<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“So? There has to be a story.â€ Shiraishi was looking quizzically at Akiko, which made her blush again.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Yes. Unlike some people, I don’t go without underwear for fun.â€ Akiko managed not to glance at Kazumi as she said it, but she heard a quiet “hey!â€ of protest. She went on to explain what they’d been doing, and the possibility of travel through the kami forest. Shiraishi, again, listened in silence.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“So, your other yukata and cell phone are still by the tree here?â€ she asked, and Akiko nodded. “Let’s go and see.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">As they walked over, Akiko suddenly remembered about the other issue.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Revd Shiraishi, how was the car?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Oh, yes.â€ The priest’s face went serious. “The mechanics looked at it, and told me how lucky I was. Apparently various bits of the engine were so old and worn that there was a serious risk of the car bursting into flames at any moment if I drove it. It needs a completely new engine.â€ She frowned. “So we don’t have a car at the moment. I don’t think the insurance will cover “attacks by kegareâ€.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">They reached the tree, and Akiko’s yukata and phone were still there.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“So, can I try it now?â€ Kazumi asked, but Akiko shook her head.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“You might pick the wrong tree. I can only see which tree it is when I look for the spirits, and you can’t do that.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Can we go in together, then?â€ Akiko could easily understand Kazumi’s point of view. It felt so <em>good</em> in the forest, really alive, and now that they knew how to get out at the shrine, there didn’t seem to be any reason not to visit.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Not just yet,â€ Akiko said. She took a deep breath. “There’s something else I think we should try first.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“What?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I think the reason we couldn’t get back from the park was the pollution on the tree. I want to try purifying it, to see whether I can get through to the forest then.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“Do you think this, what, magic forest?â€ Shiraishi really didn’t sound sure about what to call it, “is connected to the pollution around here?â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko shrugged.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“I don’t really know. Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s definitely connected to the shrine, and I want to know how it works.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">“All right, then. I’ll come with you to purify it.â€</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">An hour or so later, Akiko was standing in front of the tree, her belt already undone, holding the yukata shut as Shiraishi finished the purification ceremony. She had no idea how long it would take for the tree to get polluted again, and wanted to be ready as soon as it was clean.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">As Shiraishi swung the ohnusa, the light swept the kegare from the tree, blowing it away like cobwebs, and for a moment the tree looked completely clean.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">Akiko dropped her yukata, and stepped forward to embrace the trunk.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">It was a river again, sweeping her out, over a waterfall, so that she seemed to fall for ever before plunging into a pool of icy water.</p>
<p style="margin: 8.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-indent: 28.0px; font: 13.0px Optima;">The forest was all around her, the sun shining through the leaves as a gentle breeze, laden with the clean scent of wood, caressed her skin.</p>