Soo...those of you who have been following my Elfen Lied crossover Children of the Revolution will know that I've expressed an interest in doing a Tokyo Ghoul crossover. Well, here it is, the possible beginning of a crossover. And one that I think will be fairly different to the norm. Many of the prominent crossovers either have Harry as a Ghoul or part-Ghoul, paired with Uta (either as a slashfic or with a female Harry), or both. I intend to go against the grain.

In the reviews of Children of the Revolution, a lot of people asked me to pair Harry with Eto. I will admit, that's actually intriguing, but unfortunately, as of writing this, I've only read the first three volumes of the manga, as well as having watched the first few episodes of the anime. So I wouldn't be able to do Eto's character justice, especially if I decided to try and move her away from being a villain. But never say never, as this is one of the few suggestions from my readers that I am actually considering.

This story was, as with a few of my stories of late, nutted out during discussion with Arawn D Draven. It's also an answering of my 'Harry Fueguchi' challenge that I posted on the forums of DZ2 and whitetigerwolf. The thought of Harry as a human being raised by Ryoko Fueguchi was adorable, especially if he was Hinami's big brother figure. Plus, I wanted to shape Touka into a somewhat more likeable character, and decided on pairing her with Harry for this, partly because I don't think it's actually been done. And I have soft spots for characters voiced by Brina Palencia.

Despite the implication that I made here, there's no Hermione/Nishiki here. I actually considered that, but I think Hermione/Ken might do better.

Incidentally, this isn't my first Tokyo Ghoul fic. I just published a one-shot crossover with Black Lagoon, the first crossover on this website, called The Cleaner with the Kagune. It's my Halloween one-shot for the year, so give it a go, Tokyo Ghoul fans.

Anyway, hope you enjoy...

RAPTOR OF THE 20TH WARD

CHAPTER 1:

CAFFEINE AND CANNIBALISM

Ghouls. A subspecies of humans who are obligate cannibals, who can literally eat nothing but human flesh, the only drinks they can imbibe being ordinary water and coffee. Monsters in human skin, so they are thought of as. And yet, they are also as capable of kindness and goodwill as other humans, though this is something that isn't widely known or advertised. But they also have abilities beyond that of humans, and that, along with their dietary habits, make them the subject of fear.

Across the world, Ghouls are frequently hunted by the Commission for Countering Ghouls, or the CCG, an investigative organisation with powers and budgets often only afforded to federal police and anti-terrorism agencies. Many are fanatical hunters of Ghouls, and the investigators are frequently, and with no small amount of irony, dubbed 'Doves' by the Ghouls. To add insult to injury, many wield Quinques, weapons derived from kagunes, the predatory organs of the Ghouls they have killed.

There is a shadow war, then, waged between the Ghouls and the humans who hunt them. But in Tokyo's 20th Ward, formerly known as Nerima, there exists a dark protector of the Ghouls there. Not a Ghoul, at least not by blood, though certainly by adoption. Orphaned from his birth parents, abandoned by his relatives, adopted by a Ghoul family. If there was any hope that humans and Ghouls could co-exist, then he embodied it.

To the CCG, he was known by his self-declared alias, Raptor, a hawk set against the Doves, and a thief of their Quinques. To the Ghouls of the 20th Ward, he was a guardian. To some other Ghouls, he was seen either as an implacable enemy, or a human who didn't know his place on the food chain.

But to the world at large, he was Harry Fueguchi…

"…Anyway, there were these two Ghouls, right? They opted to share a body between them to eat. One started from the feet, the other from the head. The one who started from the head asked, 'Are you enjoying yourself?' And the other Ghoul goes, 'Yep, I'm having a ball'. So the first Ghoul says, 'Well, slow down! You're eating too fast(1)!'"

Of the three boys in their late teens walking down the street, the sandy blonde boy laughed almost like a hyena, while a dark-haired, rather lugubrious-looking boy grimaced, an uneasy smile briefly touching his lips. "Harry, that's not funny."

The teller of the joke, a boy with messy black hair and emerald eyes flashing behind glasses, rolled his eyes. Unlike the other two, he wasn't Japanese, but rather, European. "Okay, it's a bit off-colour, Ken, but seriously, lighten up a little. Seriously. I mean, you don't have to be as loud and obnoxious as Hide here…"

"Oi!"

"Quiet, you. I swear, you remind me of a certain redhead I used to know," Harry said with a sigh. "Besides, you keep talking so loudly about how you want to get laid. Turn it down a notch."

"Hey, you're the one with the hot coffee waitress as a girlfriend," Hide complained. "I mean, you've got good taste, but you don't need to lord it around."

"I don't. You just think I do. But if I 'lorded it around' as you put it, Touka would have my arse," Harry said. "You don't want to get on her bad side, believe me."

"What? I don't believe that. Sweet, shy Touka? I'd sooner believe it about that girl you knew from Britain…Hermione Granger, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, well, you don't want to mess with her either," Harry said. "And remind Nishiki that if he messes with her, he'll regret it."

Not that Nishiki needed any reminders of that. Harry had cornered the young man and made a few pointed remarks about how, if he harmed one of the few people he had good feelings towards from his year spent in Britain, dealing with that stupid blood tournament, then he would dismember him and force-feed him his own limbs and wedding tackle.

They soon came to the Anteiku coffee shop. Harry sighed. He frequently slept over at Anteiku, where he worked, rather than going home, partly because he sometimes slept over with his girlfriend, Touka Kirishima. Today was one of his days off, but he wanted to see Touka anyway.

He knew Hide mostly through Ken, whom he'd met once in a bookstore, trying to get a signed copy of one of Sen Takatsuki's books. Harry had been getting his copies signed, as well as his little sister's copy of Monochrome Rainbow signed. The two got to talking, and Harry and Ken eventually swapped phone numbers. Truth be told, Harry saw something of himself in Ken, the timid teenager being what Harry had been like when he had first been adopted by his new family. And frankly, he was a bit like his younger sister. Harry wondered if the boy had been abused in the past, and guessed he may have been.

Harry entered, and met the eyes…well, the one eye visible, of his girlfriend of the past few years, Touka Kirishima. Her dark hair was hanging over one of her eyes in an endearing manner, and she looked rather cute in that uniform. "Welcome to Anteiku," she greeted Ken and Hide, showing a small, soft and realistic smile…that Harry knew was as false as the average Hollywood star's breasts. "Please take a seat, and I will serve you shortly." She looked at Harry. "Harry, Mr Yoshimura wished to talk to you."

Harry nodded. Given the serious tone of her voice, Yoshimura clearly had some important news. The old man wasn't present at the moment, in the coffee shop proper, so he must've been upstairs. Harry therefore went upstairs, and soon found Yoshimura poring over some paperwork. The old man had a kindly face, and indeed, was a kind man. But that hadn't always been the case. "You wanted to see me, Grandpa?" he said. He'd called Yoshimura 'grandpa' for a long time, ever since they met when he was but a timid nine year old, abandoned in Japan by the Dursleys, who doubtlessly hoped a Ghoul would eat him.

The joke was on them. He got adopted by a Ghoul family. His stepparents were Ghouls, his stepsister was a Ghoul, his honorary grandfather was a Ghoul, and even his girlfriend was a Ghoul. A freak more loved by monsters than by allegedly normal human beings. Irony abounded.

"Yes, Harry," Yoshimura said, with his usual paternal smile. "A few things. Some serious, some not. Perhaps I should get the less onerous news out of the way. Your Mastery dissertation on the Palatability Potion has finally been voted through. Remus just called me."

"Ha! Great!" Harry said, pumping his fist. "Take that, Pureblood idiots!"

"Yes…I admit, apparently it caused quite the stir, creating a potion that allows Ghouls to taste and eat normal food without any side-effects, even if we don't derive any nutrition from it," Yoshimura said. "You're also one of the youngest to attain their Potions Mastery in the world. I believe one of the youngest was that rather unpleasant fellow you met in Britain, Professor Snape. Still, apparently it was a very controversial decision, so I'd be careful. Of course, there are other things to worry about."

"…Yeah, this is one of those good news, bad news kind of deals, isn't it?" Harry asked, his original elated mood deflating.

"Indeed. Firstly, there's yet another motion afoot in the British Wizengamot to extradite you to stand trial for the…ahem, 'brutal and vicious murder of many upstanding British Purebloods'," Yoshimura said. "Dumbledore may not be able to stop this one, either. Apparently that appalling Umbridge woman had found some loophole or other that might allow her to actually bring people here, and the local Aurors may not be able to stop them. Something about rendering so many lines extinct, any immunity that you have as a Japanese citizen is moot."

"Then I'll deal with them. That way, the larders here will be stocked for a while," Harry said grimly.

Yoshimura sighed quietly. "Harry, I cannot protest the use of violence in self-defence. But do you think killing them will stop them? Or will it just spur them to try harder?"

"Grandpa, unlike the Doves, who've got some legitimate reason to go after Ghouls even if they're pricks about it, these idiots are just sore because I dealt with that snakefaced bastard and his cronies. Those I killed were themselves unrepentant racist murderers, even Dumbledore, with all his bleating about redemption, recognised that. Anyway, if any of them try, they'll have Touka to deal with, and you know how she felt when they took me away the first time."

Yoshimura chuckled. "Yes. I believe that was the first time Touka actually admitted that you were her friend. Ah, young love. Just remember to use protection until you're both ready. I may be old, but I don't think I'm ready for great-grandchildren yet."

Harry grimaced at Yoshimura's joke. Even if they didn't use protection, the odds were against them being able to have a child, due to the differing physiologies of humans and Ghouls. It was possible: Yoshimura confessed once that he knew of a Ghoul who had managed to have a child with a normal human, but the likelihood of that happening was 2%. Harry was developing a potion to help that, but he and Touka had agreed that they wouldn't try until they had finished their education, and Harry had finished formulating this potion.

"Anyway, I'm guessing stroppy British wizards aren't the only bad news, right?" Harry asked.

"No. The Binge Eater has come to the 20th Ward," Yoshimura said.

Harry did a double take. "…What. That bitch Rize is coming here?! I told her never to come here last time she tried. Even left her a few nasty scars. You'd think even a sadistic animal like her would learn. Jesus, this is going to bring the Doves down on us."

"I'm sure. I've warned your family, as well as other vulnerable Ghouls. There's another problem, though. There are rumours that she was confronted by the Ghoul known as 'Jason' at the Aqua Building."

"…Shit. Aogiri Tree's taken an interest in her? Great. As if we didn't have enough troubles already." He ran a hand through his messy thatch of hair. "Stupid bitch. Stupid, wasteful, murderous bitch. Doesn't care that she'll bring the Doves here. Even Tsukiyama, twisted fuck though he is, knows better. Most of the time, anyway."

Yoshimura nodded, returning to his paperwork. "A storm is coming, as the cliché goes. Outing a Ghoul's identity goes against our code, and this is a place of strict neutrality. But…if you find that she's causing more trouble than she's worth…"

"You don't even have to ask. Rize's the embodiment of everything I hate about Ghouls. I'll slice off her head and mail it to the CCG with my usual message."

"The Raptor sends his regards," Yoshimura murmured. "Though I don't doubt that they will still want to pursue you. The Quinques you stole ensure that."

"They stole them from the Ghouls they killed," Harry said with an unrepentant shrug. "Turnabout's fair play…"

He waited until Touka had a break from her duties. It was her he really came to see, after all. Once she walked into the living room of the Anteiku, he dashed over to her and gave her a hug. "Hey, Touka," Harry said.

"Hey, Harry," the Ghoul said, a smile touching her lips, not fake like the one downstairs, but a soft, gentle one. Touka generally had a sullen, stoic and antisocial nature most of the time, with a somewhat short temper, something she concealed when working here. Harry felt privileged that, over the years, he'd managed to become her friend, and managed to get her to show her more human self. She'd even become his willing test subject for his Palatability Potion…and had wept quietly at being allowed to taste cake the way normal humans did.

True, she had been rather contemptuous towards Harry when they first met, and it was only Harry's mother and sister who drew them together. But eventually, a mutual dislike turned into friendship, Harry and Touka warming to each other. By the time they reached their teens, they had become best friends. A few months ago, they had even become lovers, bound by a strange love. Well, it couldn't be anything but strange in love between a British-born wizard and a Japanese Ghoul.

Oh, Touka was still a fairly strong misanthrope with a bit of a temper…but she had calmed down somewhat. The wounds left behind by her mother's death, and the disappearance of her father and brother, were healing. Not healed entirely, but healing. It helped that Harry, having been raised by the Fueguchis, had gotten used to being around Ghouls, knowing the humanity that they still possessed despite their monstrous nature.

"I don't know why you hang out with those two," Touka said as they separated. "The blonde one's a loudmouthed idiot who thinks with his dick. Even knowing I'm your girlfriend, the cocky little shit hit on me."

"Hey, I'm not arguing with you there, Hide is like that…though he's got to be smart if he got into Kamii University. I'll have to have words with him later, though, about hitting on you. But Ken…you know I see a little of what I was like in him. He's like a puppy who's been kicked so many times, and yet is still eager to please. Poor bastard."

"…Yeah, I suppose. He's a wimp, though. It's probably just as well you weren't down there. The Binge Eater strolled in, bold as brass, and it was all I could do to stop myself from telling her to fuck off."

"Fuck…so Grandpa was right. I was kind of hoping he wasn't," Harry said. "That's all we need, having her bring the Doves down on us. Mum and Dad don't need that sort of heat, let alone Hinami."

"Hey…we'll protect them together," Touka said quietly, but with conviction. And Harry knew she would anyway. The Fueguchis meant too much to her to say otherwise.

After a moment, Touka said, "Once I get changed, walk me home, okay?"

Harry nodded. It wasn't because Touka wanted or needed protection. It was more that they enjoyed each other's company. And they hoped that, together, they could weather the storm to come.

More fool them.

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So…Harry's got a Ghoulfriend. *ducks to avoid thrown produce* Oi! I have a right to use bad puns if I want to!

Anyway, more about Harry's family life in the next chapter…followed by what happens to Ken. Keep in mind, Touka did not notice Ken and Rize making a date, or else she probably would have told Harry. She may not give a shit about Ken, despite her improved attitude compared to canon, but she knows Harry does.

It's worth pointing out that Touka is also more of a kuudere in this story than the sort of kuudere-tsundere mix she seemed to be in Tokyo Ghoul canon. I have to admit, she's probably one of the better tsundere characters I have read, and I generally detest that character archetype…

1. This joke was modified from one Jason Manford told about cannibals in the QI episode Kitchen Sink, while they were discussing a souvenir cannibal fork from Fuji. No, I did not make that up. Obviously, they don't practise it nowadays.