I'm in Love with the Gorilla Sitting Next to Me - Volume 1 Chapter 6.3

Secrets are meant to be revealed 3

As I returned to the classroom, I sent a message to Tora-senpai, my comrade and the only one I could consult with, saying, ‘I’m going to watch fireworks with someone I like.’

Immediately after it was read, a series of messages came flying in.

『Eh?』

『What happened?』

『A date!?』

『Isn’t this progressing too fast!?』

『Explain! I want an explanation!』

…Wow, in less than a minute. Such quick responses. It’s like she’s talking right in front of me.

But there’s no time to explain. The next period is a moving class, so I have to get back quickly.

So I just sent a message saying, ‘I’ll talk after school’, and put my phone away.

I felt the vibration of incoming messages, but there was no time to reply, so I ignored them for now.

As I returned to the classroom, I hurriedly grabbed my stuff and ran to the chemistry lab in the new school building.

The class ran long, and I barely had any break time, so I could only look at the messages from Tora-senpai… At the end of the series of messages, there was a call-out that seemed like a challenge.

『After school. Old school building rooftop.』

◇ ◆

“——I see. So you’ve made a step forward.”

After school, I went to the rooftop of the old school building where the clubroom was located and explained to the waiting Tora-senpai about the hectic lunch break.

Fortunately, there was no one else on the rooftop today. Some clubs and societies use it from time to time, and students can enter without permission, so I thought there was a fifty-fifty chance of someone being there, but being able to have a private conversation was a big relief. Tora-senpai was also confidently speaking in her feminine tone.

“It could be a step forward or a complete strikeout. I’m the one who assured it wasn’t a date.”

“Even if that’s not your intention, it could still be effective in getting her to like you, right? If you make a good impression before the summer break, you might be able to create another opportunity during the vacation, or if it didn’t go well, the negatives might fade away during the time you don’t see each other.”

“Ah, I see. Tora-senpai, you’re knowledgeable about romance… It doesn’t seem like you have no experience…”

“…Well, I’ve been influenced by dramas, manga, and novels. I’ve been studying properly to break the curse.”

“I could handle galgames without a walkthrough, but real-life girls are tough. Even my sister is hard to understand sometimes.”

“It can’t be helped if the opposite sex looks like animals to you… but we can’t just leave it at that. She might have someone else approaching her, and we need to break the curse as soon as possible.”

Tora-senpai’s cat-like eyes sharpened with determination. It’s nice of her to care about my love life.

But breaking the curse, huh?

“Whether it’s mutual love or getting her to like me, a kiss seems like too high a hurdle to overcome right away. I like you, Tora-senpai, but I don’t think it’s at the level of love.”

“It’s annoying to be told so bluntly, but I agree. However, I still think the most likely way is for us, who share the situation, to experiment together.”

“That’s true, but… what else is there to experiment with besides gradually building a relationship?”

“We tried it at the movie theater, right? It’s an extension of that… no, a special version of a more aggressive strategy.”

There’s a strong will in her words. It’s not just about brute force, but there’s a plan. As expected of Senpai, reliable.

However, an aggressive strategy, huh? Hmm.

“I’m all for giving it a try, but will your curse be broken first? If my curse is broken first, there’s a high chance I’ll start seeing senpai as a man, right?”

“If it goes well, the curses should break at the same time. The conditions are vague, so it’s possible that only one will break… but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. It’s better than both of us remaining cursed.”

“If Tora-senpai is okay with it, I don’t have any complaints either. But what exactly are we going to do?”

Unable to guess what kind of method she might have thought of, I ask Tora-senpai, who for some reason chokes on her words with a ‘Ugghh…’

Then, with restless hands that clasp, open, and intertwine, and after fidgeting oddly, she says as if squeezing the words out.

“W-we’ll… kiss. You and I… together!”

“…uh, what…? But doesn’t at least one of us have to be in love for the curse to be broken?”

I’m pretty sure that’s what the story was. Whether that’s a certainty or if there are other conditions, I’ll set that aside for now.

Which means…

“…Huh? Tora-senpai, you’ve fallen for me? In such a short time?”

“Don’t be silly. I do find you quite likable, but it’s a different kind of affection, not one that belongs to romance. As a person? Like a friend?”

“Even more reason why this makes no sense. Why do it then?”

“I realized it during our date the other day. When you do something with someone that you wouldn’t normally do with just friends, it makes your heart race and you become more conscious of them. So, it’s not about kissing to break the curse, but about kissing to accelerate our mutual affection…!”

“Oh… I see…”

So this is like those lucky pervert moments or accidental contacts in romantic comedies that suddenly increase affection or make you very conscious of someone…!

I never thought I’d actually be putting that into practice myself.

But, one concern is,

“Tora-senpai might start being conscious of me, but I’m not sure it’ll have the same effect on me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“To be honest, kissing senpai might just feel like petting a big cat. And currently, I don’t even feel like kissing anyone I actually like.”

I thought it might come off as ‘I’m not attracted to Senpai’, but Tora-senpai doesn’t get angry or ponder. Instead, she grins mischievously.

“Your concern is valid. But that’s where our date the other day gave me a big hint!”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“It’s simple. Just close your eyes before kissing. Don’t look at me, and imagine you’re with a beautiful girl.”

“Oh, well… that’s both a solution and somewhat insincere…”

What an outrageous thing to say, this senpai. Indeed, since my curse only affects my vision, if I close my eyes, it won’t work.

However, with zero information about the other person’s face, there’s a big problem because it turns into pure imagination.