The warehouse was stifling. Ryu and Atsushi sat atop stacked wooden cargo boxes, their shadows stretching long and thin across the concrete floor. Dazai sat a few paces away on his own crate, his head buried in his favorite book.
Atsushi was trembling, his voice cracking. "They told me I was a burden. That the world would be better off if I just disappeared..."
Suddenly, a sharp CLANG— the sound of metal striking metal—echoed through the rafters.
Atsushi shrieked, losing his balance and tumbling off the cargo box. He scrambled backward on the floor, his eyes fixed on the high windows where the clouds were lazily drifting apart, revealing the cold, brilliant face of the full moon.
"It's here! It's coming for me!" Atsushi screamed. "The man-eater!"
Dazai calmly closed his book with a soft thud.
"Calm down, Atsushi-kun," Dazai said, his voice eerily steady. "Tigers don't just show up like that."
"How do you know for sure?!"
"Something wasn't quite right to begin with. Why would an orphanage banish a child just because their finances went south? It's not like some farming village from a bygone era. Eliminating one or two mouths to feed would hardly make a difference. It'd make more sense to send half the kids to a different institution."
Dazai jumped off the box, landing silently.
"What are you talking about, Dazai-san?" Atsushi stammered.
"You came to this city two weeks ago. The tiger also appeared in this city two weeks ago."
Ryu leaned against the crate, his eyes narrowed. "It's bad," he muttered, looking up. "It's already a full moon."
"You came to Tsurumi four days ago," Dazai continued. "The tiger was also sighted there four days ago."
"Ryu-san was also there with me!"
"Yeah," Dazai countered, glancing at Ryu. "But he only saw the tiger when he met
you."
---
Atsushi froze, his gaze pulled toward the moon outside the window. Ryu walked to Dazai's side as a strange static began to charge the air.
Dazai looked at Ryu. "Remember what Kunikida-kun said?"
Ryu nodded. "The Armed Detective Agency is comprised of individuals with supernatural powers."
"Exactly," Dazai said. "Though not a well-known fact, there are quite a few individuals who possess supernatural abilities in this world."
At that moment, a mechanical sound buzzed violently in Ryu's mind:
[Congratulations. You have witnessed a supernatural occurrence. You have now awakened your ability.]
[Ability: Almost Transparent Blue: Intangibility & Invisibility]
Ryu felt a sudden, icy numbness wash over him. A vibrant, pulsing cyan light erupted from his core, enveloping his entire body in a ghostly, shimmering aura. His form began to fade, turning semitransparent until Dazai could see the concrete wall right through his chest.
But he wasn't gone. His dark eyes, the set of his jaw, and the slight rise of his shoulders were still visible, etched like a phantom blueprint within the pale blue light.
Behind them, Atsushi let out a guttural roar. His body expanded, white fur erupting across his skin as he fully transformed into the massive White Tiger. The beast fixed its golden eyes on the two men and lunged.
Ryu didn't move. The tiger's massive, razor-sharp claws swung in a lethal arc, aimed directly at his throat. But instead of blood spray, there was nothing. The tiger's limb passed through Ryu's cyan-shimmering neck as if he were made of cool mist.
The tiger stumbled forward, confused, its paws sliding harmlessly through Ryu's ghostly body. It turned, snarling, trying to snap at the transparent figure, but its jaws met no resistance.
"Oh?" Dazai murmured, his eyes widening with genuine delight as he watched the tiger pass through Ryu. "So you were also a gifted individual , Ryu-kun."
---
The tiger, frustrated by its inability to touch Ryu, turned its fury toward Dazai.
Dazai began a frantic, graceful dance of evasion. He stepped to the side as a paw smashed the ground, then slid under a low-hanging beam as the tiger snapped its jaws at his heels. The beast chased him deeper into the warehouse, crashing through crates and old machinery.
Dazai finally backed himself against the far brick wall, the tiger snarling as it prepared for a final, crushing leap.
"Now then," Dazai said, his playful tone replaced by a cold authority.
As the tiger lunged, Dazai reached out and pressed his fingers firmly against the beast's forehead.
"Ability: [No Longer Human]."
A brilliant, swirling blue light erupted. The tiger's roar died instantly. Its massive frame shivered, the fur receding and bones snapping back into a human shape. Atsushi slumped forward, unconscious, falling into Dazai's arms.
Ryu's body flickered one last time before the cyan light faded, leaving him solid and visible once more. The icy numbness receded.
"Well," Dazai said, adjusting the sleeping boy in his grip and looking at Ryu with a smirk. "A man-eater and a ghost. I'd say we've had a very productive night."