Author: The Plot Bunny Whisperer
Title: The Price of Freedom
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure Romance Drama
Summary: AU. Harry knows better than to run from his fate, but he'll do his damnedest to try. Slash. Crossover with Yu Yu Hakusho.
Pairing(s): Harry/Yusuke, Kuwabara/Yukina, unrequited Keiko/Yusuke
Warnings: Slash, Language, Violence
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.
AN: Sorry! I did warn you guys I wasn't feeling well, although some people don't seem to read author notes considering some of the questions I've gotten that were already answered....
This chapter is dedicated to Etidorpha, who pointed out that I needed to explain how the wizards were able to track him down. So I came up with something and stuck it in there.
Enjoy!
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The Price of Freedom
11: Mazoku
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Harry stared around uncertainly, unsure of where to begin.
"So," Yusuke said slowly in an encouraging tone, "you're a demon?" Harry shifted uneasily.
"Yes. Although, technically I'm a demon through Atavism." Yusuke's eyebrows rose, as did Kuwabara's.
"Wait, I thought only the Amazoku had the Atavism ability." Kuwabara looked at Genkai in confusion.
"No," she said. "The ability is rare but not specific to only one breed of demons. Centuries ago, however, the Spirit World hunted and destroyed as many demons that carried the trait as they could."
"So does that mean you're a Mazoku?" Yusuke asked. Harry shook his head.
"No, I'm not a decendant of the Amazoku Clan. As far as I know, my kind has not been on record or have been gone so long that they've been completely forgotten. All I know about my history is that my demon ancestor was impregnated by a human and abandoned the human child in Living World. The child then grew and had children of their own and the trait passed through the line until my mother passed it to me. It awoke when my would-be killer attempted to take my life when I was fifteen months old, and when he did so again when I was fourteen, I went through the transition."
"Huh." Yusuke looked thoughtful. "I wonder if all Atavism have to die twice before they can go demon." Harry looked at him in confusion.
"It does seem to be par for the course," said Genkai. She looked at Harry. "You said you were looking for the Mazoku, to learn more about what you are."
"Uh, yes," Harry said slowly. He had the distinct feeling he was missing something. "So I can find the way to win my freedom and stop running from my past."
"Wow." Yusuke chuckled. He scratched his cheek, a teasing light in his eyes. "You spent all that time looking for little ol' me? I'm flattered."
Harry flummoxed. "W-what?"
"Let me properly introduce us." Yusuke grinned cheekily and pointed at the others at the table, first himself, then Yukina, Kuwabara, and lastly Genkai, saying as he went, "Demon, demon, human, hag." Genkai's eyebrow twitched and she threw a spoon at his head, hitting him dead center.
"Moron!" Yusuke grinned, rubbing the spot and chuckling. Harry stared at him incredulously.
"You're the Mazoku?"
"In the flesh." He flexed his arms in the imitation of an old-school super hero. "The almighty Mazoku, Detective of the Spirit World, heir to the throne of Raizen and all around bad-ass punk."
"You forgot to add dimwitted slacker," Genkai growled through clenched teeth.
"You knew all this time and you didn't say anything?!" Harry rounded on his teacher, leveling a finger at her accusingly. She gave him an unimpressed look.
"It wasn't my secret to tell." Harry deflated.
"Well... I guess."
"If you're a demon how come I can't sense any of your demon energy?" asked Kuwabara. "I mean, I can feel Urameshi's and he ain't even all demony right now."
"Because of this." Harry pointed at the lighting bolt charm on his choker. "It was specially made in order to hide my aura from detection. It made it easier to hide." He reached behind his neck and hesitated before undoing the clasp and slipping it off.
He could feel the glamours fade as the choker came off and the marks appeared. He already knew what they would see, for it was the same as what he saw when he woke up after the week-long transition. A six pointed star in the middle of his forehead and two jagged red lines that began from beneath his eyelids and ran down his cheeks to his jaw with matching slashes on either side of his neck that met up at the hollow of his throat before following his collar bone to his shoulders. He knew that underneath his shirt were more red marks, lines that curved around his pectoral muscles to either side of his ribcage before curving down his sides to meet at the hollow of his back. He also knew there would be two bands around each bicep with strange runic symbols between them that had never been able to translate from any language he'd come across, the same symbols that trailed in three lines down his abdomen and on the inside of his forearms. There was another red tattoo that ran down the length of his spine from between his shoulder blades with a cross mark that formed a larger version of the six-point star on his forehead.
"Woah," Kuwabara muttered. "That's some energy."
"Pretty!" said Yukina with a giggle. "They bring out your eyes." Harry blinked at her.
Genkai examined the marks with intense scrutiny, her brows furrowed in thought. Yusuke also examined the lines, but more in curiosity at the difference between them and his own that appeared when he utilized his demonic energy.
"I can't place the markings," she said finally. "I wouldn't be able to tell you where they come from." Harry shrugged.
"That's alright. I've never been able to either."
"How come the marks don't fade when you aren't using your energy?" Yusuke asked, leaning into his personal space to look closer. Harry twitched at the proximity and his careless disregard of comfort zones. "Mine only show up when I go demon as Kuwabara puts it."
"I don't know. They never went away after the transition and became harder to hide behind simple glamours. So I had the charm made that allows me to hide in plain sight in order to get around easier without being attacked by every demon hunter this side of the pond."
"Huh. Well that's cool I guess." Harry replaced the choker around his neck and he felt the enchantments snap back into place. Kuwabara shivered as his energy suddenly disappeared.
"Now that's freaky! I have a high spiritual awareness and I'd never even be able to find you with that thing on." Harry smiled in amusement.
"I believe that was the point." Kuwabara flushed as he recalled Harry's explanation and grumbled.
"So if you're wearing that aura suppressor thing, how do they keep finding you?" Yusuke asked curiously. Harry frowned.
"They tracking my blood. There are some spells and potions that can track the biological make-up of a being. However, they take a long time and a lot of power. It would be much easier for them if they could sense for my energy because the process is much less complicated; of course, I'm not about to make things easy for them. Alongside the blood tracking spells, however, they have other means. They have several very intelligent Muggleborns on their side - that is, magical children of humans who cannot do magic - who have become very proficient into hacking into electronic databases, such as satellite feeds and security footage. Then there is the old way, simply questioning people on the street or within establishments."
"Oh. Well that makes sense I guess."
Harry looked around the table at all of them, amazed at the way they could simply brush aside the entire thing as though it wasn't all that important. "You really aren't concerned about any of this, are you?" he said softly upon the realization.
"Nah." Yusuke waved a hand in the air as if to brush it away. "After four years of all this strange shit you get used to weird. I mean, it was kinda a shock when I got hit by that car and died the first time, but after a while it became somewhat normal for demons to be poppin' up everywhere. Although, I gotta admit I'm kinda glad that this time it ain't to kill me or challenge me for my status or whatever." He grinned. "Though, most of 'em have learned not to fuck with me if they don't wanna get their asses kicked."
After this comment, dinner finished without further ceremony. Later that night as he lay in bed, Harry looked across the room toward Yusuke's sprawled form and worried his lip in thought.
'Alright, Potter. You've found the Mazoku. Now what?'