Ryu paced through the bustling streets of Yokohama, the crisp air cooling the heat of his earlier laughter. While Dazai and Atsushi were likely caught in the middle of a shopping district lecture from Kunikida, Ryu had a different priority. He needed to understand the mechanics of his new body before the plot demanded his life.
He ducked into a narrow, damp alleyway between two brick warehouses. This was the blind spot he needed.
Ability: [Almost Transparent Blue]
He focused on the cold, numbing sensation in his chest. Suddenly, his vision took on a slight cyan tint. He looked down; his new white shirt and black trousers were shimmering, turning into a ghostly, semi-transparent haze until he vanished completely.
"Let's see what this can really do," he muttered.
He started to run. As he approached the back wall of the alley, he didn't slow down. He braced for impact, but there was none. He passed through the brick and mortar like a breeze through a screen door. For a split second, he was inside the wall—a world of gray, suffocating darkness—and then he burst out into the next alley.
He kept going. He phased through a storage shed, a fence, and the back of a closed restaurant. He was like a glitch. The drain was there, a steady tug on his stamina, but the exhilaration was stronger. After five minutes of continuous phasing, he stopped, leaning against a cold metal pipe. He was breathing hard, but he was grinning.
'Five minutes of high-intensity phasing seems to be the limit for now,' he noted.
He stayed invisible and stepped out of the alley back onto the main sidewalk. He walked directly into the path of a businessman rushing toward the station. The man walked straight through Ryu's shoulder. There was no collision, no
shiver—the man didn't even blink.
He stood near a street food stall, the scent of grilled squid filling the air. He leaned close to a stray cat lounging on a trash can. Animals were usually more sensitive to the supernatural. He stayed perfectly still, invisible and intangible.
The cat didn't hiss. It didn't even sniff the air.
'No scent and sound.So, I truly don't have any presence,' Ryu realized. 'In this state, I am a true ghost.'
---
Ryu didn't head for the office immediately. The Agency had provided the clothes, but his pockets were still empty. In a city like Yokohama, a man without a single yen was a man without options. He decided to spend his morning leisurely—partially to explore, and partially to see if he could earn a quick cash.
...
Fortune favored the opportunistic. As Ryu deactivated his ability to save his energy, a sharp cry shattered the peace.
"Stop! Thief! He took my bag!"
A figure in a black hoodie darted through the crowd, clutching a high-end leather bag. The snatcher was fast, weaving through pedestrians with the agility of a cat. From his slight stature, he looked no older than a teenager.
'A bag like that could fetch a decent price,' Ryu thought. He wasn't planning on being a hero; he was planning on being a scavenger. If he could take the bag from the thief, he'd have his walking-around money.
"It's a pain to run," Ryu muttered. "But it's a bigger pain to be broke."
He reactivated his ability and followed the boy into the shadows. Staying a few meters away behind the sprinting teenager.
Then, Ryu saw something incredible.
The boy ducked behind a row of overflowing dumpsters and stopped. Suddenly, the air around him rippled like a heat haze. In a heartbeat, the black hoodie melted away into a bright yellow windbreaker. His height shifted, and his face softened into that of a middle-aged salaryman.
Ryu froze, 'A shapeshifter. This isn't just a petty thief.'
The salaryman walked out the other side of the alley. Ryu followed him for nearly an hour, watching the thief change three more times—once into an elderly woman, once into a teenage girl, and finally back into the boy in the black hoodie as he reached an abandoned factory.
---
Inside, the boy tossed the bag onto an old crate. "Easy Money," he muttered.
He didn't hear Ryu solidify behind him.
THWACK.
Ryu delivered a precise chop to the boy's neck. The snatcher slumped forward, out cold.
When the boy finally groaned and blinked his eyes open, he was tied to a rusted chair. Ryu was sitting on a crate opposite him, idly tossing the stolen bag.
"Who—who the hell are you?!" the boy yelled, his face rippling instinctively. "You a cop? You don't look like a cop!"
Ryu didn't answer immediately. He stood up and walked toward the boy. As he moved, his body began to shimmer. Starting from his feet, he faded into that haunting, cyan transparency until he was nothing but a floating set of clothes, and then, he vanished entirely.
"I'm Ryu Murakami," a voice whispered directly into the boy's ear from behind, despite Ryu having been in front of him a second ago.
The boy shivered, looking around frantically. Ryu solidified right in front of him, leaning in close. "I'm a member of the Armed Detective Agency. A group of Individuals gifted with supernatural abilities. And as you can see, I'm quite a bit better at hiding than you are."
Ryu sat back down, a small, taunting smirk on his lips. "I was actually just planning on stealing this bag from you for some quick cash. But a kid who can change his face? That's far more valuable than a leather purse."
Ryu leaned back, crossing his legs. "Now. I've shown you my hand. Who are you, and what do you call that little trick of yours?"
The boy glared, his bravado crumbling under Ryu's steady gaze. He realized he was outmatched. "I'm Kobo Abe, the age is seventeen" he spat reluctantly. "And my ability is [The Face of Another]. Happy now?"
"Kobo Abe, seventeen years old. A shapeshifter," Ryu mused. "Listen, Kobo. Since I've already tracked you down, I'm going to give you two options. I'm not a fan of complicated choices."
Kobo stopped squirming.
"Option one: Prison. A shapeshifter with a history of theft? You'll be in a high-security cell for a long long time."
Kobo turned pale. "And option two?"
"Option two: You join the Agency. Or rather, you become my tool," Ryu said with a sharp grin. "Think about it—a ghost and a mimic. We'd be the ultimate infiltration team. You get a roof, food, and protection. It's much less of a pain than being a solo thief."
Ryu pulled out a pocketknife and sliced the ropes.
"The choice is yours," Ryu said, heading for the exit. "Door number one is prison. Door number two is a job where you get to lie for a living. I'm heading to the office now. If you're not behind me soon, I'll assume you chose the cell."
Ryu didn't look back. A moment later, he heard hurried footsteps.
"Hey! Wait up, you jerk!" Kobo yelled, running to catch up. "But for the record, I want half of what that bag sells for!"
"Keep dreaming, Face-boy," Ryu smirked.