The story unfolds in a town in Japan, where life happens like everywhere else. Shizuku was just coming back from buying milk from the nearby store. Her mother complained about getting the plastic bag just for buying a carton milk and Shizuku argued that they just gave it to her anyway.

Mr Tsukishima decides to read the newspaper while waiting for his document to finish printing. He tells Shizuku about the library's decision to change from the card system to barcode system. Both agreed that they prefer the card system.

Shizuku opened her book and took out the library card. Something written on the card made her sit up, and to check if it was true, she went to her bedroom to check it out. It was true, the name Amasawa was on some of her other books as well. And so she daydreams of what the Amasawa person is like.

The next morning, Shizuku hurried up to get to school quickly, having to meet her friend Yuuko. Her mother had forgotten her purse again and had returned to get it while Shizuku was brushing her teeth. During breakfast, she looked out of the kitchen window and noticed a blimp flying rather low. She could not help but feel that something special would happen that day, and quickly finished her breakfast. It was a sunny day and she was in a pretty good mood, even greeting her neighbour's dog.

Making a beeline to her teacher's room, Shizuku asked her to open the library just for her. She had planned to read twenty books during the holidays. Naturally, her teacher was more concerned about her studies.

Shizuku quickly selected the book she wanted and gave the card to her teacher to check out. Curiously, no one had ever borrowed the book before, being a rather old book. Upon opening the book, she discovered that the donor goes by the name of Amasawa, and was probably related to the person she had noticed the day before on her library cards.

At that moment, Yuuko burst into the library, chiding Shizuku about letting her wait at the gate under the sun for so long, complaining about her freckles as well. After checking out the book, they headed for the bench ares near the sports courts. Yuuko had asked her to translate the song "Country Road" for her. The final work was not too shabby but Shizuku still disliked it saying that it was "too conventional". She did, however, wrote her version of Country Road, aptly named "Concrete Road" for the fun of it.

When the finally stopped laughing, Shizuku asked Yuuko what it was that she had wanted to talk about. Yuuko suddenly got serious and asked Shizuku if there was anyone she liked. It turned out that she had received a love letter from a boy from another class. The problem was, she liked someone else, so she was not too sure of what to do. She was on the verge of telling Shizuku the name of the boy she liked when Sugimura called out to Shizuku.

Immediately, Yuuko got up and turned away. Sugimura obviously did not notice and asked Shizuku to pass his back to him. They exchanged some words that were not very nice before Shizuku ran after Yuuko who had left the place. She did not notice that she had left her book behind.

Shizuku had figured out that Yuuko's secret love was Sugimura. Yuuko wondered if he knew about her feelings but Shizuku dismissed it, saying that he was too dumb to know. Their conversation then shifted to their studies, and Yuuko lamented on how lucky Shizuku was, having noone on the family telling her to study all the time. It was only after a while that Shizuku realized that her book had been left behind and ran back to retrieve it.

The bench that she and Yuuko had occupied was not vacant; a boy was sitting there, reading the book Shizuku had left behind. He returned it, and also told her to drop the "Concrete Road" thing. Apparantly, Shizuku was not to pleased to find out that he had read her song and muttered "jerk" under her breath all the way home (very hilarious). She settled down as soon as she opened her book to read it. She was still reading it that night even as the rest of her family members ate their dinner in the kitchen.

The next day, Shizuku left for the library early in the morning to bring her father's lunch, partly because she went there often anyway and partly to avoid doing housework. On the way out, her sister Shio threw down a letter for her to post, reminding her to remove the clip before mailing it. Shizuku jokingly asked her if it was for a boyfriend and was promptly called an idiot. On board the train later, she notices a cat on board the train, who jumped up onto the seat beside her. It was rather weird sitting beside a cat at first, but Shizuku got used to it in a flash and asked the cat where it was going. A few questions later and still no answer, Shizuku gave up trying.

The cat was staring out of the window all the while until it saw a big logo with the word "Seiko" underneath it. It sat down at that point and Shizuku told the cat that she was getting down at the next stop. As she got up, the cat jumped down and exited as well. Feeling excited, Shizuku followed it.

She lost sight of the cat on the busy roads but caught sight of it again walking on top of the wall. Following it brought her to a housing estate on top of the hill. She watched the cat teasing the dog and wondered if the cat was teasing her too. The cat finally led her to a shop.

The shop was a little dark with a statue of a pig holding the door open. In the middle of the room, on a table, stood the most enchanting cat figurine clad in European clothing. As Shizuku wondered if it was the cat she had been following, the figure seemed to smirk at her, making very astonished.

A voice drew her attention to the counter where an old man emerged from behind it. He told her to feel free to look around, saying that the Baron could use some company too, referring to the figurine, as he walked to an old grandfather clock. So the figurine's name was Baron, commented Shizuku. The old man thought it was a rather grand name and said so too.

The clock was very old fashioned. The old man climbed on a rickety ladder and Shizuku helped by steadying it. Thanking her for that, the old man told her that the clock was sent to his shop for repairs. It had been found in very bad shape in an old castle.

After putting in the final piece of the clock, he wound it up and set the clock working again. The doors below the clock face opened up to reveal moving figures of dwarves in it, working at a mine. As the clock strikes twelve, the number eight slid open and a figure of a dwarf dressed in royal clothing appeared. Above the clock face, the sheep in front of a night sky background disappeared while a beautiful figure of an elf emerged, followed by a melodious tune. The old man explained to Shizuku that whenever the clock strikes twelve, the dwarf king would wait for the elf princess to appear. They loved each other but because they lived in different worlds, their love was not to be.

The clock's minute hand moved to show 12:01. Shizuku was surprised and asked the old man if the clock was running fast. And it was, by five minutes at least. Panicking, she rushed out to the library as fast as she could to deliver her father's lunch.

Halfway there, the boy she met the other day called out to her. Shizuku had left behind the lunch at the shop and he was helping to return it. He commented on what a big lunch she was going to eat. Once again, Shizuku got mad and it got worse when the boy sang her "Concrete Road" as he cycled away. And that's how her father found her with her mouth pouting.

Shizuku took out a couple of books and checked the cards. She found another book that had been loaned out by the Amasawa person and wondered once more on what kind of person he was. Her first thought was the "jerk" smirking at her and she quickly denied him as the person, and rather loudly. Her face turned red at all the people staring at her and quickly pretended to be absorbed in a book.

School terms began with a rainy day. Mrs Tsukishima, who was still schooling, and was not too happy with the weather. Shizuku told her not to complain; after all, it was her choice to continue studying. They went on their separate ways as they reached the main road.

After the test, Shizuku and Yuuko were about to leave when Sugimura walked up to her. He told her that he had sneaked a look at the test marks and, like he had guessed, had done very well. Shizuku congratulated him for being a good guesser and suggested that he study with Yuuko then, saying that she was a good guesser as well. Her intentions were pretty obvious and Yuuko had to pull her out of the class to avoid the embarrasment.

Shizuku had wanted to go to the teachers' lounge before joining their friends for lunch to ask her teacher about the book she had borrowed the other day. The donor turned out to be Amasawa Koichi, or Amasawa Clinic. Plus, he had a son studying in the same level as her too. The bombshell dropped, Shizuku rushed out of the lounge to recover from the shock, leaving Yuuko very clueless.

Shizuku was about to explain what it was all about when she noticed the "jerk" walking with a man towards her direction. As they passed, she bowed to the him, not even looking at the boy. When they reached the end of the corridor, she told Yuuko what a jerk that boy was.

At their teacher's office, her friends were laughing at Shizuku finally finding a guy with the same passion in reading as her. To stop the teasing, Shizuku pretended to decide to not allow her friends to see her newly-translated copy of "Country Road". This diverted their attention, of course, and they had to literally beg to see the translated lyrics. Shizuku admitted that she still doesn't think that it was a good job. Furthermore, she has no idea what the words "Country Road" means.

As her friends sang the first stanza, Shizuku's face grew steadily pink with embarrassment. All agreed that she had done a very good job at it, and even suggested singing it at a special function. The bell rang and their teacher ushered them off to their classrooms for lessons.

After classes had ended, Sugimura waited outside the classroom to have a word with Yuuko. Her face blushing, she walked up to Sugimura to hear what he had wanted to say. Shizuku, on the other hand, was found pausing at a road junction. She decided to visit the shop before again. Unfortunately, the shop was closed and the Baron was no longer standing on the table like before. A bicycle screeched behind her and she turned around sharply, expecting to see the "jerk" on his bike again. It wasn't though, and she let out a breath of relief.

That night, Yuuko called Shizuku and asked her to meet her. Apparently, the guy who had sent Yuuko a love letter had asked Sugimura, of all people, to get an answer from her. Sugimura, oblivious to Yuuko's feelings, had no qualms about it, and this made Yuuko very depressed. She decided to skip school the next day as well as the test that was to be held.

During the test the next day, Shizuku stole a glance at Sugimura. When he looked back, she mouthed the word "Baka", or idiot, at him. Sugimura mouthed back a question on what he had done in return.

After school, Shizuku decided to visit Yuuko. Along the way, Sugimura called out to her to ask her about Yuuko's odd behaviour towards him. Shizuku went all mad and asked him if whatever Yuuko had said to him made any sense at all. Still oblivious, he merely said that Yuuko had asked him why he had asked her, and he had answered that his friend had asked him. Shizuku got even madder at this point and scolded him for being such an idiot and told him straight in the face that Yuuko loved him.

Sugimura had not expected it and said that it complicates things for him. Disagreeing, Shizuku said it should be Yuuko's case which was more complicated. It was then that Sugimura admitted that he had loved Shizuku for a long time now. The tables turned, it was Shizuku's turn to be shocked and told him not to joke around. No joke, says Sugimura, and he wanted to know if there was anyone Shizuku was seeing since she was obviously trying to avoid the subject. Shizuku denied anyone, so he demanded to know why she can't love him back. Unable to take anymore, Shizuku tried to run away but Sugimura caught hold of her and demanded for an answer. She said that she would rather be just friends, like always.

Sugimura decided that the case was hopeless, and letting go of Shizuku's hand, he collected his bag and left the place. When Shizuku reached home, she told herself that she was the idiot, not him.

Later that day, Shizuku woke up to hear her mother talking with their neighbour outside. She got up, changed, and left the house. She did not even answer her mother when asked where she was going.

Visiting the shop once again, she finds it closed again. Disappointed, she saw the cat appearing from behind the vase outside the shop and smiled. She sat down beside it and talked to the cat about all her problems. She didn't even notice that the boy was approaching her on his bike until he walked up to her.

The boy was surprised that Moon had let her pet it. At that, Shizuku asked him if the cat's name was Moon. Yes, he said, because he thought it looked like a full moon. The cat was not his then, said Shizuku. You can't tell cats what to do, he said, and told her that it probably has other names as well. The boy later asked her what she was doing at the shop anyway. Shizuku replied that she had wanted to see the Baron again and also wondered if the old man was fine since the shop had been closed for some time now. The boy assured her that the old man was fine. It was just that the shop is strange in the fact that it was closed more often than it was open. He invited her inside through the back door to see the baron.

The view from the balcony was incredibly beautiful. The boy mentioned that the view was best at that time, and showed her the way to the shop upstairs. There, sitting on the table, was the Baron. The clock was gone though. He explained that the clock was only there for repairs. It was finished the day Shizuku had left the lunch there. Seeing her face, he said that he knew it wasn't hers. Shizuku made a face, then sat down to see what he had to show.

He tilted the figurine so that the sun's rays fell in its eyes. The scratches in the eyes glimmered and shone like magic. The glimmering in the eyes was called "Angel's Zimmer", he explained, and that the eyes were scratched as the maker was sewing up its clothes. He then left her to gaze at the figurine as he went downstairs.

Looking at the figurine, Shizuku felt as if she had known it for a long time. She continued to gaze at it until the sun finally sets behind the buildings, then joined the boy downstairs and saw him making a violin. There were many other violins hanging from the ceiling. Shizuku comented on how magical the violin the boy had made looked, embarrasing him.

At this point, Shizuku slyly walked up to him and asked if he could play the violin. He said yes, and Shizuku immediately begged him to play a piece for her. He agreed, on the condition that she sings along. Shizuku quickly changed her mind but it was too late; he had already taken out his violin. It was a well-made violin and looked much better than the ones that were hanging.

The boy tuned the violin, then told Shizuku to sing, quoting that she obviously knew the song he was going to play. The song was Country Road and Shizuku was taken aback for a while. It was time for her to sing and so she did, and very well at that.

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