“A miko? I thought you said the shrine had been destroyed?â€ The man looked at Akiko, and then turned an accusing stare onto the woman who was blocking his way.

“It has. Burned down, and then an earthquake toppled the torii.â€

“But it never had a miko before. It sounds like it is doing well to me.â€

“It is <em>not!</em> It is declining and failing, just like all shrines, and you shouldn’t prolong it. If not for yourself, won’t you think of the children?â€

“I’m doing this for my children!â€ The man was shouting back at her, and he stopped abruptly, breathing hard and obviously trying to get himself back under control.

“Look, you are blocking the entrance to someone’s home,â€ Shiraishi said, “and preventing someone from visiting them. Even though you are not on the shrine property, I don’t think that’s legal.â€

“Call the police, then!â€ The woman was defiant, but Akiko noticed that the two protesters with her looked rather less certain, a lot more nervous. Akiko decided to address them.

“Haven’t you made your point now? I’m sure that we all know you think that no-one should visit the shrine.â€

“And you expect us to just allow someone in?â€ The woman broke in quickly, but the other two still looked unsure.

“Well, you won’t achieve anything with us. Revd Shiraishi and I are not going to abandon the shrine and, er…â€ Akiko looked at the man, not knowing how to refer to him.

“Ito,â€ he said, clearly guessing her problem.

“And Mr Ito is not going to go home without coming into the shrine, right?â€

“Absolutely,â€ he agreed, smiling and nodding at Akiko.

“So,â€ Akiko continued, “you’ve made your point now, and there’s no point risking arrest. Think how embarrassed your family would be.â€

“My family would be proud of me!â€ The woman was still defiant, but her companions weren’t.

“Er, Mrs Watanabe, I think they’re right.â€

“What? We can’t give up!â€

“It’s not giving up,â€ the third protester said. “We’ve made our point. If he wasn’t determined to go in, he would have given up by now. And… I really can’t afford to be arrested, you know.â€

“And Mr Akiyama, you know, said that we mustn’t break the law.â€

“I sometimes wonder about Mr Akiyama’s dedication. Or whether he really understands the seriousness of the situation.â€

Akiko realised that Mrs Watanabe’s companions looked a bit embarrassed at that; perhaps they thought that she was being a bit too enthusiastic. Akiko, on the other hand, was starting to wonder just how much Mrs Watanabe knew. If she knew just a bit about the kami, hostility might not be unreasonable.

“If you break the law, we can call the police and have you arrested. That would certainly make our lives easier. Should we try it?â€ Shiraishi had fished her cell phone out of her pocket, and was holding it up. One of the other two protesters held his hands up in surrender.

“No, no. That won’t be necessary.â€ He stepped across, standing half in front of Mrs Watanabe, blocking her in and leaving a narrow passage at the side, just large enough for Mr Ito to make it onto the steps.

“What are you <em>doing?â€</em> Mrs Watanabe almost screeched her protest.

“Recognising the limits on what we can do. The miko’s right. We’ve made our point. Getting ourselves arrested isn’t going to help.â€ He turned back to Mr Ito. “If you really want to, you can go in. But I still advise you not to.â€

“Thank you.â€ Mr Ito’s reply was very formal, as he edged round them to start climbing the steps.