Usagi Drop

It's the first anniversary of Grandpa's death, which means Rin and Daikichi have been living together for about a year now. Daikichi mulls over what he's lost and what he's gained since Rin came into his life?

Daikichi feels helpless when Rin is laid up with stomach flu, so Kouki's mother steps in to give them both a hand.

At school, Rin is concerned that the disobedient Kouki is getting off track and getting a bad reputation. Meanwhile, when a typhoon hits, Kouki and his mom take shelter with Daikichi and Rin at their house.

During Rin's summer vacation, Daikichi and Rin visit Souichi's grave, where they find an ink bottle and bellflowers. Daikichi runs after Masako, Rin's mother, who had just been there, and when he catches up, offers her an unusual proposal.

Daikichi's cousin, Haruko, runs away from home to Daikichi's house with her daughter Reina in tow. Daikichi can hardly fathom Haruko's determination, but when he does learn her reasons, he's not a little surprised by how strong Haruko has become as a mother.

When Rin enters elementary school, Daikichi proposes planting a tree to commemorate the occasion. Rin plants a loquat seed in the yard, but there's no telling whether it will actually put forth buds.

Daikichi finally meets Rin?fs mother, Masako, and he?fs shocked by her frankness. When they part, Masako asks Daikichi for a favor, and it?fs an issue that Daikichi can?ft avoid, as long as he?fs going to raise Rin. Daikichi tries to resolve it by having a heart-to-heart conversation with Rin, but he gets an unexpected answer...

Rin befriends Kouki, a boy she met at the local nursery school, while Daikichi?'s pulse races a bit when he meets Kouki?

Daikichi goes back to his parents? house with Rin in tow in order to search for clues about her mother.

What kind of clothes to buy her? What to feed her? What to do about nursery school? Daikichi's new life raising a 6-year-old girl is an uninterrupted stream of bewilderment. Rin looks anxious on her first day of nursery school, so Daikichi does a "pinky swear" with her, promising to pick her up as soon as he can. And Daikichi, who has no confidence he can live with Rin for long, starts thinking about meeting Rin's mother...

30-year-old bachelor businessman Kawachi Daikichi encounters Rin, a girl he's never seen before, at his grandfather's funeral. Surprisingly, the 6-year-old girl turns out to be his grandfather's love child.