‘The metronome saved him,’ Miss Hamano said, in a seemingly playful tone. ‘You know the old-style metronomes, don’t you? The analogue kind you wind up? He said he had discovered that listening to a metronome calmed him down. “Even if you’re not with me, Hamano,” he told me, “I’m OK as long as I have this.” He’d spend the whole day winding it and letting it tick tock, tick tock away. When I was with him it just about drove me crazy, though.’

So a metronome was his saviour. It felt as though we’d finally arrived at the Mr Yanagi I knew.

Clinging to something, using it as a crutch to help keep you upright. Something that brings order to the world. That elusive thing with which you can survive, and without which you can’t.

‘I think I’m beginning to understand,’ I ventured.

I recalled the gym back at my school and the moment when I first heard the sounds Mr Itadori made with the piano, and how I had then thought, If only I can own this sound, then I can live.

Miss Hamano used her straw to scoop some of the flakes of ice from her iced tea into her mouth and crunched them. ‘The next thing was—’ she started cheerfully, but as soon as she did, Mr Yanagi appeared.

‘Hey, Tomura!’ He sauntered briskly over to me, his face flushed. ‘How was it? Did you enjoy it?’

‘I thought you’d take a little longer to get out,’ Miss Hamano said lightly. She stirred her drink with the straw.

‘Well, I didn’t want to keep you two waiting so I came out as fast as I could.’

‘Your drumming was great, Mr Yanagi.’

He seemed pleased. ‘Shall we go and grab a bite?’ He invited me as though it was a matter of course, but I declined.

Miss Hamano looked surprised. ‘Oh, but you must come! We’d only just started talking. We haven’t reached the good part yet.’

She seemed a little anxious, and Mr Yanagi said, ‘What were you two talking about?’

‘We were talking about discoveries,’ I replied.

Miss Hamano laughed.

I bowed to the two of them and climbed the stairs up from the basement to street level.

Miss Hamano was there before his discovery. She’d been in Mr Yanagi’s world from the very beginning. Which is why, I thought, he was able to relax enough to find the next thing in his life.