<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko was exhausted, and slumped down in the car seat as soon as she had fastened her belt. Shiraishi glanced over.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“That was the last one for today.â€ Akiko nodded, glancing out of the window. The house they’d just purified was clear, but she could still see the kegare hanging over the buildings around it, like a clinging mist, coiling around windows and doors. She tried to shift her vision back, but couldn’t quite get it to shift. Instead, she closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair.</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€ she said. “Make sure Kazumi’s OK.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I’m sure she’s fine,â€ Shiraishi said, as she started the car. “She’s a lot more responsible than she seems.â€ Akiko had to admit that that was true. Kazumi always did the things she said she would do, and she really seemed to like being at the shrine. Akiko thought she understood part of the reason; every time she went out into the city, the kegare seemed to suck her energy away. “Still,â€ the priest continued, “I do want to check on the festival preparations. Make sure she hasn’t cancelled the order for happi coats.â€ Akiko smiled, and opened her eyes to look at the priest.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Or loincloths.â€ Shiraishi chuckled, and then shook her head.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“We’re not being fair to her. Apart from after the cleaningâ€ — Akiko was sure Shiraishi was blushing — “it’s mostly just been teasing you. A lot of girls wear those short skirts, and Kazumi puts trousers on underneath now.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Ah, but she’s <em>very</em> enthusiastic about helping to carry the mikoshi.â€ Akiko was grinning, and Shiraishi risked flashing a quick grin back, before looking back at the road, her face turning sober.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Seriously. We should stop making fun of her behind her back. She’s a great help.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“She is.â€ Akiko had to agree. Kazumi seemed to be spending all her free time at the shrine, and even though it was taking her a while to get the ceremonial movements right she was surprisingly good at cleaning and basic office work. And she’d thrown herself into the festival preparations with great enthusiasm; with the surge in the number of requests for purification, she’d ended up doing most of the organising, and it seemed to be going well. “Weren’t the posters being delivered to…â€ Akiko looked idly out of the window as she asked, and cut herself off with a gasp.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Stop the car.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi quickly pulled over. Akiko got out, and walked back to the junction.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">It was still there. One of the side streets seemed to vanish into a solid bank of black cloud, its surface whipping and churning silently, while the smell of ash stung at Akiko’s nostrils. Even at this distance, Akiko started to feel grit on her skin, as if tiny particles of smoke were lodging inside her clothes.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Kegare?â€ the priest asked, coming up beside her. Akiko nodded.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Really dense. I can’t see down this street at all. How does it look to you?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Well… A bit dirty; there’s a fair bit of litter about, and some graffiti. The houses could do with some paint, and there are a couple of small blocks of flats that look older than I am. But… Nothing really remarkable.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Is that a park?â€ Akiko pointed at a patch of land right on the edge of the cloud.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes. Nothing but a broken set of swings in it.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“OK. We can do the harae there.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi looked at her, concern on her face.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Are you sure? We can come back.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“We should do it now,â€ Akiko replied. “I don’t want to leave that.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">They collected the equipment from the back of the car and went over to the park, the ash now a taste in Akiko’s mouth. She resisted the urge to spit, but all her clothes felt gritty, and every step was uncomfortable. She had Shiraishi stand just outside the cloud, and readied the kagurasuzu as the priest began the norito.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">There was no reaction from the cloud. Akiko couldn’t see any change in the boiling patterns, and no spirits emerged to confront the priest. The light began to build up in the ohnusa, and the taste of ashes faded from Akiko’s mouth. She looked around, but while there were a handful of kegare spirits on the houses behind them, they were keeping their distance, slinking behind the roof line as Akiko glanced in their direction.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi picked up the ohnusa and swung it, light flooding off it and washing over Akiko, briefly lifting her exhaustion. The smoke dissolved in the light, swept back, and Akiko caught a glimpse of something more solid retreating, withdrawing from the brilliance.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The priest swung the ohnusa again, and again the light dissolved the smoke. But, Akiko suddenly realised, only the same smoke. It had come pouring back as the first wave of light had faded. Shiraishi swung the ohnusa for the third and last time, and as she stopped the smoke flowed back to its original position, a boiling wall in front of her.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The priest turned to look at Akiko, and Akiko shook her head.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“It made no difference. Do it again.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi looked shocked, but she turned back to the smoke and began reciting the norito once more. There was still no response from the smoke, although the buildings outside it had been somewhat purified, so that there were now no spirits at all watching them.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Again, the light pouring from the ohnusa drove the smoke back, but, again, the smoke just flowed back to its original position. Shiraishi looked at Akiko again, and she shook her head once more.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“It’s not properly cleansing it. Hold on…â€ Raising the kagurasuzu before her, Akiko walked slowly towards the smoke. It showed no reaction, even when she was standing right up against it. Taking a deep breath, which smelled of dead ashes, Akiko stepped into it.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">She felt ashes on her skin, on her tongue, heavy in her hair. She could see nothing, but ash got into her eyes, leaving them streaming with tears, and there was nothing but ash on the air, ash that filled her lungs, starting her coughing, and she couldn’t stop, falling to her knees, her hand sinking into a deep layer of ash as she tried to steady herself.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Pushing off the ground, she flung herself backwards, into the light, kneeling on the ground in the park and coughing up black phlegm.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">As her eyes cleared, the wall of smoke still rose into the sky before her, completely unmoved.</p>