<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko stood up, still chuckling, and glanced around the shrine precincts.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I’m just going to have a look around,â€ she said to Shiraishi, and the priest nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Let me know how things look,â€ she replied, as she started gathering up the ritual equipment.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Looking for kegare, Akiko still couldn’t see any within the shrine. It really did seem to be completely purified, and nothing had crept in during the night. As she approached the boundary of the precincts, she realised why. There was a curtain of light around the shrine, mainly gold and silver with purple, red, and green highlights flickering through it. It kept flaring more brightly in different places, apparently at random, and Akiko guessed that that marked the spots where kegare was trying to get through. She could not, however, see much beyond the curtain; nor, when she looked up, could she see how high it went.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Kazumi came charging past, shouting her goodbyes as she ran down the steps. The curtain of light flexed and rippled as she ran through, almost like the surface of a pool of water, but it didn’t break. Akiko took another look around the open area, and nodded to herself. This part, at least, was clear, and it was still early; she had time to look at the woodland before anyone was likely to come to the shrine.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">It was suddenly cool when she stepped into the shadow of the trees, the air fresher than outside, with a gentle breeze teasing the leaves. The sounds of the city vanished completely, replaced by the singing of cicadas and the cries of birds. The low sunlight lanced through between the trunks of the trees, coating some in burning gold and scattering off tiny things dancing in the air. It was a moment before Akiko realised that they were spirits, not dust, and that they really were dancing.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">She walked through the woodland, passed the kami-tree, which pulsed, visibly, as she watched, lightning scattering up and down the trunk while drops of light fell from the branches. As she stepped closer, the tree calmed down, and she could feel it calling out to her, inviting her to embrace it. She laid her hand on the bark, and felt both its calming influence and an insistent plea to get closer. Shaking her head gently, she stepped back, and returned to the open area.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Standing at the top of the steps, she looked at the curtain of light and gathered her courage. She had to look at what was outside. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through, and out.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The heat and humidity hit her like a wall, pressing down on her, instantly coating her in sweat. The noise of cars and arguments filled her ears, along with the smell of petrol, chemicals, rotten food… Here, too, there were spirits, but they were dark, twisted things. A layer of light danced over Akiko’s hands, and she saw the kegare burning away as it touched it, leaving the light slightly weaker.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">She descended a few more steps, and looked out at the city, her heart suddenly leaping into her throat.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">A greasy, brown-black cloud hung over the houses, and thin tendrils, tentacles of smoke, rose to meet it in a few places. The bottom of the cloud was constantly churning, and kegare spirits dived out of it, disappearing among the houses. She looked up and behind her, at the where the cloud met the curtain of light, and saw the curtain flare every time the cloud touched it, burning the pollution away.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">She looked down again, as a small group of protesters came into view.</p>