Yumi and the Nightmare Painter(61)

It was thrilling.

They chatted about their vacations, and their wages, and the foreman. A verbal thornbush of interlocking vines and spikes in which Yumi didn’t dare interject. They seemed to understand that she was already daunted by going out, and they didn’t push her into conversation. That let her watch. Up close. People interacting.

She’d never been allowed to do that. She was to remain distant. In the common way of things that are forbidden, that made them mysterious. She was fascinated by the ways that normal people conversed, and joked, and talked over each other, and laughed, and…and it was like a performance, each of them with memorized lines. How did they know when to speak or when to stop? When to tell a joke and when to share some fact?

To try to make sense of it all, she decided to focus on one companion. As she already felt she knew Akane a little, she turned her attention to Tojin. Painter had said the man was always showing off his muscles to women. Yumi assumed it was to entice them to mate.

Liyun said details of courtship would only distract her from her duty, so other than some little tidbits overheard when she was younger…she had no idea how people paired off. She’d had trouble picking a dress. How did you pick a mate? She hoped, from what Painter had said, that Tojin would illuminate her.

He certainly did like exposing his muscles. Except as the noodles arrived, Tojin leaped up from his seat and rushed over to some people who had started sitting down at another table. None of them women. One was as bulky as Tojin—she wondered what beasts they fought, that they needed such muscles.

“Gaino,” Tojin said to the overly large man. “You were right about the lat press. Look.” He proceeded to take off his shirt and flex.

Yumi watched with eyes wide. Yes, glimpses of Painter when bathing had been one thing, but this was…illustrative. She barely remembered to chew her noodles as several other very large men at the table clapped for Tojin.

“What were your reps?” Gaino asked.

“Four twenties,” Tojin said. “But if you lean forward instead of back, you can really isolate.”

“I’m plateauing,” another guy said, then flexed one of his arms. “Need to lose at least another percent. See here, you can barely see my outline.”

“You look great,” Tojin said. Then he flexed his arm. “But maybe try some bench work with some reverse presses?”

Yumi couldn’t tear her eyes away. It wasn’t that this was attractive. It was more enthralling. She didn’t even blush. Instead her jaw dropped. It was like something in her brain had gotten scrambled and her responses were mixed up.

“Tojin!” Izzy called. “You’re breaking the new girl! Stop comparing sizes!”

He looked back at the table, then he blushed. He scrambled to pull on his shirt again. It could have all been a display for her and the other girls, like Painter had flippantly said. Yet that didn’t feel right. He seemed more excited about talking technique with the other men. And when he sat back down, he apologized to her with what sounded like true sincerity.

“I didn’t mean to make a spectacle of myself,” he said, lowering his eyes.

“I…” Yumi stammered. “It…um… What kind of beasts do you fight?”

“Beasts?” he asked. “Fight?”

“Those muscles,” she said. “You train for…war? Battle?”

Izzy laughed so much she was likely to shoot noodles from her nose. Tojin appeared embarrassed. He was…shy? Really? Why would a shy person make such a display of himself, if not for battle?

“It’s not for anything like that,” he said. “I just like to make the best of myself that I can. See how much I can do. Reach my limits, then pass them.”

“To accomplish what?” Yumi asked.

“That is the accomplishment,” he said, then flexed his arm in a very specific way that made his veins distinct. It was almost grotesque, yet somehow impressive all the same.

“Our bodies are the most incredible tools ever,” Tojin said. “Isn’t it odd that we’ll fine-tune an engine until it purrs, but never do the same for our bodies?”

She barely knew what that meant. But she did notice Akane gazing at Tojin with fondness. And when the woman went to get some sauce for the noodles, she put a light hand on his arm and then let it trail away. Tojin gave her a goofy smile, then looked down, grinning.

He actually was shy about women. Either that or Yumi was completely misunderstanding—admittedly also very plausible. But now she felt she understood the way a woman might look at a man. Liyun might have tried to keep her away from people, but Yumi still had eyes. Akane’s way of looking at Tojin wasn’t the stare of a hungry woman wanting to feast. There had been more than a few of those around the room earlier.

Did he truly want muscles…just because? Was this what happened to a society that had hion lines to do all the hard work? Was that…a bad thing?

“It’s so odd,” Yumi said. “When my brother was talking about you, Tojin, he…” She paused, realizing that maybe she shouldn’t say it. Indeed, all of them immediately looked straight at her, intensely curious.

Talking to people was hard.

“…didn’t explain that part,” Yumi finished. “With the muscles. Why you’re building them.”

“I’m sure he didn’t,” Izzy said, with a smile.