Week 11 ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection 💕 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

Welcome to Week 11 of ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection :two_hearts:

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Week 11 August 16 2025
Start page 138
End page 152
End phrase どこ行くんだよこんな時間に
Last week Week 10
Next week Week 12
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
  • I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
  • I’m no longer reading the book
0 voters
6 Likes

It’s the final chapter of the volume! Thanks so much for everyone who’s reading along.

I’m still working on this week’s vocab guide. If anyone wants to pitch in please feel free to, otherwise I may have some time this weekend to work some more on it. And huge thanks to @additionalramen for doing it last week, that was awesome.

7 Likes

Almost to the finish line!

受け取る - to take (someone’s words or behavior); to interpret; to understand

とにかく - anyway

想像 - imagination, guess

くっつく - to be intimate with, to cling to

標準語 - standard Japanese

付き合う - to go out with

親密 - intimacy; friendship

返事 - response, reply

門限 - curfew

コインランドリー - I thought this was going to be like a dollar shop (Coin Land Ri?) but it’s coin laundry i.e. a laundromat lmao

Longer verb conjugations always trip me up (like 見られたくない)

Unable to be seen? Invisible?

Just when I said I was getting better at reading handwritten kanji, we get “drunk font” lol! Luckily in Cardcaptor Sakura I had some experience with “character is choking or eating and so their speech is very garbled” which seems to be at play here.

It makes me sad that Yuki keeps doubting Itsuomi is interested in her! He clearly is (but then I guess we wouldn’t have a shoujo romance).

Some longer sentences I pulled out to parse:

あいつ手話本気で覚える気だと思うから

(あいつ)(手話)(本気で)(覚える気)(だと思うから)

That guy / sign language / really / learning feeling? / I think

That guy really wants to learn sign language, I think

こんな時間から外で誰かと待ち合わせなんて初めてだ

(こんな)(時間)(から)(外で)(誰か)(と待ち合わせ)(なんて)(初めて)だ

This kind of time / from / outside / someone / appointment with / what / for the first time

This is the first time I’m meeting someone outside at this kind of time/this time of night

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My pleasure!

My thoughts/questions on this week's reading

Wow, the third wheels were third-wheeling hard this week. And why had Itsuomi been ignoring Yuki’s text for so long??

Yes, but also, I don’t blame Yuki for feeling like he’s sending mixed signals!

This sentence tripped me up (pg 147): あの2人の関係性がより親密みたく思えて。。。 I interpreted みたく思えて as “want to be able to think.” But “I want to be able to think their relationship is more than friendship” doesn’t really make sense. The ellipsis at the end makes me think there’s something going unsaid here…but what?

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みたく here could be “seeming” I think (It seems like those two’s relationship is more than friendship)

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I know right!!

I think it’s: “Don’t want to be seen” 見られる part for to be seen, and the たくない part is like 見たくない, don’t want to see.

4 Likes
Pg139

やっぱりこれ
I knew it

見られたくない
He doesn’t want to see me

今さら隠してもー…
At this point even if I hide it…

Pg140

わかった
Understood

「わかった」ってどっちの意味で!?
What does he mean by “understood”!?

すみません
Excuse me

はい
Yes?

Pg141

深い意味もない感じで受け取った…?
I take it there was no deeper meaning to his feelings…?

気づかれないかあれじゃ
I don’t know if he’ll notice

とにかく消しとこ
I’ll just erase it anyway

いつくん!
Hey Itsu!

ふえふえ、来ちゃった
Whew, we made it!

Pg142

おまえら何軒目だよ、よっぱらいが
How many bars did you go to? Drunks

まだ2軒目だって
Only 2

あ、ごめんね
Oh, sorry

びっくりした
You scared me!

もー、大丈夫シンシンー?
Uhh are you ok shinshin?

あれぇー、おねーひゃんかわいーねー
Hey, she’s cute isn’t she (the way this is written I’m guessing it’s slurred drunken babbling lol and probably hard to lip read)

何て言ってるのか全然わからない
I didn’t understand anything they said

髪イメヒェンしたくない?
Don’t you want to get a hairstyle makeover? (Google autocorrected the drunken speech to イメチェン / image change or makeover)

これ俺のめーひー
This is my business card


Shin…

Pg143

こっち来い
Come here

ごめん雪
Sorry Yuki

いつおみさんの知り合い?
Itsuomi’s acquaintance?

友達かな
I wonder if they’re friends

雪ちゃん、大丈夫だった?
Yuki, are you ok?

I can barely make out his handwriting lol but I see: (something something)高校の同級生なんだよ
…we were high school classmates

同級生…
Classmates…

私も初めて見たな
I don’t think I’ve seen them before either

あのサングラスの方は酒入ってないとめっちゃクールなんだけどね
That one with the sunglasses is extremely cool when she’s not drunk

そうなんだ
I see

想像つかない
I can’t imagine it

お酒の力ってすごい…
The power of alcohol is amazing…

Pg144

くっついてた!
She clung to him!

なんか、酔っ払ってるにしても
I don’t know, even if she’s drunk…

Pg145

あのいつおみさんを見る目は…
The way she looks at him…

どんな関係?
What kind of relationship do they have?

彼女いないって話だったけど、本当はあの人が…
He said he doesn’t have a girlfriend, but honestly that girl…

なんで急に来れの!?
Why did you come all of a sudden!?

どうしたの?
What’s wrong?

お母さん「今りんの部屋に着きました」って!
Mom said she’s just arrived to my room!

雪、ごめんね
Yuki, I’m sorry

今日は帰らなきゃ、親が来た
Today I have to return home. My parents are here!

Pg146

りんちゃんって福岡出身だっけ方言出ないよね
Rin, you’re from Fukuoka, right? You don’t have the dialect.

いやー最初の1年で頑張って標準語っぱくしました
Well, I worked hard in the first year to sound like standard Japanese.

どうしよう
What should I do?

モヤモヤしてる
It’s making me uneasy

またくっついてる!!
She’s clinging to him again!!

えっ、何あれ
Huh, what’s that?

あー、エマちゃん?
Oh, Em?

なるだけ自然に
as naturally as I can..

あの2人って付き合ってるんですか?
Are those two dating?

あの2人は付き合ってないよ「友達」
They are not dating, I’m telling you! They’re friends

多分この先付き合うこともないと思うけど
They probably won’t be dating anytime soon.

え、なんでですか?
Oh, why?

Pg147

…これ以上は俺からは喋れないんだよね、ごめんね
…I won’t say anymore about it, sorry

そうですか
I see

…なんで?そういうふうに言われると
…why? When you say it like that…

あの2人の関係性がより親密みたく思えて…
It makes their relationship seem more intimate…

雪ちゃん、あいつ手話本気で覚える気だと思うから
Yuki, I think he’s serious about learning sign language

よろしくね
I’m glad we met you

ワインオープナーどこやった?
Where’s the wine opener?

あ、行くわ
Oh, I’ll go get it

Pg148

じゃね、おふたりさん。また来てね
See ya, you too. Come back again.

はーい!
We will!

帰り気をつけて
Get home safe

あの女の人との関係は店長さんを信じよう…
I think I’ll trust the manager about his relationship to that woman

あ、ちょっと降ってきた
Oh, it’s raining a bit

今日色々話せてよかったな
It’s been nice talking about various things today

Pg149

もっと頑張んなきゃ
You just have to keep hanging on

頑張る
Hang on

うん
Yeah

どこかわからなかったスタート地点はいつの間にか過ぎてしまったと思う
I think the starting point passed somewhere before I knew it

私も頑張りたい
I’ll try to hang in there too

Pg150

もうこれ送ったの4日前だ
I already send this 4 days ago

あのあと夜に
Later that night

返事が来て
He responded

うん
Yeah

おやすみ
Good night

おやすみなさい
Good night

それから、連絡とりあってない
After that, there was no contact

もっと連絡した方がいいのかな
I wonder if I should reach out more

そもそも、今日本にいるのかな
Actually, I wonder if he is in Japan now

聞いてみよ
I’ll ask him

こんばんは、日本にいますか?
Good evening, are you in Japan?

返事早い
He answered quick!

Pg151

今大学近くのコインランドリーいる
I’m at the laundromat near the school

来る?来ない?
Want to come by? Or not?

会える!行きます!
We can meet! I’ll go!

あれ、出かけるの雪
Hey, Yuki is going out

ちょっとー?
Hey?

門限までには帰ってね
Come home by the curfew

22時までに帰る。今20時か…
Be home by 10pm, it’s 8 now!

Pg152

コインランドリーまで20分
It takes 20 minutes to get to the laundromat

走って2分ぐらい短縮させよう
If I run I’ll save 2 minutes

そういえば、こんな時間から外で誰かと待ち合わせなんて初めてだ
Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve met up with someone outside at this kind of hour

急ご
I’ll hurry

ティッシュ?
Tissue?

どこ行くんだよこんな時間に
Where are you going at this kind of hour!?

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:joy: Useful of Google!

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It really is helpful lol those intentional misspellings are tough. Glad it’s only occasionally in this manga though, in Chi’s Sweet Home it was all over the place with Chi’s baby talk lol

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