It was already raining quite heavily when Akiko reached the house.

“I’m back!â€

“Welcome back! Did you see the welcoming committee?â€ The priest’s voice came from the office.

“All one of him?â€

“Only one? There were three when I went out. The weather must have put them off.â€ Akiko looked out of the kitchen windows as she put the shopping away; the rain had got very heavy, and as she looked away she heard the first clap of thunder.

“Wise decision.â€

Akiko went back to her room, where the rain pounded on the windows, driven by the strong wind as she read the latest book Shiraishi had made part of her training.

The thunder and lightning didn’t let up, and the drumming of the rain got louder. Akiko looked out, and the water coming off the roof on the edge of the veranda was a waterfall, a grey curtain hiding the garden.

There was a knock on the door, and Shiraishi pushed the panel open.

“I need to check the precincts. Could you come and help?â€ Akiko looked out of the window and grimaced, but she could see the need. Sighing, she nodded, and got up.

The first thing that struck her when the opened the door was the heat. It was almost like a sauna, and she could feel herself sweating under the waterproof. And the rain, the rain was warm as it fell on her. She could feel it on her hands. She glanced at Shiraishi; the priest was also holding her hand out, looking puzzled.

“It’s warm.â€ Akiko broke the silence, and the priest nodded. “That’s not right.â€ The priest nodded again. Akiko glanced round the precincts.

Within the iwakura, a red light shone, pulsing brightly, waves of heat coming off it with every pulse.

“Revd Shiraishi, can you see that?â€ Akiko pointed.

“The iwakura?â€

“No, within the stones. Between them, in the middle.â€ The priest peered in that direction, which was already Akiko’s answer. No need to peer if you could see it.

“No, nothing.â€

“Hm. Maybe just my imagination, then.â€ Akiko decided not to say that she could still see the light.

They started checking the precincts, and Akiko was soon soaked with sweat from the inside out, and rainwater from the outside in. At least it wasn’t cold and clammy, but her wet clothes were very uncomfortable. Shiraishi seemed to be equally ill-at-ease.

The garden pond was overflowing, and there were ponds and small rivers forming all over the grounds, the water flowing out and down the steps in a small river. However, there didn’t seem to be any risk of anything being carried away, although they moved a few things to higher locations.

“We should check the woodland.â€ Shiraishi had to shout to be heard over the roar of the rain, which had got even heavier. Akiko shook her head.

“Lightning. Too dangerous.â€ Shiraishi frowned, and then nodded.

“Back inside.â€

As Akiko followed her, her foot slipped into one of the small streams, and then got stuck in the bottom. Frowning, she tried to pull it out, only to feel her shoe come loose. For a moment, she tried to balance on one leg, but she realised that her sock was already soaked, and put her foot back down, reaching into the water to pull her shoe out. It was still stuck, and, glancing at Shiraishi, who was just going in through the door, she gave it a sharp tug.

It came up easily, and Akiko overbalanced, falling backwards, right into the river behind her.

She plunged into the water, sinking as the weight of her sodden clothes pulled her down.

<em>This isn’t right,</em> she thought. <em>It can’t have this much depth.</em> She reached down for the bottom, but there was nothing there, just more water, and now the surface seemed to be a long way above her, and she couldn’t breathe.

Fighting panic, she tried to swim up, but her clothes pulled her down. As she remembered what she’d learned as a child and started trying to get her other shoe off, she was suddenly grabbed by a current and swept up to the surface.

Gasping for breath, she looked around, and nearly panicked again. She wasn’t in the shrine precincts anymore. Instead, she was being carried along one of the nearby streets, riding the wave at the front of a flash flood.

As the water smashed into walls and cars, sweeping them aside, shattering windows, Akiko saw kegare growing. It was as if every point of damage were a seed, from which black tendrils and rotten blossoms grew with frightening speed. She twisted round to look behind her, at the kegare covering the houses, wrapping round them and snatching at the people who came running out, pulling them over into the water. Akiko saw some of them come up, bruised, bloodied, and surrounded by flies of pollution that buzzed loudly enough to be heard over the rain and the flood.

And Akiko saw other things moving in the kegare, larger spirits, like sodden corpses, bloated with gases. They pushed people over, then seemed to press them into the water. Akiko tried to cry out a warning, but the water swept her further on.

The wave seemed to get bigger as it went forward, lifting Akiko up to the height of the roofs of the houses, and then beyond. Looking down, she could see the buildings crushed by the weight of water, smashed to fragments, and she could see people within them.

The wall of water swept down to the Tama river, and crashed into it, smashing the bridge, and as the wave collapsed Akiko glanced back to see the whole of the Kawasaki side of the river knocked flat by the water. And then she was plunged under the surface again.

And pushed herself up, spluttering, in the grounds of the shrine.

“…Flood warning. Move to higher ground.â€ The city’s disaster announcement service could be heard over the noise of the storm. Akiko stood up, and, although the river flowing out of the shrine buffeted her hard, made her way to the house. As she reached the door, she glanced over at the iwakura.

The light still pulsed within it, and Akiko thought she felt anger coming off it with the heat.