Chapter 144 (Beastars)

I Am a Feline (吾輩は猫科である) is Chapter 144 of the manga Beastars written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki, published in the Weekly Shōnen Champion of the Akita Shoten publishing house.

Synopsis
After meeting the Shishigumi, Louis is frustrated that embracing a red doe in a hotel makes him uncomfortable, but being surrounded by male carnivores makes him extremely comfortable. Changing the subject, Louis asks to speak privately with Legoshi to whom he tells that he knows the gist of the situation, but doesn't understand why he is in this situation. He asks him if he seriously plans on using the Shishigumi's help to get info on Melon. Legoshi affirms it by adjudicating the fault of letting Melon go in the first place, so it is his duty to capture him. Louis warns him that capturing Melon does not guarantee a happy future with Haru. Legoshi declares that he will keep that in mind and states that the Shishigumi will be more willing to help him if Louis sticks around, so he asks him to introduce them to him. Louis replies that they are lions and nothing more, but later presents each one with a brief description, claiming that they are all hard silverheads (silvervine addicts), but are good at what they do. Dolph affirms this by revealing that the Shishigumi used to be made up of 35 lions, but now they are the only ones left. He tells Legoshi to think of these lions as crazy elites, who have been exerting their meat appetite by working out their jaws and get stronger every day. He thanks Louis because they used his old antlers for it, surprising Louis by the bad state they are in. Dolph reveals that every time they craved meat, they took turns gnawing on his antlers, claiming he cannot emphasize how much of a blessing this was after Melon forbade them from eat meat. Agata laments in emphasizing how tasty his antlers were, so he apologizes for not telling him. Louis ignores this and starts the search for Kopi Luwak. The lions apologize again, but Louis asks them if they apologize when they eat delicious food. The Shishigumi bows and gives thanks for the food, astonishing Legoshi who sees Louis as an extraordinarily strong deer who leads a pack of lions.

In the center of the Black Market, the Shishigumi is lost for not being able to remember which direction Kopi Luwak is in. Although Jinma claims to know the way, Free says they can't leave it to him alone. Louis proposes that they do the usual thing, which turns out to be a kind of ritual. To decide the path, each one plucks a strand of hair from their manes and puts them all together. The Shishigumi decides to follow the path that all the locks point to, surprising Legoshi who cannot believe that they leave the decision to strands of hair. They allege that it is a divination, explaining that felines rely on divination when they try to decide on something, In addition animals usually use feline hair as tools for divinations associated with the classical elements of fire, wind, earth, and water. The hair of their manes can feel out the slightest movement in the air, and their feline bodies are sensitive to the supernatural and are well-tuned to the spiritual; they can even predict their own deaths. Only felines are expected to reserve a spot for themselves in a funeral home, and whenever they feel that they are close to death's door, they separate themselves from their workplaces and families without warning and put their affairs in order with great indifference. Unfriendly, free-spirited, independent and self-centered, felines have these traits because they live by relying on the supernatural. They know that the effects of their divinations will always depend on their actions, claiming to have made a divination to decide if Louis was going to be their boss or not, and that the Shishigumi was the best group around when Louis was the leader. In addition, they used divination to make Melon their boss and as a result they are now working together with a wolf who they thought they would never find common ground with, so he hopes everything will work out in the end. After this, Louis alleges how this is optimistic and feline-like, in addition to noting that Legoshi does not seem to believe in that stuff. Legoshi reflects on how he ate Louis's right food and lives every day with the intention of never making the same mistake again. After the lions' hair strands start to not work well, Legoshi offers a strand of his hair. Dolph scoffs at how useless his dull-sensed wolf hair is but puts it in the pack anyway.

Characters

 * Louis
 * Azuki (flashback)
 * Shishigumi
 * Legoshi

Important Events

 * Louis, Legoshi, and the Shishigumi team up to search for Kopi Luwak.
 * Louis discovers that Legoshi is also after Melon and his motives.

Trivia

 * Free, Agata, and Jinma reveal their lion subspecies.
 * Louis gives a brief description of each Shishigumi member, revealing his talents.
 * In one of the areas of the Black Market, you can see a woman with a tattoo of the Akita Shoten publishing house logo.
 * Free reveals that they made a divination to decide whether to make Louis their boss, which would explain why half the lions voted for him.