Week 4 ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection 💕 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

Welcome to Week 4 of ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection :two_hearts:

Learn more about the Absolute Beginner Book Club here
Visit the home page for A Sign of Affection here

Remember to set this thread and the A Sign of Affection home page to watching to receive notifications!

Week 4 June 28 2025
Start page 28
End page 41
End phrase あぶな
Last week Week 3
Next week Week 5
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

Discussion Questions

How has the reading been going for you so far?

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
8 Likes

Daww!

6 Likes

The romance is heating up :smiley:

This one had a lot more vocab but it was mostly pretty standard words. Vocab spreadsheet was a big help here. I liked their cute little whiteboard conversation.

Some vocab:

びっくり - surprised, startled

結構 - I think of this like “fine” (結構です) but the vocab sheet reminded me it can be sufficiently, fairly, quite, etc.

強引 - overbearing

I liked seeing -だろう and recognizing it from my grammar textbook.

いろんな世界を見てきた人なんだ - what a mouthful “He’s a went-to-see-various-worlds-man”

8 Likes

I really enjoyed this section. Glad we’re getting longer/meatier reading assignments from now on!

My questions (page #s are from the physical version so they may be different from the digital one):

pg 30

Yuki’s inner monologue says, “さっきのも / ポジティブな意味で解釈してしまいそうになる…” I took this to mean something along the lines of, “Just now, [when Itsuomi brought out the whiteboard for me], I interpreted that as a good sign.” Like, the fact that he whipped out the whiteboard to accommodate her is a sign that he’s paying attention to her and could be into her. Is that a solid understanding, or am I misinterpreting?

pg 36

Rin says (on her phone), “私がID教えようか?” And then (I think) the handwritten part is, “いつおみさんに確認とって.” I think ID refers to the Line ID, i.e. contact info, and 教えようか is the volitional in question form, so is Rin asking if she should ask Itsuomi for his contact information on Yuki’s behalf? And the handwritten part is something about confirming with Itsuomi, like maybe confirming it’s okay for Rin to give Yuki his contact information? IDK.

5 Likes

Here is the first part of my translation! I read the whole thing once through, but I like to go through again line by line to make sure I’m not letting my brain just guess or summarize without really knowing the full meanings.

Pg 28 - With a question about 私のことだ

こういうのはすぐわかる

This is what it’s like to understand right away…

私のことだ

“My thing” unsure of what she is getting at, the literal translation is not helpful

Pg 29

酒飲む?飲まない?
Are you going to have a drink or not?
(I know this translation sounds pushy, but I think he is saying this very neutrally. A better translation might be: “Would you like a drink/Are you having a drink/Are you drinking?” and just leave the “飲まない” as implied)

Pg 30

びっくりした. 結構強引に
I got surprised. He’s rather overbearing…

そうだオーダー。。。
Right, my order…

ホワイトボード
Whiteboard

さっきのもポジティブな意味で解釈してしまいにそうになる。。。
I’m going to just give what just happened a positive meaning…
or
I’m just going to interpret what happened earlier in a positive way…
(Connotation here feels like she’d giving him a pass for his rude/overbearing behavior earlier)

まだ19のでウーロン茶お願いします
An oolong tea, since I’m still 19.

(Rin-Chan) 逸臣さん私ビールで
A beer for me, Itsuomi-san.


Yuki doesn’t understand what Rin is saying here

書くね
I’ll write it!

トリリンガル3ヶ国語しゃべれるの
He’s trilingual, he can converse in three languages

Pg 31

けしけし (Erase erase sound)

何語が喋れるか
Which languages can you speak in?

英語とドイツ語
中国語すこしなら
スペイン語も勉強中

English and German. Only a little Chinese. I’m studying Spanish now.

I’m really enjoying the story so far. Watching Yuki and Itsuomi’s interactions and way of communicating develop is interesting.

5 Likes

I took it as she was giving him the benefit of the doubt for being rude/overbearing a moment before when he just pushed her face to get her attention. I thought it might be translated like “I’m just going to interpret what happened before in a positive way…” Since he seemed to be making an effort with the whiteboard, I think she was letting his previous behavior slide.

But that is just how I took it, the grammar was a little confusing, so I kind of used context to piece some of it together.

7 Likes
pg 28 "私のこと"

[noun]+のこと is a very common construct that is worth knowing - Maggie Sensei has a nice writeup, but if you don’t like her page layouts, the tl;dr is that saying “私のこと” instead of just “私” emphasizes the whole essence of a person, their personality, their vibe, rather than just the fact that they exist.

[noun]+のこと is common to see in romance stories in particular because it’s more natural for someone to say, for instance, “雪のことが好き” rather than “雪が好き.” They are both grammatically correct, but “雪が好き” sounds very blunt and direct (and maybe a bit impersonal?) whereas “雪のことが好き” is more about liking or loving Yuki as a person and is more romantic.

8 Likes
Pg 28 - With a question about 私のことだ

私のことだ could mean “It’s a thing about me,” or more simply “It’s (about) me.” In this case she’s realizing that what the conversation is regarding is her and her condition.

It comes up in phrases like 君のことが好きです (I like you), where the のこと makes it a bit more indirect and polite, but also refers to all the personal qualities about the person.

Edit: Thanks @additionalramen for your explanation as well, I just saw that

Pg 29

It’s very direct but I think part of his motivation is to speak clearly and simply to make it easier to lip read. It also presents the options in a way that enables her to feel like she can decide for herself, instead of her feeling obliged to accept as one might in that situation.

7 Likes

Ah, so it is intentionally direct. That makes more sense.

3 Likes

Thanks for this explanation! I love the Maggie-Sensei website, too. :yellow_heart:

4 Likes
"Pg28”

こういうのはすぐわかる。
Things like this are readily understood.

私のことだ。
It’s mine.

"Pg29”

酒飲む?
Do you drink alcohol?

飲まない?
Don’t you want a drink?

"Pg30”

びっくりしたー
I was surprised!

結構強引に
He’s quite pushy…

そうだ、オーダー…
That’s right, my order…

ホワイトボード
A whiteboard.

さっきのも
The one from earlier

ポジティブな意味で解釈してしまいそうになる…
Seems like it has a positive meaning…

いつおみさん、私ビールで
Itsuomi, I’ll have a beer.

まだ19なのでウーロン茶お願いします
I’m only 19 so I’ll have an oolong tea please

いつおみさんてとーいんかむなんだよ
(Garbled lip reading, thanks for the explanation in the vocab list.)
With the suggested トリリンガル filling the garbled text:
Itsuomi is trilingual.

書くね
I’ll write it.

トリリンガル
3ヶ国語しゃべる
Trilingual. Means he can speak 3 languages.

"Pg31”

何語が喋れるんですか?
What languages do you speak?

英語とドイツ語
English and German

すごい!
Awesome!

"Pg32”

スペイン語も勉強中
I’m also studying Spanish.

中国語も少しなら
Also a little bit of Chinese.

"Pg33”

うしろの席オーダー取って来て
Go get the order for the seat in the back

うしろ外国人のグループだ
It’s a group of foreigners in the back

キスされてふつーにしてる
They kiss and it’s normal

あいさつ…なのかな今のは
A greeting… I wonder if that’s it now

本当に外国人慣れしてる
He’s really experienced with foreigners

"Pg34”

いろんな世界を見てきた人なんだ…
Because he’s met people from all over the world…

え、りんちゃんもう!?
Geez Rin, already!?

私も…
Me too…

"Pg35”

…りんちゃん、どういう感じで聞いたのかな…
I wonder what sort of impression Rin made…

文字にしたら、なんか重い…ような
If he’s writing something heavy in the letters, something like…

うしろの人達
The people in the back

何語を喋ってるんだろう…英語?ドイツ語?日本語?
I wonder what language they are speaking… English? German? Japanese?

"Pg36”

結局、きけなかった
After all, I couldn’t hear it

私がID教えようか?
Do you want me to give you his info?

俺もう上がりだから、送る?
I’m already done, so want me walk you home?

"Pg37”

送らない?もち送るで!!!
Walk us home? Of course you can walk us home!!!

私こっからめちゃ近いから、雪をお願い
I’m really close-by, so please get Yuki home!

がんばれ、えええ!!
Go for it, eeeee!!!

もう待ってる!!
I’m already waiting!!

"Pg38”

となり歩いてる
I’m walking next to him

連絡先…どうやって?
How should I get his contact info???

タイミングいつ?
When is the right timing?

あっ、歩くの早い
Eh, he walks so fast…

"Pg40”

あ、バイク…びっくりした…
Ah, the motorcycle… it startled me…

あぶな
It’s dangerous

3 Likes