“Who <em>are</em> those people in front of the shrine?â€

That was not what Akiko expected to hear when she opened the front door of the shrine house, so it took her a few moments to take the situation in. Satomi was standing in front of her, looking as elegant as ever, but also more than a little hassled.

“Oh, Satomi. Er, they’re protesters against the shrine.â€

“I could see <em>that.</em> But why would anyone protest against a shrine? I mean, why bother? It’s not like shrines pollute the surrounding environment.â€

Akiko shrugged.

“I don’t know. They seem to think it’s important, though.â€

“Hmph. Why don’t you move them on?â€

“They come back. We aren’t the police.â€

“I suppose so.â€ Satomi took a deep breath. “Anyway, I didn’t come to talk about them. I came to see how you were. And look at you! Quite the proper miko! Give us a turn.â€ Satomi was smiling as she said it, so Akiko, blushing, did a quick pirouette. “It suits you, you know,â€ Satomi said.

“What do you mean?â€

“I don’t really know. It looks right, though. You look like a real miko, not like you’ve dressed up for a party.â€

“Well I <em>am</em> a real miko,â€ Akiko protested, and Satomi laughed.

“Of course, but, well, you look like one. Are you enjoying the job?â€

Akiko had to think about that. Was she enjoying it? That really didn’t seem like the right word. But saying “noâ€ would make it sound like she didn’t like being a miko, and that wasn’t right either. Satomi was still watching her, her face growing quizzical.

“It’s very… interesting,â€ Akiko said at last. “Not at all what I expected. But I do plan to keep it up. So, how are you doing?â€ She moved on to the question quickly, before Satomi could ask any more difficult questions.

“Oh, me.â€ Satomi sighed, and looked skywards. “I’ve had one of those weeks. Everything that could go wrong did, or at least it seems like that. My car broke down, and the repairs will cost hundreds of thousands. The trains were disrupted every single day this week, and I wasn’t into work on time once. We had a computer virus in the office, which shut us down for a day and lost us some data; we still don’t know how much.â€ She stopped, and took a deep breath, then smiled. “I could go on like that for quite some time, I’m afraid.â€

Acting on instinct, Akiko pushed her vision into seeing kegare, and had to suppress a gasp.

Satomi was heavy with pollution, ragged, feral cats draped over her shoulders and threading between her legs, jumping up to fasten their claws in her immaculate designers clothes and slipping back down, leaving the clothes shredded. There was something threaded through her hair, something that looked a bit like pond weed, or maybe seaweed, and it pulsed, releasing clouds of greenish-black spores.

“Maybe you should have a harae,â€ Akiko suggested.

“What? To get rid of the bad luck?â€ Satomi sounded sceptical.

“Well, yes. That’s one of the sorts of pollution it clears.â€

“Akiko, do you actually <em>believe</em> that sort of stuff?â€ This time, Satomi sounded really surprised, and Akiko instantly felt defensive.

“Well, you said I looked like a real miko.â€

“Yes, but you don’t have to believe the supernatural stuff. Anyway, I think I’ll pass on the harae, thanks. I’d really better be going. See you!â€ And she turned and hurried off, trailing kegare behind her.

Akiko watched her go, worry and puzzlement vying for dominance.