Hello, how are you?

A simple sentence that is often the first thing that people learn to sign. First start with 'hello' which is a normal waving gesture. Next is for the polite question of 'how are you?' it's difficult to describe, but you relax your hands and move them in an upwards direction. Then once again with both hands do a thumbs up gesture.

That's all there is to it. You've learnt your first sentence in BSL sign language. Of course there are different types of sign language and the hand actions change depending on what type the country you live in uses but I, Shuichi Saihara, use BSL and I am obviously deaf.
And yes I can tell when you make jokes about me and call me names. I can't hear but I've gotten pretty good at reading lips over the years, so to the kid who boasted about stealing my hearing aid in year 4, you're an asshole. Oh and the guy who told everyone in secondary school my name was cuckhara, thanks, I had to live with reading that on people lips for 4 years.

Being deaf isn't that bad for the most part though. People often ask me if I wished I could hear but honestly I don't really mind. I don't feel like I'm missing out on much but then again I've never known what it is that I'm missing out on.
Plus some of the perks are that I never get asked questions in class because most of the teachers don't know sign language and the school don't have enough money to get me my own interpreter so I usually just work through a text book by myself.

For example right now I'm in English, we're reading through 'Othello' as a class but since whenever I read people make fun of my voice, I get to read through it by myself although I do like to watch other people as they read. It's interesting to see how confident people are with public reading.

I watch as gradually each student stands up to read, each varying in confidence and proper pronunciation of words. By the time everyone has read at least a couple paragraphs the bell chimes and class is dismissed.

I wander over to the school library, the place where I spend all of my break times and lunches since it's the only place where talking isn't expected and being silent is encouraged. When I arrive I spot the usual people who inhabit the library. There's the regulars like myself who simply come to read and enjoy some peace and quiet, the people who only just discovered that they have a big test and haven't studied at all so have to cram as much now as possible, and finally Himiko who just sleeps in the corner.

I make my way to my favourite section of the library, the mystery section which of course houses all books belonging to that genre. I run my finger tips across the spines of the books, feeling the intricate patterns and calligraphy etched into them. Hmm what to read today.... I wonder until I bump into a firm obstacle. I fall forward onto said obstacle but my hand grasps at something...squishy. I immediately jump back in shock and get off the thing? that I fell on.

The 'thing' I had bumped into and fallen on was in fact a person. A female person. A very pretty one at that. She had beautiful blonde hair that cut off at her shoulders. Bright lilac eyes that you could easily get lost in. And curvy figure that could catch the attention of any sane person with a working pair of eyes.
So if I touched something squishy.... it could only be......!

I looked toward the blonde to see her extremely flustered face. She was clearly angry and was shouting but I was so embarrassed and flustered I couldn't read her lips properly and it didn't help that she was talking extremely fast. I didn't know what to do I just kept signing 'sorry' over and over again and kept backing away. Eventually she seemed to notice my signs and stopped shouting. She looked at me, confused for a second then appeared to say 'are you deaf?' but not in an insulting way. She asked it as a genuine question.

I guessed that she didn't know sign language so I nodded my head instead of signing. Suddenly her facial expression changed drastically and she looked extremely apologetic. She grabbed her bag from her back and pulled out some paper and a pen and quickly scribbled something down, then turned the paper towards me. The paper read 'I didn't know we had any deaf people at our school. Sorry for being mad it's not your fault. I'm guessing you didn't know I was there since you can exactly hear me coming can you?'

I scribbled down my reply ' it's okay I should have been looking. Don't worry most people don't notice I'm deaf. I'm Shuichi by the way' I hand it back to her and I watch her eyes scan the page. She smiles at me warmly, in a genuine way that no one else had ever smiled at me before and then writes something else down and hands it back to me.

'I'm Kaede, it's nice to meet you Shuichi :)'

                               ~•~

The day passed and before I knew it I was back at school again but for some reason Kaede's apology stuck with me. Any other person would have just shouted at me and would then leave in a huff to tell everyone they knew about how horrible I am.
Maybe Kaede has done that but just kept up a nice act. I'd probably never know but for some reason I trust her in a sense.

I go to the library again but this time manage to successfully obtain a book without bumping into anyone and touching they're uh... squishy parts...on accident. I sit down at an empty table and begin to read. I was just getting into the good part when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see the bright eyed blonde from yesterday, Kaede, she sits down and slowly signs 'good afternoon'. She gazes at me hopefully as if looking for approval. I smile and sign back 'good afternoon Kaede'. Her eyes sparkle, clearly being very proud of herself that she just started what I assume is her first conversation in sign language. She pulls out a note book and writes down
'I looked up how to say some words in sign language last night! what was that extra bit you put on the end though?'
I write back 'it's your name. I can show you how to do it if you want.'
She beams and replies 'really! I'd love to learn!'

I spend the rest of break teaching Kaede simple words and phrases until the bell rings. Kaede runs off to class only to quickly return, I assume that she's forgotten something but instead she hands me a piece of paper with her name and a number on it. She pulls out her phone to indicate that it's her phone number and I read her lips which say "text me sometime" then she signs 'goodbye' whilst looking very proud of herself and scurries off to class.

For the next few weeks me and Kaede text each other every night and meet up at break and lunch times. I teach Kaede more words and soon she's able to hold up a full conversation, of course it's only simple conversations but she actually learnt a lot more than expected over a short period of time.
I find myself enjoying spending time with her more and more. Her smile, how brightly she beams when she learns a new word or phrase, how bubbly and kind she is. I begin to discover that I love everything about her but by far my favourite thing about her is her dedication. How she dedicates her time to learning sign language just so she can talk to me, no one has done that for me before. No one has made me feel so wanted and... special.

                                 ~•~

As usual Kaede and I met up at the library and I was teaching her new words. Kaede pulled out her trusty note book which we both use often when we want to say something that we can't in sign language. Kaede writes down her question and hands the note book to me. It reads 'how do you say I love you in sign language?' I look to Kaede hoping to get some explanation of why she would want to learn such a specific phrase but I all she does is stare at me intently all the while blushing profusely.
I choose not to question her and show her.  I point to myself then place my hands on my heart and finally point to Kaede. Then sign that's how you say 'I love you'

Kaede nods then repeats my actions but adds on my name. I feel my cheeks heat up.
'Why did you say it to me?!' I sign getting more flustered by the minute. Kaede refuses to answer instead she just repeats herself.
Still panicking I sign a reply 'I don't understand?!'
'Here I'll show you' Kaede signs, clearly nervous as her hands shake. Before I can argue Kaede's lips gently touch mine and I find myself wrapping my arms around Kaede's waist and kissing back. The kiss couldn't have lasted any longer than a couple seconds but I understood Kaede and she understood me and that was all we needed. We didn't talk, we just sat there for a while smiling like idiots because we knew that we didn't need words to say what our hearts already knew.