Torako (虎子 Torako), also known as Tora (虎 Tora), surname unknown, is a friend of Asagi's who seems to attend the same university.
Torako smokes constantly and prefers to appear cool and ambivalent. It takes a lot to get a reaction out of her; Yotsuba achieves this by setting off a firework on top of her car, miraculously without damaging it. She admits to Koiwai that while she is not used to small children, she finds Yotsuba interesting and is patient with her. Yotsuba on the other hand is very fond of Torako because she thinks her to be cool. She often seems rather indifferent, almost melancholic, and doesn't speak much.
Torako can be contrarian; along with her androgynous looks, she does not take photographs of the set-up at the balloon show because she sees so many others doing the same. Torako is a photography enthusiast and is often seen wielding her camera, with which she is thought to be quite good though she usually downplays her abilities. She considers Yotsuba an interesting subject and takes many pictures of her, sending them to Yotsuba's father as keepsakes. Upon seeing Torako's photographs, Jumbo commented that he thought she was taking black and white photos in an attempt to seem more like an artist.
Her name means "tiger child," and Yotsuba frequently calls her just Tora ("tiger") or Tigey. She is the only member of the younger cast with a car and also owns a folding bicycle which Yotsuba thought was incredibly impressive, though Torako did not attempt to show it off and didn't think it was such a big deal. Because of her close relationship with Asagi and the fact that he had never met her (or even seen her on photo), Jumbo initially feared that Torako was Asagi's boyfriend, since Yotsuba's picture of her was androgynous and her nickname "Tora" could just as well be a man's name.
Relationships[]
Asagi[]
Asagi is Torako's best friend. Despite the differences in their personalities, they seem to get along well and often participate in activities together, or just hang out. Though Torako said once that she thought Asagi to be a terrible person, such as when Asagi surprised her by taking Ena, Yotsuba ,and Koiwai along to accompany them on their way to see the hot air balloons. Torako not knowing this beforehand caused some trouble and the guests were nearly forced to remain at home, since Torako's car was too small to fit all of them.
Yotsuba[]
Upon their first meeting, Yotsuba was skeptical towards Torako because of her smoking. But when Torako told Yotsuba that she smoked because it was cool, Yotsuba changed her attitude completely and since then Torako has been more or less the perfect example of coolness in Yotsuba's eyes. At first, Torako thought Yotsuba to be strange, and probably still does so to a certain extent, but she has become better at handling her with time.