CHAPTER 9:

THE GOURMET

"Shit…" Touka muttered to herself. "I mean, I knew it was a possibility that he'd be part of Aogiri Tree, but to hear it from Itori…"

Ken was with Harry as they told Touka the next morning, as was Yoshimura. "…How bad can it be? I'm not trying to be dense, Touka. I just want to know literally how bad it can be if Ayato sets his sights on us."

Touka sighed quietly, before fixing Ken with a look. Not quite a glare, but certainly a stern look. "Aogiri Tree tends to accept the most monstrous and violent Ghouls, Ken. If Ayato is part of them, and an executive to boot…it's very bad. He hated me for siding with Yoshimura, as well as being friends with Harry. Being an executive, from what little we know about the organisation, means you're very strong and very brutal. I think we'll need to up our training in case he comes calling."

Harry nodded. "Aogiri Tree's rumoured to have its sights set on the 11th Ward. That's where Rize was before she came here. I heard rumours that Rize butchered most of the Ghoul leadership there after they attacked her. She brought it upon herself, her actions in the 11th Ward got too much attention from the Doves, but she was also too strong for them."

"Exactly, and you hear rumours of Ghouls cannibals in Aogiri Tree," Touka said. "There's an urban legend that a Ghoul who eats the flesh of another Ghoul gets stronger. But Ghoul flesh tastes disgusting to other Ghouls. Not so much that we puke it back out like human food, but still…one thing's for sure. Given how Ghoul abilities work, it's plausible. You'd get more RC Cells from a Ghoul. But even so, you'd have heard more about it by now."

"Actually," Yoshimura said, "that's one urban myth that is true. Ghouls who eat their own kind can develop a secondary stage to their kagune, known as a kakuja. Think of it as a form of living armour. Of course, I don't think that is something one should aspire to. Touka…Ayato may be a member of Aogiri Tree, but ruthlessness does not necessarily beget power. Plato once said that the measure of a man is what they do with power, not how much they have. Harry, for example, is debatably the most powerful person in this room. His magic allows him to do things Ghouls or indeed mundane humans have no counter for. And he uses his power to help people. Without him, his family would have been depleted even further. If you must gain power, do it in your own way, in a manner your father, or just yourself, would be proud of."

"…When he left, he said I would die, just like our parents," Touka said.

"And you're still alive and well, Touka. Indeed, you have thrived, and I have no doubt your father would be proud of you. Ghouls frequently live all-too-brief lives, as you have seen. I am lucky, or perhaps unlucky, given the cost with which I have bought my dotage. There are people out there who could take down many Ghouls. Pray, for example, you never meet the CCG's Reaper, Kishou Arima."

Touka winced, as did Harry. Ken held up his hand. "Sorry, who?"

"Kishou Arima. He's the top Dove in the whole of the CCG, a prodigy," Harry said. "I've seen him once during my infiltrations of the CCG. He looks rather mundane, his white hair notwithstanding, like some businessman. But he's also infamous for killing many of the worst Ghouls in Tokyo. If you see someone who looks like some businessman with glasses and a flat look on his face, run. He's the CCG's trump card…"

It was later in the day that they got an unwelcome visitor. A blue-haired, handsome, even effete young man dressed stylishly waltzed in. Shu Tsukiyama. The Gourmet, and a sadistic Ghoul only barely tolerated by those of Anteiku.

Tsukiyama's greetings, while courteous and extravagant, rubbed Harry and Touka the wrong way, so Harry didn't really pay much attention to Tsukiyama beyond giving a token reply to his greeting until he got rather close to Ken Kaneki, even sniffing him, much to the younger man's consternation. "Oi, Tsukiyama, don't invade the poor sod's personal space like that. He doesn't swing that way. Plus, he's only just entered our world."

"Hmm? And what do you mean by that, my dear Harry?"

Harry cringed at the term of endearment, before he said, "He got turned into a part-Ghoul thanks to some bastard of a doctor. Rize's organs are inside him."

"Oh? And where is Rize?"

"Hopefully, rotting in Hell after being pancaked by a number of steel girders," Touka snarked. "That bitch of a Binge Eater nearly killed Ken. He doesn't need Hannibal Lecter's Ghoul twin sniffing at him."

"Quel dommage! Such harsh words, even if I personally find them a compliment. Well, if you feel so strongly about my remaining here, I will withdraw once I have had some coffee. But first, I wished to purchase another one of those potions of yours, Harry. That first one you sold me led to a revelation to the taste buds! If there was ever a culinary equivalent of an epiphany on the Road to Damascus, then being able to try such delicacies for the first time was that!"

Harry grimaced, partly at the purple prose. He'd only given that vial to Tsukiyama because the Gourmet had pestered him so much after Touka let slip about the Palatability Potion. Tsukiyama had offered to buy a vial at exorbitant prices, so eventually Harry sold it at the price he intended to. This was a couple of weeks before Ken had his date with Rize. "I'm surprised you haven't been back yet."

"Oh, I spun out that potion as much as I could, so that I could try as many dishes as I could. And to tell the truth, given the rancour between us, the animosity, I felt I would wait until I felt the urge to try the best haute cuisine again before I came back."

"…Well, clearly you don't need to eat anything with ham in it," Touka snarked, as she served Tsukiyama a cup of coffee, albeit reluctantly.

Tsukiyama then indicated for Ken to sit opposite him, which the part-Ghoul did reluctantly. Harry watched as they discussed Rize, only for Tsukiyama to go into a paroxysm of anger. Harry thought he knew why: Tsukiyama had mentioned that he had asked Rize to join him at the Ghoul Restaurant, but the infamous Binge Eater had knocked him back, and even dissed the concept of a Ghoul Restaurant to boot. Suddenly, the coffee mug broke in his grasp, and Ken, unthinking and trying to help, cut himself on the shards of the mug. Tsukiyama, in what could have been an altruistic gesture in many others, had mopped up the blood from the wounds with his handkerchief until Ken's wounds healed. He then went to the toilet, supposedly to wash his handkerchief.

Harry took the opportunity to cast a Repair Charm on the mug, and then go and fetch the vial of Palatability Potion. He came back down in time to see Tsukiyama emerging from the toilet, and handed him the vial without a word. Tsukiyama made his goodbyes, and left…

Harry felt uneasy, as he often did when Tsukiyama came calling. Calling him a bishounen Hannibal Lecter wasn't that far off the mark. So when, about a week later, Nishiki came around, looking battered and beaten, begging for help against Tsukiyama, they knew something had gone badly wrong. Ken had been invited to a dinner for two, so to speak. However, Harry and Touka, who had been woken by the noise, resolved to gatecrash it.

It was Harry who made the suggestion of ensuring the three Ghouls had a meal first before heading to the church where Tsukiyama had taken Kimi. Nishiki was, if not at death's door, then badly weakened, and Ken and Touka could do with a boost. Nishiki and Touka saw the sense in this, and Ken, reluctantly, agreed.

As Harry Apparated them to an alley near the church, he asked Nishiki, "Do you have any idea what kagune he has?"

"A koukaku," Nishiki hissed. "It's like a blue rapier he grows from his shoulder, but he can shield himself with it."

"While he could shield himself from attacks from my ukaku kagune," Touka mused, "I've just had enough of a meal that I can take him on. That being said, Ken, a rinkaku tends to be better against a koukaku. I need you to distract him long enough for me to blindside him. Harry, deal with him from range. Try to immobilise this epicurean bitch, or else use your spells to ruin his kagune. Nishiki…if you think you can help Ken, do so."

Nishiki nodded. "Got it. What about Kimi?"

Touka sighed. "…We'll try to protect her. I hope you can trust her as much as I trust Harry, or otherwise, I would have to kill her." She extruded her kagune, and leapt onto the roof of the church.

Harry led the two Ghouls through the door into the church. On the altar, Kimi was trussed up like a turkey, while at a piano nearby, Tsukiyama played Moonlight Sonata. He looked up. "…Well, well, well…my dear Ken Kaneki, you've brought along some gatecrashers. Dear me, I did not put a 'plus one' on my invitation."

"Why the hell did you target Kimi, you bastard?" Nishiki demanded.

"Nothing truly special. I just happened to spot her while she was shopping, and thought that she would be a divine addition to my meal. That you intervened as a…heh…boyfriend was chivalrous, but misguided. I'm surprised to see you still walking," Tsukiyama said.

"What do you want with her?" Harry snarled.

"Oh, right. I thought she would add just the right touch to the meal I intend to indulge in. Ken Kaneki here has such a divine smell to his flesh. But it needed something more, a final touch. And then, inspiration struck me! You, Ken Kaneki, will feed on this lovely young lady as I feed on you!"

"…You're one sick twisted bastard," Ken said flatly.

"I'm a seeker of truth, actually, an epicure," Tsukiyama said, before he sped over to Ken. "But if you truly feel like that towards me…well, you make me feel like this, so this really is your fault. You are really so delectable."

Harry snapped out a Banishing Charm, sending Tsukiyama flying. "Wow, you sound like those creeps who justify rape because the girl supposedly acted like she wanted sex," Harry snarked, before following it up with a Body-Bind.

The canny Ghoul dodged the spell, but seemed both annoyed and yet ecstatic. "Ahh…feisty. But I've eaten a few wizards. Oh, their flesh…even if they do not reach the zenith that is Ken Kaneki, then they certainly approach it. Yes…you will be my dessert in this…GUH!"

The reason for his yelp of pain was because Touka had slashed down from above, slashing at his eyes. As he clutched them, she sneered, "Don't you fucking touch him. He is not yours." Not letting up, she extruded her kagune and fired the crystalline shards from it. Tsukiyama hurriedly extruded his own kagune to try and shield himself from the onslaught, but Touka's fury lent strength to her attacks. An arm went flying as she slashed it away.

Harry then raised his wand as Tsukiyama was distracted, his back to the wizard. Touka saw what he was doing, and leapt out of the way at the last moment as a Blasting Hex spat towards Tsukiyama. He turned to find it about to hit him, his eyes widening comically, and brought up his kagune just before it hit.

The church shook as the explosion hurled Tsukiyama out of the church through the stained glass window above the altar. Wasting no time, Touka hurried over to Kimi, her kagune retracting. "She's still alive," she said. "Can you get her home?"

Nishiki nodded. He took hold of Kimi. "…Thanks," he said, a little reluctantly.

The quartet, plus Kimi, fled the church, though not before Harry and Touka tried to find Tsukiyama, and finish what they started. All they found was a blood trail, and a few scraps of his entrails. They decided that, with any luck, Tsukiyama had learned his lesson. If not, they would finish the job.

As they returned to Anteiku, Harry gently rubbed Touka's back. "…You okay?"

"…Yes. It's just…the thought of that bastard eating you, to say nothing of Ken…it really pissed me off," she said quietly.

"You like him, don't you?"

"He's a weak wimp…but yeah. He grows on you, like a puppy. He's like a little brother," she said. "God, I miss Ayato. He wasn't really anything like Ken…but I just wish we could have been happy. Harry, with what Itori told you, I'm upping my training with Yomo. With Aogiri Tree on the move, and Ayato as one of them…I will need to get stronger. We got lucky tonight with Tsukiyama. We can't rely on that luck."

Harry hummed in agreement as they kept walking. Yes, luck was only finite, after all. And they needed to get ready for the storms brewing on the horizon. Aogiri Tree. The CCG. And the British wizards who had an exe to grind against him. A danger from three sides that he needed to deal with…

CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:

So, here we have it. The Tsukiyama encounter. Sorry if it feels like a Diet version of the original, but unlike this, Tsukiyama knew Ken was a hybrid from the outset, and couldn't lure him. Kidnapping Kimi was an opportunistic thing.

Next chapter, which I don't know when it'll come out, will be a surprising bit of filler. Harry will meet a Dove who might be willing to help. Given that I'm (as of writing this) 10 volumes into the manga series, I thought it'd be a waste to not put a character who is easily the nicest guy in the CCG in. I think you can guess who that is…

BTW, I'm still working on a possible Harry/Eto story. Let me know if you're interested...

No numbered annotations this time.