Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter.

Well, this is it. I hope you enjoy and please give me a review at the end. I love you guys.

Aria looked over the area and nodded as she glanced at Uta, "This will definitely work once we clean it up a bit, we'll have to get some couches and tables too."

"So you like it?" A nervous looking teenager with dishwater brown hair and light green eyes asked.

"It will be a good place for meetings," Aria smiled at the ghoul, "Good job,"

He beamed at her, "Thank you, Miss Aria."

"Just Aria is fine," Aria turned to where Lana was talking with Itori and Matsuko, "You guys want to decorate it?"

All three grinned at her in reply with Itori exclaiming, "Hell yes!"

Aria rolled her eyes as she turned back to the ghoul, "Please assist those three with getting the supplies they need," Aria paused before turning back to the three, "No pink colors or anything neon. We want this place to be welcoming to the various ghouls of the ward."

Aria noticed Lana nodding while Itori pouted at her and Matsuko frowned. The teenage ghoul hurried over to the three as Aria walked over to where Uta was leaning against the wall. She smiled lightly at him as he commented, "You didn't answer his question."

"I don't need to like this place," Aria stopped in front of him, "I just need to tolerate it until you're finished playing at being a ward leader,"

"Fair enough," Uta pushed off the wall, "Let's go check on the ghoul you tattooed,"

"Where'd you stuff him, anyway?" Aria asked him curiously as they left the group behind and headed off.

"Renji and a few others are watching him," Uta replied as they walked.

Checking on the tattoo, Aria grinned brightly, "It's been there for a month. Even if it goes away at some point after this, we finally have a viable option."

Uta smiled slightly, "So ready to start designing our first tattoos?"

Aria scoffed at him, "Do you really think I haven't done them by now? I've been working on them since the idea popped into my head."

Chuckling as he killed the ghoul, Uta replied, "Show me them when we get home."

"No problem," Aria was surprised when Uta handed her an eyeball, "Uta?"

Uta shrugged lightly, "I felt like sharing."

Biting into the eye before Uta could change his mind, Aria chewed it slowly while savoring the sweet taste. While it wasn't as good as a human eyeball, it still tasted sweet. Swallowing the treat, Aria grabbed a finger and said, "You do realize that I'm going to have to teach you how to tattoo as well, right?"

Uta finished his own eyeball before replying, "I know since I'm the only one you trust to tattoo you just like you're the only one I trust to do mine."

Smiling, Aria worked on eating the finger she'd taken.

Taking complete control over the fourth ward was a bit difficult, they were fought by ever elder ghoul save for a few that were either far too weak or had been left alive from the attack on the former ward leader. It took almost a full six months to gain complete control and even then, they still had a bit of trouble. Most nights during those six months were spent without sleep, Aria dreaded being that exhausted again. Uta was heavily enjoying himself as he pissed off every ghoul that went against them not to mention the various idiots that decided to attempt to take over the ward just because the current leader was young. While the constant fighting was a bit annoying on the days where Aria barely had any sleep, she would admit that it was amazing to see the results of the training she'd put herself through as well as the various acts of cannibalism she'd committed. To see how strong Aria was now to how strong she had been as a human, it was no contest and Aria greatly enjoyed knowing that even if her relatives magically came back alive they couldn't do shit to her.

On top of the ward business, Aria had to deal with Dumbledore's attempts to get control of her. First, he had tried to kidnap her only to end up on the wrong end of a kagune and barely managing to escape. After that, he sent his lackeys after her only most found themselves either being eaten by ghouls or captured by the Japanese Ministry when the idiots tried something in public. Aria had gotten fed up and managed to get a Japanese citizenship. It had been a long process even with the help of her fame and the goblin. In fact, it had been the goblins that kept the Japanese Ministry of magic from realizing just what she was. Aria had been tempted to ask, but didn't after seeing the look of unholy glee on the goblins' faces. Even if their relationship with the Japanese magicals was better than in England, they still loved fucking with magicals.

As it stood, Aria was just glad that her Japanese Citizenship made it almost impossible for Dumbledore to even send his lackeys to kidnap her. Dumbledore would have to go through so much red tape not to mention have the English Ministry's help and that of the ICW to even have a chance to bring her back. Aria relished in the safety net she'd managed to create and could only give the goblins more respect. Of course, she was never going to fuck them over if she had a say in it since they were rather terrifying.

It wasn't until a year had passed that Aria was reminded that Dumbledore and his lackeys weren't her only enemies. Aria had gone to Anteiku with Luna after finally managing to do a full animagus transformation. Xenophilius had work to do, so he allowed the two girls to go alone. They had been discussing Luna's mundane school life when the door to the cafe opened and Aria smelt a scent she would rather have never encountered again. Stiffening, Aria glanced towards the door and spotted Sirius Black entering the cafe with Remus Lupin following him. Luna pulled Aria's attention to her, "Aria, calm down. Take a deep breath and remember we aren't in the fourth ward."

Aria took a deep breath to calm herself as she tracked the two taking a seat not far from them. Aria focused on Luna as the two got their orders taken before looking around the cafe. Aria smiled at Luna, "So you're doing well in Middle school?"

"Mhmm," Luna hummed lightly, "It was difficult at first, but I really do find it better than the one in Scotland," Aria took a sip of her coffee, "Have you been thinking about Daddy's offer? Things have calmed down, so it shouldn't be much of a problem,"

Aria set down her cup with a low sigh, "While the idea is attractive, I like having the free time I do."

"So that's a no to High School?" Luna asked her with a raised eyebrow and knowing eyes.

Aria finished off her cake, "No high school for me. It doesn't mean I won't be learning the things a normal high school student will. On the advice of my bankers, I've been getting the proper material to catch up to my peers. Once I do that, I'll be working on getting up to college level though it'll be awhile away."

"I don't blame you," Luna drank some of her tea, "School gets boring at times. I'm almost tempted to skip a few grades, but I don't really want to leave the friends I've made behind,"

"Whatever you decide, I'll help you as much as I can," Aria felt her phone vibrate and fished it from her pocket to read over the text that had been sent, "Looks like I gotta go, Matsuko and Itori are dragging me on yet another shopping trip,"

"Go and have fun," Luna smiled at her, "I'll be just fine,"

"If you're sure," Aria finished off her coffee and set money on the table to pay for the both of them, "See you soon,"

"See you," Luna stood up to hug Aria while whispering, "They'll be following you. Stick to the crowds and don't act like you know until you're in your ward,"

"I will," Aria hugged her lightly before letting go, "See you later, sis,"

Sirius and Remus ended up following Aria all day though they managed to hide better than most of the idiots that Dumbledore sent. Aria was actually somewhat impressed with their skills even if the three ghouls had noticed them almost immediately. Itori was more than a little amused by the wizards actions while Matsuko was irritated. At the very least, the two adult males kept out of the clothing stores the three went to though it was clear that Black intended on following only to be pulled back by Lupin. At the end of the day, the three girls went back to the fourth ward where Uta and a few others were waiting.

Uta held Aria's hand as they separated from everyone and began walking through the alleyways. Uta leaned down to whisper, "I have a few watchers on us. Once we get to the place I picked out, we'll wait there while one of the girls grabs your bags."

"Why won't they just leave me alone?" Aria sighed softly, "I'm getting tired of this,"

"I know," Uta wrapped his arm around her shoulders while taking a half the bags Aria had gotten, "If you want, we can kill them,"

Heavily tempted by the idea, Aria considered it as they walked towards where Uta had an ambush set up. When they reached it, the bags were handed off and they began to wait for the canine duo to reach them. Aria leaned into Uta's side feeling tired, "Can we just take a few days to sleep in and relax after we're done here?"

"If you want," Uta glanced down at her, "So want to kill them?"

"If they piss us both off, yes," Aria ran a hand through her hair, "If not, we should just toss them to the Ministry or the goblins. Either will work,"

Uta chuckled softly as he tightened his grip on her. It wasn't long until they heard and smelt the approaching duo. After what felt like forever, Sirius and Remus walked around the corner before freezing as they caught sight of the two. Aria looked at them with a bored expression, "What the hell are you two doing here? I thought that I made it clear during our last interactions that I didn't want anything to do with you."

Sirius didn't seem to hear her as he focused on Uta. More specifically, he focused on the arm wrapped around Aria's shoulder. Remus swallowed as he took in Uta's eyes, "P-padfoot-"

"Get your arm off my fucking goddaughter before I tear it off," Sirius growled at Uta making Aria's eyes narrow.

"If she wanted me to let go of her, I would follow her wishes," Uta's voice and face betrayed none of the amusement Aria knew he was feeling at the threat, "Ria, these are the two you told me about, correct?"

"Sirius Black and Remus Lupin," Aria glared at the duo while focusing most of her attention on the pale werewolf feeling more than a little pleased, "Black is the idiot attempting to threaten you while Lupin is the werewolf that is about to piss his pants,"

Sirius gaped at her, "Pup-"

Aria ignored him while focusing on Lupin, "I can see that you haven't even tried what I suggested, Lupin."

Sirius drew his wand and pointed it at them, "Stop that, Pup, you will come over here and stop this nonsense," He pointed his wand directly at Uta, "You will let go of my goddaughter before I use this."

Uta let out a low laugh, "You weren't joking about his stupidity."

"You really doubted me?" Aria looked at him, "Can we please stop this farce? I'm tired and want to take a nap before the meeting,"

Uta inclined his head and raised his hand. Immediately, the ghouls that had been waiting on the rooftops jumped down and surrounded the two wizards. Sirius and Remus jumped while the werewolf seemed to pale even more leaving Aria to wonder if he was about to faint. Finally, Sirius seemed to realize the danger he was in as the various ghouls looked at him with kakugan eyes. Sirius looked past them at Aria and asked, "You would allow us to be killed?"

"I don't like you and to be frank, killing you would probably solve a bunch of problems," Aria smirked at him, "However, they aren't going to kill you just yet. Seeing as while I'm pissed off at you, you haven't pissed of Uta. If you had, you'd be dead already,"

"Albus was right, you have gone dark if you're consorting with ghouls," Sirius shook his head sadly.

Aria's eyebrow twitched at that, "And this is the entire reason I will never care about you. You obey that manipulative old goat. I refuse to allow anyone that follows him near me."

Sirius went to speak only to be stopped by Lupin, "Shut up, Sirius. Don't you realize how much danger we're in?" Lupin rounded on him and growled out, "If you say anything else, you'll get us both killed."

"You have a smart pet wolf," Uta commented in a light tone, "Better listen to him,"

Sirius glared at him, "I'm going to rip you to shreds for even thinking about touching my goddaughter."

Whispers broke out from the gathered ghouls as they looked between Uta and Sirius, Aria could only shake her head. Uta looked down at her, "Is he really that pathetic?"

"You've heard him talk, what do you think?" Aria held out a hand behind her and felt a smooth stone being placed on her palm, "Lets just knock them out and send them off, I'm tired of dealing with these two,"

Immediately, the ghouls closest to the two wizards knocked them out though it was with more force than necessary. Aria didn't bother scolding them and only took out her wand to tie the two up in the most embarrassing position possible before dropping the portkey-stone on to them.. Immediately, the stone glowed before whisking the two wizards off to the ministry. The ghouls holding her bags returned them and everyone went on their way.

Aria laid down on the couch and groaned, "I will be so happy when they finally give up on me."

"I don't know," Uta peered down at her as he perched himself on the cluttered coffee table, "It is kind of fun,"

"For you," Aria laid her arm over her eyes, "I just want to have some peace and quiet without some sort of magical shit occurring,"

Uta was silent for a few moments and Aria began to give into her tiredness. She jolted as a hand touched her cheek and moved her arm to peer at Uta. He looked down at her with a frown on his face. Aria opened her mouth to say something when Uta spoke, "Is it really that tiring?"

Aria was surprised by his question, but quickly shook it off, "Yes. I just want a break from it."

"Then we'll find a way," Uta smiled lightly, "We'll figure something out and spend a few days away,"

"But the war-" Aria began for Uta to cover her mouth with his hand.

"Everyone can take care of themselves for a few days," Uta removed his hand, "Think of it as me testing them to see how things will be when I get bored of being the ward leader," Uta stood up and headed towards the door, "Stay home tonight, you need the rest,"

"Are you sure?" Aria asked while looking at him in surprise.

Uta offered her that warm smile of his that always told her everything was going to be alright, "Yes. Take some time to rest and recharge, I can take care of everything."

"Alright," Aria smiled at Uta, "Just keep things from getting too troublesome, I really don't want to have a lot of work tomorrow,"

Uta nodded to her before leaving their apartment. Looking around, Aria let out a soft yawn and decided to follow his advice. Laying back down, Aria closed her eyes and fell asleep soon after.

True to his word, Uta took Aria away from the fourth ward for a few days in order to finally check out the house her family owned in the 21st ward. It was an absolutely beautiful place that could definitely house their group and a good portion of others without any trouble. The library was completely fantastic and Aria was tempted to lock herself in the large room until she'd gone through everything. Uta ended up dragging her out to explore the grounds which was home to a beautiful garden that took up a lot of the backyard and a good portion of the front. Aria immediately fell in love with the koi pond filled with a mixture of magical fish and normal ones. The house elves taking care of the house were leery of Uta due to his nature, but none of them were hostile which was good. As it stood, Aria enjoyed the four days they spent looking over the house with Uta agreeing to her plan of coming to live here after Uta grew bored of being a ward leader.

Aria felt shaky as she settled beside Uta as he took off his shirt. Uta tossed it away as Aria got the design ready, "You're absolutely sure this is the one you wish to start with?"

"Yes," Uta looked at her in concern, "Are you alright?"

"I've tattooed other ghouls, but tattooing you just makes me nervous," Aria admitted with a sheepish smile, "Sorry,"

"It'll be fine," He reached out to take one of her hands and squeezed it, "You'll do fine and if it doesn't turn out well, we can always tear off the skin to start anew,"

Aria shook her head lightly, "I think you're the only ghoul willing to do that, U."

"Feel better?" Uta asked with a smirk.

Aria rolled her eyes, but had to admit he managed to get her to stop feeling nervous. Rather than say that, Aria retorted, "Are you ready to get stabbed over and over?"

Uta just settled down and Aria got started on his right arm. At first, Aria still felt a little nervous, but it fell away the longer she worked. Everything seemed to fade away until all she knew was the tattoo she was working on. The various parts and layers of it seemed to fit together in her mind allowing her to focus on inking rather than constantly turning her attention to the design sitting in her lap. Finally, Aria finished shading in the last bit and moved away. Uta looked down at the design and nodded to himself, "It looks like how I pictured it. You've gotten a lot better since the last time I saw you tattoo."

"Some of the ghouls working under us offered to let me work on them," Aria looked at the design feeling pleased with herself, "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," Uta flexed his arm carefully, "It stopped hurting after a while,"

"Good," Aria began to pack away their equipment, "I'm glad that ghouls have such a high healing factor,"

"So when do you think I'll be ready to do yours?" Uta asked making Aria pause.

She thought about it carefully as she resumed her work. Uta was very good at designing tattoos, but it didn't transfer as readily to his tattooing skills. When she finished, Aria turned to him, "You still need a lot of practice. I say about two or three more months if you work hard at it; however, that's just a guesstimate."

"Noted," Uta began looking around for his shirt.

Aria spotted it and grabbed it prompting Uta to hold his hand out to her. Aria kept the shirt out of his grip, "U, even if the tattoo is healed, you need to air it out for at least an hour to two. It'll ensure the design doesn't fade."

"Alright," Uta inclined his head, "I assume that you'll be showing me to where you tattoo the others?"

"Of course," Aria tossed his shirt over to laundry basket he had set up in his work room, "I should probably offer to give Lana and the others a tattoo,"

"You haven't?" Uta looked at her in surprise.

Aria headed towards the door, "I was a bit more focused on getting good at tattooing and fine tuning your design," Aria opened the door, "Do you want coffee? I'm going to make myself a small snack."

"Please," Uta followed after her, "I'm going to be working on a few masks,"

"I'll bring it to you when I'm done," Aria headed towards the kitchen while Uta stopped at the door.

Aria glanced towards the door as she heard it shut which was a bit unusual since Uta tended to keep it open. Figuring the mask he was going to be working on was a surprise, Aria shrugged it off and started up the coffee maker before moving to make herself a sandwich.

Glancing around carefully, Aria carefully headed towards the meeting place. For some reason, the doves had been increasing their attention on the lower wards. While the first through third were currently in chaos due to their leaders dying, Aria couldn't figure out why the fourth was getting so much attention. Aria entered the meeting place and headed to the main room they used. It was a large basement area filled with comfortable furniture and was decorated rather warmly. Lana and the others had done a very good job. Aria entered and headed over to where Uta was sitting on the biggest couch. The various ghouls around the room either nodded to her or smiled before returning to their conversations. Seeing as they normally called out greetings, Aria knew that they were affected by the doves presence. Frowning, Aria reached Uta and settled down beside him, "Everyone's worried about the doves increase in the ward."

"Agreed," Uta looked at her, "I assume you were checking on them?"

Aria nodded, "Sakura is getting scared and Mika seems to understand something bad is going on. I caught sight of a few doves on my way here, but none of them were paying attention to me." Aria ran a hand through her hair, "I told her that if it gets too bad, we would move her somewhere safer," Aria looked over the gathered ghouls with a frown, "Why are there so many doves here?"

"We'll see what Itori says when she gets back," Uta wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her, "Everything will be fine,"

Aria relaxed into him as Matsuko entered with Itori. The two female ghouls made their way over fairly quickly and settled down across from them. Matsuko looked over Aria, "You made it here fine?"

Aria nodded while noticing Matsuko's usually immaculate clothing dirty, "I assume you ran into some trouble."

Matsuko glanced down at herself and groaned, "Fuck and this was one of my favorites too."

"Itori," Uta spoke up after allowing the red haired ghoul to catch her breath, "What did you find out?"

"They're cleansing the lowest three wards and keeping an eye on the fourth just encase there is a jump in activity," Itori informed them, "Other than that, I think they're attempting to figure out if the Owl is hiding within the lower wards,"

Aria snorted softly, "The Owl? They can't seriously believe he's hiding here."

"They're getting desperate," Uta muttered softly.

Aria looked at him, "Desperate?"

"A year without sightings since their Owl Extermination mission," Uta looked at her, "Since the Owl got away, I'm fairly sure they're attempting to either find him or find out if he died,"

Thinking about it, Aria had to admit it sounded likely, "I guess they also believe it was the Owl that caused one through three to go crazy."

With that said, all three girls gave him a pointed look and he shrugged, "They were annoying and I was hungry."

Letting out a soft giggle at that statement, Aria shook her head, "Still, we need to figure something out."

A hiss of pain left her as Aria dropped back to avoid the dove's attack and gripped her arm carefully as pain jolted through it. She glared at the man as he smirked at her, "Awe is the little ghoul angry?"

Beneath her mask, Aria snarled softly while attempting to find a way out of this. While she could deal with two to three investigators at a time, Aria had found her limit at four with six almost wiping her out. Even with her magic available, Aria was simply overwhelmed and it didn't help that she was injured. The pain running through her side was far worse than the one going through her arm and Aria was getting tired. Aria used her kagune to get some more distance between them only to find her leg falling out from underneath her. Glancing down, Aria noticed the cut and turned to glare at the investigator as he twirled the sword in his hand, "Bastard."

"Too bad your friends scattered, I would have loved to see them try to help you," The dove grinned and Aria felt sickened by the perverse joy in his eyes, "I love fighting female ghouls. It's so much fun especially once you get them weak,"

"Perverted bastard," Aria forced herself up, "Who the hell are you?"

"You can call me Koji," He chuckled as he raised his sword quinque, "Though it won't matter if you know my name or not by the time I'm done with you, you'll be dead,"

Aria moved to dodge the hit coming for her only to for the wound on her leg to act up. Falling to the ground, Aria watched as the sword came closer and closer until time seemed to stop. Suddenly, the sword went flying and Aria heard feet touch down. Uta was bending down beside her with his 'No-Face' mask, "Can you walk?"

"My leg won't support my weight for long," Aria saw his mask tilt to look at her right leg.

"Raven," Uta called out Renji's name, "Take her somewhere safe, I'll be along as soon as I'm done here,"

"U," Aria murmured feeling something twist in her gut.

Uta raised his mask enough to look at her and smiled, "Everything will be alright. Be good for Raven."

Swallowing, Aria nodded as Renji carefully picked her up, "Don't get hurt."

"I won't even let him come close," Uta covered his face once more, "Go,"

Renji said nothing as he took off and Aria had to refrain from crying out as he jostled the wound on her side. Renji only eased up once they were safely on a rooftop and looked down at her, "Aria?"

"My left side," Aria closed her eyes, "It hurts a lot worse than my other injuries,"

"Noted," Renji carefully adjusted his grip and continued moving.

Soon enough, they arrived at Aria and Uta's apartment complex. Renji entered the apartment as Lana opened the door and Itori gasped, "What the fuck happened?"

"Six doves," Aria answered as Renji moved towards the couch where Matsuko had things set up, "I can handle up to four at a time, but six is a bit too much. Three of them were using Koukaku quinque. I managed to take out all of them save for one,"

"Set her down here and get the fuck out," Matsuko ordered earning a slight nod from Renji as he carefully set her down, "When Uta gets here, you tell him he has to wait until I've given the word before he is allowed in here,"

Renji snorted, but inclined his head before looking down at Aria, "Get well soon."

"Will do," Aria took off her mask and grinned at him as Matsuko took it from her.

Renji left without another word and Matsuko quickly divested Aria of her clothing save for her underwear. Aria looked at Matsuko as the brown eyed ghoul began examining Aria's side wound which was the worst one. Matsuko glanced at her, "What?"

"Why don't you want Uta to come in?" Aria asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Because it's inappropriate for him to see you naked," Matsuko glanced at Aria's underwear before adding, "Or nearly naked,"

"Why?" Aria didn't really understand, "Uta's seen me naked before," Aria heard Itori and Lana both choking as Matsuko froze, "Is something wrong?"

Matsuko shook her head lightly and went back to tending to Aria's wounds, "Not even going to attempt to answer that one."

Aria looked towards Itori and Lana in confusion. Lana shook her head rapidly while Itori looked at Aria with a slightly red face. Aria frowned at the blushing red head, "What's wrong?"

Itori cleared her throat, "W-well, when did Uta see you naked?"

"He's walked in on me when I was changing a few times not to mention we always changed in the room back when we were growing up," Aria looked at her in confusion, "Why does it matter? Uta's my best-friend, so that makes it okay, right?"

"Sweet heart, you are oblivious to social norms," Matsuko sighed softly, "No wonder he wouldn't even give me the time of day,"

Aria looked at Matsuko with a frown, "Huh?"

Matsuko used carefully smeared one of the potions Aria had stocked up on Aria's side after stopping the bleeding. After a few moments, Matsuko informed her, "It isn't socially acceptable for Uta to see you naked unless he's your boyfriend or husband. It was fine when you were kids, but now that you're older, it isn't fine."

"So what? Ghouls aren't considered socially acceptable," Aria reminded them before hissing as Matsuko pressed a bit too hard on her side.

Matsuko shook her head, "Tell me, what do you feel when you look at Uta?"

Aria's confusion increased, "Why?"

"Just tell me," Matsuko focused on Aria's side.

Aria looked at the other two only to get a shrug before deciding to answer Matsuko's question, "Warm, I always feel warm when I'm around him. He makes me feel safe especially when he tells me that everything will be alright. I can't stay mad at him for long since he just makes me happy being around him."

Itori jumped in with a knowing look on her face, "What do you feel when he smiles at you?"

"Happy," Aria looked at her with a raised eyebrow feeling confused, "Especially when he's really happy,"

Lana jumped in as well, "What do you really think about him?"

"He's an trouble-making idiot that makes my life kind of hard, but it's okay since that's how he is," Aria sat up as Matsuko began dressing the wound on her side, "He always makes me so mad when he does something stupid just because he's bored, but I always forgive him when I see his eyes bright with happiness. He's adorable when he takes naps with Kibou and when he's concentrating on whatever mask he decided to work on," Aria carefully stretched before laying down as Matsuko finished with her side and moved onto her arm, "He can be arrogant sometimes because of how strong he is, but he's always a lot more careful when I tell him that I'm worried. He's mean when he decides to tease me and always eats the eyes before I can take one unless he feels like sharing," Aria smiled lightly, "He worries me a lot sometimes with some the shit he does, but no matter what he always comes back. I love how strong he is because that means he won't be killed easily and leave me hanging," Aria took a deep breath, "He's so considerate sometimes since he always makes sure I get sleep. If I get too tired and fall asleep, he stops what he's doing to either lay me down on the couch with a blanket or carry me back to our room to sleep," Aria flushed as she noticed the looks on their faces, "What?"

"Wow," Itori murmured softly.

"Itori, not a word," Matsuko looked at Aria with a light smile, "Aria what is he to you?"

"My best-friend," Aria answered without any hesitation.

Matsuko shook her head and whispered something that Aria couldn't catch before saying, "Let me get a look at your leg and we'll get out of your hair."

"You're not going to tell me what all that was about?" Aria's confusion only increased as Matsuko just smiled at her.

Matsuko murmured, "You'll figure it out in time, Aria."

With that said, Lana and Itori disappeared while Matsuko went to work. Aria looked at her arm and saw that Matsuko had finished taking care of it while Aria was thinking about Uta. Itori appeared not too long later with new clothes for Aria. Aria carefully put on the button up shirt Itori had grabbed for her as Matsuko finished with her leg. Aria carefully slipped into the loose sleep pants with wolves on them that Itori had given her on Aria's birthday that year. Matsuko packed up the first aid supplies and put them away before leaving with the other two following after her. Uta slipped into the apartment a few moments after they left and made his way over to her, "How do you feel?"

"Matsuko took care of me," Aria looked up at him, "The pain's already fading,"

"Good," Uta ran a hand through his hair and took off those dumb glasses, "I'm really sorry you got hurt,"

"It was bound to happen with so many fucking doves in the ward," Aria looked him over, "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No," Uta shook his head as he took a seat and pulled her feet into his lap, "Why did you look so confused when I walked in?"

"Matsuko and the others asked a bunch of questions," Aria informed him, "And they didn't even tell me why,"

"That was mean of them," Uta shook his head lightly, "What did they ask and what started it?"

"They asked what I really thought about you and what I felt around you," Aria looked at him in confusion as he stiffened slightly, "As for what started it, I asked Matsuko why she said you weren't allowed in here while she was tending to my injuries. She said it wasn't socially acceptable for you to see me naked and I told her you'd already seen me naked," Aria still didn't understand why it mattered, "I still can't understand why it isn't okay since we live together,"

Uta let out a soft chuckle, "Don't worry about it, it doesn't really matter."

"Alright," Aria yawned softly feeling a little tired and more than a little hungry.

"So what did you tell them? What were you answers to their questions?" Uta clarified and Aria told him exactly what she'd said.

Aria's stomach growled when she finished and Aria asked, "U, could you get me something to eat and drink? Earlier really got me hungry."

Uta blinked at her looking slightly startled, but shook it off. He nodded to her with a smile, "Sure. Anything in particular you're craving?"

"Meat and tea," Aria replied while wondering why he was so startled.

"Be right back," Uta moved her legs off of his lap and went to get what she wanted.

Deciding it didn't matter and that the girls really probably just being weird, Aria smiled and began to pet Kibou as the cat jumped onto the couch. Kibou meowed at her and Aria rubbed between his ears earning a purr.

With the attack on Aria, the doves seemed to increase their attention on the ward making it even more dangerous. To protect Sakura and Mika, they were moved into the same apartment buildings as Uta and Aria. The same thing occurred with Lana as the ghoul's current residence seemed to be watched. As the year went on, the attack on ghoul and dove alike increased until it felt like a dove was standing on every corner. Finally, Uta called a meeting and they decided to meet the doves head on.

Everyone got to work and soon enough, they had a trap set up for the doves. Aria went to the CCG headquarters with Itori, Lana, and Matsuko to get the doves interested in the area they would be setting up for the attack. It was then that Aria and the others were given a shock when they discovered that she could walk through those ghoul detector gates without setting them off. It was something that would be very useful in the future. Uta had disappeared into his work room to create extra masks for those that needed them. Renji had disappeared, but Aria figured he was doing something constructive.

By the time a full year had passed since the increased attention, they were ready to fight the doves in a place of their choosing. On the eve of the attack, Aria was filled with nervousness and took to pacing. Uta ended up pulling her aside and demanding what was wrong. Aria looked at him, "I'm nervous, Uta. I know we've dealt with Doves before, but this..."

"I know," Uta removed his mask as Aria did the same, "It scares you, but it needs to be done,"

Aria sighed softly, "Uta, I'm getting tired of fighting with the Doves constantly. Hell, I'm getting tired of the fourth ward. I love our apartment, but..."

"Then it's a good thing I'm getting bored," Uta said making Aria look at him in surprise, "Sometime soon, we'll leave this ward, but for now, you need to bare with it,"

Uta pulled her into a hug and Aria leaned against him while taking in his comforting scent. Soon enough, Aria felt relaxed enough to rejoin the others and began to pull away only for Uta to prevent her. Aria looked up at him, "Uta? Is something wrong?"

"Be careful," Uta stared down at her, "If it get's too rough, you need to run away,"

"But-" Aria began to protest only for him to shush her.

"I've heard rumors that some strong investigator is coming," Uta looked oddly serious which scared Aria, "He apparently took part in the Owl suppression mission. I think they call him the Reaper of CCG. I don't want you going near him,"

Aria nodded seeing that he was really bothered, "I'll get out of here if it gets too dangerous."

"Good," Uta tightened his grip on her and Aria returned his hug feeling him lay his head on hers.

They stayed like that for a few moments before pulling away. Aria was about to put her mask back on when Uta spun her around. Aria opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when something warm pressed against her mouth for a few seconds before disappearing. Aria's eyes widen as she realized that Uta had kissed her and she looked at him in shock while mumbling, "W-why?"

"I'll tell you after we finish things," Uta smiled at her as she covered her lips with a hand, "Be careful,"

"Y-you too," Aria watched him disappear back into the area where most of the group was waiting.

Lana appeared moments later and lifted her mask up to look at Aria, "You alright?"

"Hm?" Aria looked at her, "Y-yeah,"

"You sure?" Lana walked over to her and poked Aria's cheek, "You're looking a bit flushed,"

"I'm fine," Aria shook her head lightly while dropping her hand, "Just a bit nervous,"

"Is that why Uta took you aside?" Lana asked as Aria put her mask back on.

Aria was thankful for her mask as it covered the blush that was currently decorating her face, "Yeah. Lana, you need to be careful. If it gets too bad, you need to leave. I'll be doing the same."

"No problem," Lana put her mask back on, "Let's go,"

Aria followed after her while wondering why the hell Uta had kissed her.

The trap had been sprung and the doves found themselves met with heavy opposition. Soon enough, the air was tainted with the sweetish bitter scent of blood from both sides. Aria killed yet another dove while grimacing as she took in the chaos around her. Doves were falling left and right as foolishly arrogant ghouls did the same. Aria didn't know how many she'd killed, but the clothes she was wearing would be unsalvageable. Aria ducked as a dove wielding an Ukaku quinque sent out a scattered burst. The dove quickly found her end when a Koukaku ghoul began to pay attention to her. Aria nodded to the masked ghoul before moving somewhere less chaotic to take a small breather. Lana slipped over soon after, "You alright?"

"Yeah," Aria looked her over and noticed a few rapidly healing tears, "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," Lana leaned against one of the few unbloodied pillars, "This is getting..."

Aria nodded, "Hopefully the doves will withdraw soon."

"Agreed," Lana looked at her as Aria took a deep breath.

Aria was about to say something when she heard a scream of, "ARIMA!"

Jolting, Aria looked around and spotted Renji rushing through the crowds of fighters. Aria caught someone muttering 'Reaper' and realized what was going on. Renji had told her about his sister and who had killed her awhile back. The dove he was rushing towards, Arima, was the same one that killed his sister and held the moniker of Reaper. Aria watched along with everyone else as Renji began to fight against Arima though it became quite clear that the dove outclassed Renji. As the fight went on, Renji began to lose strength and it wasn't long until Arima got ready to deliver the final blow. About to move forward with the full intention of using her magic to stop the dove, Aria watched with wide eyes as Renji was flung away and an familiar old man appeared while blocking Arima's attack. Yoshimura spoke to the ghouls, "Run. Now."

No one moved as they continued to stare at the old man. Uta spoke up from somewhere in the room, "GO!"

With that order, the ghouls began to flee. Aria lingered long enough to see Yoshimura picking up Renji and to drop the smoke bombs Luna had suggested she take.

Aria looked over Renji's wounds carefully, "These will heal in a few days so long as you eat, you'll be in pain until they do."

"Thanks," Renji grunted as Aria began to patch him up.

Uta entered the room with Yoshimura, "How is he?"

"He'll heal so long as he eats and doesn't strain himself," Aria informed him before glancing at Yoshimura, "What were you doing there?"

Yoshimura looked at her, "I had heard that there was going to be a raid on the fourth ward and wished to see if I could help prevent some of the destruction," Yoshimura turned to Renji, "You were angry at him, why?"

"He killed my sister," Renji looked at the old ghoul with curiosity, "How are you so strong?"

"If you wish, I could teach you," Yoshimura offered in a light tone, "If you'll come work for me, I will teach you to become as strong as I am,"

Aria shook her head lightly, "At the very least, you should wait a few days before making your decision."

Renji nodded to her and Aria finished tending to his wounds before standing up. She looked over Uta before nodding to herself and putting away their medical supplies. Yoshimura spoke as she did so, "Perhaps you could answer a few of my questions."

"Maybe later when I've had some rest," Aria closed their medical kit and stood up, "I'm going to take a shower and get some sleep,"

With that, Aria left the three males alone.

Aria didn't get the chance to speak with Uta about the kiss until a week had passed since the trap. They had learned that over a third of the ghouls that had been in the attack died with the rest injured in someway though a lucky few didn't get hurt. They had been lucky that the doves were focusing on the lower three wards or things would have been far worse for them. Aria still didn't know what to think about the kiss and really needed to know why Uta had done that. At the current moment, Aria was sitting on the roof of their apartment building with her sketchpad in hand though she didn't draw anything on it. Uta walked onto the roof and said, "Renji left with Yoshimura."

"I figured he would," Aria sighed softly, "I hope he finds whatever he's looking for,"

Uta walked over to her and sat down, "You're angry with me."

Aria shook her head, "Just severely confused," Aria finally turned to look at him, "Why did you kiss me?"

Uta was silent for a few moments as his eyes peered at her, "I do not know."

"You kissed me and don't know why you did?" Aria couldn't believe that.

Uta shrugged lightly, "I guess it was a heat of the moment kind of thing."

Aria was tempted to call bullshit, but decided that she didn't really want to push it. For some reason, she knew that going down that road would be awkward. So, Aria decided, "Okay."

"Okay?" Uta looked a little surprised.

"If you say it was the heat of the moment, I'll believe you," Aria smiled lightly, "Besides, we have bigger things to focus on,"

"Oh?" Uta looked at her curiously while relief filled his eyes.

Aria nodded with a light grin, "We need to figure out when you'll tell everyone that you're giving up your position as ward leader, find someone to take over, and get everything ready for when we leave this place."

Uta smiled slightly, "Very true."

"We can figure out everything else once we get that out of the way," Aria looked down at her sketchbook.

It would also give Aria time to figure out what was going on with herself too.

And this is the final chapter of the Ghoul and the Witch. Remember, I will be posting a sequel at some point. I'm thinking either next month or the month after, but it will be sometime this year. For the moment, I will be putting quite a bit of attention on my other stories and might put up some one-shots if my urge to write Tokyo Ghoul stuff hits me hard enough. My muse for Tokyo Ghoul is a rather violent bastard sometimes.