The doorbell rang, cutting off any further discussion. Akiko was quite surprised to see Noriko Yamanaka standing there, again dressed in a formal kimono.

“Good morning. I hoped that I would be able to offer my respects to the kami this morning.â€

“Ah, of course.â€ Shiraishi also sounded a bit surprised. “If you wish, you may join us for the morning offerings.â€

“I should be delighted to do so.â€ Ms Yamanaka bowed again, and Akiko bowed back, as did Shiraishi. Ms Yamanaka was certainly very polite, but Akiko wasn’t at all sure of her motives. Mr Fujimura’s statements were still fresh in Akiko’s mind, and made her worry over whether Ms Yamanaka had similar opinions.

Still, that didn’t make it any harder to carry out the morning ceremonies. As they were gathering the necessary equipment, Shiraishi muttered to Akiko,

“Just the goshintai and the iwakura.â€ Akiko nodded. Drawing attention to Mr Takenaka’s shrine didn’t seem like a good idea, and the sacred tree was a bit too mysterious to expose to just any visitor.

Ms Yamanaka was a model participant in the rituals, offering her tamagushi, sacred sakaki branch, in the correct way and, Akiko thought, possibly getting the bowing and clapping more right than Akiko herself did. She said nothing during the ceremonies, and afterwards simply thanked them, wished them well, and handed over her offering, in an envelope with very nice calligraphy on the front.

Akiko and Shiraishi watched her go, but as she started down the steps, someone else bounded into view.

Kazumi. Akiko noticed immediately that, while her skirt was still short, she was wearing tracksuit bottoms underneath it. The girl came running over to them, grinning.

“Hiya! Hey, Akiko, is this all right?â€ She grabbed the hem of her skirt, lifting it up so that Akiko could see the trousers. Akiko, fighting hard to suppress giggles, nodded, to give herself time to get enough composure to speak.

“Yes, Ms Miura, that’s fine. Thank you.â€ Kazumi smiled again, dropping her skirt.

“Great! I didn’t want to get it wrong. Oh! Should I have done the o-mairi first?â€

“Well, yes, but…â€ Shiraishi began, but she was cut off.

“Oops! Be right back!â€ Kazumi ran across the shrine grounds to the water basin, purifying herself and then going to the usual spot to bow and clap.

“It’s a lot better with the trousers,â€ Shiraishi murmured to Akiko. “What is it with that girl?â€

Akiko nodded in agreement, but she didn’t have an answer to the question. She had even less answer when Kazumi came back to them to hand over another five hundred yen.

“Ah,â€ Shiraishi said, “far be it from me to discourage you, but five yen is the traditional offering.â€

“Really? But…â€ Kazumi glanced round the shrine. “That doesn’t seem… right.â€ Akiko was on the verge of asking whether Kazumi could see the kami, when the girl rushed on. “No, I think five hundred is OK. Anyway, gotta go to school.â€ She pulled a face, suggesting that she wasn’t happy at the idea, and waved to them as she ran for the stairs.

“I don’t understand either of them,â€ Shiraishi remarked as soon as Kazumi had gone.

“Me neither,â€ Akiko said, “but I understand Kazumi less.â€

“Mm.â€ Shiraishi looked in the envelope Ms Nakayama had left, and showed Akiko the ten thousand yen note. “Ms Nakayama may be better for the shrine, though.â€