Akiko retained just enough sense of dignity not to squeal in embarrassment, but she could feel herself blushing all over as she bolted into the house, still clutching the mask. Back in her room, the door closed, she collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. The wood of the mask was smooth and cool against her chest, and she could hear the wail of the sirens as the fire engines arrived, then the shouts and running footsteps of the fire-fighters.

Gradually, her mind began forming coherent thoughts again, and her breathing slowed to normal. The smell of smoke, and the acrid stench of burned plastic, filled the air, and Akiko realised that she should go back, check the situation. And she should get dressed, because if the fire spread to the house, she didn’t want to be evacuated naked.

But she didn’t want to let go of the mask. Even though she knew she wasn’t in a fire now, as she put it on the table memories of the burning pain swept back, and she found herself trembling, fingers resting on the mask’s surface, fighting to let go.

With an effort of will, she lifted her fingers a fraction above the mask, ready to press them down again if necessary. There was no pain, no burning, just a strange sense of regret. Letting her breath out, Akiko sprang up and started pulling clothes on as quickly as she could.

The fire-fighters were still trying to bring the blaze under control when she got out to join Shiraishi. They had pulled hoses up the steps and were starting to douse it, but it was obvious that there was going to be nothing left. The priest was simply staring at the ruins, unmoving, not even reacting when Akiko came up beside her.

As the flames died down, one of the fire-fighters approached them.

“Ms Tanahata?â€ he asked, looking between them.

“That’s me,â€ Akiko replied.

“Thank you for the call. Do you have any idea of the cause of the fire?â€ Akiko shook her head, and the fire-fighter frowned, glancing over at the blackened ashes that were all that remained of the shrine buildings.

“No candles or lamps inside?â€

“Only electric ones, and they were turned off for the night.â€

“There’ll have to be an investigation, of course. We can’t rule out arson.â€

<em>No,</em> Akiko suddenly thought, <em>we can’t.</em> She remembered the kegare gathered around Wakabayashi, the smoke and smouldering fire, and his near-threats over what would happen if they didn’t sell out. She looked at Shiraishi, but the priest showed no signs of wanting to respond. <em>We can tell them later,</em> she decided, and just nodded to the fire-fighter.

He asked her a few more questions, which she answered as best she could, and then turned to Shiraishi. The priest answered almost entirely in monosyllables, and fortunately chose not to mention Akiko’s plunge into the flames. The fire-fighters put tape up around the ruins and left, leaving Akiko and Shiraishi standing by the house, looking at the thin smoke rising from the ashes in the light of dawn, as it began to rain.