The vague words began to take shape. Make it shine. Lift the sounds and make them shine – that’s what I had to do. The constellations. Tonight the ones you could see would be Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Leo. No matter where you viewed them from, they shone high up in the sky, the outline of them eternal.

‘Bright, quiet, crystal-clear writing.’

I murmured this to myself and stood ready in front of the piano.

My constellation. Always there above the forest, and all I needed to do was head towards it.

As lovely as a dream, yet as exact as reality.

That was my constellation. I had to make it shine upon Kazune as she played, and Yuni, too, seated further off. I started by adjusting the depth of the pedals so that when Kazune depressed them the sound would resonate the way she wanted it to, and spread to each and every corner of this room. Next came the way the casters lay beneath the legs. Once, before a recital, Mr Itadori had changed the direction in which they faced in order to adjust the sound. Back then I’d merely watched, impressed. But now I understood: the centre of gravity was currently with the legs all facing inwards. Making them face outwards instead would bend the column plate to an infinitesimal degree, thereby changing how the sound radiated out. I had done all that I could.

Kazune, resplendent in a chartreuse dress, began to play. This was less solemn, more rousing, and I barely recognized it – a wedding march. A celebratory piece to hail the happy couple. Kazune played the grace notes slowly, as if they were the melody. In a way this in itself was as lovely as a dream, as exact as reality. The bride and groom, joyful and beaming, made their entrance and everyone applauded. As they passed by the tables, they nodded shyly to those around them. Miss Hamano, the new bride, was radiant. She bowed to the surrounding guests as the couple made their way to the front of the room.

‘Aren’t weddings wonderful?’ I couldn’t help but whisper to Mr Akino beside me.

‘You’re gutsier than I imagined, Tomura.’ He gave a forced smile. ‘If it were me and the pianist was playing a piano I’d tuned, I’d be feeling pretty tense, not smiling and chatting like you’re doing.’

Now that he mentioned it, I realized I wasn’t tense at all. Kazune probably wasn’t either. The light, cheerful sound continued. This was different from a concert. Neither the piano nor the pianist – let alone the tuner – were the lead players here, since this was Mr Yanagi and Miss Hamano’s wedding reception. The salons of old might well have felt like this.

‘I don’t know, I just really like it.’

Mr Akino’s mouth turned down at the corners for a moment.