<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“No, hold it a bit higher. About here.â€ Shiraishi lifted Akiko’s hands, so that the ohnusa was at chest level. “Now, left hand up a bit. You want to hold the head of the ohnusa a bit higher than the handle.â€ The priest stepped back, as Akiko held her position, and considered her for a minute, before nodding. “That’s good. Now, walk forward, left foot first.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko carefully followed the instructions, although she couldn’t shake a worry about them. Finally, they finished, and Shiraishi said she could take a break before practising again.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Revd Shiraishi, am I going to be able to perform all of these movements correctly while possessed and being attacked by giant cockroaches?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Well, if you practise them…â€ Shiraishi suddenly came to stop, and then grinned, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I took that question completely seriously.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“But…â€ Akiko started to protest, and Shiraishi raised a hand.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I know. It’s just a straight question about the circumstances you are studying for. But… ‘while possessed and being attacked by giant cockroaches’? That’s weird.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Well, they aren’t really giant cockroaches,â€ Akiko offered, but she could see the priest’s point. When had such things become everyday matters of course for her? And, more to the point, <em>how?</em> <em>They turned up in your everyday life,</em> a voice said in the back of her mind. <em>You are really quite adaptable.</em> “Anyway, am I going to be able to do it?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“If you practice enough, I think so. It needs to be more-or-less automatic.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I suppose I’d better do plenty of practice, then. Let’s try it again.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The movements were not the only thing Akiko needed to practise; she also had to practise reading the purification norito.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You carry a piece of paper with it written on,â€ Shiraishi explained, “but given the giant cockroach situation, you’d better try to memorise it.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“‘Giant cockroach situation’?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Sorry.â€ Shiraishi did sound apologetic. “I just can’t shake the sense that it’s somehow ridiculous.â€ She grimaced. “Maybe I should apologise to Kazumi for shouting at her about joking about it; it does have a weird side. Anyway, let’s try it again.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">It was lunchtime before Shiraishi let Akiko try a full harae, and Kazumi volunteered to be the subject of it. As Akiko knelt in front of the ohnusa, reciting the norito, she felt something building up inside her, something like tension, like the crackle of static electricity in the air, like the ominous calm of an approaching typhoon. Fragments of kegare suddenly became strikingly obvious to her, tiny deformed insects scuttling across the grass even as they were consumed by a light that seemed to come from the green blades.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">When she picked up the ohnusa, she could see the light within it, and as she swung it she felt an incredible sense of release, as the power that had built up inside her swept out, a wave of light that obliterated all kegare before it.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“That was good,â€ Shiraishi said. “You seem to be getting the hang of these ceremonies.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Revd Shiraishi, is it possible to do the harae without any tools?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“No tools? Well, I’m sure we could think of something. Is it in case you drop them?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“No, although that’s actually a good point. No, I was thinking about the kami forest. Maybe I can purify the trees, and get back through them.â€</p>