Disclaimer: Not sure why I have to write this, I think it's obvious I don't own Tokyo Ghoul.


The Josuke

The twenty-fourth ward, best described a labyrinth of tunnels that exist under Tokyo. They are as expansive as the city that was above them and festering in those tunnels were ghouls in numbers that could easily overpower the CCG and take over Tokyo if they all were allied but instead they divided into clans and families and fought amongst themselves for territory and food. Each clan had laid claim to sections of the twenty-fourth, thus claiming ownership of the wards that were above the tunnels they controlled.

One of the larger, more powerful clans were known as the Josuke Clan. They have been enemies of the Sasaki Clan for generations and had been fighting over territory for just as long. Lately, the Josuke had been aligning themselves with other clans that were struggling to maintain themselves. It seemed to be out of pure kindness but to the Sasaki it was obvious the Josuke Clan was trying to further their reach and influence over the ghouls of Tokyo. The leader of the Josuke was cunning about the way he took in the other clans in and the Sasaki Clan had no proof of what he was doing, even though they were completely right.

Sitting in a crudely crafted throne of bones and skulls of his fallen enemies was said leader of the Josuke Clan was known as Katsu, he was a cunning and deceitful man that used tricks and lies to get what he wanted. Though, he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty and fight some either. His large, muscular frame towered over everyone around him even sitting on the throne. His always active kakugan scanned the room, perceiving everything about him. Shifting his body slightly in the throne, his large muscles bulged noticeably as he wore no shirt. He long, pale green hair remained in its tight bun as his eyes landed upon a bloodied figure that slowly sauntered into the room, right towards Katsu.

Ghouls parted as the bloody man walked forward, the visor of his helmet betrayed no emotion the man could have been feeling. Katsu raised an eyebrow at the sight of the man and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and interlocked his fingers together. The helmet-clad man stopped a few meters away from where Katsu was sitting and stared at him through the glowing red eyes of the helmet. He said nothing and just stood there, waiting for something that only the bloodied ghoul knew.

"What happened to you?" the ghoul wearing the helmet laughed at Katsu's question and then proceeded to remove his helmet. With the thing no longer on his head, the face of Takehiko was revealed. He smirked at Katsu with an unhinged glint in his eyes. He chuckled, hanging his head he shook it while he laughed.

"I found another one." was all Takehiko replied and he walked away, helmet in hand and shaking with mirth. Katsu didn't lean back, he simply stared at the ground with his jaw hard set in a grim expression. He would never understand Takehiko but he knew exactly what the man meant when he said those words. Katsu knew Takehiko always looked for worthy opponents and he had found only one until whatever he had done last night. It was obvious that Takehiko had lost to whoever he deemed worthy, or else he wouldn't have said anything because everyone would have been killed by the eccentric ghoul.

"Katsu," hearing his voice being called pulled the clan leader from his thoughts and he looked up to see a young man with the same pale green hair as him. In fact, they looked almost completely the same based on facial structure. The only difference was the younger ghoul had short hair, violet eyes, and a noticeably less bulky build. Katsu glared at the young man with slight disgust but motioned for him to continue. "We've brought prisoners from the latest battle. What would you have us do with them?"

Katsu brought a finger to his lips, thinking of his answer. "Bring them to me, I'd like to speak with them." the violet-eyed ghoul bowed to his leader and then motioned to several other ghouls over.

Among them were other ghouls that were thoroughly beaten and bruised, some even had large chunks of flesh missing and blood caking their forms, the sight of this seemingly pleased Katsu as they approached his throne. He looked over each and every one of the prisoners with a keen eye, noticing that most of them seemed to have their spirits broken except for one of them. Katsu could see the fighting spirit burning brightly in this ghoul's eyes. The sight of this caught Katsu's attention, he smirked internally and rose from his throne. His gigantic size and bulk made even clearer now that he towered over the prisoners.

"Teruo," the pale green haired ghoul was immediately at his leader's side. "Fetch Takehiko for me, I think one of these prisoners still has some fight in him." a dark, ominous look grew in Katsu's eyes as he stared down the ghoul that still had fire in his eyes. Teruo left to go get Takehiko.

He found the olive skinned ghoul in his usual location. Takehiko typically stayed in the small, hut-like room that he claimed as his own. There was a surprisingly, neatly made bed which Takehiko sat on, he wore no shirt to show off his toned, muscular form. He was nowhere near Katsu's size but he had a muscular build nonetheless. A bloodied and shredded shirt laid crumpled on ground while the golden eyed ghoul was scrubbing the inside of his helmet. Not looking up Takehiko asked, "What do you need?"

"Katsu wants you to deal with a prisoner." Takehiko looked up from what he was doing to stare at Teruo. He then looked back down at his helmet and kept scrubbing at the dried blood that was inside. "What do you want me to tell him?" Teruo asked, hoping Takehiko wouldn't disobey Katsu again. The raven haired ghoul waved his hand through the air in a simple gesture, notifying Teruo that he would be out soon. The violet-eyed ghoul let out a sigh of relief and left the other to finish cleaning his helmet.

Teruo left and walked back to where the similar looking Katsu was with the prisoners. "Takehiko said he will be out as soon as he finishes cleaning his helmet." the answer seemed to please Katsu as he nodded and sat back down in his throne, waiting for the mercenary.

He didn't have to wait long as Takehiko came out of his room, not bothering to put a shirt on but instead sliding his helmet back on over his head. The glowing red eyes activated much like a ghoul's kakugan would. "What's up boss?"

Katsu continued to look at the prisoner he had singled out. "See him," Takehiko's eyes followed Katsu's finger to the defiant looking captive. "His fighting spirit seems to still be blazing." Katsu's eyes narrowed as he glared at the ghoul, "Extinguish it."

A smirk played on Takehiko's lips under his helmet, "And the rest of them?" his question received a simple thumbs-down from Katsu. "Excellent." the eccentric ghoul walked forward to the first prisoner and snapped his neck before anyone could even react. This action made the resilient ghoul jump forward with anger but the chains around his wrists held him back. Takehiko simply chuckled, "My my, you are a feisty one. But please…" he thrust his sharpened hand into the chest of the second captive then violently ripped his arm from the body, the still beating heart held in his grasp.

"You bastard!" growled the still determined ghoul as he struggled against his restraints. Takehiko suddenly ran forward, heart still in hand and smashed the organ against the ghoul's face, with enough power and strength to send him several meters to the side as well as turn the heart to a bloody splatter mark.

Katsu watched with a dark interest as Takehiko turned to the third captive, who had fear in her eyes and he crouched down in front of her. Tilting his head he ran a hand along her cheek and jawline, this action made the she-ghoul look at him with a confused look as he then removed his helmet. Takehiko smiled softly at her, "Sorry, my hair is kinda a mess right now, haha" he laughed slightly then leaned towards her and licked her neck, kissing it lightly. Her eyes grew wide as well as everyone else who was watching, except for Katsu, he simply sat and watched with the same interest as before. Takehiko began to kiss and suck along the she-ghoul's neck, earning whimpering moans of either pleasure or protest. He reached the front of her neck after leaving teeth marks and bruises along her skin before she knew what was happening he sunk his teeth into her throat, biting through skin and crushing her windpipe. Blood sprayed from the wound as he aggressively tore away, ripping her esophagus, rendering her dead. Takehiko then turned to the remaining prisoner, the one with fight left. He spat out the bloody, muscular tube and gurgled the remaining blood in his mouth and spat that out too.

"I'll kill you!" shouted the ghoul as he thrashed against the cuffs on his wrists. Using all his strength he shattered the metal and lunged at Takehiko in a blind rage. A lopsided grin spread along the golden eyed ghoul's lips as his enemy grew closer. He dodged to the side with ease as the ghoul flew past but as soon as he touched the ground, he turned on his toes and lunged at Takehiko again.


Meanwhile in the twentieth ward, Kaneki sitting in a booth at Anteiku, sipping coffee as it was his day off. His mind was swarming with thoughts of what Daichi had told him. "The Josuke have taken the sixth. War's coming."If the Josuke had taken the sixth ward then war really was inevitable, he'd have to return to the twenty-fourth ward to fight for the Sasaki, they'd need him. Especially if that ghoul was there, he would most likely be too. Kaneki knew how strong the helmet-clad ghoul was but they seemed to be on the same level as each other as last time they both walked away with substantial wounds. Vivid memories of the last time they met flashed through his mind.

Flashback

Kaneki ran through the winding tunnels, trying to reach the hunting group that had not returned yet. Hoping that they hadn't run into a Josuke raiding party, Kaneki increased his speed. The metallic scent of blood stung his nose and he headed to the directions of smell. He arrived on the scene to see a helmet-clad ghoul chopping up dead bodies around him as several other ghouls were eating the dead. Kaneki looked around to see that all the dead bodies were Sasaki Clansmen, it was the hunting party!

Kaneki looked up from the dead bodies of his clansmen to see two glowing red eyes looking directly at his one visible eye. Clenching his fists, Kaneki's kakugan activated.

"Hello there," greeted the helmet-clad ghoul. "Nice to see you again, Mukade." the ghoul put a certain amount of enthesis on Kaneki's moniker. "I'd love to deal with you right now but as you can see," he gestured to still living body of a Sasaki ghoul, a quinque sword was embedded into his chest with a nonlethal blow. Gritting his teeth, Kaneki spat out the ghoul's moniker, "Kenshi."

The helmet-clad ghoul, Kenshi, simply motioned for two of the Josuke around to attack Kaneki. The ghoul on the right had an ukaku which erupted from his shoulder in the form of one spiky plate, while the ghoul to Kaneki's left was a bikaku, that was going to be difficult to deal with as a ghoul with a bikaku had a natural advantage over a ghoul with a rinkaku. A barrage of crystallized shards, sent from the ukaku, was sent Kaneki's way. He dodged to the left, charging the bikaku wielder. The second before they could clash, Kaneki kicked off the ground, launching himself into the air. Four rinkaku tentacles erupted from his lower back and impaled the ghoul as backflipped through the air. Landing on his feet, Kaneki twisted his body and whipped his kagune around with the dead ghoul still stuck on the tentacles. The body flew off and crashed into the incoming ukaku ghoul.

"My, my, my," Kenshi's voice caught Kaneki's attention and his anger rose again. "Now that was impressive. Too bad you die here my friend." those words made Kaneki clench his fists, his anger grew. Kenshi pointed the quinque at Kaneki and he finally got a good look at it. A nodachi, the perfect combination of close and mid-range combat as a skilled swordsman could use the large blade to keep his enemies at a certain distance but still deal damage like one would with a regular sword. The last time they had fought Kaneki had almost lost his life to that weapon, this time, would be different.

Tensing the muscles in his legs Kaneki prepared to rush Kenshi but the helmet-clad ghoul had already charged him. Kaneki was forced to dodge the sweeping blade by cartwheeling away. His kagune trailed behind him and Kenshi was forced to leap back as well. The two stared at each other, Kaneki's visible eye glaring while Kenshi's eyes were masked by his helmet. They charged at one another, each intent on killing the other. Kaneki swung his two of his kagune at Kenshi who easily deflected them both with his quinque. They were close now, close enough to exchange blows of fists.

"Kaneki," the sound of his name being called pulled him out of this thoughts. He shook his head and looked up to see Touka standing there in her school uniform, with a frustrated look on her face. He frowned at her and motioned for her to sit, which she did.

"Hey Touka," he greeted her. "What's up?"

"What'd your friend tell you yesterday?" that was just like her, getting straight to the point and not caring if she upset anyone with her words. Kaneki smiled inwardly at her, she certainly was a character. Kaneki took another sip of his coffee before answering her.

"It's not something you should worry about." his answer wasn't the one she wanted and he knew it but there was no way he could tell her about what was going on in the twenty-fourth. She didn't need to get pulled into anything after she had such a privileged life. Well compared to him anyway.

"Why won't you just tell me?!" she barked at him, which he knew would happen. Sighing deeply Kaneki frowned harder then took another sip of coffee, draining the cup before looking back at Touka. It was obvious she was frustrated and getting impatient with him. Sighing again he nodded.

"Follow me, we shouldn't talk here." he stood and left the proper amount of money to pay for his coffee, which was strange as he worked here and didn't have to pay for coffee. He then left to go upstairs, Touka followed after him. He entered his room and waited for her to enter but instead she leaned against the doorframe and didn't take another step inside the room. Kaneki raised an eyebrow at her but decided it didn't matter.

"That friend was a member of the Sasaki Clan," Kaneki started. "So he's actually more of family. But anyway he came by to check how Hinami and I were dealing with the relocation." pausing to think of how to word the next statement he ran his fingers through his hair. "He gave me some information about the status of the twenty-fourth ward is all."

"I asked what'd he tell you." she growled, it was obvious she had grown impatient with him.

"Why does it matter to you?!" Kaneki snapped and shouted at her.

Touka took a step back in shock, Kaneki had been mostly calm and docile with everyone here. This was the first time he had ever snapped at anyone. Gritting her teeth Touka stomped her foot, clenching her fists she stepped forward ready to fight him. "Because your younger sister fucking cares about you and your attitude is making her upset! She deserves to know what's going on, you can't bottle up all your fucking emotions and thoughts you bastard! She's your family and you should-" Kaneki cut her off.

"What do you know of the Josuke Clan?" his question caught Touka off guard and she stuttered before she was actually able to form a coherent thought.

"What?" Kaneki frowned and shook his head at her response.

"The Josuke Clan, what do you know about them?" he repeated.

"Well, umm… I know that they're one of the oldest ghoul clans here in Tokyo. And that they don't get along with the Sasaki, your clan." Touka answered honestly, she had never been to the twenty-fourth ward, besides the training room they had under Anteiku but she'd heard stories of the hellhole from customers and other employees.

"The Josuke Clan, as well as the Sasaki, hails from an ancient warrior ghoul clan that opposed the Sasaki clan centuries ago. The Josuke have held a grudge against the Sasaki Clan for hundreds of years and they have trained their youth and children to have a deep hatred for the Sasaki as well. Typically the fights are over territory the Josuke have recently taken the sixth ward and the tunnels under it. Meaning they are encroaching on Tsumemasa territory. Because of this, the Tsumemasa Clan has allied themselves to the Sasaki in order to retain their territory. The Josuke believe the Sasaki are gathering allies to wage war and took over the sixth ward in order to control more land and have the advantage against the Sasaki. Currently, they have not declared war but it is inevitable now." Kaneki explained to Touka, her eyes widened in fear of what he said.

"W… War?" she stuttered, obviously afraid of what that would mean.

Kaneki nodded, "Yes. I've already informed Yoshimura about this, he seems to understand the seriousness of this news. If the Josuke declare war on the Sasaki then I must return to aid my clan. I've already packed my bags and am prepared for this."

"Y… you would will… willingly return to f… fight in a… in a war?" she stuttered more.

Kaneki's jawline hardened and his eyes shone with determination. Touka gasped at how much resolve he had as he simply nodded. She blinked in shock then ran out from the doorway to her own room, leaving Kaneki in confusion.

Back in the twenty-fourth ward, Takehiko was battling the lone ghoul in front of several onlookers that had gathered. The ghoul kept attacking Takehiko, using his ukaku as a close ranged blade instead of a long distance tool. Jumping to the side, Takehiko dodged another attack from the ghoul and called out to a member of the crowd.

"Hey you," he shouted, pointing at a random ghoul. He was then forced to retract his arm in order to keep it attached to his body as the ghoul he was fighting attacked with another downward slash. "Go get me my weapon." he kicked off the ground with his left foot, swinging his right leg towards the other ghoul's jaw. The power behind Takehiko's kick sent his enemy flying into the air as he landed back on his feet. While in midair the ghoul attacked with in the form of hardened shards of kagune, earning a smirk from Takehiko. "So you can do long range?" he asked as he weaved through the volley of fragments with insane speeds. "What's your name?"

The ghoul landed back on his toes and launched himself towards Takehiko again, "The name's Tsumemasa Buta~~!" shouted the ghoul, now identified as Buta while he raced forward. A smirk spread across Takehiko's lips as he awaited the incoming ghoul. He caught the ghoul carrying his weapon push through the crowd out of the corner of his eye and extended his arm out in that direction. Buta didn't question it, he was so close to killing his enemy.

Something flew through the air towards Takehiko. He snatched it out of the air and it burst into the form of a nodachi with a gut hook on the back of the blade near the tip. The entire blade being black with a glowing azure line like that of the hamon line. Buta's eye grew wide as he realized what Takehiko was holding, he was too close to turn avoid it and going too fast to stop. So in desperation, he swung his ukaku blade at his enemy. Takehiko raised his left arm and blocked the kagune, the sharp edge dug into his arm and bit into the bone but before the kagune could cleave completely through Takehiko's arm he thrust his nodachi into Buta's chest. The power behind the ukaku gave out and stopped after cutting through one bone. Takehiko yanked the blade from his enemy's chest, the gut hook tearing the muscle and shredding it. The golden eyed ghoul pulled his arm away from the ukaku kagune and the dead body of Buta collapsed to the ground, blood began to gush from the hole in his chest.

Takehiko's arm healed almost instantly and he clenched and unclenched his fist a few times to make sure it was alright. "Well that was fun," he said looking up from his hand and up at Katsu. "Thanks for choosing me boss." before the larger ghoul could respond, Takehiko left for his room. His nodachi transformed back into a modified version of a ghoul investigator's case. Appearing as a black and brown shoulder bag with a strap and an odd handle jutting out of the top.

As Katsu watched Takehiko walked away, only one thought crossed the Josuke Clan leader's mind. "The Josuke are lucky Takehiko is on our side."


First off I'd like to apologize for the wait, my laptop has been having lots of problems lately and I haven't been able to get it to work very well. So I'm sorry y'all. Secondly I'd like to thank y'all for the continued support even while I was MIA, it means more than y'all know.

OC Shoutouts!

No OC shoutouts for this chapter as all the characters that appeared are either canon characters or OCs I created.

Review Shoutouts!

WickedDemon69, you had the first review. And yes Daichi is actually going to be important. If you go over to the forum and look for an OC I created named Sasaki Akio you'll see why.

Eliphas-Chaos, Albert is Sagrn's OC so you'll have to read his fanfic to know that haha.

hawaiian-rainbow, thanks for submitting her so I could. And Albert is cool!

Sagrn, I'm glad you approve of how I wrote your OC. He seems to be a favorite already!

hoobab, I'm well aware you like action. So how was this chapter? In my opinion it could've been so much better but I was getting frustrated with my laptop and decided to finish it as soon as possible. Despite the issues I think I did alright but could've definiately been better.

Guest (Keep it up), thank you, I plan to.

, I'm not too good at Spainsh but thanks for following the fanfic!