The rain still hadn’t stopped when she left the office. There were flood warnings on her cell phone, and the trains were all stopping at every station, having completely abandoned the timetable.

Once off her train, she put her umbrella up, hoping that it would do something to keep the rain off. There was some wind, but it wasn’t too bad, and her head, at least, stayed dry.

She hadn’t gone far before, turning the corner, she found the road blocked, under several centimetres of water. Some cars were trying, carefully, to get through, but it was obvious that it would come well over the tops of her shoes. Akiko didn’t fancy walking home with wet feet, but the only alternative route avoiding the low-lying area would take her right past Tamao Shrine, and she really didn’t want to go that way.

<em>You’re being silly,</em> she told herself. <em>It’s just a set of odd coincidences. You can walk right past the shrine and go home.</em>

Finally, she was convinced, and set off, climbing the hill. The wind and rain seemed to get stronger as she climbed, which, she realised, they might well be doing.

The leaves of the shrine forest seemed to shine in the gloom, their wet surfaces catching every bit of light and scattering it back out to her. Under the trees, everything was dark, which gave her an excellent excuse not to look as she hurried forward.

She reached the peak of the road, at the bottom of the steps, and stopped, looking at the road ahead in disbelief. Water flowing from both sides was rushing through the cutting as it descended, turning it into a river. It looked even deeper than the water she had come this way to avoid, and it was certainly flowing faster.

Akiko glanced at the steps, leading up and away from the flood, and for a moment she thought about taking shelter in the shrine. Then she remembered what Naoyuki had said, and firmly shook her head. The road ahead was impassable, so she would have to go back and round, but she could get home by another route.

As she turned to retrace her steps, she was buffeted by a strong gust of wind. It caught her umbrella, flipping it inside out and snapping several of the spokes, and pulled her hand backward. She staggered, and her left foot came down in the cold water of the flooded road. Its surface was slippery underfoot, and as the wind pulled the umbrella from her hand, carrying it off into the darkness, she lost her balance, falling over backwards into the water.

It soaked her to the skin instantly, and when she tried to stand, she lost her balance again in the flowing stream, falling forward this time, scraping her face on the tarmac. The rain continued to pound on her back, as she carefully struggled to her feet and retrieved her shoes. As her clothes clung, chill, to her body, she got the feeling that the shrine was watching her.

She turned her back and started wading downhill through the flood.