Nekonade

Onizuka Taro, the cold-hearted head of HR, is feared by all for his ruthless layoffs. After another tough day of dismissals, Onizuka rests in a park, where he encounters a box of abandoned kittens.

Onizuka wonders why has he become so captivated by the kitten. As a new training program for fresh recruits begins, he speaks harshly to the group, drawing resentment. On his way home, rain begins to fall, and Onitsuka finds himself rushing back to the park, wondering about the kitten. When he arrives, he hears a faint "meow" and discovers a trembling, rain-soaked kitten in the box. Before he knows it, he's holding it in his arms.

Onizuka struggles to secretly care for the kitten, Tora, at home, with little knowledge of how to raise a cat. After learning from Kyoko about an available room in a weekly rental apartment, he decides to keep the kitten there. Balancing work, home, and visits to the apartment, he cares for Tora using online research. Even during training sessions, his mind is preoccupied with the kitten. One day, when he arrives at the apartment, Tora, who usually greets him, is nowhere to be found—he spots the kitten collapsed on the floor.

In the company cafeteria, a former employee pours miso soup on Onizuka's head in revenge for being laid off, while Kyoko silently offers him a handkerchief. During a product presentation, Onizuka's mind drifts, preoccupied with layoffs, the trainees, and his kitten, Tora.

Midway through the training, Onizuka Taro's tough demeanor has, for better or worse, unified the trainees. Onizuka requests to use the surveillance robot from the development team for training. Longing to see his kitten, Tora, he sneaks to the weekly rental apartment during lunch to set up the robot, but struggles with it and ends up running late.

With just a week left before his rental apartment expires, Onizuka reflects on Tora’s future while cleaning up the kitten’s room. As he leaves with a garbage bag, he unexpectedly runs into Asami, who notices an empty cat food can in the trash. Onizuka continues monitoring Tora through the robot, but one day, the kitten is missing from the screen. Panicked, he rushes to the apartment, only to find it completely empty.

After completing another round of layoffs, Onizuka Taro becomes increasingly attached to watching Tora, hiding his obsession from Kyoko. During a meeting, a new product that allows mobile monitoring catches his interest, letting him check on Tora anytime. Excited, he borrows a prototype from Kinoshita in development. Upon arriving at Tora’s room, Onizuka finds a flea brush he doesn’t recognize. When he uses it on Tora, the kitten responds affectionately. Confused, Onizuka wonders who’s been secretly caring for Tora.

Onizuka Taro takes his family fishing over the weekend, but his children notice him checking on Tora through his phone. Mistaking it for a game, they excitedly ask to see, assuming their dad is playing a cat-raising game like they do. Feeling a bit proud, Onizuka indulges them. His child then suggests that having two cats would reduce stress, sparking Onizuka's curiosity. Later, he takes Tora to the vet, where a chubby woman with a dog sits next to him, smiling warmly and introducing her dog to Tora, before awkwardly laughing at Onizuka.