"Italicized" = Signed

"Regular" = Spoken

Italicized = Yō typing

= Someone else typing

----- = A spoken word Yō can't understand (or at least not lip read)

...

Yō's POV:

I went to Chika's house after two hours. She greeted me and led me in. There was someone else in the house with her.

"Hey, Yō-chan! You made it!" Chika smiled at me as she hugged me.

"Hi." I replied back.

The blue-haired girl who was with Chika smiled and waved to me, "Hello, my name's -----."

"Hi, I'm Yō." I responded. I don't know who they are, but I don't really want to ask Chika right now.

"Nice to meet you, Yō." The girl said.

"Nice to meet you as well." I replied, hoping it wasn't weird that I didn't use her name.

"Well, shall we head out? You were asked to help set up after all." Chika asked after a few minutes.

The blue-haired girl nodded, "Yeah. Thanks for volunteering to help."

"No problem. I hope you don't mind going early to help out, Yō-chan. I should've mentioned that." Chika apologized.

"It's fine." I shrugged.

"Let's go then!" Chika led the way out of the house.

We walked down the streets with Chika beside me and the other girl in front of us. Her and Chika were having a conversation. I couldn't join even if I wanted to since she wasn't facing me.

I tapped Chika on the shoulder, "What's that girl's name?"

"K-A-N-A-N, the girl I told you about inviting me." Chika replied.

I nodded. I looked ahead and focused on my surroundings. Chika was more focused on Kanan than me anyway.

...

After a few minutes of walking we came to a nice house. Kanan went up and knocked on the door. A familiar face answered it.

"Hey, you guys made it. Come on in." The girl greeted us.

We walked inside. The girl, I believe her name was Ruby, led us to the living room where there were some people setting up for the party.

"Hello girls. Nice of you to come help us out. ----- could you go and help my wife set up the kitchen? ----- you can help me. I need a strong helper. And... you can help my daughter." The guy didn't know what to say for me.

"I'm Yō. Nice to meet you." I introduced myself to be polite.

"Oh, well then. Nice to meet you, Yō. --- would you go and get the other supplies? Take Yō with you." He replied back.

Dia stood up from her work and motioned me over. I followed her without a word as we headed through the house.

"So...?" I didn't know if I should say anything.

Dia opened a door and then looked at me, "Take the ones with the red markings on them back the way we came."

"Oka- wait! You can sign!?" I was very shocked.

"Yes. I had a friend back in school who was mute. She only signed to talk to us so I decided to sign back. I didn't like talking to her only for her to sign the response." Dia explained before she handed me a box.

"Why didn't you tell me before? We've met twice and yet you never signed." I asked.

"I guess I was afraid. It's your native language. It wasn't my friend's. I just thought you'd be a lot harder on someone if they signed wrong." Dia replied as she grabbed a box herself.

"Well, ask Chika and Riko. They'll confirm that I'm not a very strict teacher. I don't care about mistakes. If you're trying that's all I care about." I stated as we headed back down the hall.

We arrived back at the living room and set the boxes down. Dia opened them up and started organizing the box. She set the stuff out that would be used and kept the other stuff in.

I hesitated before tapping her shoulder, "What's the party for?"

"A random party. No reason." Dia replied.

Dia looked up for a moment. I followed her gaze to see the guy glaring at her. I quickly turned away.

"He doesn't like when I sign." Dia mouthed to me.

"Oh..." I said quietly.

We went back to work in silence. I was angry. No. I was fuming. What right does that guy have to say she can't sign? I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but held myself back. I didn't want to make it worse for her.

I finished working pretty fast. I guess I do work faster when angry. Dia was going slower than me. I moved the box I had finished away and started helping her since I had nothing better to do.

By the time we were done there were only five minutes left till guests would show up. Dia grabbed the boxes and put them to the side. Chika came back from the kitchen and greeted us smiling brightly.

Ruby came over and joined us as the guests started to arrive. I looked around to see where Kanan was. She was talking with some of the guests. I guess she knows these people pretty well if she was invited here.

Chika started to mingle with them as well. I looked around to see where Dia had gone. I saw her vanish down a hallway. I quickly followed her.

I saw her enter a room. I paused and waited for a few minutes to see if she would come out. After she didn't, I started to approach. I was haulted by a hand grabbing my arm.

I turned around to see Ruby was behind me.

"Where are you going?" She asked me.

"To talk to Dia." I replied.

"Did she sign to you?"

I nodded.

"In front of dad?"

"That guy who was hanging stuff? Then yeah."

"Go talk to her. I'll cover for you if anyone asks." Ruby left me.

That got me worried. Is there something darker behind this? I shook that thought away and went to the door. I knocked on it.

"Dia, it's me. Can I come in." I called after realizing the door was locked.

I waited for a minute and tried again. It was still locked.

"Please. Your sister wanted me to talk to you." I tried again.

She still didn't respond with opening the door. I don't know if she did anything else. For all I know she could've thrown something at the door.

"Dia, I'm not leaving until you open this door." I stated after trying to open it again.

I still didn't get her to open the door. I sighed. What am I supposed to do? I can't talk to her through the door.

I stared at the door for a while, until I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped. I turned around to see Kanan standing behind me.

"What're you doing?" She asked me.

"None of your business." I replied.

"Where's ---? I was sent to fetch her." Kanan asked next.

I pointed to the door. Kanan tried the handle and faced my dilemma. She frowned when she found out it was locked.

"---, your father wants to see you." Kanan called in.

I don't know if she responded. Kanan sighed and backed away.

"Maybe you can try and get her out. She won't listen to me." Kanan said as she pushed me toward the door.

I knocked on it, "Dia, please open the door. You're making us worried."

I stood back and waited. After a few seconds, the door opened up.

"-- ----," Dia hissed something I couldn't read before she slammed the door shut on us.

"You're dad will be angry if you don't show up." Kanan called to her.

"Kanan, can you leave? I think I can get her to come out. But, with you here it might be harder." I hesitantly asked.

"Alright. Good luck." Kanan let me do it by myself.

"Kanan is gone. It's just me. Please." I begged her.

I tried the handle and found it unlocked. I didn't open it though.

"If you want to talk open the door. I won't open it." I said.

A few minutes passed, before the door opened. Dia glared at me.

"Leave me alone." She was about to shut the door, but froze and looked behind me.

I turned around and was met with her dad staring at us. I gulped as he ushered me and Dia back into the room.

"So, mind explaining why you were signing. You know I forbid it ---." Her dad launched straight into it.

Dia didn't reply. She kept her head down and fumbled with her fingers. I was worried.

"Fine, don't talk. Why were you signing kid?" He turned to me.

I remained confident and upright. I wasn't going to cower from him.

"I'm deaf." I stated.

"You're deaf?" He looked at me in disbelief.

"Yes, I was born this way. I can read lips and talk because of some very abusive therapy. But, I can't hear you at all." I replied.

"If you can talk then talk. No signing. I'll deal with you after the party, ---." With that he left us.

I turned to look at Dia. She grabbed my arm and drug me out of the room. She shoved me into the opposing wall. I turned around to find she had closed the door. I tried the handle. It wasn't locked.

I cautiously opened the door and peaked in. Dia was laying on her bed. I walked back in and closed the door behind me. I locked it as well to give us privacy.

"Dia, I'm sorry. This is my fault." I said as I sat on the floor beside her bed.

"It's my fault." She looked at me, her eyes red, "I shouldn't have ever signed to you."

"Why does he hate signing so much?" I asked.

"I don't know... I really don't..." Dia sighed.

"What's he gonna do to you?" I asked, "If you want to tell me."

"Just scream at me... that's all he does. But, it's painful."

"Do you like signing?"

"I used to. It was always fun to do. Then he decided I wasn't allowed to anymore."

"If you want you can sign with me. I don't mind. We'll just be careful not to be caught." I signed to her.

"Why? What's the point?" Dia signed back.

I shrugged. Dia sighed before she got off the bed. She unlocked the door and opened it. Standing at the door was Ruby.

They talked for a while, before Ruby went back to the party. Dia came back over to me.

"Sit. I don't really want to go and mingle. I assume it's the same for you. We can hang out here." Dia signed as she sat on the bed.

I got off the floor and sat beside her, "Yeah. I just came because Chika asked me to."

"You and Chika are close. She really seems to like you." Dia pointed out.

I looked at my hands, unable to make eye contact, "We're dating."

I looked up to see Dia had a knowing expression on her face, "I assumed it was something like that. Take care of her. She may seem like she's got everything under control, but that isn't the case at all."

She looked over at the door. I followed her gaze to see Kanan was standing there. She had a confused expression mixed with some shock on her face.

"Did I miss something?" Kanan asked as she looked at us.

I looked over at Dia. She sighed, "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, you aren't out in the living room. Instead you're in here signing to this kid." Kanan huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Well, maybe I don't feel like partying." Dia responded.

"Come on. Just come out and eat and then I'll let you stay here all you want." Kanan begged, "People are asking questions about you since you haven't shown your face at all."

"Fine. You wanna go eat, Yō?" Dia looked at me.

I shrugged, "Sure."

We got off the bed and walked down the hall. Kanan seemed to be talking, but like before she was in front of us so I couldn't understand her.

I looked at Dia and tried to read her lips to see what they were talking about.

"She's deaf, -----. That's why I was signing."

I looked forward to see Kanan had turned around, "You're deaf?"

I nodded, "Yes, but I can lip read and speak. I can't hear you so if I can't see your lips, I can't understand you at all."

"Now it makes sense. Well, I guess I can forgive you for signing. You have a reason to." Kanan said before she turned back around.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Dia tapped me on the shoulder so I looked over at her, "She said that she just didn't want me signing for no reason because of you-know-who."

"Oh, alright." I replied.

We headed into the dining room where there were plates of different foods. I spotted Chika and Ruby talking to each other nearby the food. Maybe I should go talk to them?