<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You are <em>sure</em> that the priest doesn’t know?â€ Yoshiko looked really nervous, and this was the fifth time, at least, that she had asked the same question. Akiko tried to keep her impatience out of her voice.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“She doesn’t know. Everything we know about the festival comes from the book, and that just has a picture of white curtains around the iwakura, labelled “secret ceremonyâ€. Revd Shiraishi does not know the secret ceremony.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“But how could they have lost it? It’s very important…â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I don’t know.â€ Akiko was starting to wonder whether there was more behind Yoshiko’s reluctance than appeared. “I’ve only been at the shrine for a few months. The festival hasn’t been held for over a hundred years, though. That’s long enough to forget a lot.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Yoshiko nodded briefly, but she was still pacing around the circle of light under the great tree. The night air was warm and heavy, enough to make Akiko’s vestments uncomfortable, enough for Akiko to want Yoshiko to get on with it.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The other miko stepped up to the tree and leaned on it, reaching out to embrace it as she rested her cheek on the bark. After a couple of moments she stood back and turned back to Akiko, her face much calmer.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Then I suppose I had better teach it to you.â€ A flicker of nervousness passed across her face again, and she was silent for a few moments. Then, with a deep breath, she went on. “You do have the mask, right?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“The mask?â€ Akiko wasn’t sure what Yoshiko meant. “Which mask?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“The…â€ Yoshiko stopped. “It’s made of wood, unpainted. Very smooth, with simple, neutral features.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Oh, that one. Yes, we got it out of the honden during the fire.â€ Akiko felt herself blushing.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Mm. That sounds like it. It keeps you safe from fire. It is very important that you wear the mask during the ceremony. Don’t forget, and don’t let it fall off.â€ Yoshiko sounded very earnest, and Akiko suddenly had a thought.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Do you mean that the Aramitama takes you during the ceremony?â€ Yoshiko looked surprised.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Sometimes, yes.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko winced, and nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I can see why you’d need the mask, then.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You’ve been taken by the Aramitama without it?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko nodded, really not wanting to remember that incident, at least not the first part.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Before I saw the vision of the aramatsuri, there was… fire.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Yoshiko shuddered.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Anyway, that is why you need the mask,â€ she confirmed.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What about spare vestments?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What? No, why would you need those?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko suddenly felt very embarrassed about raising the issue; was she supposed to do the ceremony naked or something?</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Er, well, when I got the mask out of the burning honden, the flames burned my clothes away.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Really?â€ Yoshiko looked interested. “In the kami, the mask protects your vestments as well. At least, it always protected mine. Your clothes really burned away?â€ Akiko nodded, blushing again. “That’s strange… In any case, no, you don’t need spare vestments.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Yoshiko took another deep breath.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Right. I have to actually teach you this ceremony. It isn’t long, but I have to teach it to you out of order. You must only perform it properly at the iwakura, within the curtains. This is very important. Even when you practise, do it out of order.â€ Yoshiko looked very earnest, and Akiko nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes, I understand.â€ The other miko looked hard at her, as if trying to assess whether she had really understood, and finally nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Good. Let’s get started.â€</p>