However, the two lovers and their cat statues were separated during World War II, and could not find each other after the war ended. Nishi discovered the twin statuettes of the Baron and his female companion in a cafe, but as the female one was away for repairs, the shopkeeper would only allow Nishi to buy the Baron if Louise agreed to hold onto its companion so they could be reunited. When he studied in Germany in his youth, he found his first love, a woman named Louise. Nishi consoles her and tells her the real-life story of the Baron. Shizuku bursts into tears as the stress of the last two months turns into relief. When her story is complete, Nishi reads it and gives his honest assessment, which is that Shizuku is talented, but requires refinement through practice. As she continues to push herself and Shiho tells her that she is moving out, her anxiety mounts. She argues with Shiho over her grades and future, but their parents tell Shizuku to continue her dream but that the path will be difficult. Devoting her time to her writing, Shizuku stays up until early in the morning, and her school grades drop. Shizuku concocts a fantasy story called "Whisper of the Heart", featuring herself as the protagonist, the Baron as the male hero looking for his lost love, Louise, and the cat from the train (a neighborhood stray who is, among other names, known as "Moon" and "Muta") as the antagonist. She asks Nishi if she can write a story featuring the Baron, to which Nishi grants his consent in exchange for being the first to read her story. Inspired by Seiji, Shizuku decides to pursue her skill for writing seriously in the same two months. Days after, Seiji leaves for Cremona, Italy for a two-month study with a master violin-maker. Seiji admits that he admires Shizuku’s talents, and reveals his dream to become a luthier, as well as his efforts of checking out a large number of books in the hopes that she would eventually notice him. The boy is revealed to be Seiji, Nishi's grandson, and Shizuku and Seiji finally befriend each other.
The pair perform "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as it was adapted by Shizuku for her graduation. She begs him to play the violin for her, but he agrees on the condition that she sings along. He shows her the workshop, where she discovers that he is learning to make violins to pursue his dream of becoming a master luthier. Feeling disconsolate, Shizuku decides to head to the antique shop, meeting the boy once more. However, she rejects him in order to not hurt Yūko. Shizuku confronts Sugimura and scolds him for his actions, only for him to reveal he had a crush on her. When school restarts, Yūko is devastated when Sugimura asks her to reply to a love letter his teammate sent. He comments on how much food is in the box and rides away, singing her song, leaving Shizuku in another foul mood. Realizing she's late for the library, Shizuku runs out feeling ecstatic about finding "a place where stories begin", only to run into the boy she had met the previous day, who returns the lunchbox she left behind. In the shop there is a cat statuette nicknamed The Baron as well as a centuries old antique clock. On the next day, while on her way to the library to deliver her father's lunch to him, Shizuku encounters a peculiar cat commuting on the train, and follows it to discover an antique shop run by Shirō Nishi. She runs back to discover a boy reading her book which he returns, but not without teasing her and slighting her lyrics, which leaves her feeling irritable for the rest of the evening. Yūko and Shizuku walk home when she realizes she left her book at the school.
Yūko reveals that she has a crush on a boy named Sugimura, who happens to be Shizuku's friend. Shizuku meets Yūko at the school and reveals "Concrete Roads," her " Take Me Home, Country Roads" parody written for the school graduation and criticizing the deforestation of Tama New Town (which also serves as the ecological crisis of Studio Ghibli film " Pom Poko"). One summer evening, she looks through the checkout cards in her library books and discovers they were all checked out previously by someone named Seiji Amasawa. She lives in a Tokyo suburb with her parents Asako, Seiya and older sister Shiho, and is keen on reading books, particularly fairy tales. Shizuku Tsukishima is a 14-year-old girl who attends Mukaihara Junior High School, where she is best friends with Yūko Harada.
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