Week 9 ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection 💕 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

Welcome to Week 9 of ゆびさきと恋々・A Sign of Affection :two_hearts:

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Week 9 August 2 2025
Start page 101
End page 119
End phrase 大丈夫だった?
Last week Week 8
Next week Week 10
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

I love how Itsuomi is able to meet Yuki on her level, it’s so cute

Vocab:

ぼーっと - in a daze; absent-mindedly; vacantly
刺 - prickle; biting words
踏み込む - to step into; to come to grips with
調子 - tune OR manner OR condition (English translates this phrase as “Don’t get carried away” “Don’t ride his manner/tune”)
済 - arranged; taken care of; completed
押しつけ感 - I like that the English translated this as “pushy”

Pronoun confusion strikes again! When Oushi tells Rin not to sneak up on Yuki, I thought he was still talking about Itsuomi and saying like, he better watch his back lol

I gotta remember こいつ isn’t actually gendered, too.

Oushi what a JERK I get that we’re supposed to see him as concerned about Yuki, who grew up pretty sheltered, but I can’t stand this type of character.

It’s working out well for me to read through it with the vocab spreadsheet, and then read it with the official translation open. There’s usually only 2-3 phrases that I got completely wrong lol

9 Likes

Finally we get some extended sign language!

Is Oushi really questioning why Yuki goes to school and warning her not to get “carried away” by university life? He sucks.

I had to reread their conversation a couple of times. I think I mostly got it, but there’s one part I can’t fully parse:

pg 106

本当は心配してくれてるんじゃないかって思ったりもして

“He’s not really worried about me, I think”? What’s the ~たりもして?

4 Likes

Just looking at the English version, it seems to be another use of 大学 as “campus” or university as the physical location, but yes he does suck lol, English version uses “Why did you come all the way to campus today?” which seems to be accusing her of coming out here just to see Rin? or Itsuomi?

4 Likes

Oh yeah, thanks! Ack, it’s frustrating to make that same mistake twice!

I feel like the implication of that is that he somehow knows her schedule well enough to know that she doesn’t have class or any other reason to be on campus that day. He’s so creepy!

4 Likes

Here’s my translation attempt for the week. Also since we are nearing the end of this book, will there be an offshoot book club to read the rest of the series? I’d like to read more either way, but I’ll wait for the book club if there is an offshoot planned.

Pg102

りんちゃんいるかな?
I wonder where Rin is?

Pg103

いた!
Ouch!

サークルの人達かな
Maybe they’re people from the club

色々いつおみさんのこととか話したいけど…
I want to tell you all sorts of things about Itsuomi and the like, however…

ラオスのおみやげ
The Laos souvenir

盛り上がってる…
I’m excited…

でも、こっちが会う約束してるわけじゃないしな
But it’s not like we agreed to meet here or anything

Pg104

おうしさん
Oushi

ぼーっとつっ立ってんの?
Why is he just standing there vacantly?

友達待ってる
I’m waiting for a friend

友達?
A friend?

春休み
Spring break

どうすんのーって
What are you going to do?

でけぇ声で話してる
He’s talking with a loud voice

そんなの訳さなくて
I can’t translate such a thing

Pg105

気になってるくせに
He’s interested, and yet…

あの人、2年の
That person over there, a second year

パソコソテイクやってくれてる人だる?
You’re the person who is doing a PC take, right?

それが何?
So?

「友達」ねぇ?
“Friends”, eh?

おうしくんの手話には
Regarding Oushi’s sign language

Pg106

いつも棘があって
Always biting words from him

何が言いたいの?
What is he trying to say?

おまえ
You

だけど
But

なんでわざわざ
Why go through this trouble?

大学来たの?
Did you come to class?

時々弱々しく力の入らないゆびさきが
Sometimes it is a delicate and incapable fingertip

本当は心配してくれてるんじゃないかって思ったりもして
I think he might actually be worried about me

Pg108

なんだあれ
What the…

Pg109

幼稚園から高校まで同じ敷地で同級生は4人だった
I’ve had the same 4 classmates on the same grounds from kindergarten through high school.

外の世界に踏み込むように
So to step into the outside world…

オープンキャンパスで大学をまわった
I went around the college on the open campus.

好きな分野を学んで、
To learn a favored field,

サークルで同じ趣味の人が集まって、
To gather in a group for a shared hobby,

メイクを当たり前にしてて
Makeup is commonplace

好きな格好して
Enjoyed fashion

大人っぽいけど大人じゃないような
We’re like adults but we’re not.

私には「大学生」がドラマに出てくる人達と同じようにキラキラして見えた
For me, these college students” are as glamorous as people who appear in dramas.

Pg110

手話だ、雪!
It’s sign language, Yuki!

何話してんかな?
I wonder what he’s saying?

あんま調子乗んなよ
I’m not very much in the mood to go along with this

乗ってない
I’m not on board

Pg112

あんま背後から抱きつかない方がいいですよ
You had better not hug her from behind so much, you know

こいつ足音聴こえねーし
Because she can’t hear your footsteps

ごめんね、後ろから抱きつかないようにする
Sorry, I’ll try not to hug you from behind

りんちゃんに言いに来たんだった
I came here to talk to Rin

Pg113

この間の恋か憧れかって話なんだけど…
The other day, we were talking about love or longing…

Pg114

夏休み来るじゃん
Summer vacation is coming

大学の夏休みって長いからさー、その間に何か頑張れたらいいね
Summer vacation is a long time, so I hope we can do our best to do something during that time

頑張るって?
Do our best?

なんとか店長と距離縮めたいんだけどねー
I’m trying to find some way to get closer to the shop manager

いつおみさんと店長さんって彼女いないのかな?
I wonder if Itsuomi and the shop manager have girlfriends?

今はいないみたい
Now it doesn’t seem like it

Pg115

でも、モテるよね…
But he’s so popular…

またキレイな人に囲まれてる…
Surrounded by beautiful people again…

頑張るとか
Just hang in there

そういうスタート地点がまだどこkわからない
I don’t know where that kind of starting point is yet

私には人づきあいすらうまく見えないときもあって
Sometimes I can’t even see how to socialize

Pg117

今の手話何?
What is the sign for now?

何か?とかどうしたの?です!
Something? What’s the matter? It is!

Pg118

近くに行こ
Go closer to him

いいのかな…
I wonder if it’s ok…

やさしそう
They look nice

Pg119

もし手話を覚えたいのなら私がいつでも教えます
If you want to try to learn sign language I can teach you sometime

レポート出してきます
I’ll get out my report

押しつけ感なかったかな?
Did it feel pushy?

大丈夫だった?
Was it ok?

3 Likes

I wouldn’t be able to run an offshoot, but if someone wanted to put it together I think it would be fun to keep going.

4 Likes

I think Oushi is referring to Rin here. I checked the English and I think it’s something like "She’s that PC-(note)-taking person right?” Possibly he’s referring to Rin and Yuki typing between each other.

2 Likes
pg 105

Since he’s saying “やってくれてる,” I interpreted that as “She’s the person who takes notes for you, right?” I think that’s why he puts 「友達」 in quotes right after that - he seems to be implying that Rin and Yuki are not truly friends, but rather that he sees Rin as Yuki’s aide who provides accessibility accommodations at school.

3 Likes

同じだ I bought the next 11 volumes on Bookwalker, so I’m all for continuing, one way or another

3 Likes