out of the door in her school uniform, grinning as she passed, and when Akiko entered the office Shiraishi looked up, also smiling.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Did it go well?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko didn’t entirely understand the question.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Er, it? I spoke to Akira. Oh, is it all right if I’m not at the shrine this evening? We’re going out for dinner.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Ah. It did go well.â€ Shiraishi smiled at her, then looked down at the papers in front of her. “Yes, that’s fine. I’m not anticipating any crises.â€ Akiko could feel herself blushing. <em>Was I really that transparent?</em> she asked herself.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Oh, another thing,â€ Akiko said, as she remembered her conversation with Akira. Shiraishi looked up again.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Do you need me for anything right now? Akira said that the whole area felt better, and I’d like to go and look for kegare. Just to be sure.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi looked shocked, and was quiet for a moment.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“That’s right,â€ she said at last. “We haven’t checked. Yes, go and look. It’s a very good idea. Are you sure it will be safe by yourself?â€ The obvious worry in Shiraishi’s voice made Akiko briefly concerned, but only for a moment.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I’ll be fine. I’m sure that the festival did cleanse the area. It’s just…â€ She paused. “I should see for myself,â€ she finished, a little lamely. If she was sure, why did she want to see?</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Noriko said something similar about the atmosphere. OK, go on. Will you be back for lunch?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">A little while later, Akiko was walking through the streets, looking around her. She could feel what Akira had meant; the whole area felt the way that the shrine did, somehow fresh and alive, despite the increasing heat of the summer day. The people she met seemed more cheerful than normal, and most of them greeted her in some way. She also saw quite a lot of people clearing up rubbish, tidying small gardens, or cleaning their homes.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">She walked until she was some way from the shrine, too far for the direct influence of the shrine and its ceremonies to have cleared away the kegare, and then found a small park, in the shadow of several blocks of flats. Somewhere she could stop for a while without attracting too much attention. There was quite a bit of graffiti, but an older woman was clearing up litter, and smiled and nodded in greeting as Akiko entered.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko went to sit on the bench, and looked around her, paying attention to the normal details of the scene. When she thought she had them fixed in her mind, she switched her vision over.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">For a moment, she wasn’t sure whether it had worked. Everything looked much the same. Then she spotted a small, dark plant, nestled among some litter, writhing tentacles reaching out and around it. Even as she was watching, the woman swept the litter up, and the kegare with it, leaving the spot clean.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Leaving her vision as it was, Akiko walked back to the shrine. There was scarcely any kegare to be seen, and what there was, was weak, and even entirely mundane cleaning seemed to destroy it.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">She knew she was grinning as she walked up the steps into the shrine, and didn’t feel like trying to hide it.</p>