I'm in Love with the Gorilla Sitting Next to Me - Volume 1 Chapter 3.6

Choose Carefully Whom You Consult Your Worries With 6

After the end-of-term tests, the signs of summer became stronger.

There were just over two weeks left in the first semester, and the sports clubs’ third-years were retiring one after another, starting to get that dead-eyed look of exam season, while the carefree first and second-years were getting excited about the long vacation, preparing to fully enjoy their youth with play, love, and part-time jobs…

Not that they were trying to put a damper on things, but this afternoon, during LHR time, there was an all-school assembly in the gymnasium, with guests from the police and education sectors coming to give us their precious, albeit boring, talks. For a good hour, we listened.

“Ugh, so tedious…”

“Agreed. I wish they had just streamed a video in the classroom.”

As I muttered, my otaku friend Hashimoto, sitting behind me, agreed.

Glancing back at Hashimoto, who was sitting in a cross-legged position, I nodded and said,

“It’s hot and long. They really should have done this on the last day before summer vacation or at the closing ceremony.”

“Maybe they get a lot of requests right before summer break? It seems like something all schools would do.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. After the talk ended, we just went straight home, so there’s even a chance they were going from school to school.”

The assembly was over, and we wanted to disperse quickly, but unfortunately, we had to leave in order from the back, starting with the third-years, so we couldn’t just leave.

The congestion near the entrance was due to the changing of shoes, which prevented a smooth exit. Looking around, I saw that more than half of the second-years were still there, and at this rate, we would be stuck for another five minutes.

As I looked back, I caught the eye of the gorilla sitting at the end of the girls’ row. I felt like I was being glared at, but whether that was my imagination, just because she was a gorilla, or if there was another reason…

“…Saiki, did you annoy Goura-san again?”

If Hashimoto said that, she must really be glaring. I have no idea why, though.

“Nah. Maybe Gossan just doesn’t like being the center of attention.”

“You get hit a lot, so it seems like there could be other reasons… And Goura-san has an unapproachable aura, how do you manage to interact with her so much?”

“Well, she might be cold at times, but if I start a conversation, she usually responds, and she’s actually quite kind. I wish she’d stop hitting me, though.”

“From what I overhear, it’s usually your fault, so it’s hard to agree with you.”

“Seriously? Look, she seems irritated again. Probably going to hit me later.”

I kept talking to Hashimoto while looking at Gossan, so she must have thought we were talking about her. Which was true, but that didn’t mean she had to emit such an obvious aura of hostility.

If this continued, I might end up on the receiving end of her volleyball-trained strike, so I diverted my gaze from Gossan and started to idly watch the upperclassmen exiting. There were still four classes left, and they were moving in an orderly fashion, following the teacher’s directions.

And now, as the next row stood up to move…?

“…Hey, Hashimoto-chan.”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“…Why is there a girl in the boys’ row?”

In the second-to-front row of the boys from some second-year class, there was a tabby cat mixed in with them.

As I stared at the cat-headed student who was still standing and waiting, Hashimoto followed my gaze and let out a sound of realization.

“No, that person is a boy. He might be short and good-looking, but isn’t it obvious he’s a guy?”

“Is that so? But, that looks…”

“He’s more of the handsome type than a feminine face. He’s popular with girls from other grades too. He’s like a rival character from a romance manga or game.”

Hashimoto’s biased but understandable otaku-like assessment aside, in reality, the person in the second-to-front row looked like an animal to me. Therefore, biologically, she should be female.

This is a bit complicated because in cases of gender dysphoria or those who have changed their gender postnatally, I still see the gender they were born with due to the curse. If a trans woman appears on TV, I see her as a human, and the opposite pattern appears as an animal.

But that aside, that second-year… I can’t see what her face looks like, and whether she’s pretending to be a boy for some special reason, or if she’s living as a boy because her mind and body don’t match—

“So, that person is a boy? Really, not a girl?”

I asked Hashimoto again for confirmation, and he nodded, looking a bit puzzled.

“Yeah. A senpai from the Anime Game Club is in the same class, and his name is… Mito Raina-senpai, I think.”

“Hmm…”

I see. To me, she’s a tabby cat, so I’ll remember her as Tora-senpai… Wait… (Tora= tiger)

“…Hey, Hashimoto-chan.”

“What? I’m not too familiar with that senpai either, so I can’t say much more—”

“That’s not it. That popular senpai… doesn’t it seem like she’s looking over here?”

At my words, Hashimoto let out a small “eh” of surprise and glanced back with a discreet motion.

It felt like the aforementioned Tora-senpai was glaring intently in our direction, but unfortunately for me, I wasn’t seeing a human but a cat. Those distinctive eyes—pupils, if that’s the right word—were slit vertically. If it were a real cat, it would mean it’s on guard.

However, I couldn’t be sure if those eyes were really fixed on us. We were a bit far away, and after all, it was the gaze of a cat.

…As Hashimoto turned back around, he reversed his motion as if rewinding a video and murmured with an anxious expression.

“…He’s glaring pretty hard… Did he hear our conversation?”

“…Maybe, but if that’s the case, I’m probably the target since he was mistaken for a girl. Maybe it’s because of the height.”

“…His hair is a bit long, so from behind, someone could mistake him. But Saiki, only you would make that mistake from the front.”

So, she’s clearly a ‘guy’ to that extent. Then, it’s likely she’s someone with a story. A case of mistaken identity is out of the question; it’s absurd to confuse the face of a person with that of a cat.

For now, I faced forward to avoid Tora-senpai’s gaze and waited for time to pass, giving it some thought. If that senpai has some issues, the question is whether it’s okay to touch upon them.

Pretending to be a different gender is a pretty big deal, and it feels wrong to ask out of mere curiosity. Besides, I have no connection with that senpai, and it would be beyond rude for some unknown junior to suddenly ask.

“Why are you pretending to be a guy even though you’re a girl?”

It wouldn’t be strange if that warranted extreme punishment.

…While I was thinking, it seemed our turn to move had come, as the classmates around us stood up. A beat behind, I also stood up and checked behind me before starting to move, only to find, unsurprisingly, that all the second-year students had disappeared.

Regarding Tora-senpai, I decided to gather information before deciding what to do. It’s almost the end of the first semester, so it might be okay to wait until the second semester… if I don’t forget, that is.