#nana56b
Synopsis
Haruto was born without both legs.
A west-facing children’s room on the second floor
of a run-down apartment building was his entire
world. After school, he could hear the footsteps of
children his age running through the alley outside
his window. Every time he heard that dry, rhythmic
sound, Haruto would wrap himself deeply in a
blanket, hiding his immobile lower body.
“Why is it only me?”
No one could answer that question. His parents,
both working, loved him dearly, but they worked
from morning till night to make ends meet. Hart
spent his days alone in his wheelchair, simply
gazing at the setting sun. For him, “freedom”
was nothing more than a word in a book.
One day, an elderly woman moved into the
apartment next door. Her name was Orie. She was
a former pianist who had once taught at a music
conservatory.
The sound of the piano drifting through the
wall became the only ray of light that stirred
Haruto’s heart. One day, as if drawn by a
magnet, Haruto propelled his wheelchair forward
and stopped in front of her open door. Orie
smiled gently at him.
“Would you like to try playing?”
Haruto shook his head weakly.
“I can’t. I read in a book that you can’t
produce a beautiful sound on the piano unless
you press the pedals with your feet.”
Orie stood up and knelt down beside Haruto.
Her eyes held not pity, but a firm resolve.
“It’s not your feet that create the
resonance. It’s your heart. Whatever’s
missing, we’ll just have to create together.”
The practice sessions were grueling. Haruto
couldn’t operate the pedals to create the
sustain—that unique resonance of the piano. But Orie
didn’t give up. She consulted Mr. Gen, a skilled
craftsman who worked at a small local factory.
“It’s this kid’s dream. Please find a way to make
it happen.”
Squeezing in time between his regular work, Gen
prototyped a special electromagnetic pedal that
linked Hart’s wheelchair to the piano. The mechanism
was designed so that the pedal would activate simply
by Hart lightly pressing a pressure-sensitive sensor
within his reach with his fingertips.
On top of that, Kenta, one of his classmates, joined
them. At first, Kenta had kept his distance from
Haruto, but after hearing Haruto’s intense practice
drifting from Orie’s house, he began helping Haruto
by pushing his wheelchair to the practice hall after
school.
“Haruto, your piano playing is way better than
yesterday.”
The warmth of another person began to fill the room
that had once been so lonely. For the first time,
Haruto realized he wasn’t fighting this battle
alone.
Five years later, Haruto stood on the stage of the
world’s most prestigious piano competition.
The boy who once gazed up at the sky from his
window
was now bathed in dazzling spotlights. In the
audience were Orie, whose gray hair had increased;
Mr. Minamoto, wearing a new set of work …
