Kuro's Asen Pov
The precinct felt like a ghost town. Not literally this time. No moaning spirits. Just me sitting at my desk, feeling like a broken part in a machine that wouldn't stop moving.
My head hurt. Not from work. From everything else.
Hana's words kept repeating in my mind.
"You don't listen. You never look at me. You're always talking to yourself. I don't even know if you're sane anymore."
And then: "Let's break up."
Yeah. That part was stuck on repeat the most.
I stared at the empty mug on my desk. Even the coffee had abandoned me.
Then I heard footsteps.
"Still here, zombie boy?" Toma's voice cut through the silence. Loud. Happy. Fake.
(Toma is Yamato)
I didn't answer.
Mina appeared behind him. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You haven't moved in two hours. You're creeping out the interns."
"Was thinking," I mumbled.
"Sure. Thinking. Not sulking like a sad ghost dog," Toma said.
I gave him a dead look. He gave me a grin. That's how we worked.
"Come on," Mina said. "We're going out. Bear Bar."
I blinked. "What the hell is Bear Bar?"
"It's a place where all the bartenders dress like bears, and the drinks have names like 'Roaring Raspberry' and 'Midnight Growl,'" Toma explained.
"Why?"
"Because this city is insane," Mina replied. "Also, because you're depressed and we're your team. That means we drag you out and make you laugh until you stop being weird."
I sighed. "I'm not depressed."
"You're wearing two different socks and forgot your badge at home," Toma said.
"...Let's go."
The Bear Bar was tucked between an old ramen place and a tattoo parlor. The sign had a cartoon bear winking and holding a pint of beer. I already regretted everything.
Inside was chaos.
There were bear plushies on every wall. The seats had fur covers. One guy danced in a full polar bear suit. Another bartender wore panda ears and served drinks with claws. And the music? A strange mix of jazz and jungle growls.
I followed Toma and Mina to a corner booth while trying not to stare at the guy in a grizzly suit breakdancing by the jukebox.
A waitress in a red panda hoodie came over. "Welcome to Bear Bar! What's your growl today?"
Toma grinned. "Grizzly Gulp for me!"
"Polar Crush," Mina said.
I looked at the menu and blinked. "Uh... Midnight Mauler?"
The waitress saluted. "Three growls coming up!"
We sat back. Toma was already laughing at some dumb video on his phone. Mina scrolled through crime scene reports. I just watched the lights flicker on the fake cave ceiling.
"You okay?" Mina asked.
"No," I answered honestly.
"Good. Means you're still human."
The drinks arrived. Mine was dark and smelled like coffee and sorrow. It fit.
We drank. We talked. Slowly, the tight feeling in my chest loosened.
Toma told a story about trying to arrest a werewolf who pretended to be a yoga instructor. Mina talked about her college days in the occult club. I told them about the time I saw a ghost stuck in a vending machine.
We laughed. Loud. Real.
Then the voices started again.
—he sees—he listens—he walks with the mark—
I winced and touched my forehead.
—why does he drink while the dead cry?—
"Guys," I said. "Do you hear that?"
Toma paused. "Hear what?"
"The... voices."
They looked at each other.
"Is it happening again?" Mina asked.
I nodded. "Loud today. Really loud."
I stood and walked toward the bathroom, hoping silence would follow.
The mirror flickered. My reflection moved slower than me. Always a bad sign.
Behind me, the dead waited.
A little boy missing half his face. A woman with melted skin. A soldier still clutching his throat. All staring.
—the gate opens—
—death walks beside you—
I groaned. "I just wanted one drink."
One ghost floated closer. A girl in a school uniform. Her eyes white.
"You carry the god's curse. We cannot be quiet."
"I carry worse things," I muttered.
The door creaked. A guy in a full bear suit walked in, saw me talking to the mirror, and immediately backed out.
Fair.
Back at the table, Toma was red from laughing.
"The bear guy said you were having a seance in the bathroom!"
Mina smiled. "You okay now?"
"As okay as a guy haunted by thousands of souls can be."
I sat back down. Toma handed me a bear-shaped cookie. "Eat this. It's got honey and hope."
I ate it. Didn't help much, but I appreciated the effort.
"Look," Mina said, lowering her voice. "Breakups suck. But sayaka clearly didn't get you. Not really. If she did, she wouldn't walk away just because you talk to air."
"She wanted normal."
"You're marked by a death god," Toma said. "Normal's not an option."
I nodded. "Yeah."
Mina raised her glass. "To cursed souls and weird coworkers."
Toma clinked his with hers. "And haunted bathrooms."
I hesitated, then raised mine too.