Onishi Sumi

### Quote

"Because hope is a knife that can cut through the foundations of the world. Hope *hurts*. That's what you need to learn, and fast, if you don't want it to cut you open from the inside out. Hope is bad. Hope means you keep on holding to things that won't ever be so again, and so you bleed an inch at a time until there's nothing left. Ely-Eleanor is always saying 'don't us that word' and 'don't use that word,' but she never bans the ones that are really *bad*. She never bans hope."

Onishi Sumi is a character from *Every Heart a Doorway* and *Beneath the Sugar Sky.*

## Appearance

Sumi is described as of Japanese descent, with long black hair in two pigtails. Her skin is smooth and brown. Her clothes are brightly colored, mismatched, and probably stolen.

## Personality

Sumi is very hyper and is known to never stop moving. She can be very blunt and ignores rules and personal space, and has no filter on what she says. She also is very stubborn, and often gave people no choice but to do whatever she wanted.

## History

### Before the Books

Onishi Sumi was born on Earth, and was a very sullen and still child at her family's insistence. However, she found a portal to Confection, where she almost ten years subjective time embracing Nonsense. She was eventually exiled for transgressions against the Countess of Candy Floss, but she was prophesied to return and overthrow the Queen of Cakes, establishing a benevolent monarchy in her place.

Upon returning to Earth, Sumi's family was upset at her Nonsense and sent her to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, where she remained, as her family did not want her back until she acted "proper" again. Several students were worried about her while she was there, as she was a "mess"; Kade specifically mentions fearing she would commit suicide. She also apparently went through several roommates.

### Every Heart a Doorway

Once Nancy arrives at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, Eleanor decides to room her with Sumi. When they arrive at an empty room, Eleanor looks out the window, to find Sumi in the tree. Sumi seems annoyed at the idea of a roommate, and Eleanor reminds her that she'd warned her. Sumi replies that she didn't listen, as she thought Eleanor was just talking to hear herself talk, and appears upside down in the window. She asks if Nancy is a servant of the Queen of Cakes, to punish her for what she'd done to the Countess of Candy Floss. Nancy replies by giving her name, and Sumi tells her that her name is boring, and calls her hair a bad dye-job. When Nancy tells her what happened to her hair, Sumi decides that she likes her due to her being crazy, and asks her if she really thinks she's going back, since she doesn't believe that anybody goes back, before disappearing up into the tree.

When she next returns to the room, Nancy is crying, and she asks her why, before asking again if she thinks she's going to return. She tells her that hope is hurtful and painful and not to hold onto it, before going through her suitcase and bemoaning the fact they're too small for her, meaning that she can't steal them. Nancy tells them to take them away from her, and Sumi recognizes that they're not "her rainbow", before taking her off to Kade.

As they go down the hallway, Sumi tells Nancy to hurry, or dinner will catch them without them doing what needs to be done. Nancy asks if dinners often chase them, and Sumi complains about how boring Reality's dinners are. Nancy asks her who Kade is, and Sumi explains that he'd been there a long time, as his parents didn't want him back. She informs her that her parents didn't want her back until she was willing to be their good girl and put aside her Nonsense, but they then died and Sumi wanted Eleanor to let her live in the attic and pull taffy in the rafters and give riddles to the new girls. They reach Kade's room, and Sumi promptly ignores the Keep Out sign, saying that it's an Invitation to any people from Nonsense worlds. She barges into Kade's room, and he asks what she's doing there, as he'd banned her for re-organizing his books by color instead of subject. She gives him Nancy's suitcase, and explains his backstory to Nancy.

After they leave Kade's room, Sumi asks if Nancy wants to have sex with him. Nancy reacts badly, exclaiming that she does not. Once she clarifies that it's not because of his gender expression, Sumi lets her know that she's taken, by the Candy Corn Farmer. Nancy explains that she's asexual, and Sumi then asks if she would mind masturbation. Nancy says that she wouldn't, so long as she wouldn't have to see it or hear about it. Sumi then climbs out the window.

At Nancy's first dinner at the School, Sumi shoves her way past her when she stands in the doorway too long, and sits with Jack and Jill, her plate piled with melon slices, roast beef, gravy and jam, with no regard to what touches what, and tells them about how boring Nancy was and how they should all be sorry for her. Nancy sits by them, and is introduced to Jack and Jill.

During the Therapy Session, when Nancy says that her world probably wasn't Wicked, Sumi asks if she could be sure, as it could very well have been completely evil and she just hadn't noticed, taking a glance at Jill, presumably also talking to her. At the end of the session, she climbs out the window.

The next day, Sumi notices that Nancy is tired and tells her that she could skip Therapy that night, so long as she didn't make a habit of it, as Eleanor believed that words were a part of the healing process, before asking if she was from a Logical World. When Nancy confirms this, Sumi doesn't seem to care, saying that she liked her better than her former roommates and wanted to "keep her." She moves to leave, when Nancy stops her and asks her how old she is. Sumi replies that she's "older than I look, younger than I ought to be," and says that she thinks one day she'll believe her world was a dream, before leaving.

Upon returning from Therapy, Jill attacked Sumi and cut off her hands, leaving her to die of her wounds. Sumi died of her blood loss and never made it back to her room. Her hands are buried with Lundy's body and Loriel's eyes.

### Beneath the Sugar Sky

Though Sumi is dead on Earth, her daughter arrives at Eleanor's school, claiming that she was alive but had disappeared. Christopher reveals that he had unburied her hands after having nightmares of her skeleton being incomplete, and plans to revive her skeleton and find her soul in the Halls of the Dead. He, Rini, Kade, Cora and Nadya all leave to complete the quest.

When they arrive at her graveyard, Christopher raises her skeleton and gives her back her hands. While Rini recognizes her, Sumi's skeleton only regards her with curiosity. Rini then takes the group to the Halls of the Dead to find Sumi's soul. Nancy brings them to the room of souls, where Christopher summons her soul; however, her Nonsense is in Confection. The group takes her Shade to the world to try and find it; however, they are intercepted by the Queen of Cakes's army. The Queen is ecstatic to find her skeleton, and keeps it with her while imprisoning the others. Sumi was tied beside her throne, but eventually freed once Cora and Kade overthrow the Queen. She then follows the travelers out of the Castle and towards her farm, before heading towards the Baker.

Once she meets the Baker, Layla, Sumi's skeleton becomes instantly obedient. Layla patches up the skeleton with sweets and bakes her, using Confection's Will to bring back her body. Rini awakens her by telling her about her adventures.

Sumi then awakens in the Baker's Oven, confused at why she's alive and naked. She doesn't recognize Rini, and expresses amazement at the Baker's existence, as Layla makes them a door to take them home. Rini says goodbye, and Sumi says that she doesn't love her yet, but thinks she will. They exit Confection, as Sumi asks why Nancy didn't come, too.

The group arrives at Eleanor's school, where Sumi is reunited with Eleanor.

## Relationships

### Eleanor West

Eleanor appears to understand Sumi and be able to communicate well to her, sometimes speaking in rhyme when talking to her. Sumi calls her Eleanor-Ely, Ely-Eleanor, or Miss Ely.

### Nancy Whitman

Sumi likes Nancy in her own way, believing her to be crazy , though she also describes her as the most boring girl in the world and deserving of pity. However, she decides to "keep" Nancy as her roommate, as she's a lot better than some of her former ones.

### Kade Bronson

Sumi believes herself to be Kade's "sunshine", though he is annoyed at her antics, and has banned her from his room for re-organizing his books to be by color instead of subject.

*More to be added*

## Trivia

* "Sumi" is a Japanese name meaning "clear."
	+ "Onishi" is a Japanese surname coming from "Big" (O) and "West" (Nishi)
* Sumi is confirmed to be bisexual.
* Christopher says that Sumi liked origami and making friendship bracelets.
* She seems to have different plans for her future; she at first says that she wants to live in the attic to make candy and ask girls riddles, and later says that she expects to become normal someday and forget about her travels.

* Sumi's side of her room was described as complete chaos, including a pile of books on candy, training bras, a bouquet of roses, playing cards, frilly clothes, expired food, origami paper, and embroidery floss.

## References

1. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 24: She looked to be about Nancy's age, of Japanese descent, with long black hair tied into two child-ish pigtails, one above each ear.
2. ↑ Beneath the Sugar Sky, pg 160: "Sumi had been gone before Cora came to the school: there was nothing there for Cora to recognize, just a beautiful, silent, teenage girl with smooth brown skin and long black hair."
3. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway page 30: "These are pretty. Too small for me. Why do you have to be so *narrow*? I can't steal things that won't fit, that would be silly, and I'm not getting any smaller here."
4. ↑ Ehad
5. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 25: Sumi was still blinking, eyes wide and round. Then she grinned. "Oh, I *like* you," she said. "You're the craziest card in the deck, aren't you?"
6. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 48: "Sumi was just explaining how you're the most boring cardboard parody of a girl ever to walk this world or any other, and we should all feel sorry for you," said one of the strangers, adjusting her glasses as she turned to look at Nancy. "That makes you sound like my kind of person. Please, sit, and relieve some of the tedium of our table."
7. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 72: "Assumptions will be the death of us all, and you're better than most of the roommates she's tried to give me; I'll keep you," said Sumi wearily. She stood, walking toward the door. "Sleep well, ghostie. I'll see you in the morning."
8. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 37: "What'n the fuck are you doing in here again, Sumi?" he demanded, Oklahoma accent thick as peanut butter spread across a slice of toast. "I told you that you weren't welcome after the last time." "You're just mad because I came up with a better filing system for your books than you could," said Sumi, sounding unruffled. "Anyway, you didn't mean it. I am the sunshine in your sky, and you'd miss me if I was gone." "You organized them by color, and it took me weeks to figure out where anything was. I'm doing important research up here." Kade unfolded his legs and slid down from his pile of books.
9. ↑ From Seanan McGuire's tumblr: "Sumi is bisexual, but has some odd Nonsense-related hangups that I don’t really want to go into until they’re plot-relevant."
10. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 132: "Sumi liked origami and making friendship bracelets, Loriel did puzzles and paint-by-numbers."
11. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 35: "I'm going to live here always, until Ely-Eleanor has to let me have the attic for my own. I'll pull taffy in the rafters and give riddles to all the new girls."
12. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 42: "Now he'll tend his fields alone, and I'll grow up and decide that he was just a dream and maybe one day my daughter's daughter will visit his grace with licorice flowers and a prayer for the departed on her lips."
13. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 73: "I just wanted to know- I mean, I was just wondering- how old are you?"
"Ah." Sumi turned again, finishing her walk toward the door. Then, facing into the hall, she said, "Older than I ought to look, younger than I ought to be. My skin is a riddle not to be solved, and even letting go of everything I love won't offer me the answer. My window is closing, if that's what you're asking. Every day I wake up a little more linear, a little less lost, and one day I'll be one of the women who says 'I had the most charming dream,' and I'll mean it. Old enough to know what I'm losing in the process of being found. Is that what you wanted to know?"
"No," said Nancy.
"Too bad," said Sumi, and left the room. She closed the door behind herself.<nowiki>