Ryosuke Shiba

Ryosuke Shiba (司場 涼介, Shiba Ryōsuke) is the chief of Special Operations Division 2 at the Bureau of Espionage, a secret national agency whose mission is the surveillance and disposal of mononoke. He founded a new squad, code named "Black Torch", after coming across Jiro Azuma.

Afterwards
The only son of an affluent middle-class family, Ryosuke had a perfectly normal life until he was in elementary school. That was when his mother discovered his father cheating on her. She flew into a rage, stabbing his father to death and then killing herself. The one to first discover the grisly scene when he came home from school that day, Ryosuke has had something of a self-destructive streak ever since.

He lived in an orphanage through high school, using collage as an excuse to move out on his own. However, he dropped out after only one semester. Looking for cheap thrills, he got involved in illegal gambling, earning cash at underground casinos and mahjong parlors. Eventually, he caught the eye of a yakuza gang and wound up employed by them as a pro gambler. Unfortunately for them, Ryosuke had no sense of loyalty whatever.

Working in the underworld, he heard rumors of mononoke and the Bureau. Though most believed they were just urban legends, Ryosuke was curious enough to dig into them. He eventually discovered that the Bureau was, in fact, real. In most cases, anyone finding the Bureau would have their memories modified or be erased entirely, but given that Ryosuke found them by his own talents, he was scouted instead. After a probation period, he was hired. Joining at the same time as Toko Kusumi, both began training under Toshimasa.

Ryosuke primarily made a name for himself in information manipulation and investigating dangerous organizations. But his tendency to disobey orders and take independent actions led to him being ostracized by his peers and frowned on by his superiors. As a result, he was "promoted" to Director of the skeletal remains of Division 2 just so they could be rid of him.

However, after the Amagi incident, the higher-ups could not deny that not just his Division 2, but the whole Bureau needed a vast overhaul. Once again, they were faced with the problem of what to do with Ryosuke. Who can say whether Ryosuke himself was aware of the headaches he was causing, but for now he continues to lazily pass the time, smoking his cigarettes and waiting for the next thrill to come along.

Etymology

 * The name Ryosuke means "cool, refreshing" (涼) (ryo) and "forerunner, herald" (介) (suke).
 * Ryosuke's surname Shiba means "officer, boss" (司) (shi) and "field, place" (場) (ba).