Toshiko Katsaros's Links
[Husband] - Chares is Toshiko's beloved husband. They met in high school and have been together pretty much ever since. She had never expected to willingly be vulnerable to someone else, after her near escape from Aprósopi, but Chares simply...how could she not be? She's very protective of him.
[Wife] - Toshiko is Chares' beloved wife. They've been together a long time, having met in high school. He knows many things about her life that are otherwise secret.
[Son] - Toshiko loves her son immensely. She feels like she did a terrible job parenting him, though - she feels she overfocused on skills like hunting and fighting and ignored the areas he was great in, and that it's part of the reason he wound up feeling like he would never belong in Theta and moved to Epsilon. She's never known how to make amends for it, though, nor how to fix it...the best she can do is making sure she shows that she cares.
[Mother] - Kerberos knows he disappointed his mother when he was younger. He doesn't really dwell on it anymore too much, and it's never occurred to him that she might feel differently now. He knows she doesn't like his wife, but doesn't really understand it.
[Daughter-in-law] - Toshiko has always avoided Epsilons, and her daughter-in-law is not an exception. She did her best to make it clear to Erato that she wouldn't tolerate having her mind read, and uses her power to make certain of it, but even that doesn't really put her more at ease. At least Kerberos is happy. (And she does credit Erato for sending Hero to Theta, for recognizing that her daughter would never heal by staying where she was - and she knows it was a hard choice, which she does respect her for making... She just doesn't have to like her to respect her).
[Mother-in-law] - Erato has never understood why Toshiko is so adamant about not having her thoughts understood. It's not like there's much choice for her in it, though, since Toshiko shields her mind well with her clan power. Even so, she avoids her. She's kind of glad that once the kids finished high school, they stopped visiting every summer. She supposes there are worse mother-in-laws out there, though. At least Toshiko cares about the girls.
[Granddaughter] - Toshiko has always been close to Kandy, who reminds her of her beloved and deceased older sister. Of course, she knows they aren't the same person, but she finds herself smiling whenever Kandy sounds like the great-aunt she never met. She's supported her granddaughter's dreams and desires since she was young, and is happy to see how she has bloomed and grown.
[Grandmother] - Kandy has always felt closest to Toshiko, of her family. Her grandmother always understood what she needed and wanted, and supported her determination to get it. Toshiko taught her to fight and to hunt, and even now, she finds herself learning things from her grandmother.
[Future Granddaughter-in-law] - Toshiko always wondered what kind of floss Kandy would actually become serious about, and she's found she has no idea what to do with the answer. Why do her granddaughters keep going for timid women abused by their parents? Rairakku is sweet, of course, just like Cordelia, but- why is there this pattern?
[Future Grandmother-in-law] - Iri had expected that Chares would be the scarier one of Kandy's grandparents. She was not prepared for the grandma to be the scary one. For some reason, even as she's gotten comfortable with Kandy, she hasn't gotten comfortable with Toshiko.
[Granddaughter] - Although not as close to Tessa as to her older sister, Toshiko did always enjoy seeing her granddaughter. She didn't really understand a lot of the internet stuff that Tessa seemed to be absorbed in, but she always found her granddaughter to be clever and funny. She does her best to write letters, now that Tessa and Cordelia live in Psi. She'd think it seemed too much to do for a partner, to move to somewhere Tessa struggles to live so much...but when she looks at Chares, she knows she would do the same thing for him, if he had been infected and wanted to leave. So she can only approve of Tessa's choice.
[Grandmother] - Tessa's always passively liked her grandmother, but she never really got to know her the way Kandy did when they were young. Still...she is very grateful that Toshiko not only writes, but also is willing to make time for regular video chats and calls, as difficult as those can be to do in Theta and Psi both. It makes her life less lonely.
[Granddaughter-in-law] - As much as she was unenthused to have another Epsilon join the family, Toshiko has found she rather likes Cordelia. She'd like her more if she was less timid, but that's just an unfortunate quality of how she was raised, she supposes.
[Grandmother-in-law] - Cordelia didn't know what to expect, meeting her wife's grandparents. Toshiko certainly wasn't anything like what she thought grandparents were like, but she's found she likes her anyways. Maybe it's the way Toshiko treats Chares, though - it reminds her a lot of how Tessa is with her.
[Granddaughter] - Hero drives Toshiko up the wall some days. She does her best to bite that down, though. Her granddaughter has always been a bit difficult for her, but it was never like this, and she knows it isn't really Hero's fault that she's this difficult right now. She does believe Erato made the right call in sending Hero to Theta, though. It's just a frustrating process to try to help her recover.
[Grandmother] - Hero thinks her grandmother is very scary, and always has. She has warmed up to her a little since moving to Theta, but still finds herself feeling...well, like her dad did, like her grandmother maybe looks down on her as weak...
[Mentee???] - Toshiko saw her sister in Jirō the instant she spotted him walking with Takara. She still remembered how all the prominent families of her village had looked, and she knew all too well what he might be facing. It occurred to her that what she wanted to do might make her a target - but she didn't care, and she has never regretted taking Takara in as her son. She would have taken Jirō too, had he not been expected. Now that he has finally escaped and returned, however, she's been happy to help him find work on his own terms and to help him adjust to his new life.
[Mentor???] - Toshiko was the answer to all Jirō's needs when he first left home, and since his escape, she's kept helping him. He's deeply grateful to her for all of it, and grateful to her departed sister for having saved her, making it all possible.
[Adopted Son] - Toshiko understands well why Takara is how he is, and she takes pains to give him both the space he desires and the closeness and certainty of being cared for that he needs. She knows she'll never be perfect at it - her own adoptive parents weren't! - but as long as she gets it right more often than she gets it wrong, she knows the effort will matter to his heart for a long time.
[Adopted Mother] - Takara has understood his mother better since the quarantine. He had often wondered, when he was young, how she had recognized the situation he and his brother were in. Now that he knows, he often wonders why she would have ever taken the risk... Still, he's grateful she did, and that even as life has gotten busier, she's still always there for him.