I'm in Love with the Gorilla Sitting Next to Me - Volume 1 Chapter 6.16

Secrets are meant to be revealed 16

“I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ll never forget this favor for the rest of my life. No amount of gratitude is enough.”

“Please stop. I didn’t do it to owe you anything.”

“Still, I can’t do nothing. If there’s anything I can do, just say it! I can handle doing your homework or giving you all my money!”

“Saiki-kun, you have worse grades than me. And all your money, how much is that?”

“…come to think of it, I might have spent it all yesterday…”

Gossan sighed deeply at my revelation of a serious cash shortage. Oh no, her face reads, “Maybe I shouldn’t have done it…?” She probably thinks she was better off not doing it.

“Look, I’ll work like crazy in the summer! Now that the curse is lifted, I can do more jobs, and I can even borrow money from my parents to give you a lump sum right away!”

“I don’t need money. It’s not a loss to have it, but I don’t want you to go that far. There’s a limited use for it anyway.”

“Uh… then, how about I become your errand boy for the next three years of high school?”

“No matter how you look at it, that would just make me look bad, so no.”

“Damn… am I out of options…?”

“You’re running out of ideas too quickly. You’re hopeless. You don’t need to do anything.”

“That’s not possible. I was absolutely saved on a life level… so, how about this. I’ll do anything Gossan asks. As long as it’s not a crime. I’m prepared to do almost anything!”

“I really don’t need that either… but… well…”

Oh, she didn’t reject it immediately. There’s a thinking time. It seems there might be room for consideration.

Gossan, with her right hand under her right cheek, thought for a moment before looking at me.

“Alright, just one thing.”

“Bring it on! I’ll even run a full marathon or complete a triathlon for Gossan’s sake!”

“I don’t want anything like that at all. What I want is for you to stop calling me by that name.”

“Huh? Wait, do you hate being called Gossan?”

If that’s the case, it’s a serious matter. It’s almost like I’ve been harassing her for the entire semester.

This is like a death sentence… no, seriously, I’m truly sorry.

“No, it’s not that I particularly hate it. I just don’t like it that much.”

Noticing my pale face filled with panic and guilt, Gossan added a denial before continuing,

“Every time I’m called that, I feel like my femininity drops. It has a rough and tough sound to it.”

“I see… okay, got it! By the way, do you have any requests for what I should call you?”

“Not particularly. I’ll leave it up to you, Saiki-kun.”

“Then, normally I’ll just call you Gou——”

“By the way, I don’t really like my last name.”

“…Then, Riccha——”

“Also, I don’t like being called ‘chan’ by someone of the opposite sex. It feels kind of creepy.”

“…You’re not leaving it up to me at all!”

Eh, is this what it is? Are you saying not to call you at all? Or should I call you ‘anata-sama’ or ‘ojou-san’ or something like that?

“…How about Riho-chi?”

“It doesn’t resonate with me.”

“…Riho-rin?”

“No.”

“…Ritchon!”

“Are you making fun of me?”

I’m trying to come up with ideas as if it’s an exam, but her mood seems to be getting worse. Is there even a correct answer?

“…Uh… then… how about just ‘Riho’?”

“…Well, that’s fine. It’s a mystery why you didn’t come up with that first.”

“Well, you know. If I call you by your name in class, people might suspect we’re too close, right?”

“That’s true. So let’s keep it as usual for now, and when it’s just the two of us, you can call me by my name.”

“Just the two of us… it feels like we’re secretly dating.”

I muttered unintentionally, and Gossan—no, Riho turned away. That exceptionally dignified profile… was she angry, or sulking… or hiding her embarrassment?

What’s the situation? I can’t judge. Now that she’s no longer a gorilla, my past experience is useless. If it’s hiding embarrassment, that’s super cute…!

…Or is this… maybe she likes me too… or is that just wishful thinking? After all, she cut her hair and even kissed me for my sake.

So, the reason my curse was lifted wasn’t actually because of a ‘kiss from someone I love’ after all.

It was denied, so was it because it was a ‘kiss of mutual love’…?

If that’s the case—I mean, whether there’s a chance or not doesn’t matter. It’s not about taking actuin only when the outcome is guaranteed; it’s about what I want to do now that the curse is lifted.

“—Riho, there’s something I want to talk to you about. Can you listen?”

“…Lunch break is about to end because this took longer than expected.”

“I know. Just give me ten seconds.”

“…What is it?”

The hesitance in Riho’s response might have been because she anticipated what I was going to say.

A tense silence followed, and I took a deep breath before looking directly at the person I’ve come to like today, her true face revealed, to convey something important.

“I really do like you, Riho.”

“…”

“So, once everything about the curse is settled, I want to—”

Just before I could finish saying, ‘I want to go out with you’, Riho clenched her fists to her chest and braced herself.

Just then, I saw the rooftop door swing open out of the corner of my eye and turned reflexively.

“I had a hunch you would be here… huh!?”

I knew it was Tora-senpai from her voice before I saw her, but soon the rooftop door closed, and I saw a tabby cat in a boy’s uniform.

…wait, what? A tabby cat?

The curse was lifted, yet I still didn’t see a human figure or a man…!?

“No, why!? But Riho, you were just——!?”

Unable to believe the unchanged scene before me, I turned back to face the front,

“…Saiki-kun?”

—It was a gorilla. The same gorilla I had grown accustomed to over three months.

Just seconds ago, she was a cool, beautiful girl, but now she had reverted to the same strong and dignified gorilla.

“…You’ve got to be kidding mee!!!?”

My scream, mixed with anger, sadness, rejection, and despair echoed across the rooftop, and then the bell rang.

Lunch break was over as the harshness of reality hit me with a rapid rise and fall like a reverse bungee jump.