Week 10 ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection 💕 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

Welcome to Week 10 of ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection :two_hearts:

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Week 10 August 9 2025
Start page 120
End page 137
End phrase どうしたらいいですか?
Last week Week 9
Next week Week 11
Home Thread ゆびさきと恋々

Page numbers may differ between digital and physical copies.

Last panel

Vocabulary

Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.

Discussion Guidelines

Everybody should feel free to post and ask questions–it’s what makes book clubs fun! But please do not post until you are familiar with Spoiler Courtesy!

Spoiler Courtesy

Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.

  1. Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
  2. Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
  3. Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
Instructions for Spoiler Tags

Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).

Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:

Example

This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.

The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.

This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.

Posting Advice
  • When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.
  • Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!

Proper Nouns

Name Reading Image Notes
糸瀬 雪 いとせ ゆき Main character
波岐 逸臣 なぎ いつおみ The other main character
藤白 りん ふじしろ りん Yuki’s friend from university
波岐 京弥 なぎ きょうや Itsuomi’s cousin and manager
芦沖 桜志 あしおき おうし Yuki’s childhood friend

Participation

Will you be reading along with us this week?
  • I’m reading along
  • I have finished this part
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  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
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0 voters
7 Likes

Great chapter, very cute! :smiling_cat_with_heart_eyes:

引っ込める - to draw in, to take in

そう言えば - now that you mention it

直接 - direct, immediate, firsthand

どくどく - gushingly; copiously; profusely; in a steady stream​

ずかずか - rudely (barging in); straight; directly; without hesitation; without permission​

This book is really helpful for learning handwritten kanji. I feel like I’ve gotten so much better at recognizing what they’re writing on the whiteboard.

6 Likes
My favorite part this week 🤣

8 Likes

This part is much less wholesome than I remember, lol

I liked Yuki’s mom. Reading this part reminded me that many hearing parents of Deaf children do not use sign language. I wonder where Yuki learned it. Maybe at the tiny school she mentioned in the last chapter?

I filled out the vocab sheet this week in josephsl’s absence. I decided to sprinkle in some grammar points along with the vocab, since I often find that unknown grammar is trickier for me to find info about than unknown vocab. I hope that doesn’t make it feel too overwhelming or confusing.

For anyone else who finds this stuff interesting, last week this manga’s Natively difficulty rating fell from 20 to 19, indicating it’s roughly at an N4 level. I suppose most of the grammar in it is N5/N4 material, but I dunno, all the poetic language and handwriting makes it feel trickier than that for me sometimes!

9 Likes

Seeing the sloppy handwritten Japanese makes me feel better about my own attempts at writing hiragana lol

pg120

よし!春休みの間に
Ok! During spring break

いつおみさんに手話ノートを作るぞー!!
I’ll make a sign language notebook for Itsuomi!!

りんちゃんとお店に行く時に渡せたらいいな
It would be nice if I can give it to him when I go to the shop with Rin.

…でも、タイミングみてだし
But I’ll try to get the timing right

迷惑そうだったらすぐ引っ込める
If I seem like a nuisance I’ll pull back right away

pg121

思ったよりも手話の絵描くの難しい…
It’s harder than I thought to draw sign language…

コレ書いてあるの買って来てー…何してんの
Go and buy the one that has this writing… what are you doing?

絵下手ねぇ
It’s a bad drawing, isn’t it

友達に?
For a friend?

pg122

見てくれると
I can take a look for you

こんばんは
Good evening

いらっしゃーい
Welcome!

りんちゃん、この間より緊張してない…
Rin, you are less nervous this time…

pg123

私はこの間よりも…
I’m less nervous this time too…

いつおみさん、春休みどっか行かないの?
Itsuomi, are you going anywhere for spring break?

金貯まったら行く
I’ll go if I can save the money

あはは、やっぱ行くんだー
Ahaha, I knew you were going

なんか鳴ってる
Something is ringing

何その音
What’s that sound?

pg124

補聴器はうまくはまってないとハウリング音がします
Hearing aids make a feedback sound if not fitted appropriately

そうなんだ
I see

今雪はどれくらい聴こえている?
About how long will it be audible now?

本当の音は聴いたことないけど
I never heard the real sound, but…

すべての音?がまざってるような感じです
The whole sound? It’s a feeling like it’s all blended together

pg125

どの音がどこから鳴っていて何の音か分かりません
I don’t know which sound comes from the ringing or what it is.

生まれつき?
You had them from birth?

補聴器をはずすと何も聴こえません
If I take them out I can’t hear anything at all

pg126

おい
Hey

ごめんね、いつがズカズカ聞いて
Sorry about Itsu asking such rude questions

はらあっちのテーブルこれもっていけ
You can take that table over there

興味?
Interested?

好奇心?
Curious?

あいつ本当誰とも躊躇せずコミュニケーションとるからな
He doesn’t really hesitate to communicate with anyone

そーゆーとこありますよね、いつおみさん
That’s the way he is, Itsuomi

どっちでも嬉しい…
I’m happy either way…

pg127

手話ノート
Sign language notebook

名前
Name

「つ」ってこう?
“つ” is like this?

pg129

いつおみさんのゆび…長い…
Itsuomi’s fingers… they’re long…

pg130

ラオスの土産並みに赤いな
You’re as red as the souvenir from Laos

そういえばラオス$なんですか?
Now that you mention it, is Laos currency in $?

自国の通貨が弱いから$使える所が多い
Many places use USD $ because their own country’s currency is weak.

そうなんだ
Oh, I see

まー見るかわかんねーけど、ありがと
I don’t know if I’ll look at it, thanks (the notebook)

なめ!?
What!?

pg131

直接教えて、雪
You can teach me directly, Yuki

雪がよく使う手話は何?
What sign language do you often use Yuki?

かわいいありがとう
Cute, thanks

かわいいか
Cute?

pg132

力強くて
He’s strong

なにもかも
Anything and everything

包み込んでくれるような手話をする
It’s like he wraps up sign language for me

pg134

どした?
What’s wrong?

急にそーゆーのびっくりするんだってー
Suddenly such a thing is surprising

いつおみさんだったらなおさら
All the more if it’s from Itsuomi

ごめん
Sorry

心臓ドクドクしてる
My heart is pounding

聴こえてないかな?
I wonder if they can hear it?

pg135

ここに
Here

あなたに恋してる
I love you

いつおみさんなら大丈夫です
If it’s ok, Itsuomi

人がいるよ
There’s someone here

あなたのこと
About you…

pg136

好きになったら
If you’re starting to like me…

あ、これって好きって気づかれるような…?
Oh, is this what it’s like when you realize I like you?

pg137

どうしたらいいですか?
What should I do?

3 Likes

This seems to be “Is he interested (in me)? Or curious?” Sometimes when the pronoun is omitted you have to guess based on the context lol

Also yes I can’t write kana at all so it’s good to see other people with sloppy handwriting. The way た is written kept throwing me off.

4 Likes

You do such a great job translating ALL of the text!

I think this part is closer to “How much can Yuki hear right now?” どれくらい being like “how far/how much” can she hear. Which makes sense with the flow of conversation then turning into the description of how deaf she is.

3 Likes