‘Are you sure it’s OK?’ Yuni said, and for a second I thought she might play.

‘Of course. I’ve just finished tuning it. If you don’t mind, we’d love to hear you play a piece.’

It was rare for Mr Akino to wear quite such a grin on his face. But then I remembered – he was always charming and easy-going around his clients. And I imagined he was genuinely happy to see the twins after such a long time.

‘OK, go ahead,’ Yuni said, urging her sister on, and Kazune seated herself in front of the piano.

‘Oh, great!’ exclaimed Mr Yanagi, who arrived carrying a chair into the room. Putting it down, he hurried over. ‘You should have let me know something this exciting was going on,’ he said, lightly poking me with an elbow.

‘Could you wait a moment?’ I said. ‘We can’t let a rare opportunity like this go by!’ I went back to the office and invited Miss Kitagawa to come. ‘Would you like to hear Kazune play?’ I asked. I wanted everyone in the office – as many people as possible – to hear her.

Miss Kitagawa soon joined me, along with Mr Morohashi, one of our salesmen. By the time I returned with the two extra audience members, Kazune was sitting upright and very still, preparing herself. Lid open, the piano too was waiting with bated breath for its keyboard to be touched by those pale fingers.

There was a sudden intake of breath, then the music began and the piano burst into life. This was a light and charming piece, very different from the one she’d played the other day at home. A lovely, lively piece, recalling for me once again that selfsame tree in the forest, lit up all by itself, glistening on the mountain slopes. It did a great job of showcasing her talents, and I could hardly contain my excited smile. This was not the Kazune we had known in the past. She had never played with such confidence and fluency. The best elements of Yuni’s playing seemed to have transferred over to Kazune.

She played the final chord, then rested her hands in her lap, and in that instant of perfect silence, Miss Kitagawa burst into applause. I joined in with enthusiasm.

Kazune stood and bowed. Yuni, beside her, bowed as well.

‘That was sublime,’ Miss Kitagawa said, a wide smile on her face, still frantically clapping.

From behind her I caught Mr Akino giving a slight nod of approval before he left the small hall.

‘Tomura-kun.’ Our company MD who had joined us silently during the recital came up to me. ‘Was she always this good?’

If given a choice between answering yes or no to this question, I would have gone with yes. Kazune’s playing had always been remarkable, although today it had something extra. ‘It was astonishing – she’s totally transformed.’