Creation began on 06-25-17

Creation ended on 06-26-17

Tokyo Ghoul

No better than a Ghoul

A/N: I had to give up watching the twelfth episode of season one last night on Toonami, but compensated with Hulu, so I didn't miss much. Here's the result of watching the first season.

Sometimes, he had to find a reason to excuse the cruelties of other creatures that made human beings pale in comparison to them, such as having faster reaction times, thicker hides, even ghost-like powers. But even he could see, could comprehend, that there were always factors, always hints, always something that made him aware that despite their frailties and insecurities, there were multitudes of human beings that were no better than the monstrous labels they place on creatures they choose to fear over understanding. It was one of the reasons he found himself paying much attention to this new universe that found its way into his perception to undo its negatives by installing new positives to change the outcomes that could have been altered. A universe where the massive city of Tokyo was home to beings known simply as Ghouls.

"I've seen what the Ghouls are capable of enough times to know that they're dangerous when they attack or defend," the former human expressed, looking at the scenes of the universe through a purple crystal sphere that levitated around him on his wooden throne, "but you have people, weak and misguided by their fear and contempt, that fail to see that not all of them are dangerous. And the ones that find alternate ways to get their food to survive are the ones that end up being more innocent than regular people are…while the rest of them gorge themselves like there's no end to their buffet…and the people that disregard them… What can they do…but what they've always done?"

He reached out and grabbed the sphere and caught sight of a disgraceful scene of the past, one of many that needed to be changed for the better. It was of a young boy's mother being overworked to the bone because of her elder sister, who deceived her with financial crisis when she was living quite well for her own family. The end result was the mother dying and the aunt neglecting her nephew, the same boy that would suffer at the hands of a dangerous Ghoul.

"The only thing worse than a binge-eating Ghoul," he uttered, "is a lying human binging on the kindness of others while showing no signs of redemption. I'll deal with both sides of the line, humans and Ghouls, starting with the depraved aunt."

Then, in a small breeze that swept past the wooden throne, the man was gone, leaving his domain empty, a peaceful meadow with a large tree decorated with cherry blossoms falling from the branches.

-x-

As Ken Kaneki's aunt left her sister's place for the umpteenth time with her allowance for her financial crisis, she stopped in front of a strange man that seemed to appear out of nowhere, looking at her like he had a problem with her.

He seemed around her sister's age, maybe her husband's, dressed in casual jeans and a red shirt, with a blue ascot tied around his neck. What stood out about him were his eyes; she had never seen a man with eyes as dark as his…yet full of a hidden power that others could scarcely comprehend.

"What do you want?" She asked him.

"What do I want?" He echoed, sounding infuriated, but kept his tone under control. "I want you to stop pestering your sister for money. Do you not understand that you're killing her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have bills to pay."

"Don't we all? Doesn't your husband work good hours and makes a sufficient amount to afford your lifestyle? Don't you have a decent job in the city where you make a decent amount? Oh, wait, you do. Oh, wait, your husband does. So why ask your sister for what you clearly don't need?"

"I don't have to stand here and listen to such false accusations," she told him as she resumed walking.

Grip. The man grabbed her right arm and forced her against the wall.

"You will stand there," he told her, "and you will listen to me…because I'm not done here. I've only started. You can either accept the rules or face the consequences for your actions against your sister and nephew. Which will it be? You think you have it difficult? I can make you cry for difficult."

Her envelope fell from her hands onto the ground. Neither she or this man made a move to pick it up.

"You're going to stop asking her for handouts," he ordered her. "You're going to pay more attention to your son because he's going down the same road of self-indulgence that you do. I hear Ghouls love the taste of those that are self-indulgent, especially the gluttonous ones. And if something happens to your sister and nephew that even hints at the possibility of being your fault, I will be coming to pay you a visit…and it will not be pleasant. Not one bit. Do you understand me?"

She nodded in the positive, fearful of the possibility that he was a Ghoul picking her out for his next meal that she didn't speak.

"I need to hear you say it," she heard him say. "Say that you understand, that you mean it."

"Yes, I understand," she uttered. "I won't bother her again for money. I swear. I promise."

He stepped back and picked up the fallen parcel.

"And one more thing," he expressed, "you're going to reimburse your sister and nephew, starting now, until you've paid back what you took from them. Each bill given…is just another moment of life you help to shorten. So when you give this back, you're going to say…"

-x-

"…Sorry for troubling you so much, dear," young Ken heard his aunt say to his mother as she returned the money her sister nearly broke her working for.

This was the seventh time his aunt had come to give them money instead of being given money. While he didn't complain or question it, Ken did feel a sense of happiness for his mother. It meant that she didn't have to work so hard, anymore, and had more time to recoup.

-x-

With the damage rectified to ensure that the boy's mother would continue to be around for years to come, the mysterious man paid a trip to his second destination: The Anteiku café. He had some business there to discuss with the manager.

"Can I help you, sir?" Renji Yomo asked him as he sat by the window.

"I'll have whatever the special of the day is, please," he answered, "and if possible, I'd also like to speak with your manager."

He didn't have to wait very long for his drink or the manager, Yoshimura.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Yoshimura asked him.

Putting down his cup and sipping the coffee, the stranger responded, "Yes. And this is such delicious coffee. I have a peculiar problem that I hope you could help me with. Nothing like a threat or illegal, mind you. Just a…large batch of beans that I just can't throw out."

He was really the only customer present within the café, yet he seemed to speak cryptically, like he didn't want to be misunderstood.

"You say you have coffee beans that you can't throw out?" Yoshimura questioned, sitting across the table. "What kind of coffee beans, exactly?"

"The kind those you help need."

Even though there was no hint of a threat coming from this man, Renji did feel a degree of intimidation. It was like this man, this human, knew what they were and was being calm about it.

"Unless they've been preserved very well, they do tend to go bad," Yoshimura told him.

"Oh, they're well-preserved," he explained. "Even carefully frozen mildly to preserve flavor. You would likely have enough to last you about five months, give or take."

"Just one question: Murder?"

"Only one answer: Suicide."

This man had to know that Anteiku was a haven for Ghouls that couldn't hunt or kill humans…and was trying to supply them with dead humans to live.

"Just who are you?" Renji asked him.

"Someone that has spent a long time dealing with problems that need to be dealt with positively, not negatively, and vice versa if the problem involves those that can't change their habits and harm people that have done them no wrong."

"Like what, Ghouls?"

"Anyone, regardless of their background."

-x-

With the Anteiku cafe's supply of human flesh secured by him, the stranger had two other places to deal with: The place where Ken Kaneki would get injured and have to undergo surgery and end up with his attempted Ghoul attacker's organs replacing his own that were damaged…and the alleyway where Ryouko Fueguchi would be purposely murdered by Ghoul Investigators that crossed the line, leaving her daughter an orphan. He had already paid the Ghoul child's father a visit and took steps to ensure that he wouldn't get killed, but he had to take the same precautions for his wife. But first things first, he had to deal with Ken, who was now coming down the street as he was running from the Ghoul that was as dangerous as she was attractive.

"Aah!" Ken gasped as he was grabbed by the stranger and pulled into a dark corner.

"Be quiet and stay down," the man told him before he ran back out onto the street. "Rize!"

The Ghoul, Rize, confused by the presence of this strange man whose scent overrode the scent of her previous prey.

"Enough with the binging! You're becoming a gluttonous demon!"

"And who are you to disturb my meal?"

"Someone that will tear you down if it means stopping you."

Ken never even tried to poke his head out of the dark spot to see if Rize still had those strange tentacles sprouting out her back…or the stranger pulling her near to himself in order to knock her lights out.

Rize, with her head bashed into a nearby with enough force to cause her brain damage, fell to her knees and lost consciousness.

"You should go to a doctor and get your injuries tended to," he told Ken, picking up Rize. "And afterward, try to forget about this night and this girl. But try to remember that not all Ghouls are bad."

Ken looked around the corner and saw the stranger carrying an unconscious Rize away…and how a portion of a nearby wall was destroyed…and yet the guy didn't have a scratch on him.

Is he some sort of Ghoul? He wondered, but then hissed as he remembered he had some painful injuries that needed to be tended to.

-x-

"…What are you?" Rize asked him as he dumped her on a small island that was devoid of people. "You're not human, and you're not a Ghoul!"

"I used to be human…and I'm still very human," he explained cryptically, "but I'm no Ghoul. And you're far from Tokyo right now, and I see no way for you to get back."

Rize got up off the sand and tried to attack him, but he sidestepped to his right and tripped her.

"Normally, I'd remove certain individuals from places like this and house them elsewhere, but with you, I will try this tactic to see how it pans out. This island is uninhabited, but it shall serve as your residence for the time being. I will make sure you have what you need, but I won't let you binge. Your gluttony stops here."

By the time Rize got back up, the man was gone, and on the small island was a small building shaped like a one-story house, with its interior lit up.

"What in the world?" She questioned; either she was hit in the head really hard, or this man that beat her was more complex than he seemed to her.

Approaching the small building, she saw a sign on the door that read, "Rize's Lovely Prison Suite".

"Son of a bitch," she sighed, thinking the sign was meant to infuriate her.

-x-

With Rize now taken care of, he could now focus on the last piece of his current list: Save Ryouko from the Ghoul Investigators.

As it started to rain in the alleyway, he held out his hand and conjured a taser gun with the intention of neutralizing the threat that was regular people that didn't try to know better.

Suddenly, time shifted around him as the cloudburst slowed down…and in front of him was the innocent Ghoul mother and the ill-willed investigators.

"Hey!" He shouted at Kureo Mado, and fired his taser thrice at him, making sure that he was down for the count.

"Hey, you just assaulted a member of the…" One of the other investigators shouted at him, but he shot him, too.

In less than ten seconds, all the investigators surrounding Ryouko and her daughter were left either paralyzed or out cold.

"Get out of here," the stranger told the mother and daughter. "I don't like seeing good people suffer because of people like these."

"Thank you," Ryouko praised the man and took her daughter away from the alley.

"Damn you," he heard Kureo's voice as the aged man came to in front of him, but still unable to move. "They're not people. They're not human. Why are you protecting them?"

"You and I have different views on who are people and human, Mr. Mado," he responded, walking over to him, picking up the weapon he had attempted to use on Ryouko that had been made from harvesting parts of a previous Ghoul. "Do you truly believe that just because something that looks like a person that can survive by eating parts of another person is something to be hunted down? That you're doing everyone else a service by eliminating potential threats? Maybe you were a kind man once upon a time, but to nearly kill a parent in front of their child… You know what people like that make me feel, to see them harm parents and children? It makes me feel disgusted by people like you. It makes me think you're the dangerous ones. You seem to disregard that not every Ghoul is out to ruin mankind. In the slightest of ways, it is people, regular humans, that ruin the world. You do it with prejudice. You do it with stigma, racism, ethnic cleansing methods, even treating people you've never taken the time to get to know on grounds where both sides have to behave peacefully like they're out to get you. And then, there's these things you use against them. Whether it's hatred or fascination that drives you to go after Ghouls, the fact that you use parts of them to face others, it brings out only their fear and hatred of people like you."

Then, as though it were made of cheaply-made materials, he broke the weapon in half and threw the pieces at Kureo's body.

"I live to protect the ones that can't protect themselves from the likes of you," he expressed. "The innocent Ghouls you choose to go after…are now under my protection, regardless of whichever ward they reside in. I don't care what you label me as. A Ghoul lover. A Ghoul defender. Ghoul sympathizer, even. You go after one that doesn't even bother anyone, even for food, and you will have to deal with me. You will have no place to hide from me. No ward, no building, no broom closet where I won't know you're there."

Then he walked away as the cloudburst ended and the sunlight came out.

"Wait! Who are you?! What are you?! Are you a Ghoul?!" Kureo shouted, but the man was gone.

-x-

It was only the start of these mistakes that needed to be rectified, but so long as he had the power to protect those that were being hunted down and either never or have ceased hunting regular people to survive, he would continue to find solutions to ensure that there was peace between humans and Ghouls. No matter what it took him, no matter how long it took him. He lived for this purpose.

"If it comes to it, I'll add the dangerous Ghouls and most unreasonable investigators to my collection of prisoners that can't be redeemed," he told himself, standing atop the tallest building in the most docile ward where there was the scarcest degree in Ghoul activity. "To accept is to understand…and to despise is to hate out of fear. Accepting…or rejecting…depends upon those involved."

He then looked at the setting sun and sighed at how simple a thought was…but how complicated the actions resulting from the thought were.

A/N: As you can see, there's no "The End", "To be continued…", or anything to indicate that this story has concluded. Instead, fate will decide what could happen. A still-human Ken Kaneki affiliated with the Ghouls of Anteiku? Rize stuck on an uninhabited island where she can't harm anyone? The good Ghouls under a familiar stranger's protection? What could go on here?