Umi Sakurai

"Mr. Kanda knows loneliness all too well. But thanks to a little help from his friends--furry and otherwise--he's come back out of his shell and into the world, where he touches the lives of those around him too. So when Mr. Kanda beholds his fellow music teacher and Fukumaru fanboy Mr. Moriyama standing frozen onstage after having been deserted by his bandmates mid-gig, Mr. Kanda must overcome his own trauma-induced stage fright to help his friend....

"Spying a bedraggled cat outside the window one day, Fukumaru is shocked to realize that the he and the stranger are acquainted from their days in the pet shop! Fukumaru notices that his former compaw-triot is beaten and bruised and tries to get his attention, but the black cat puffs up menacingly and flees. In his anxiety to help his old friend, Fukumaru manages to get out of the house! Will Mr. Kanda's beloved kitty ever find his way home or is...

"The kind and elegant Fuyuki Kanda has a lot of fans, not least of whom is his cat Fukumaru! Surprisingly, however, not everyone sees the gentlemanly music teacher in this light. Hibino, a rival concert pianist, detests Kanda and his genius at the piano. But when Hibino's fickle mother forces a cat onto her grown son, Hibino finds himself with a furry new houseguest and little idea of how to take care of her! A trip to the pet store seems like the...

"Fukumaru's in the hospital and in big trouble! This turn of events leaves Mr. Kanda in big trouble too, emotionally speaking. Both the man and the cat know what it's like to be lonely, and as the days pass in a whirl, the reason Mr. Kanda weeps from time to time gradually becomes clear..."--Provided by publisher.