Akiko and Shiraishi had to get changed before they could go out, and as they headed back into the house, leaving the impatient Akira in the entrance, the priest spoke to Akiko in a low voice.

“We have to calm Akira down; that’s why we’re helping.â€

“Do you know where his father is?â€

“Pachinko, I guess.â€

“Pachinko?â€

“Mm. It doesn’t really fit the image, does it? I think that’s why he kept it secret from his son, although his wife knows. He only goes when he’s really stressed, and he always turns his cell phone off. I guess this is the first time Akira’s been involved enough to notice it.â€

“So, you don’t think there’s anything to worry about?â€

“Not immediately, no.â€

“Not immediately?â€

“Hideo, er, Mr Takenaka is under a lot of pressure at the moment, just like the shrine. He’s not the kind to worry about nothing, so I’m sure there are real problems.â€

“Oh.â€ They had reached Akiko’s room, and she stepped inside while the priest continued on. Outside, the rain continued to come down in sheets, growling on the roof and veranda, still interrupted by shouts of thunder. She frowned, really wishing she didn’t have to go out in it, but not willing to challenge Shiraishi’s assumption that she obviously would.

Akiko beat Shiraishi back to the entrance, where Akira was pacing, peering out through the door in the direction of the shrine building. Given the weather, that was the obvious place for Mr Takenaka to be, if he was here at all, but Akiko doubted Akira could see anything in the darkness. Akira did glance her way as she put her shoes on, but said nothing, simply turning back to stare outside.

Shiraishi soon joined them, carrying a couple of torches. She ducked into the shrine office, and the external lights came on. They illuminated little more than the rain falling around them, however, and Akiko resigned herself to getting drenched.

“OK, Akira, let’s see if he’s here. Come on, Ms Tanahata.â€ The priest pushed the main door open, and the spray from the rain immediately struck Akiko in the face, cold, almost hostile. She pulled her coat more tightly around her neck, bringing the hood forward as far as she could, and took the torch that Shiraishi offered. They stepped out into the night.

Shiraishi shone her torch over the shrine building, its veranda empty behind a curtain of rainwater cascading from the roof. Akiko followed suit.

And had to swallow a scream.

While Shiraishi’s torch had revealed nothing, she could see something like a huge, dark lizard, squatting on the roof of the shrine over the steps, its head swinging blindly in the rain. Rain that seemed to be falling straight through it to bounce off the copper beneath.

Where the thing’s feet touched the copper, Akiko could see corrosion spreading, but as it shifted its footing, six limbs, she now saw, the metal seemed almost unharmed.

She swung the torch away and back again. There was nothing there.

The other two were too preoccupied to have noticed her reaction, to her relief, and she hurried to catch up, shining her torch on the shrine again when she did so.

The light fell on the doors, closed as they always were at night, but the small panes of glass looked clouded, as if green and white mould were growing over them. Akiko held the beam in place, pressing her lips tightly together to maintain control of her voice, and watched as the wood of the doors seemed to warp and crack. She swung the light away and back. This time the panes of glass seemed cracked and broken, while the wood was marked with gouges that looked like claw marks, where fungus grew.

Once again she hurried to keep up with the other two, carefully choosing her words.

“Shouldn’t we look inside the shrine?â€ she asked, as she reached them. Shiraishi turned back to look at her.

“I said, I locked it. He certainly wasn’t there then.â€

“Didn’t he have a key?â€ Akira asked, and Shiraishi turned to look at him.

“Oh. He did, didn’t he.â€ She turned to the shrine, playing her torch over it. As before, everything looked normal in her light, but when she turned it away and Akiko swung her torch’s beam to cover it she saw smoke, and charring, and small flames breaking out in the wood. Her stomach was tying itself in knots; she was sure that this couldn’t be good.

“Well, I suppose we had better look.â€ The priest led the way to the shrine and up the steps. The wood felt somehow soft under Akiko’s feet, yielding and grasping, as it were thick mud, and she drew breath in a sharp hiss as she passed through the rain curtain; for a moment, it burned like acid on her skin.

As Shiraishi set a foot on the veranda, lightning flared again, the thunder shaking the shrine. And then again, and again, and again. Shiraishi and Akira stopped still, staring out at the precincts, illuminated in the harsh glare of lightning. Every flash revealed decay and destruction in the shrine building, but every flash showed different decay. Swarming cockroaches, clutching vines, graffiti, fire, flood… Akiko couldn’t look away.

Finally, the lightning stopped, and Shiraishi turned to the door. She put out a hand to push it, and it slid open. The priest stopped, and glanced at Akira. Akiko realised that Shiraishi wasn’t so confident that Mr Takenaka was at Pachinko any more.

“Mr Takenaka?â€ Her voice wasn’t as loud as it needed to be, and, clearing her throat, she called again. “Mr Takenaka?â€ Still no response. She pushed the door open further, and Akiko saw hundreds upon thousands of tiny spiders spill out, scuttling round her as they flowed down the steps. She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay still, even though she could feel them running over her feet, but they weren’t staying on her, and now they were gone.

She opened her eyes again, and looked into the shrine building. Shiraishi’s torch revealed the stools, looking the same as ever.

The thunder was loud enough to drown any words, any cry, even any thought, but the lightning was bright enough to show Mr Takenaka’s body hanging from the ceiling. Bright enough for that, and long enough to etch the image on Akiko’s memory.

“Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.â€

Shiraishi had seen him as well.