When last we left these cute kids, Itsuomi invited Yuki over to his place for dinner.

Itsuomi doesn’t just use his hands for sign language

But don’t worry, this is still a shoujo story.

Yuki is feeling overwhelmed and excited. Then Itsuomi throws an arm around her and grabs her hands to sign “fun”. Now she’s more overwhelmed and excited. She realizes that she’s clingy around Itsuomi. Itsuomi realizes he’s sleepy around her. It’s sweet?

Itsuomi lives alone because his parents are in Germany, he has a much younger sister, and he’s 22. That makes him a few years older than Yuki who is 19. He’s been using her sign language guide, good boy, and learning new signs.

But they fall back on communicating by writing back and forth on a paper. Yuki likes the intimacy of seeing their words together. Itsuomi asks about how she communicates with her parents.

I have feelings about Yuki’s family

They don’t know sign language. They communicate however they can.

This isn’t uncommon. A majority of hearing parents with deaf children do not learn sign language. I think that’s sad. Learning languages is hard and there are other valid reasons not to learn, but most of the reasons parents don’t learn are poor excuses.

Deaf people communicate in sign language. People with deaf children or siblings should try to learn sign language. It’s good for people’s brains too. 

I’ll get off my soap box now. The show doesn’t make much of it and it accurately represents the reality of being deaf with hearing parents. Also, it makes Itsuomi’s eagerness to learn a lot more appealing.

If it’s not Oushi, then it’s Emma

Yuki doesn’t speak out loud except with her family because she’s been told her voice sounds weird. But when Itsuomi startles her into laughter, he’s enchanted. He tries tickling her to make it happen again. He tells her she’s cute and he wants to know more about her.

Now it occurs to him to ask if his questions might have been too much. When she says it’s okay he wants to know how much is fine, referencing her earlier note to him about how it’s fine if it’s him. She does a sign he doesn’t recognize and goes to write it on his hand.

Before she can finish, Emma arrives to return the key and kill the mood. Yuki goes to leave and is confused when Itsuomi wants to walk her home. 

Emma tries to make Yuki jealous by saying suggestive things, but Yuki can’t hear them and Itsuomi gets angry. Yuki sees Emma hand Itsuomi a key and grab his arm though, so leaves without waiting for Itsuomi. He tries to go after her but is too late.

Thankfully, we have relationship angels like Rin

Yuki goes to Rin’s the next day for more relationship advice. Not only is Rin encouraging, but she’s invited Itsuomi over! And leaves him alone with Yuki!

Itsuomi wants to finish their conversation about what he can do with her, but first Yuki wants to know why he’s learning sign language. He wants to talk to her (which is, again, more than her parents). So she writes “everything” on his hand. As in, everything he does with her is okay. Oh my!

He kisses her hand and Yuki is so flustered she slides down the wall and can’t find her phone in her pocket. Itsuomi asks about her feelings and Yuki realizes he may not understand their true intensity. 

She signs that she likes/loves him (my subtitles say love, but 好き can mean like), but he’s not looking!

Not only that, he has to go to work and then leave the country for a month! Oh no!

Oushi and Yuki’s Mom are a tag team of Not-Helpful-To-Yuki

Oushi is walking a friend’s dog when he runs into Yuki’s mom. Yuki’s mom fails to ingratiate herself with me further by thinking Yuki is thrilled to have Oushi at her school. Not so much Yuki’s mom, not so much.

However, Oushi did learn sign language, unlike Yuki’s mom. One point to Oushi I guess. 

A point he loses by getting jealous and suspicious when he learns Yuki is spending the night at a friend’s. He asks for Yuki’s contact info and she gives it. No Yuki’s mom. No.

Yuki and Emma aren’t the only ones obsessed with Itsuomi

But at least Kyouya isn’t obsessed in the same way.

At work, Kyouya questions Itsuomi about his relationship with Yuki. Kyouya already worried at Rin about this earlier. Kyouya needs to chill. Itsuomi is chill. Until he starts describing Yuki as like glass. 

Rin and Yuki show up for more flirting. Itsuomi whisks Yuki outside and, rather than wait until he returns from his trip, asks her out in sign language. Using a sign he learned on his own. Yuki asks why he wants to date and he says he still wants to travel, but the places he goes won’t have her. Awww.

Yuki can’t understand everything he’s saying, but he pulls her arm up into an “ok” sign. They return inside the bar with his arm around her shoulder. Rin and Kyouya are shocked. But also supportive.

In case you are wondering, yes, it’s snowing again

For most of this episode.

Itsuomi uses Yuki’s curfew as an excuse to take her back to Rin’s place. Rin tells him about Yuki’s worries about Emma. Itsuomi texts Yuki that he was letting Emma borrow his keys, but won’t again. Yuki is concerned about making his world smaller.

Itsuomi holds her hand, and it’s different from when he’d grab it to keep her from being roadkill. At Rin’s place, he struggles to say goodbye. He tells Yuki to get a passport so they can travel together. He leaves and then comes back to give her a back hug.  

Yuki is excited by how he’s about to see more of the world, but today their worlds are coming together.

The signs of my affection for these episodes

So much yuki・雪・snow! Do you like snow metaphors? This is the show for you!

Yuki (the character) made most of the relationship effort in the beginning, now Itsuomi is doing his part. We’re also seeing more of his growing feelings. He asks her more about herself, runs after her when she leaves unexpectedly, contacts Rin because he’s worried, describes her as glass to his cousin, and can’t let her go when he’s about to leave on a big trip. 

He’s a pretty chill guy. He is not chill in those moments.

Yuki’s worry about making Itsuomi’s world smaller shows how much she wants to support him. For the record, it’s not unreasonable to not want Emma to have his key. But the fact that she’s thinking about it that way shows how little she wants to control him (unlike, say, Oushi’s attitude toward her.)

Itsuomi’s actions toward her show the same concern. He doesn’t treat her like she can’t take care of herself (except when keeping her from getting hit by cars). He wants to take her out into the world she wants to explore.

A happy ending for me with these two (which won’t happen anytime soon since the manga is still going) would be them traveling the world together.