The bus moved off, past the accident, but there was still no sign of the spirit. Akiko sat down, heavily, and realised that her hands were trembling. She had thought she was afraid of the spirits before, but maybe not scared enough. She clasped her hands tightly, and tried desperately to calm down.

<em>I have to be calm for the interview,</em> she told herself, sternly.

With a high-pitched whine and a grating thud, the bus came to a stop. Akiko looked up, but there was no bus stop, and no traffic lights. There were a couple more groans from the engine, and then the driver announced that the bus had broken down, apologising for the inconvenience.

Akiko looked out of the window as it began to rain.

<em>I don’t believe this, </em>she thought. Then, <em>No, I do believe it. He is not going to beat me.</em>

Standing up, she pulled her umbrella out of her bag, and went to the exit.

“Could you let me off? I need to get to an interview.â€ The driver nodded, and the door opened. <em>At least this bit is still working,</em> she thought, as she got off.

The rain was heavy, and the wind, gusting from all directions, kept trying to steal her umbrella. Fighting the wind, and trying to keep as dry as she could, Akiko starting walking as quickly as she could. She risked a quick glance at her watch; she might just make it.

The road was slippery with rain, and Akiko twice nearly lost her footing. There was a sound of sirens, not too far away, as the wind shifted to blow from directly ahead of her. It snatched her umbrella around, turning it inside out, but Akiko managed to get it facing back into the rain, and behind its shield she struggled forward. The wind wasn’t strong enough to actually hold her back, just enough to make it a bit difficult.

And then, in a moment, it switched to blow just as strongly from behind. With a crack, her umbrella flipped inside-out, the ribs snapping as Akiko stumbled forward, nearly losing her balance, losing her grip on the umbrella, and steadying herself by grabbing a wall as the broken umbrella sailed into the distance, pulled up into the grey sky by the wind.

The rain kept falling, matting Akiko’s hair and running into her eyes.

<em>You are not going to stop me, Tamao. I am going to this interview.</em>

She climbed the hill, working out what she was going to say, and wondering whether her dedication would count in her favour. She had to keep her head down, against the wind and rain, watching the ground in front of her lest she lose her footing, but she knew she was nearly there.

Looking up, the first thing she saw was the tower of smoke, whipped around by the wind, ugly flames at its base, where fire engines clustered. She could just see a sign with the company name on it.

<em>You win, dammit. You win.</em>