Kalma

Touko Afterstory, Part 1

Remember Touko? Yes, she was one of the friends of Yamato, back when she first visited the cafe Kalma.

Why is she mentioned again? The story of Touko is different, because she has a different upbringing. Well, the way she hides it when she's in highschool was very significant.

Sometimes, here and there, she hated them. The friends that she has. It seems that they were very lucky. It seems that she's the one that has no loving parents in her life.

Why is that? Her parents are academics. They got high expectations for her, and since she's always placed 2nd behind Riri, she never got a deserving applause for it.

"Touko, if you want to go to Tokyo IT, you should do better!" Her father claimed.

Her mother agreed, "perhaps you should quit volleyball, it's distracting you. We'll be going to have you join a cram school,"

Touko just looked despair, and she got nothing to prove anymore.

Her parents then have her joined that not long after the Heart-to-heart performance. The performance that changed Touko's directory.

It's still a long way forward, but it's just a little step to a better place.

Knowing that this might be her last weekend before cram school (because of its homework), she decided to accept Yamato's invitation to watch the performance.

Yamato invited all of her friends, even she shared it in her class group.

"Yoooi!! Everyone! Go to Kalma this Sunday at 7!! We're going to be performing!" She added with a smile and party emojis in the chat.

Touko looks at the message, and she's thinking, "what are the things that I love? What am I passionate about?"

She thought about Yamato and her band's passion for musical arts. It was amazing, how they can be so random and at the same time, amazing. To have that eagerness that moves them forward, she lacks the inner urge to follow her dreams.

Now, what is it? Even now her dreams seem meaningless. Void.

Because, after school, what is she going to do? Even if she got enrolled at Tokyo IT, can she survive there? It must be hard attending the course with the best students in the nation. Even after graduation, she doesn't really know what to do.

Maybe the connection is important, but this is far away before she even realizes this, even after graduation. Is it in Tokyo IT? Maybe. It's her decision after all.

So on her last free weekend, she went there and arrived with her friends at 6 PM. There, they saw the band preparing for the performance, tweaking the instruments, as they find the best spot to watch them front row.

"Wow, hey Yamato! You're so cool!" One of the gang member said.

"Aaahh, yes! Thanks guys! Hope you'll enjoy our performance."

Yamato is an enigma. Even Touko doesn't know why she is the only one that can understand her. Even when it started on the volleyball club back in 1st year, where Touko is a middle blocker and Yamato played as a setter (crucial role, but due to the performance, she was replaced temporarily by a freshman).

"You got nice reflexes! I bet you can smash those to pieces!" Yamato exclaimed cheerfully.

Touko found this enigma interesting, because all of her life she's been practicing sports alone. Even in private middle school, she's only been allowed to practice Kendo and Jiujitsu alone, never a team sport.

But come Highschool time, she decides to join the volleyball club and blends right in, maybe more due to her liking of one certain anime.

So being friends with Yamato, Touko was of course never perfect. Often she scolds Yamato, "Yamato! Why are you so nonchalant?! Is this your way of being friendly??!!"

That one time she got angry because Yamato was talking nonsense about her bra size in front of the boys, which Touko finds very disturbing.

"Ehhhh?!!! Sorry!! I don't mean to do that!!"

Touko, then felt angrier and said, "yeah whatever. You think you are so special that you can do anything. Well you're not!" She just left, and the next day, Yamato usually apologized and they went back to normal again.

But on the day of the performance, something feels different. It's a coming of age story, where Touko moved on. Perhaps she's preparing for what the future looks like, even if her heart always stays in the present. It is more likely that she's afraid of the future.

Seeing her friends talking about fashion and other hobbies, she wants to go out for a bit to the shopping district. She said on a pretext of having a call from a relative, that she must go outside.

She feels hungry, and it is a festival day, so it was full of people especially. Touko saw many people using their Yukata, and many brought their lovers together, where she was using casual clothes, and alone.

So she decided to go further using the JR lines, and at this point, her friends asked her where did she go, and Touko replied that she must deliver something to her relative from home.

Touko promised that she will return to that cafe.

On her journey, she found a small ramen shop, and while entering, she found so many university stickers, and also a bunch of inspirational words. More haikus were found also.

There was not one customer there, it was a son and his dad serving her alone.

She feels reluctant to eat there, when the son said, "ahh irasshaimase! Please take a seat!"

Now Touko feels bad, and then she went inside and after looking at the menu, she ordered a pork miso soup ramen with a glass of cold ocha.

The waiter, the son, after delivering the food to her, was hesitating to ask her. Since she was so familiar.

"Hmm, excuse me, can I ask you something?" He was very enthusiastic somehow.

"Yep?" Touko replied after drinking a bit of the ocha.

"Do you perhaps know Mrs. Sarah Ikeda?"

"Hmm yes. She's my mother, why?"

"Ahh yappari! I'm sorry, but you look just like her! I often go to her conference and such! Her thoughts about conservative effort and global warming are very interesting!"

"Ohh I see," she replied, "it's a small world then,"

"Yes! Yes it is!" In one instance she remembered Yamato and the gang. She must go back to the cafe, it's nearing the performance time.

"Ahh I must go back," she thought after finishing her ramen.

"Hmm! Can you tell me if there's any event from your parents?" The waiter asked.

"Uhh, maybe you can check them online. Sorry, I gotta go." She replied, left the tip on the table, and left.

The son just watches and proceeds to clean her table, the only customer that day.

"I should get that scholarship!" He was determined, that Josuke, and maybe he will be relatable to Touko in the future.

Josuke works diligently, to be able to gain the scholarship, so that he can make his dad feel at ease.