D3, EE School is In! (Open but expecting)

[Jiyo Ayumu]

As an exercise, Asumu tries to continue the previous conversation using the signs he just learned:

You.

Negation.

Love.

Big.

Person.

Interrogation.

[Togashi Saruko]

Saruko was trying to follow the lessons, moving her hands along with the teachers to recreate the signs. Like Ninube she had better luck with replicating the movements than actually remembering their meaning.

"It's almost like a dance..." she mused to no one in particular, as she wondered if this could be part of some new form of dance. Dance with hidden meanings?!

[Miyako]

Miyako nodded her head slowly as the two ladies walked through and explained the symbols, and she looked back and forth between what they were doing and what her own hands were doing to match. "I think I understand now... so I might want to say something like 'mountain far to the left' if I lived in the mountains a good distance away and they were over to that person's left? Or to the west if we were talking about from north?" she said as she mimicked out 'far' and 'mountain' and 'left' as she had seen. "And in the case of the mountain, if it could be seen on the horizon, I might just point at it to emphasize it? Hmm." Memorizing all of these was going to take time, but that's why practice made perfect...

[Seppun Dawei]

Dawei, whose player has been absent, has been lurking largely silently the entire time.

(PM for engagement, please!)

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

As an exercise, Asumu tries to continue the previous conversation using the signs he just learned:

You.

Negation.

Love.

Big.

Person.

Interrogation.

Kyosei looks at the hands, searching his memory, then shrugs. "Sorry, I didn't get that. Not me that loves big... rock - boulder?, significant point? I'm sorry, I don't understand."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Honestly, I'm not sure I got all the symbols right myself."

He tried to sign at the same time he spoke: I. No. Good. Maybe. Good.

Nope. Something was missing. He raised his hand:

"Sensei, what about temporal distance? Past, present, future, before, now, after?"

[Shinjo Miuna]

"Honestly, I'm not sure I got all the symbols right myself."

He tried to sign at the same time he spoke: I. No. Good. Maybe. Good.

Nope. Something was missing. He raised his hand:

"Sensei, what about temporal distance? Past, present, future, before, now, after?"

Aono smiled and happily explained what Ayumu had asked about. They watched as Miuna put her right fist up parallel with her face and then traced her thumb from th3 side of her chin and up to the back of her ear. "This movement is used to convey something that happened on the previous day." Next, Miuna put her hands up in front of her just below her chest. Her pinky and thumb on each hand was stuck out, making a Y shape. She held both hands parallel to each other and brought them down and up again, quickly. "This sign we use to indicate now or this day. It is one of the signs that varies in meaning. It depends on the context of the question." And finally, Miuna held her hand like she was giving a thumbs up. She started at her ear and brought the fist forward, thumb still out. "We use that to indicate something happening on the next immediate day. If you double the movement, you can use it to indicate everyday. Again depending on the context of the question or statement." They practiced signs for after, across, over and under as well. "Does that answer your question fully, Ayumu?"

[Ninube]

"So, uh, I have a question. Are these specific to your former tribe or the Unicorn Clan? If I met someone from a different tribe who was deaf, would they understand?" Ninube knew different tribes had different hand signals for hunting, she wondered if this sign language was similar. For all she knew, the kami brought it and deaf people were really screwed before they came.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Does that answer your question fully, Ayumu?"

"I think so."

He starts signing again:

Today.

Me.

No.

Good.

Tomorrow.

Maybe.

Good.

[Shinjo Miuna]

"So, uh, I have a question. Are these specific to your former tribe or the Unicorn Clan? If I met someone from a different tribe who was deaf, would they understand?" Ninube knew different tribes had different hand signals for hunting, she wondered if this sign language was similar. For all she knew, the kami brought it and deaf people were really screwed before they came.

Aono shook her head. "These are unique to Miuna. Before she came along, we had no idea that there were people that existed who could not hear. I don't believe any other hearing impaired individuals would know what a lot of the signs meant. Some are self explanatory and easily interpreted but others need to be learned. Maybe, when all of this is done, we can work on teaching it to others. Maybe there are more navigating this world like Miuna than we realized." She grew pensive.

"Others like me?" Miuna thought. She had never really considered that there might be more people in the world that also couldn't hear. She'd never thought about it because she'd been so comfortable with her sister and father. It made her sad to consider that not every person that cannot hear had things as relatively easy as she had.

"Does that answer your question fully, Ayumu?"

"I think so."

He starts signing again:

Today.

Me.

No.

Good.

Tomorrow.

Maybe.

Good.

Aono chuckled, smiling at Ayumu. "There you go, you're getting it just fine." Everyone was, actually. She hadn't realized how popular this was going to get or how fast it might travel as a result. But surely anything to help others such as Miuna.

[Togashi Saruko]

"Will you continue to hold such lessons? I would love to bring this knowledge back to the Dragon, in case someone has a need to learn it too." She thought that would be a nice thing.

But mostly she was thinking about secret meanings in art!

"Oh, and how do we make something a question in sign?"

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

Kyosei continued to observe, even if he wasn't making the movements with his hands himself.

[Shinjo Miuna]

"Will you continue to hold such lessons? I would love to bring this knowledge back to the Dragon, in case someone has a need to learn it too." She thought that would be a nice thing.

But mostly she was thinking about secret meanings in art!

"Oh, and how do we make something a question in sign?"

The women smiled at her and Aono said, "Of course we will continue as long as there is interest. At the same time each night when we are able. As for knowing the difference between a question and a statement, we will discuss that more during our next lesson. Will you be there?"

[Togashi Saruko]

The women smiled at her and Aono said, "Of course we will continue as long as there is interest. At the same time each night when we are able. As for knowing the difference between a question and a statement, we will discuss that more during our next lesson. Will you be there?"

"I will certainly try to be, teacher," she nodded, intending to come for more lessons.