Chapter 20 (Beast Complex)

The Black Panther and the Sea Otter (クロヒョウとラッコ) is the twentieth chapter of Beast Complex.

Synopsis
Riding the subway train, Gill is a black panther who has been faced with a big problem lately, he feels a great desire to eat the hand of his co-worker, Po, being tempted by its whiteness, its fluffiness and its good smell, Po is a sea otter who works as a marine life world correspondent for the company and comes from a completely different culture compared to animals on land, speaks both the marine language and the terrestrial language and is a valuable worker for the company, as it expands its market to the sea, that is the great difference between them, who have just moved to the capital from the countryside.

Gill feels hungry again by seeing Po's hand, which Po realizes, so he kindly offers Gill a bag of sardines, a sandwich that comes from the sea, but a puzzled Gill rejects it and warns him of not taking that out on a train, exposing the biggest difference between the cultures of sea creatures and land animals, their point of view on life and death, in the sea is not a crime to eat a living being, so when Po brought a fish for lunch everyone in the office kept their distance from him as expected, carrying a bag of sardines is comparable to packing dead baby rats in a bag, which on land is a vicious crime that can lead to the death penalty.

Even so, Gill considers directing his appetite to his co-worker's hand to be even more ruthless, assuming that if he ate it, Po would forgive him considering his point of view on life and death, although he assures that it would only put more weight on his guilt. Later, the train passes through a sea tunnel which Po says reminds him a lot of his home, a dark and nocturnal environment where he caught and ate fish and shellfish that glowed in the dark. After this, Gill can not stand his impulses and gives a great lick to Po's hand, who without reacting gets off the train when he reaches his stop and says goodbye, but Gill follows him and apologizes for what he had just done, but Po claims that Gill can eat it whenever he wants, even if that is not allowed on dry land, in his culture it is allowed for the sake of preserving the cycle of life.

The next day, Gill goes to work where he is scolded by his boss for making the same mistakes at work and affirms that he only hired him because he shares the same color as his pens, to later compare him with Po who is very reliable, as they can be so different when both have been in the company for the same time, so he recommends that he go back to the country and take over his family's liquor store. After this day's work, Gill considers visiting the Black Market, since he feels the desire to eat meat, of any kind. At that moment, Gill is surprised by the arrival of Po who greets him and Gill apologizes for the scene at work, commenting that maybe he is not cut out for his job, Po asks if he wants to lick his hand to calm down, but Gill politely rejects it, later both are dragged by a multitude of animals that enter the subway and Gill asks Po if he is okay, noting how uncomfortable he is and Po states that the ocean is never so crowded, Gill replies that things are not either like this in his village, but he tells him that he just has to be patient and the car will be empty soon, Gill thanks Po for being quiet about the matter of his licking, claiming that he does not know why he did it, he has only felt very overwhelmed lately, feeling lonely and hungry, and his consenting has made him feel worse, both of them are squeezed by the train crowd and Po declares that he never understood the concept of loneliness until he came to him, counting how all his co-workers saw him as a monster when he ate a fish for lunch, even when he is appreciated at work, he is sure that no one really knows him, so he reveals to Gill that he also feels lonely.

Taking Gill's hand, Po explains that when sea otters sleep, they hold hands with their partners to avoid being separated by currents while they sleep, holding hands makes them feel safe, so like none of them used to crowded trains, Po suggests that they hold hands until they get off the train. As soon as the train arrives at a station, both Gill and Po struggle not to be swept away by the stream of people leaving the train and still feeling that he is over exaggerating, Gill clings to Po's hand, feeling that if he lets Po alone, he will be exposed to dangerous carnivores like him, so he feels he must save him. Only to realize that they were both dragged off the train, Po declares that Gill is a kind black panther and is no longer lonely, so he invites Gill out for a drink, Gill agrees and they both walk away still holding hands.