He let out a long sigh. ‘I see. Yeah, you’ve got to start there.’ He rubbed his eyes and then lowered his voice. ‘But are you sure that’s all you want? She’s going to be performing recitals before long.’

It took three seconds for it to click with me that she meant Kazune. Before long she would be performing recitals – Mr Akino had said it so casually it took me by surprise. It made me so happy that Mr Akino, with his keen sense of hearing, recognized Kazune’s talent.

‘Mr Itadori does ordinary domestic piano tuning, too. He does a pretty amazing job with that as well.’

‘Amazing how?’

‘Why don’t you go and check it out yourself?’ Mr Akino said, sounding a little exasperated. ‘It’s reborn.’

‘What is?’

‘The piano. It’s reborn into something totally different.’

Mr Akino pulled a very strange face when he said this, almost as if what he was about to say was something he didn’t comprehend himself.

‘When Mr Itadori tunes your piano it makes you wonder what the piano was up to until then. You can’t believe what a great sound it’s suddenly making – you feel like your playing has suddenly improved.’

How wonderful is that? What a lucky piano. Both people need to feel satisfied – the person who plays that piano, and the tuner himself who can make someone so happy.

Mr Akino sighed again. ‘Tomura, do you understand what I mean by the piano’s touch? You probably think of it as the keyboard having a light or a heavy feel when you press the notes, yes? Actually it’s not so simple. When you press a key with your finger it connects to a hammer, which strikes a string. I’m talking about that sensation. A pianist doesn’t sound the keyboard. He strikes a string. It’s possible to play in such a way that you feel your fingertips connect directly with the hammers and with those hammers striking the strings. That feeling is the special touch Mr Itadori has.’

‘That’s extraordinary. I would think everyone who plays would ask Mr Itadori to tune for them, if they knew that.’

Mr Akino ignored my gushing admiration. ‘Treat the piano with high reverence. It can teach you all manner of things.’

I took this to be Mr Akino’s way of saying how wonderful the instrument is.

‘What do you mean by “all manner of things”?’

It was an honest question, but Mr Akino kept his eyes lowered for a while.