Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

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- Somewhere, deep in Japan.

"Sir, the barrier has been tripped."

"What?" A man, nondescript but formal, lifted his head from the paperwork he was doing.

"The barrier has been tripped."

"I know what you said, but what the fuck do you mean!?" He slammed his hands on his desk and went over to where his subordinate was monitoring the barrier that surrounded Japan.

"At 12:57, the barrier monitoring and preventing Magicals in and out of the country was tripped, near…" There was a pause as the subordinate shuffled some papers, "Narita Airport."

Silence reigned for a few seconds, broken by a quiet curse. "Send some men over there, quickly, and find that magical. Traveling the mundane way… tch." He shook his head, returning to his desk, "Don't think that will stop us from finding you."

But sadly, it would.

- Somewhere, deep in the 20th ward.

A woman was walking home, clutching an urn to her chest. Silent tears streamed down a ragged face.

'First Kenichi…' she thought to herself as she stumbled a bit, 'Then Ken…' She paused, leaning against a wall to try and stop her fresh bought of tears. 'What am I going to d-.'

Her inner monologue was interrupted by the sound of a child crying. Grey eyes opened wide, maternal instinct, not yet buried, surged to the surface, and she ran towards the sound.

There, in a dark alley, was a babe. He barely looked out of toddler-hood and that hair… It was so dark… Just like hers… Just like her Ken's.

Sensing another person, the babe turned to the woman, cheeks red from his cries. He stared at the woman, not recognizing her, let alone where he'd woken up.

The woman's eyes went wide, looking slightly crazed.

"Ken…" She muttered, carefully approaching the child, "You came back to me…" She picked him up, ignoring how the tiny thing who couldn't be much older than two, flinched. "Oh Ken, Ken, Ken… You came back to me…" She rocked him, crying with the child now.

It took several minutes to calm down, but eventually, the woman left the alley, carrying the child who had cried himself to sleep.

The urn remained in the alley.

- Elsewhere, near Chofu Airport.

A man, large and with an unfortunate mustache, was waiting for his flight. He had a flight to Osaka, where he would then fly to China, from there to Germany and finally back to his home of England. It would be his third flight of the day, having just come from Narita airport, but it was worth it.

He was very pleased with himself.

'Finally, my life can return to normal. No more freak mucking about the place,' He happily thought about how much nicer his life would be. Maybe his wife and he could try for a second child as they'd always wanted?

He patted the leg of his wife; she was dozing against his arm whilst cradling his perfect son.

"Life is perfect," he muttered to himself, waiting for his flight to be called.

They would never make it home.

As the plane was crashing into the ocean, Petunia Dursley couldn't help thinking that this was the divine punishment she deserved for leaving her sister's child in the ghoul-infested Japan.

She just hoped that Harry's death would be quick.

- Meanwhile, in England.

In an office, hidden behind a secret staircase, protected by a grotesque, a whirling thingamajig stopped it's whirling.

This wouldn't be noticed until it was too late.

- Back in Japan's 20th ward.

"That's a good job, Ken! You're such a perfect little baby, yes you are." The child, whose name was not Ken, but could only remember being called Boy and Freak—but dreamed of being called Harry—was confused, yet happy.

Since he had been left in that alley and found by this woman, who insisted he called her 'Okaa-chan', which he did though he had no idea what it meant, he had been… happy. And comfortable. He got to sleep on something very comfortable and had eaten several times already.

Tiny Ken loved it, even if he wasn't Ken, he would BE Ken if it meant that he could continue living in this comfort.

So he cooed at the woman and called her 'Okaa-chan' with his terrible accent, and she doted on him as any mother would.

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Time passed. Like time does. Ken learned he was now Kaneki Ken, and then learned to speak Japanese, and he forgot that he wasn't from Japan. He learned his dad was gone but had left tons of books. So Ken learned to read, and he loved to read.

When he was in elementary school, he made his first friend, Nagachika Hideyoshi. He cherished Hide for breaking him out of the loneliness of his existence, but those were words Ken would never say.

Ken's mom taught him to "become the person who gets hurt" and to always be kind. To not hurt other people. Ken would remember this, even as she beat him. He would remember this, even when she died.

He had only been with her for barely 8 years, but his memories said that she was his mother his entire life.

He had watched her as she slowly wasted away from working too much. Trying to provide for him, and herself, and his ridiculous aunt (who, in nightmares, overlapped with another, blonder, aunt).

He had watched as she grew terrified of him. He had only wanted the book, but he couldn't reach. He had only done it a handful of times and didn't think anything of it.

But Okaa-chan had been scared of him. Because he could do those things. Her fright … was what had killed her, wasn't it?

So he wouldn't do those things. Not anymore… He wasn't supposed to hurt other people, and if those… things he could do… hurt people… Never… ever again

And somewhere in Japan, the name Kanekei Ken faded from a book of invitations, just as the name Harry Potter had faded from a book in England several years ago when Harry Potter had stopped being Harry Potter.

As middle school rolled around, Ken felt like he was finally moving on. He had managed to snag a scholarship that helped to provide housing since he didn't want to live with his ridiculous aunt. He stayed near the school and studied hard.

Ken wanted to go to Kami'i University to study literature. He knew that and was working hard to get into a good high school so he could go to his chosen University. His best friend, Hide, was trying to do the same. Hide wanted to go to the same schools as him so that they wouldn't be apart.

Ken loved that about Hide.

They were currently studying in a new café that he had found near the station. They had the best coffee Ken had ever tasted.

It also happened to be the place where he had seen a cute girl, which he had made the mistake of telling Hide about. Ken had hoped he may see her again, but that was all…

"Come on, Kaneki, tell me more about her!" Hide was needling, even though they were supposed to be studying. It may be October, but exams would always feel right around the corner to Ken. "Wait, is it her?" He pointed to the waitress with purple hair. "It's her, isn't it?"

Ken froze up and jolted, ready to reach across the table to put his hands over Hide's mouth.

Hide grinned, seeing Ken's reaction and raised his hand. "Excuse me! Could I order something?"

Desiring to hide when Hide continued to bother the waitress, whose name was apparently Touka, Ken put a hand on his forehead and shielded his eyes as if to say, 'I'm not with him'. That didn't stop him from noticing when she came in. Grey eyes, from contacts, followed her to her seat.

When Hide got no more of a reaction out of Ken than him freezing, he left the waitress alone and went back to paying attention to his friend. He picked up his pencil just as he saw his friend looking at the new girl who also had purple hair.

"Woah," Hide breathed the word out softly. "Kaneki, my friend…" he spoke softly, shaking his head, "You don't stand a chance. She'll eat you alive—she's got to be, what, 19?"

"Would you shut up, Hide!?" Ken squeaked, cheeks gaining a light flush. "I just-…" his sentence petered out, unable to put words to what he was feeling.

Hide, being the good friend that he was, waited for Ken to gather his thoughts. "It's enough just to look at her…" and Hide winced when Ken said it that way.

"Kaneki," began Hide, "that makes you sound super creepy." Whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by his phone beeping. "Message," he muttered, grabbing it.

"What is it?" Ken inquired, glancing between That Girl and his friend.

"Kaa-chan," Hide sighed, "I gotta go home. Sorry, Kaneki." He apologized before he started to pack up his stuff. "You can come over if you want?"

Ken thought about it, then shook his head. "No thank you. I'm going to stay here and finish my homework… then maybe read a bit."

"Don't read too much," warned Hide with a laugh, "It might rot your brain!" He slung his backpack over a shoulder then ruffled Ken's nicely brushed hair, causing him to squawk and attempt to fix it with just his fingers.

After Hide left, Ken sighed at his study materials and packed up. Then he pulled out the novel he was in the middle of reading, The Black Goat's Egg. It was by one of his favorite authors, Takatsuki Sen.

As he pulled out the bookmark, he glanced to That Girl and saw, by chance, that she was reading the same thing as him. Somehow it made the blush from before return, the tips of his ears going red in happy embarrassment.

The Girl looked up and made eye contact with him, which made his blush worse. Ken always hated that about his complexion—he could blush much easier than his peers, for some reason. She looked at Ken's book and then back to Ken.

The next thing that she did, shocked the middle-schooler: she packed up her bag, grabbed her tray, and boldly came to his table.

"I saw you," She said first, setting her book on the table, cover up. "Looking at me." The smile on her face kept Ken's blush on his. "We're reading the same book." She endeavored, hoping to get a response.

"Yes!" Ken squeaked, "I LOVE TAKATSUKI SEN!" He went from a fetching pink to a ridiculous tomato red. "I mean-! I, um, I love mystery books!"

That Girl laughed in a way that made it seem that she found the teen across from her cute. "I do too."

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Ken was deliriously happy. For all that Hide commented that his staring was creepy, somehow it managed to snag him a date! HIM! Tiny little Kaneki Ken! On a date with a college student!

The date, which felt like a dream bookstore date, was fantastic. They talked for hours about books. On their walk after the café portion, Ken discovered that Rize, That Girl, was the same blood type as him. And an orphan too. They had so much in common… it felt like…

Fate.

When Rize asked Ken to walk her the rest of the way home, due to her fear of The Ghoul that had been active in the area, Ken, remembering how he had been raised, agreed.

Ken's happiness grew as they continued to walk, chatting happily about his best friend and school, and books again.

"It's mysterious," Rize murmured, slowing down to a stop, "That what started us out together like this was a Takatsuki novel. So mysterious…"

Rize locked eyes with Ken then stepped up close to him, in a mock embrace.

"Kaneki-san…" she breathed softly against his shoulder, their height difference coming into play since he hadn't yet reached his growth spurt of adolescence. "In truth, I saw you watching me… from the beginning, I too…

"Was watching you." Her last word ended with Rize's mouth latching on to Ken's trapezius muscle and ripping through fabric and flesh to wrest out a chunk.

Ken's mind blanked in pain and panic, however, he hardly screamed due to his first reaction of pure confusion.

"Ahh~" Rize moaned as she licked off her lips, pushing blood from her face into her mouth with a finger. "So delicious~"

The shock finally broke through and Ken let out a scream, falling down to the ground. In his continued panicked state, Ken began to scramble backward slowly while Rize prowled after her.

"You know, Kaneki-san. There's this scene in The Black Goat's Egg that I just adore… Where the Black Goat catches a man and rips out alllllll of his entrails." Rize visibly trembled as she threw off her glasses and pulled the headband out of her hair.

"No matter how many times I read that part… It always makes me shudder!" She stared at him with those Ghoul Eyes. Ken felt like he was unable to breathe. The air around them was beginning to smell like the ozone, and a small part of Ken's mind that was completely detached from the situation wondered if it was going to storm.

Rize began to laugh, a cruel, demented, breathless thing as she continued to stalk towards Ken.

"Did you never think… Kaneki-san…" The words were broken by this twisted laughter of hers, "That I could be a ghoul!?" As if the word 'ghoul' was a passcode, out from Rize's back burst 4 large, red … Things!

Ken couldn't take it anymore. He yelled, loudly, and started to run.

"Wait, Kaneki-san~" Rize's voice came out sickly sweet, in a sing-song way that caused Ken to shiver, just before one of those things wrapped around his ankle, causing him to smash into the ground.

"I got you~" Rize sing-songed again, a veritable heart in her voice as she stood over the shaking 14-year-old.

"Is this the first ghoul claw you've ever seen?" Rize let it hover over Ken's face, his mind screaming over and over again, 'What is this!' as he once more tried to scramble away. "I'm going to tear out your stomach and play with your insides, Kaneki-san."

Ken's hand landed on a rock that had been in the road. A surge of fear, or courage, caused him to swing the fist holding the rock at the fucking TENTACLE that was about to disembowel him! But it had no effect on the damn thing, breaking into pieces.

Taking a chance, Ken hoped it was a distraction, and got back to his feet to start running again.

The next thing that he felt was something being shoved through his back and out of his front. Shock poured through Ken's system once again, body locking up and unable to react. That thing that stabbed him was used like a limb, picking him up and throwing him into a wall as if he were a mere rag doll. Ken slumped, powerless to take any more.

"Aww," Rize pouted even as she laughed, the air alight with energy. "Did you die already?" The sound of her footsteps rang in the construction site they wound up in.

"I love humans with your body type, Kaneki-san. Just the right amounts of fat and muscle. So easy to eat… I wonder which meal this week will be the best: The last two, or you?"

While Ken's body was frozen, yet shaking, and slumped, fear overriding all of his senses, another part of Ken, long forgotten, was trying to come to his rescue.

The smell of ozone tripled and haze like heat on a summer day went through the air. A man, standing at the top of the half-constructed buildings, watched as the cords he was about to cut snapped without any assistance from him. All of them broke at the exact same time, sending a strange 'twang' noise through the air.

It was this noise that caused Rize to look up, moments because she was crushed by several giant steel beams.

With the energy expended on his rescue, there was none left to try to save him. Ken heard people approaching but soon was lost to blackness.

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AN: Some dialogue was pulled straight from the fan-translated manga, or paraphrased from it. Sorry for the unoriginality. :\

So, I started watching Tokyo Ghoul on Netflix in Japan on Christmas (2018) and finished all 4 seasons in less than 3 days. I, then, obsessively read nearly every crossover with Harry Potter fanfic I could find. One had Harry being Kaneki. I liked the plot idea, but not the way that author did it. Sooo. I decided to do my own version. ^^

Two cultural things of note. One: the family register can be updated and changed quite easily (at least from what I've seen) so Harry basically being stolen was done… well. Easily. He was added to the family register as the 'original' Kaneki Ken's younger brother by the same name, being given the same birthday too—just some years younger. Two: Blood type is exchanged in Asian countries (at least Japan and Korea) the same way that in some Western countries people exchanged Zodiac signs. Being AB blood type is like being a Capricorn, or something.