Page 41 of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

“And you,” Akane said, “are anabsolutecharm bracelet of a person.”

Akane led her to a servant who worked at the place, and there they took some very personal measurements of Yumi. Akane seemed to think this would embarrass her, but standing there and being prodded was the first thing Yumi foundfamiliarabout this entire experience. Despite not being particularly fond of doing it in front of Painter.

“Don’t suppose you know your bra size?” Akane asked after that part was done.

“Uh…” Would saying she didn’t know what that was make her seem too odd? She didn’t want to acttoostrange, lest people realize she was literally an alien. “No?”

The next measurements were even more personal. But Yumi suffered it, and soon found herself deposited in a small hallway with a set of rooms apparently for trying on clothing. Painter sat outside as she stepped into one, though she didn’t have any clothing to try on yet—Akane was still gathering it.

“What,” Yumi hissed at Painter through the open door, “is a ‘bra’?”

“Undergarment,” he said. “For women.” He hesitated, then gestured toward his chest.

“Oh,” she said. “Why not a bosom band?”

“That…might be a better question for Akane than me.”

“I suppose,” she said, “that you find all of this a frivolous distraction.”

He shrugged, looking out toward where Akane passed by, now leadingtwodifferent shop servants. “You need clothes, Yumi. And I don’t know anyone better to help you get them than Akane.”

“She’s very pretty,” Yumi said.

“Prettiest in our class at school,” he agreed.

“Tell me what you like about her,otherthan the fact that she’s pretty.”

He paused, and took an embarrassing—for him—amount of time to reply. “She has great fashion sense.”

“That’s basically another way of saying she’s pretty.”

“Why do you care?” he snapped.

“Well,I’vealready noticed that she’s a tender and helpful person,” Yumi said. “I was simply curious if that is why you’re so infatuated with her.”

“I’m not infatuated,” Painter said, and sounded serious, not defensive. “I just have a lot of time to think. Maybe too much time to think. Anddream.” He shook his head as Akane passed back the other way, the two servants laden with clothing, and…was that athirdhurrying along after them?

Hadn’t she said she was only going to get afewoutfits for Yumi to try on?

“She was nice to me,” Painter finally said. “Even though I was from a small town. When we first met in class three years ago, a few of the others made fun of me. Akane instead asked what made me want to be a painter…”

When he didn’t continue, Yumi asked, “You had a choice?” It sounded stupid when she said it. It seemed obvious in retrospect that he’d chosen to become a painter. Yet few people in Torio actually got to decide what they did. You generally just inherited your family’s trade. Unless you were a yoki-hijo.

“It’s how we do things here,” he said.

“And you became a painter of nightmares?” she said. “Why?”

Before he could answer, Akane came striding back—four servants in tow, all laden with clothing. Yumi was accepting the first armload, listening to Akane’s instructions, before she realized that Painter could have simply answered her. No one could hear him but her, so why fall silent when others were near?

Soon Yumi was closed in her little room, surrounded by too many options. She began by peeling off the layers she’d chosen to wear, finding her skin sweaty underneath. She hadn’t really been paying attention, but it felt nice to be out of that clothing—it had actually beentoowarm. Perhaps she was adjusting to this semifrozen land.

The first undergarment made sense, but the bra…well, that was formidable. She could see how it was to be worn, but there were straps and a clip and…well, it took some work. She did pause while puttingit on, marveling at the stretchiness of some of the cloth. How did they make it dothat?

She got the thing on finally, though she had to put it on backward to get the clip fastened, then twist it around and fit herself into it. It felt kind of constrictive, and it outlined her form instead of flattening it as was normal. She supposed that was how Akane and the others made their figures look so…prominent. Why would they want to bemoreconspicuous?

The bra seemed a purely vain thing, and she almost took it off to go without. But then she turned, and cocked her head. Then she tried jumping. And…

That feltnice. Not that it wascomfortablereally, but it certainly preventeddiscomfort.

---