<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I think you should teach Kazumi,â€ Yoshiko said, as they sat in the tree again after the lesson. Akiko was shocked.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Do you think I can?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Yoshiko nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You’ve made a lot of progress, so it’s rather hard to teach you and Kazumi together.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Hmph.â€ Kazumi stuck her tongue out at them. “Are you saying I can’t dance?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I’m just saying you need more lessons. Akiko has been practising for some time, after all.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Well, as long was we can practise here,â€ Kazumi said, “I don’t mind.â€ But Yoshiko shook her head again.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You need to practise in vestments, and with the kagurasuzu. I don’t think we can bring those here.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Talking of that,â€ Akiko said, “we should be getting back. It must be getting late.â€ She looked around. “How, exactly, do we get back?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“The same way we came in?â€ Yoshiko suggested. Akiko thought for a moment, and nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“It sounds sensible; certainly worth a try.â€ She dropped out of the tree, followed by the other two, and stepped up to the trunk, wrapping her arms around it and pressing her body against it.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">This time, the shock left her gagging and retching, doubled over at the base of the tree as her stomach heaved. She didn’t even want to think about what it felt like.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Oh, <em>crap.</em>â€ It was Kazumi. “Wrong tree.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko looked up, and saw that she was right. They were all there, all naked, and not in the shrine grounds. Akiko hugged her legs to her chest, trying to cover up as much as possible; Yoshiko was pressed back against the tree, but not vanishing. After a moment, she also dropped to a crouch.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What <em>is </em>this place?â€ she asked, her eyes wide as she looked around.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko had been wondering the same thing, but as she recovered from the shock she realised that it looked familiar.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“A park, I think.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes…â€ Kazumi had stood up, covering herself with her hands, and then crouched down again. “I know where we are.â€ Akiko quickly switched her vision to kegare; the surroundings were heavy with it, and she saw a spirit moving, a spirit with many insectile legs and a bird’s skull for a head.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“So do I,â€ she said, fear clutching at her. “I don’t think this is a good place to be naked.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“No,â€ Kazumi agreed, looking around.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Yoshiko was still staring around her, saying nothing, curled into a ball with her back against the tree. Akiko wanted to say something to calm her down, but she hardly felt calm herself.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Ah, good,â€ Kazumi said. “Wait here.â€ Still crouched down, she ran to a rubbish bin, and hid behind it, while apparently calling out to someone. She stood out against the kegare, her body almost — no, actually — glowing. The spirit was a bit smaller than Akiko remembered, but she hoped it wouldn’t bear a grudge.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">One of the prostitutes came over to Kazumi, and Akiko could hear her laugh, and even caught a bit of Kazumi’s outraged protest. The prostitute went away again, and then came back and handed a bundle over to Kazumi. The girl scuttled back over to them.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Here, coats. Put them on and do them up; no-one will notice.â€ She handed them out; Yoshiko looked at hers for a moment, as if puzzled, and then started pulling it on. Akiko did the same with hers. It was light, and only came part way down her thighs, but it was opaque, and she felt a lot better as soon as she was dressed.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“We should get back to the shrine,â€ Kazumi said, and Akiko had to agree.</p>