I'm in Love with the Gorilla Sitting Next to Me - Volume 1 Chapter 5.5

Events are the best way to deepen friendships 5

While I’m flustered and panicking, my little finger is gently squeezed and rubbed.

Perhaps she’s realized that I’m flustered and on the defensive. That’s a blow to my male pride. I can’t let Tora-senpai, who was just as flustered earlier, have her way with me, or she’ll tease me forever.

With a competitive spirit and a shred of silly pride, I manage to break free from my rigid state and, pulling my little finger away, I immediately cover Tora-senpai’s hand with my own.

For a moment, there’s a tense reaction, but she doesn’t pull away. Maybe she’s gotten used to it, but my offensive isn’t over yet.

I grip her hand from above. It wasn’t exactly the lovers’ grip—that would involve palms together and interlocking fingers from that position, but the essence was the same.

“…Uhh…”

A faint voice of confusion and weakness escapes Tora-senpai’s lips. Yet she doesn’t try to shake off my hand, either out of endurance or because she thinks it’s necessary.

Or perhaps——influenced by the movie, she’s ready to accept something like lovers would do.

Whatever the case, it’s an opportunity to go on the offensive, so I keep our hands together and our fingers intertwined, gripping not too strongly. Then, I start to aggressively touch her palm, stroking and rubbing it… but…

“Ah… umm…”

“…”

——I can’t help but wonder, are we doing something incredible here?

No, we’re just holding hands and touching, but it feels like we’re doing something more erotic than ever before. Is it because we’re under a blanket…? Or is it because Tora-senpai is breathing like she’s trying to suppress something overly sensitive…? Is this really something high school students should be doing…!?

When I become conscious of it, my heart beats even stronger. It’s just holding hands, but it feels as erotic as if we were naked and embracing each other. Not that I have any experience with that.

And Tora-senpai isn’t rejecting my advances. On the contrary, she seems to be trying to grasp my moving fingers more firmly.

Fingers entwined with fingers.

On the screen, it’s just before a kiss scene, and the atmosphere in the theater swells with anticipation.

——If this isn’t just me being lustful, and if a momentary, boiling affection is sprouting from this contact.

And if Tora-senpai feels the same way.

Maybe if we kiss now, the curse will be broken…?

With that thought, my heartbeat accelerates even more. Since that summer when the curse was cast, the opposite sex has always appeared animalized to me, but maybe now they’ll appear in their true form, like in anime or manga or games…!

I know it’s not good to get my hopes up too much, but I can’t help getting carried away. It’s something I’ve longed for, and to be honest, given up on.

…And purely, I’m incredibly excited about the act of kissing itself…! Of course, I am, I’m a healthy… well, whether I’m wholesome or not is debatable, but I’m a healthy male high school student.

In this situation, a kiss… should I ask for permission? But then again, I’ve read some internet article saying that a guy who asks for permission to kiss is no good… but not asking could lead to the worst possible outcome… Ugh, what to do…!?

While I agonize over this difficult choice, my hand starts to sweat. And on the screen, the handsome guy and Hippo-san are about to touch foreheads, their lips and mouths just moments from touching. Perhaps because of that, the air in the theater becomes tense, as if everyone is holding their breath. I can feel a whirlwind of emotions: anticipation, anxiety, envy, and jealousy.

Amidst all this, the hand I’m holding—or being held by—suddenly grips me more firmly.

The strength itself isn’t much, as she’s a girl after all. But I can feel a strong determination in that grip.

…Could this be, perhaps, a green light…? A signal that it’s okay to go ahead…!?

As confusion accelerates, the warmth of the hand I’m holding threatens to take away my reason.

——I’m pretty sure Tora-senpai, even if choosing to kiss is a mistake, would be angry but at the same time understand.

It’s a challenge to break the curse, after all, an action that aligns with the original goal. It might be too hasty if it were a one-shot deal, but that’s not the case.

…No, I don’t mind if it’s seen as impulsive.

The possibility of breaking the curse and my overflowing desire are screaming that I have no choice but to do it.

Goodbye, my first kiss.

And hello, a world without animalization.

Preparing to take a desperate step towards the next stage, I turn towards Tora-senpai,

——At that moment, a blinding light and a thunderous roar erupted from the screen.

『Kyah!?』

『Whoa!? What, thunder…!?』

After the explanatory line from the handsome guy, the two on the screen hastily turn their faces away and distance themselves.

I saw that because I too quickly turned my face back to the front.

…When the lightning struck in the movie, I was looking at Tora-senpai’s face. And Tora-senpai was looking at me.

The moment I saw the narrowed pupils of a brown tiger cat, the excitement that had been building up vanished like a lie, and I turned my face away without taking the step to kiss.

…How pathetic.

I should have been well aware that she appeared as a cat. The touch of the hand I was holding felt human, and it was a bit hard to see in the dim light, so my consciousness had inadvertently turned away from reality. Well, the reality is that she’s not an animal in the first place.

This won’t do. It was a great opportunity. Not just for me, but I have to get it right for Tora-senpai’s sake too.

Fortunately, the movie is only halfway through. There should be plenty of opportunities from here on…!

With that hope and wish, I faced the screen again.

But the next scene’s opening was waiting with a sudden twist: Hippo-san, who was about to kiss, is discovered as a corpse.

——Why the heck?

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