“Akiko!â€

Akiko rolled over in bed, pulling the futon back up over her head.

“Akiko!â€

No, Shiraishi wasn’t going away. Akiko turned on to her other side to peer at the clock. It was mid-afternoon; she wasn’t supposed to be getting up yet. Maybe if she waited a bit longer, Shiraishi would leave her to sleep.

“Akiko! We have to go to purify the Tanakas’ house again.â€

Groaning, Akiko pushed herself upright, shaking her head and rubbing at her eyes.

“OK. I’m coming. I’m coming.â€

She pulled her yukata on as she stumbled over to the door, then slid it open.

“I’ll have a quick shower. And… coffee?â€

With every sip of the coffee, Akiko felt more human. Shiraishi was pacing round the kitchen, not looking in Akiko’s direction and fidgeting with things; Akiko blew on the coffee to cool it so that she could drink it faster.

“OK, just let me get dressed,â€ she said, checking that the towel was still secure before she stood up. “I didn’t want to do it half-asleep, and then have to do it again.â€ She had just stepped into the corridor when the doorbell rang. Akira, she realised, and ran for her room, sliding the door shut before Shiraishi could let him in.

Akiko had got a lot faster at putting her vestments on, and Shiraishi hadn’t even finished telling Akira what needed looking at when she came back to the office. Akira turned to greet her, smiling, but concern quickly appeared on his face. Akiko immediately glanced down to check her vestments, but they looked OK. She glanced at Shiraishi, who seemed relaxed, so they must be OK. When she looked back at Akira, he was smiling again, but still looked a little worried.

“Good luck with the purification, Akiko,â€ he said. “And take care of yourself, OK?â€

The Tanakas’ house was even heavier with kegare than it had been when she went to look with Akira, and the speed of accumulation shocked her. If it was building up this quickly, they would have to spend all their time purifying places just to stay on top of it.

Inside the house, spirits like long-legged rats with two, three, or four tails lurked in the corners and shadows, hissing at Akiko and Shiraishi as they came in and set up the himorogi, but keeping back, not approaching. As Shiraishi performed the harae, Akiko stayed alert, the kagurasuzu ready, but the kegare spirits made no move, apparently too scared to act before the light from the ohnusa burned them away.

As Mrs Tanaka handed over the money and thanked them, she gave a quick account of all the problems they’d had: the grandmother had been ill again; the television had broken down; three taps had started dripping and the bathroom had started to leak; Mr Tanaka had lost his wallet, which they found trapped behind the fridge when they were pulling out the dead bird that had somehow got in there; and Mrs Tanaka had cut herself several times while making dinner. All minor incidents in themselves, but enough to make her want the ceremony when they all happened in three days. Akiko had to agree, and as they left she glanced around. The Tanakas’ house was clean, but pollution was already blowing onto it from the surrounding buildings.

She frowned. They <em>had</em> to find a better way to deal with it.