Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter.
I felt inspiration, so here you guys go!
When Aria got to Gringotts and showed them the stone, the goblins immediatly demanded how much she wanted for it. Apparently, it was a really valuable artifact that they'd been attempting to get their hands on for a long time. If their rambling was to be believed, the stone was actually the philosophers stone. Now, Aria didn't give two shits about the immortality aspect since there was always a price for power of any kind. Look at the ghouls, they had to eat humans because of their biology. Aria was somewhat interested in the stones ability to turn things into pure gold. Aria's time with the Dursleys and the struggle to survive in one of the worst wards in Tokyo had ingrained a need for money into her. As a result of her new knowledge, Aria set things up for her long term benefit earning some grudging respect from the goblins.
In the scheme of things, Aria's demands were relatively simple:
1) The goblins had to wave certain fees like charging her for getting food for her ghoul side.
2) The goblins had to inform her of any attempts to get into her vaults.
3) The goblins had to keep her new biology a secret.
4) The goblins had to pass along any information they found out, useful or otherwise.
5) The goblins had to keep any information on ghouls a secret.
The first was simply because keeping herself fed was fucking expensive and the goblins had probably been overcharging her. The second was a given, but Aria had wanted to ensure they'd keep her informed. The third was to keep the magicals from finding out unless she was ready or someone got lucky enough to find out. The fourth was for later and because Aria wanted blackmail just in case. The last one was simply because she had a feeling the English Ministry would be just like the CCG if they ever found out ghouls weren't a myth. While the Japanese Ministry sure as hell knew about ghouls, Aria wasn't too sure about the other countries simply because there were so few ghoul attacks in them.
After Aria had finished her negotiations, the goblins had directed her to a room covered in runes with an empty stone doorway. Somehow, the doorway would transport her to a Japanese branch of Gringotts. They never said where the Gringotts was, so Aria knew that she might need to take a few trains. When Aria walked through the doorway, she felt weightless for a few seconds before gravity suddenly returned. The only reason Aria kept her balance was due to the roof hopping she'd done with Uta and while in the orphanage. Aria took a second to ensure she wouldn't fall over before heading towards the entrance of the room. The goblin that greeted her was dressed in a sharp looking suit, "Heir Potter?"
"Yes, Honorable Goblin," Aria wasn't too sure about how to refer to goblins so settled on being as polite as possible, "May I inquire as to which branch I've come to?"
"You are in the Kamakura," The goblin replied while waving Aria forward, "At the current moment, the Tokyo branch is under construction due to a few problems occurring. It will be fixed by late August, so you won't be late to school. Now, I have the items that you requested. Once you pick them up, I will show you out of the bank,"
Aria nodded while feeling like grinning. While being sent to a Gringotts not in Tokyo was a bit irritating, she would admit it made things easier on her. Seeing as she knew Dumbledore would probably attempt to check on her at some point, he would probably attempt to track her down. With the items she was getting, Dumbledore would have to track her down the old fashioned way. Ah, she loved the goblins and their love of pissing magicals off.
When Aria arrived in Tokyo, she went to get something to eat and drink at one of the cafes as the train she'd be using to get to the fourth ward wouldn't arrive for an hour. Aria took a deep breath and sighed as she caught the scent of coffee. She glanced around as she heard, "Welcome to Anteiku."
Aria turned and saw an old man standing there. He had swept back white hair and his eyes were currently closed. He wore a rather formal looking waiter outfit. Aria headed to the counter and smiled lightly, "Can I have a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake?"
"Certainly," The old man smiled at her, "Though aren't you a little young to be drinking coffee?"
Aria blinked lightly as her nose caught the scent of the old man. He didn't smell like a human at all. Aria's eyes widened slightly and she let out a sharp breath. The old man seemed to notice and chuckled softly as Aria whispered, "You're a ghoul."
"You have nothing to fear from my workers or I, Little One," The old ghoul placed down the cup of coffee in front of her, "You don't have to eat anything as there are no humans here at the moment," He paused before saying, "Though you do not smell like a normal ghoul,"
Aria's stomach growled and she said, "I'd like that piece of cake, please."
He blinked, but got her the piece of cake she asked for while commenting, "You'll only get sick."
Aria shook her head and began to eat her cake. When she finished, Aria started drinking her coffee much to the old man's shock. Aria smiled at him, "I'm a bit more abnormal than the normal ghoul."
"What are you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Aria shook her head lightly, "Perhaps another time, Sir. If you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch."
With that said, Aria downed her coffee and placed the money she owed on the counter before leaving the coffee shop. Now, Aria knew what she'd done was risky, but somehow, she knew that old man wouldn't hurt her. Regardless, Aria had a train to catch and her ghoulish best friend to meet up with.
When Aria got off the train, she left the train station and looked around. The fourth ward still looked like a debilitated shit hole, but Aria still felt at home. Aria frowned as she noticed that Uta wasn't anywhere nearby when he said he'd be there. Aria wondered if he'd gotten caught up in some kind of troublesome situation and inwardly sighed. With Uta's love of causing trouble, Aria wouldn't be surprised. As Aria got ready to go start looking for him, she felt a touch to her shoulder. Spinning around with a small yelp, Aria found Uta smiling lightly at her, "Boo."
"Asshole," Aria punched him in the arm before hugging him, "Missed you,"
"Missed you too," Uta hugged her back before pulling away, "Let's get to the hideout, I have a lot of stuff to tell you,"
Aria frowned at him, but followed as he led the way, "What kind of stuff?"
"The kind of stuff that I felt were better shared in person rather than through writing," Uta answered as they moved through garbage filled alleyways and crack covered sidewalks.
Aria's frown worsened, but she decided to keep her comments quite right now. Something was bothering Uta, it was quite clear by how he was acting and the fact he was being extra careful while leading her to the hideout he'd chosen.
The hideout turned out to be a partially underground apartment complex that was in fairly good condition on the inside as opposed to the rather horrible looking outside. Uta pulled her into one of the underground apartments that was hidden beneath a wreckage filled hallway. Aria set her things down in the single bedroom inside the whole apartment where Uta's things were already set up. When she entered the rather comfortable looking living room, Aria found Uta settled on the couch and scrutinizing a set of blueprints. Aria settled down beside him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Planning something," Uta turned towards her and blinked with a surprised expression on his face, "'Ria..."
Aria blinked before realizing that Uta hadn't gotten a good look at her before, "Like them?"
"They're diffrent," Uta examined her eyes, "At the very least, you kept some of your original coloring," He smiled at her, "I like them," Aria returned his smile, "Show me,"
Knowing what he was asking for, Aria rolled her eyes and concentrated on making her eye change, "Demanding."
Uta stared at the eye and muttered, "Just like the myth, a single kakugan."
Aria returned her eye to normal, "So what are you planning?"
Uta shook his head lightly before turning back to the blueprints, "I'm planning on making things easier on us. I rather like this hideout and don't feel like moving anytime soon."
"I will admit that this seems like the best hideout we've had so far," Aria couldn't blame him for wanting to keep it, "So the blueprints?"
"I wanted to get stronger and you'll need to get stronger too for what I have planned," Uta smiled at her.
Aria nodded while tossing a glance to the blueprints, "And your plan is?"
"I'm going to become the moderator of the fourth ward," Uta explained making Aria gasp and stare at him in shock.
Aria couldn't believe what he'd just said, "Isn't the moderator supposed to be the strongest ghoul in the entire territory?"
Uta nodded with a slight grin, "Which is why we need to get stronger, you'll be my second after all."
Aria could tell Uta was completely serious about his plan and inwardly sighed. Of course, Uta would plan on becoming the moderator because he would be able to cause as much trouble as possible while rising to the specific place. And once he was the moderator, Uta would get to cause trouble with any ghouls that entered the fourth ward. Granted, the ghouls in question would have to break the rules, but people always ended up breaking the rules. Letting out a low sigh, Aria nodded and said, "I'm in. I've got to keep you from causing too much trouble after all."
"Good!" Uta hugged her to him.
"So how does a ghoul become stronger?" Aria asked him, "I know that we'll need to train our bodies since fighting will be a big part of what we do, but what else?"
Uta smiled a rather sadistic looking smile that she hadn't seen before, "Simple, we indulge ourselves in some cannibalism."
Ghouls, Aria quickly found, tasted rather bad compared to humans. They tasted like weak old meat and worse than stale crackers. Aria didn't really like it and told Uta so though her best friend was decidedly unsympathetic. Regardless, Aria found that Uta was right about them getting stronger while practicing cannibalism though that could be because Uta only went after the ghouls that were just above him in strength. Regardless, Aria really didn't like eating ghoul meat and planned on stopping as soon as Uta got tired of being the fourth ward moderator. Aria had just finished getting dressed when she noticed three packages sticking out of her messenger bag. Smiling lightly, Aria removed them and headed into the living room where Uta was working on a new sketch, "Uta."
"Hmm?" Uta hummed without looking up from his drawing.
"I forgot about some stuff I got from the goblins," Aria told him and sat down on the couch beside him after setting the three packages down.
"What are they?" He asked her curiously.
Aria took off the wrapping paper on all three packages revealing a large wooden box and two medium sized ones. She opened the largest of the boxes revealing wrapped packages, "Take a guess."
"Human?" Uta asked as he picked one up.
Aria nodded as Uta opened it and took a bite from the piece of meat inside, "When the box empties, it'll refill itself. The charms and runes on the box will ensure it never spoils."
Uta smiled lightly as he finished off the meat, "Very nice. Next?"
Aria opened the box to reveal a small pile of letters, "The goblins hold the second box. All my mail goes through them, so no one can curse me or track me using my mail."
"Interesting," Uta gestured to the last box, "And that one?"
Aria opened it to reveal a fist sized stone. It was a dark almost blood red with veins of green, black, and purple, "This stone keeps my location a secret from anyone I don't want knowing where I am."
"That's why the old man hasn't found you yet," Uta's eyes were slightly wide before he smiled at her, "Well done,"
Aria returned his smile before grabbing his hand and pressing it to the stone. Uta took his hand back as the stone shown brightly with crimson colored energy before returning to normal. Aria offered him an apologetic smile, "I needed the stone to take some of your blood. If I ever go missing and you need to find me, you'll be able to use the stone."
"You could have asked," Uta pointed out.
Aria grinned at him, "Payback."
Uta rolled his eyes before asking, "Will you be leaving that with me?"
"Of course," Aria closed the box containing the stone and the meat, "I'll also be leaving the meat box with you. The letter one will be coming with me,"
Aria stood up with the two boxes in hand and left to go put them away. She put the meat box in the kitchen and the stone box in their shared room. When she got back, Uta had returned to his sketches. Aria sat down and leaned against Uta as she began to go through her mail.
They were out hunting when they came across a weaker ghoul struggling against an older and stronger pair of ghouls. Aria and Uta shared a look before jumping into the fight. Since Uta wanted to become the fourth ward's moderator, they would need ghouls to follow them and this would be where they started. Aria activated her kagune and got in front of the weaker ghoul as Uta began to fight with the older ghouls. When she saw an opening, Aria attacked, but mainly stayed back as Uta was more than capable of dealing with the two. When Uta managed to kill them, Aria turned to the weaker ghoul. The weaker ghoul was older than Aria and Uta by at least ten year. If Aria had to guess, the female ghoul was in late twenties to early thirties. Aria smiled at the ghoul, "Are you going to be alright?"
The female ghoul stared at them with wide eyes, but managed to nod. Aria walked over to where Uta was beginning to tear apart the elder ghouls and said, "She seems a bit shocked."
"We did save her," Uta replied without even glancing at the elder ghoul.
Aria grabbed a few fingers and began to eat them as the female ghoul asked, "Why?" Aria and Uta turned to her, "Why help me?"
Aria swallowed her mouthful before replying, "You needed some help and we were looking for some food, so we helped you out."
"But you're kids," The woman replied.
Aria snorted softly, "I'm almost twelve and Uta's fourteen, so we're not exactly children. We're also orphans."
The woman stared at them with wide eyes and Aria snickered softly as she continued to eat. Aria had found out fairly quickly that regardless of whether it came from a ghoul or a human, bone marrow was sweet. Since Aria liked sweet things, she tended to go for the bones while Uta always went for the eyes first. Aria and Uta ignored the woman as they continued to eat. When she finally spoke up, they had already finished eating the ghouls' organs, "You two should move to another ward. It would be safer for you."
"Not necessarily," Aria replied while glancing at the woman, "Some wards are worse than this one. We also know this ward enough to hide and stay alive if someone is far too strong for us to handle. While your concern is touching, you don't need to worry about us,"
"Not to mention," Uta spoke up, "I want to become the fourth wards moderator by the time I turn seventeen, so I do need to live here,"
"The moderator?" The woman gasped while staring at Uta with wide eyes.
Aria didn't blame her for staring at Uta like he'd grown two heads and suddenly proclaimed that the Doves were the greatest thing to happen to ghouls. Since the moderator was essentially the leader of the ward, Uta would have to become super strong in order to both defeat the current moderator and keep the peace with all the ghouls inside the ward not to mention the ones that were just passing through. It was a very big goal, but Aria knew Uta would do it. If Uta thought of something and liked the idea, he would do it no matter what. And since Aria needed to be around to keep Uta from doing anything too crazy or get in over his head, she would need to get strong as well. Aria spoke up, "A big goal, but Uta will do it. I know he will."
"You sound so sure," The woman looked at Aria, "Why?"
"He's Uta," Aria shrugged as she broke a rib bone open to suck out the marrow, "If he puts his mind to it, he'll do it. No one can change that,"
"What about you?" The woman asked earning a snort.
Aria shook her head as Uta began eating an arm, "Not even I can change his mind, I've given up trying unless it's a truly insane idea. Now," Aria looked at the woman, "What's your name?"
"M-my name?" The woman looked at her in shock.
Aria nodded with a smile, "I can't keep thinking of you as 'the woman', can I? It would be impolite."
"Sumire," The woman answered after a few moments, "Ganbe Sumire,"
"A pleasure to meet you though I wish it could have been under better circumstances," Aria finished off her rib and moved to another, "If you were doing something before, I would suggest getting back to it. After all, we have no way of knowing if these guys had friends,"
Sumire hesitated before taking off. Uta spoke as soon as she was gone, "She was a bit rude."
Aria glanced at him, "You do realize we just saved her from being killed and announced your intention to become the next moderator, right? She's bound to be shocked and ready to leave."
"Still should have asked for our names," Uta finished off the arm he'd been eating.
Aria shook her head lightly and followed him as Uta took off. Honestly, she was too used to her best-friend to even bat an eye over his comments anymore.
They walked into the magical district of Tokyo with Aria holding Uta's hand to prevent her best-friend from wandering off. They were given a few glances by the locals due to Aria's English heritage. Uta glanced at her as she once again tugged him back to her, "I'm hungry."
"You ate, literally thirty minutes ago," Aria deadpanned, "You can wait until we check out the book shops,"
"Mean," Uta accused her earning an eye roll.
"Yeah, yeah," Aria looked around before heading up to a nearby fruit vender, "Excuse me, Miss?"
The vender looked at Aria, "Can I help you?"
"My friend and I are attempting to find a good bookshop," Aria answered while tugging Uta to her, "We're both new the area and aren't very familiar with how the alley is set up,"
The vender nodded while stealing a rather confused glance at Uta, "You should go to Genbu's. He carries a little bit of everything. His shop is in the building about two doors down from the bank."
Aria bowed lightly, "Thank you, Miss. C'mon Uta, we have books to find."
With that Aria pulled Uta away from the fruit stand, Uta allowed it with a slight frown, "I don't like the look she was giving me."
"I don't either," Aria and Uta continued to walk, "We'll have to be careful getting back to the hideout,"
"Agreed," Uta looked vaguely amused with the prospect of trouble making Aria internally sigh.
Aria looked down at the struggling pair of men, "Why were you two following us?"
"Gaijin scum shouldn't be traveling through our alley like they belong there," One of them spat at her.
"Nor should they be keeping the company of monsters," The other growled while glaring at Uta.
Aria blinked slightly before commenting, "So you were two narrow minded idiots just trying to show two outsiders that we shouldn't go back to that alley?"
One of them leered at her, "You would have fetched quite the galleon in the trade."
"So slave-traders," Aria didn't even hesitate to slit both their throats, "Uncivilized idiots,"
Uta sniffed lightly, "They don't smell as good as you did before."
"Perhaps it's due to how powerful my magic is?" Aria guessed as they began to eat the wizards.
"Maybe," Uta shrugged as he removed their eyes, "Doesn't change the fact they taste a bit better than normal humans and much better than ghouls,"
"Still, we shouldn't be hunting these guys regularly," Aria began eating their fingers, "Maybe one or two every six months if not a year?"
"At least until we get stronger," Uta agreed earning a nod from Aria, "And you're out of school,"
Aria nodded while noting that each of the wizards had a unique taste added onto them. The one on the right tasted a bit spicier with an earthier undertone and slightly dry. The one on the left tasted sweeter with a watery undertone. Aria found that she liked the one on the left while Uta enjoyed the one on the right though he admitted that both their eyes tasted especially good. Aria admitted that she had wished Uta would share since eyes tasted really good, but knew it would be a while be he did it.
Aria was using Uta's stomach as a pillow while they were taking a nap on the couch when a ding sounded. Aria slowly opened her eyes and spotted her letter box glowing slightly. Groaning slightly, Aria slowly sat up and reached for the box as Uta muttered, "Go back to sleep."
"Important letter, I can't," Aria replied while rubbing her eyes and opening the box.
With one hand, Aria took out the letter and opened it. She read it only to stop and reread it feeling more awake. When she finally managed to comprehend the letter, she poked Uta in the stomach. He just ignored the poke and continued napping. Aria rolled her eyes and poked him again. He merely rolled over and Aria sighed deeply before poking him again. Finally, Uta cracked open an eye and asked, "What?"
"Apparently a house elf just tried to steal my mail," Aria informed him and Uta closed his eye for a second.
When what she said finally managed to sink in, Uta opened his eyes and moved to sit beside her, "What exactly is a house elf?"
"They're apparently a species of brownies that do house hold chores in exchange for magicals stabilizing their magic," Aria replied while reading over the letter.
"And one tried stealing your mail because?" Uta looked at the letter curiously.
"It was trying to keep me from going back to Hogwarts," Aria answered, "From what my account manager says, the little elf was trying to protect me,"
"How does stealing mail have anything to do with protecting you or going back to Hogwarts?" Uta's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Fuck if I know and my account manager couldn't get it out of the damn elf before it managed to escape," Aria set the letter down, "My manager has managed to set something up to keep that elf from getting to my mail, but gave me a warning that it will probably try something before I head back to school,"
Uta looked at the letter before saying, "Looks like you'll need to be more careful this year."
Aria nodded with a yawn, "Lets get back to our nap, I'm still tired from last night"
"I did say you shouldn't stay up late," Uta pointed out as he laid down and they retook their former positions.
"I wanted to get my homework done," Aria replied as she set her head back down on his stomach, "And you don't get to talk, you stayed up too,"
"I was working on a design for our first masks," Uta replied in a light tone, "We are going to need them at some point,"
Aria merely hummed softly and closed her eyes.
Aria looked at the mess that was their kitchen before commenting, "You don't get to attempt to cook anything anymore."
Uta had the decency to look slightly sheepish, "Sorry?"
"Let's get this cleaned up," Aria got out the cleaning supplied and together they worked on cleaning the kitchen, "Why were you trying to cook?"
Uta was cleaning the counter tops as she worked on the stove, "I wanted to make a birthday cake for you. Since you can still eat it, I figured it might be a nice present."
Aria was touched even if Uta utterly failed at his first attempt at cooking, "That's nice of you, U. Thank you."
Uta flashed her a smile before turning his attention back to the counter, "We should do something for your birthday."
"I did find a good cafe on my first day back," Aria glanced at Uta, "We could go there,"
"The one run by the older ghoul?" Uta asked and Aria hummed in response, "It is your birthday and I'm honestly curious about how a ghoul runs a cafe that serves both kinds,"
"Not to mention, they make good chocolate cake," Aria just grinned imagining it, "And this time, I'll be able to properly taste it,"
Uta let out a soft laugh and shook his head. If it had chocolate, Aria would eat it. Well, he supposed Aria wouldn't eat chocolate covered eyes. Uta paused as he considered that. Maybe he should try that some time, it would be a fun experiment and Aria would eat them if he couldn't.
Aria led the way into the cafe and they were greeted by a smiling woman with black hair, "Welcome to Anteiku."
Aria and Uta headed to an empty table, "Two cups of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake, please."
"Of course," The woman eyed them before disappearing to get their order.
Uta looked around the shop with curious eyes as he sniffed the air, "You were right about it serving both humans and ghouls."
"And it has a rather nice view," Aria gestured to the window earning a nod.
Aria took out the book on fairy-tales she had picked up during their trip to the magical alley while Uta took out his sketch book. While they were either reading or sketching, the duo kept an eye on the area around them. When the woman appeared with their order, Aria immediatly began to eat her chocolate cake much to Uta's amusement. Aria stuck her tongue out at him before returning to eating her cake though at a much slower pace. The woman blinked in surprise before commenting, "You two are younger than our usual customers."
"It's Aria's birthday and she wanted to come here," Uta answered after taking a sip of his coffee, "You have very good coffee,"
"The cakes fantastic too," Aria told the woman with a warm smile.
"It's your birthday?" The woman asked earning a nod, "How old are you?"
"Twelve, Miss," Aria informed her, "Uta's fourteen,"
The woman nodded while looking slightly surprised, "And you're both out without your parents? That's very mature of you two."
Aria swallowed the cake in her mouth without saying anything as Uta replied, "We both lost our parents while we were very young."
The woman opened her mouth to say something when someone called for her attention. Aria spoke after eating the last of her cake and taking a sip of her coffee, "She was..."
"Nosy," Uta finished his coffee.
"It isn't surprising since we are a bit young," Aria worked on finishing her coffee.
When they did, the two paid and left while well aware of the stares following after them.
Uta was sketching some mask designs when Aria entered the room carrying her own sketch book. She set it down and pointed to it, "I just remember that I drew this."
The drawing was of what she'd seen in that magical mirror. Uta looked it over and admitted that he rather liked how his older self looked, "Perhaps we will actually look like that one day."
"I do wonder what caused the white streaks," Aria commented as she settled down beside him and laid across his lap.
Uta just settled his sketchpad on her back as Aria took out the book on magical tattooing, "If it's meant to be, we will find out."
Aria hummed lightly and began reading.
Uta held her down as Aria struggled against him, "I don't want you to go."
"I have to go back to Hogwarts," Aria retorted while admitting that Uta had gotten even stronger since they started their diet of ghoul meat.
Uta pouted at her, "You should stay here."
"Dumbledore might do something worse if I don't return for my second year," Aria reminded him.
Uta laid down on her with his head against her shoulder and held her against him, "I know."
Aria sighed as she managed to free her arms and rubbed his back, "I'll be back."
Uta burrowed his face in her shoulder, "I want that school to burn down."
Aria snorted and let out a soft laugh, "You and me both, but I need to go."
Uta was silent and held her closer to him. While the hold was somewhat painful, Aria ignored the pain. This would be the first time Aria had even willingly separated herself from Uta, she would freely admit that she didn't want to go back. She couldn't say that to Uta or he would use it as fuel to make her stay. Even if Aria didn't want to admit it, Uta had a hold on her that was hard to ignore and sometimes she didn't even want to ignore it. Right now was an example of that hold on her. Aria too had a hold on Uta which was why Uta sighed deeply through his nose and muttered, "Fine."
Uta slipped off her to lay on the floor beside her and Aria curled up against him. Uta wrapped an arm around her waist and held her there as Aria murmured, "I might be able to come back for Christmas. If I can chance it, I will."
"I'll hold you to that," Uta muttered softly.
Aria sighed and curled up against him tighter. For now, she would lay here with him as she still had a few days to get her things packed up.
When it was time for her to leave, Uta only allowed her to go after she repeatedly promised to return. When Aria used the stone doorway to return to England, she nearly walked right back through. Only the threat of Dumbledore doing worse and Aria's need to make the connections for her exit from the English magical society kept her from doing so, she walked out of the door and was met by her account manager.
