I'm in Love with the Gorilla Sitting Next to Me - Volume 1 Chapter 5.3

Events are the best way to deepen friendships 3

While reacquainting myself with the complexity of the issue, I washed my hands and returned to the theater through the side door. The lights were already off, but I could still vaguely see the seats since only the warning messages were being displayed on the screen.

Thanks to that, I easily found my way back to my seat, where Tora-senpai, who had arrived earlier, was beckoning me. A cat’s beckoning gesture. It looked like a Maneki-neko.

With that thought in mind, I settled into my seat, turned off my smartphone, and felt a nudge on my elbow from the side.

Looking over, Senpai’s cat hand was pointing at the drink containers.

“…Hey, is this one the jasmine tea?”

“…Yeah, that’s the right one.”

Perhaps because it was a whisper that only I could hear, the tone was slightly feminine. Senpai leaned in close, and honestly, it gave me a bit of a start. Though it was more because of the frightening cat eyes in the dim light.

Tora-senpai immediately took a sip of the drink and then reached for the popcorn. Picking up just one piece with her claws from the bucket-sized container, she brought it to her small mouth,

“…Ah, cheese flavor?”

“…Yeah. While I was in line, the smell got to me, so I went with cheese for mine.”

To be frank, that was almost like an assault. It’s not fair to let someone who’s starting to get hungry smell that. Of course, I’d buy it.

“…Then maybe I should have stopped you from getting caramel.”

“…Nah, I just wanted to eat cheese myself. Besides, I didn’t want to miss out on the only sweet option, caramel.”

The other flavors were more on the salty side, so I wanted something different. I had a slight desire to go for the killer combo of salt and caramel for the sweet and salty mix, but I stopped myself when my inner voice remarked, ‘That’s just salted caramel.’

“…I see. But even so, I’m happy. Thank you.”

“…No problem, I’m being treated to the movie anyway. This is nothing… Huh?”

While we were whispering, something soft was suddenly draped over my thigh.

“…This is a blanket. There’s only one, but it’s big enough for us to share. Even though it’s summer, the air conditioning is a bit cold, so feel free to use it.”

“…Oh, thanks.”

I didn’t feel the need for it at the moment, but the movie would last over two hours. On the other hand, I didn’t bring a jacket since it’s summer.

Sharing one blanket between two people felt a bit embarrassing, but it’s dark, and Senpai is still an animal, so it’s not a big deal… or maybe it was something I should be more conscious of considering our purpose. It’s complicated.

Sitting next to each other in the theater and sharing the emotional impact of the movie should have some effect on deepening the relationship between a man and a woman.

From Tora-senpai’s perspective, it’s a movie date with someone of the opposite sex, but from my perspective, it’s with a human-sized cat, and from others’ perspectives, it’s two guys… Isn’t that too complicated? What if we run into someone we know?

Well, it’s dark during the movie, and people hardly pay attention to other seats anyway. Plus, we’re sitting at the edge.

…And as I was mulling over these thoughts, the movie began.

It had been a few years since I last watched a movie in a theater that wasn’t anime or tokusatsu, so I settled deeply into my seat to enjoy the experience thoroughly.

—About an hour had passed since the movie started.

The movie, ‘Spiral Dance’, which Tora-senpai had been eager to see, was halfway through, and I had a decent grasp of the plot, despite knowing nothing about it other than its popularity and that it was a two-part series.

The first half centered around a university social dance club, mainly featuring seven students—a mix of first and second-year students. There were three men and four women, making four pairs, with one guy juggling two partners.

The story revolved around them aiming for a competition, saying, ‘Let’s aim for a prize, and to do that, let’s go on a training camp’, and so the seven of them decided to spend four days at a lodging facility that used to be an abandoned elementary school.

The training camp was a rollercoaster of emotions, with practice sessions going well or poorly, budding romances, and even established couples breaking up. Amidst all this, there was finally movement in the relationship between the two main characters. That’s been the development so far.

The story doesn’t have much of a comedic tone; instead, it seems to focus mainly on human relationships, including romance. Tora-senpai is watching intently, and the other audience members are also showing signs of positive reactions from time to time.

In the midst of all this, I couldn’t really get into it. There was a scene where a guy seemed to be smitten with the heroine-like character, but I just couldn’t empathize at all.

I mean, the main heroine-like girl is a hippo, you know?

I can’t relate to a guy getting his heart racing over a close-up of Hippo-san. The big screen only makes it worse.

The other three characters are a dog, a camel, and a koala, and while they might be cute, the idea of romantic feelings is far-fetched. Scenes of them hugging or kissing just don’t get me excited.

Man, I can watch anime just fine, and with tokusatsu, you can watch normally since they wear full-body suits for the important parts, but I guess I’m just left behind with normal movie. If only it were an action movie, it might have been a different kind of fun.