<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What?â€ Akiko was genuinely surprised. “But…â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I know, but we can’t leave it. Most of the students are still going there, after all.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Serves them right,â€ Kazumi said, and then quailed when Shiraishi glared at her.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“<em>Nobody</em> deserves to be stuck in that level of pollution.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I was only joking…â€ Kazumi said, in a very small voice.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“This isn’t a joking matter,â€ Shiraishi replied, her face still grim. “This is serious.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes, sorry.â€ Akiko thought that Kazumi looked on the verge of tears, and tactfully looked away, concentrating on the priest.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“But we only just got away last night. What can we do?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I had an idea,â€ Shiraishi said. “Tamao told us to take the power we had raised, right? So maybe if we summon the aramitama into a gohei and take it with  us, we’ll be able to purify the school.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Maybe…â€ Akiko acknowledged, “but what if…?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi cut her off.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“We can’t worry about that. We have to try something.â€ She smiled, wryly. “If all else fails, we can just run away again.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Kazumi helped make the gohei, attaching the two large shide to the top of the wooden rod, like an inverted V. She was unusually quiet, and Akiko thought that she was still upset over being scolded by Shiraishi. Akiko wanted to say something, but before she could think of anything suitable they had finished, and Kazumi had excused herself.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko took the gohei to Shiraishi, who had prepared a table and stand in front of the iwakura. They set it up, and then Shiraishi began the ceremony.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The initial purification seemed to have little effect; the shrine grounds were so clean that even searching for the slightest hint of kegare Akiko could not be sure that she had seen any. Maybe the light from the ohnusa swept a few bits of pollution from them, or maybe she had just been imagining them.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Then Shiraishi knelt in front of the table and began the norito calling on the aramitama to descend into the gohei.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“<em>Kakemakumo Kashikoki Tamao no Ohkami no Aramitama…â€</em></p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">As soon as she mentioned the aramitama, the flame in the iwakura blazed up, the fire enveloping the stones and reaching up into the sky. Akiko had to half-close her eyes against the light, and she could feel the heat on her skin, feel the sweat starting to soak into her clothes. Shiraishi, however, seemed unaffected.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The fire grew brighter and brighter, until Akiko was squinting to see anything, and then the gohei burst into flames.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko had half risen from her knees before she realised that the gohei was not being consumed, that the flames were following the lines of the shide, leaving the rod clear.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“… <em>Kashikomi Kashikomi mo mohsu.â€</em></p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Shiraishi finished the norito, and bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed once, before stepping back and taking her seat beside Akiko. She glanced sideways.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The flames in the iwakura had sunk down now, to something like their normal level, but the gohei was still burning brightly. Akiko nodded, and then bowed, together with Shiraishi, to finish the ceremony.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko was to carry the gohei, and she approached it cautiously. She could feel the heat, and while she thought she might not if she stopped looking for spirits, she really needed to be able to watch the kegare while they were carrying out the purification. Slowly, she reached out, keeping her hand low, below the flames.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">As soon as she touched the rod, the heat ceased, although she could still see the flames leaping up from the shide. Taking a firm grip on the shaft, she picked it up, and turned to Shiraishi.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I think we’re ready.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko had long since got over any sense of self-consciousness about walking through the streets in her vestments, and at this time of night there were few people to see them pass. Even the foul fog of the kegare was keeping its distance, apparently driven back by the light from the gohei.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;"><em>Maybe Shiraishi was right,</em> Akiko thought, and she started to feel a bit more confident.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">When they arrived at the school, Shiraishi quickly started the purification. As she swung the ohnusa, the light drove the fog away, revealing the spirits hunched over the school. With a scream of rage, they sprang down, running towards Akiko and Shiraishi.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko took a step forward, holding up the gohei. The fire burned as brightly as ever within it, and the kegare spirits wrenched themselves to a sudden stop, hissing and growling, but refusing to come any closer.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What is it?â€ the priest asked.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“The spirits,â€ Akiko replied. “Can’t you see them?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Not tonight. Are they…?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“They are still there. They don’t seem to be able to come any closer, but they are still there.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“But what…?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Use the gohei!â€ Akiko said, suddenly. “Use the gohei instead of the ohnusa!â€ She turned to the priest, offering her the rod and, after a moment’s hesitation, she took it, passing the ohnusa to Akiko.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">As the priest’s hand closed around the wooden shaft, her eyes widened, then squinted almost shut.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Can you see the fire?â€ Akiko asked, and Shiraishi just nodded, taking a deep breath and turning to face the school.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The priest took a step back, and then squared her shoulders and stepped forward again. Akiko guessed that she could see the spirits as well, watching them with transparent hostility. Shiraishi’s voice trembled a bit as she began the norito, but grew stronger and more confident as she continued.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">When she swung the gohei, the fire danced in the air, and the spirits took another step back, but they didn’t run, and didn’t disappear. Shiraishi swung the gohei again, but there was still no response.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What do we do now?â€ she asked, stepping closer to Akiko.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I don’t know. I thought…â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The spirits started to back away, occasionally snapping at the air in their direction, returning to the school without taking their eyes off the two of them.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I think we do the same,â€ Shiraishi said. “Tonight’s battle is drawn.â€</p>