Sensui was winning, despite the odds against him. He dodged Harry's spells, deflected Kuwabara's sword, countered Kurama's plants and rebuffed Hiei's fire. He was wearing them down, even with Harry also flying around to the others of the team with restorative potions whenever he saw one of them with time enough to breathe and drink it down. They were all starting to look a bit ragged though; anything made of cloth was torn, and even Harry's dragon-hide coat was looking a few years more worn than it had that morning.
Then the potions ran out.
"Any last words?" Sensui asked as he stood before them all where they were panting on the ground, flexing his 'sacred' energy.
Harry forced himself up. "Spirit reflection blast!" he cried, taking hold of the man's power and forcing it to twist and attack its source. He'd been using nothing but magic for this fight, and had kicked himself mentally when he felt his magical core sputter pathetically. Magically, he was exhausted; physically, he felt like he'd spent a day under Genkai's stern and demanding eye. He hadn't even touched his reserve of spirit power.
The attack finally pushed Sensui back a bit. It even put a good-sized dent in his 'sacred armour'.
"What are you?" the man demanded. "Who are you?"
Harry smirked. "Does that mean you're done giving speeches and it's someone else's turn now?" he asked.
"Please," Sensui answered. "It will give your friends a chance to catch their breath, what little good it will do them."
"I fought my whole life against narrow-minded prejudice that claimed what you were defined who you were. I fought the people who claimed that blood-purity was important." Voldemort, the Malfoys, the Lestranges, the Dursleys. "I fought the people who claimed power was something only certain people were entitled to have." Umbridge, Fudge, Ron. "I fought the people who happily attacked a couple on their wedding day." Greyback, Crouch, McNair. "I fought the people who self-righteously believed that it was their right and duty to decide who was good and who was evil." Dumbledore, Snape, Hermione. "I fought people who thought I should be a slave to their plans. I fought the people who didn't care who's lives they ruined as long as they achieved their own goals." All of the above, and more.
"Why?" Sensui asked. "Why then do you fight me now? My aims would put an end to all of that."
"Because you're one of those people, and worse, you're someone who believes in fate. You're one of the bastards who believes in destiny. You have no idea how much I hate people using that word to justify piling shit onto other people." Harry answered lowly. "I fought against people who thought they had the right to decide who would get to live to see the next day, and who deserved to die."
"Isn't that what you are doing though?" Sensui asked. "When you fight against them?"
Harry shook his head. "I never claimed I wasn't a bit of a hypocrite, but at the same time I'm not. Not really," he answered. "Because my philosophy on the matter is a little different to yours. For one, I don't believe in fate. The only thing every person is will do some day is die. For some of us it even happens more than once," he added with a smirk. "For me, it has never been about my opponent deserving to die. No one earns death," he stated with a fierce scowl, "though some people have asked for it. I'm not a Spirit Detective who's job it is to protect the world and all the people on it. I'm not a mindless killer who sees my own species as play-things, chess pieces, or a disease to be cured. I'm a war veteran, despite my age. I am Lord Harry James Potter, knight of her Majesty the Queen of England, and I am a teacher. A person who works every day to improve the world and help the people around me rather than just saying 'it was meant to be this way' and doing jack to change it."
"You know, if you got a job at my school, I might actually go to class," a voice called down.
"It can't be..." Sensui breathed in shock as he – and everybody else – snapped their heads up to see who had spoken.
"I'm sorry I got delayed, traffic was a bitch," Yusuke said from where he was on the back of a giant bird with Koenma. "But I'm back, and I'm ready to finish this!"
"That must be Puu," Harry commented to himself as the bird came in to land. "That's what Yusuke's spirit energy looked like when he took off those spirit cuffs after all... Spirit cuffs!" Harry yelped quietly, then slammed a hand over his face. "I completely forgot about those. This whole fight, I've been wearing spirit cuffs. Well, no point taking them off now I guess, since Yusuke will want to finish off his own fight," he grumbled in English as the bird touched down.
"Impossible," Sensui breathed as Yusuke and Koenma hopped off Puu's back and onto the ground.
"Is that him?" Hiei asked softly, not completely able to believe his eyes.
"But... how?" Kurama wanted to know.
"Some friends you are," Yusuke said as he walked up to them. "Ditchin' a guy while he's down and then hogging the bad guy all to yourselves. I gotta admit I'm disappointed in you jerks," he said, his tone and expression serious, but they all knew the teen well enough by now to know when he was teasing. "But did you honestly think I'd just lie there and let you fight my battles for me?" he demanded rhetorically as he stopped and stood in front of them all. "Give me a break."
"Urameshi?!" Kuwabara yelled. "But... but you were definitely dead! Your heart stopped beating, I double checked!"
"Yeah, I can't explain that," Yusuke answered frankly, dropping the false anger at his friends completely. "In fact, my ticker is still not ticking. I guess I should be worried, huh?"
Hiei and Kurama both had to bite down on laughter, small stifled sounds escaping, growing in volume and size until they couldn't be repressed and the two burst out in roaring, gut-busting laughter. Harry joined in, chuckling, and even Yusuke sounded out a cheeky little 'tee-hee' of his own.
"You'll get used to that," Kurama said when he calmed down. "You see, demon hearts don't beat in the conventional human sense," he explained.
"Demon?!" Kuwabara asked, confused.
"Yes, demon," Koenma answered, walking up to join them. "Yusuke has had dormant blood inside him, Mazoku blood, which explains a few things I'd say."
"Like... having a head that doesn't get cracked when put up against another skull that easily dents cement?" Harry asked. "Because if you're going to start blaming the Detective's behaviour on his blood then I'm going to have issues with you."
"Potter here isn't a believer in nature over nurture," Hiei simplified.
"Yes, you missed the beginning part of his speech, it was very enlightening," Kurama added.
"Does it explain how you're not dead again?" Kuwabara asked.
"Funny story," Yusuke answered. "See, one of my ancestors way back was this 'Masoku' guy, and so when I died I was able to come back, but like him."
"So you really are a demon!" Kuwabara said, flinching away in surprise.
"Transmigration, the atavism of the Mazoku," Sensui observed, stunned himself.
"That's right," Koenma confirmed.
"I had no idea you were one of us Yusuke," Hiei said, a small smile on his face. "How does it feel to be so superior?"
"Uh, honestly? I don't really feel all that different now," Yusuke said, going cross-eyed for a moment as he tried to figure out if he actually did. "I mean, I haven't sprouted horns or extra eyes yet," he added, looking over his person.
"I think your abs might be a bit more defined," Harry offered.
"Should I tell Jin you were looking at the Detective's abs?" Hiei asked quietly.
Harry just smirked silently in response.
"I do have this sudden, burning desire to tear this guy to pieces though," Yusuke said, smiling wickedly as he looked over at where Sensui was still standing. "So how about it Sensui? Ready to feed some worms?"
"Back off Yusuke," Hiei said softly, lowly. He was standing again though, which was an improvement. It even looked like his energy was back, the way it flared around him. "We're in the middle of something and I've suddenly discovered my second wind."
"No Hiei," Kurama put in, also on his feet once more and with his hovering energy thickly in the air. "I will take him."
"What is this, a prom date dispute?" Yusuke asked. "I'm sure Sensui's flattered by the popularity and all but this is my fight. I hate to say it Kuwabara, but you're the only one acting sane."
"I hope you forgot I was here when you said that," Harry quipped.
Yusuke grinned and held up his hands apologetically. "Sorry Potter-sensei! Yes, for a moment I had!" he admitted.
"I'm ready!" Kuwabara cried, standing up with a grin on his face and the glow of his own spirit energy extending for almost an inch past his skin – nothing to the auras of Hiei and Kurama, but it was better than he'd been before. "And better than ever! Stand back, 'cause I can kick his butt myself!"
"You do realise he'll be kicking back," Hiei pointed out flatly, unimpressed.
"Shut up! And after him, you're next!" Kuwabara yelled.
"There won't be a 'next'," Hiei answered.
Harry smiled. It was just like the day those two first met. It was kind of cute, the way they had set the tone back then and kept in it ever since, while still developing a respect for each other. Probably a good thing Kuwabara wasn't still trying to win Yukina's love though. It really was nostalgic as the two prodded at each other and Hiei dodged Kuwabara's fist so that the boy fell down, Yusuke laughing and Kurama watching on with an amused tilt to his lips. Some things were different, but the behaviour was still the same as it had ever been. Then they all got serious and focused on Sensui again.
"I sense how strong you've all become, and I appreciate your help, but I need to finish this alone," Yusuke said, talking to them even as he faced his foe. "Okay?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at them all.
Kuwabara grinned. Kurama and Harry both nodded.
"Knock him dead, Urameshi Yusuke," Hiei said. "But if you fail, know that we will take over the fight again."
Yusuke smirked and nodded in thanks, then walked away from them towards Sensui, who was also now walking towards him, though with a far less pleased expression on his face. At some unseen signal, they took off, and so did the fighting and destruction. It seemed that Yusuke's aim was off too.
"Right, we're getting off the battlefield," Harry said firmly, taking out his broomstick and taking off.
Kuwabara and Koenma hopped on Puu's back, and Kurama used a plant to create a pair of wings he could hover and glide with. Hiei considered his options for a brief moment before leaping up to take hold of one of Puu's feet, then climbed up onto his back with Koenma and Kuwabara.
The two combatants moved their playing field to a more open area, and then things got really dangerous. Crazy amounts of power that caused sand storms and tornadoes, and Urameshi screaming for no reason that anyone could see.
Harry, as the one with the least surface area to be buffeted and the most experience at flying despite poor weather conditions, went in for a closer look. Maybe not the wisest idea, but as much as he was a snake in lion's clothing, he was still a bit of a Gryffindor after all these years. Of course, he would likely have been able to see the mass of crazy white hair from where he'd been with the others, but... if he'd stayed back he wouldn't have been able to hear the slight change in Yusuke's voice, or spot the small change in his eyes. It was hard enough from the distance that he was maintaining, but if he could spot a snitch from all the way across the quidditch pitch, he could notice things like that too.
Provided he was looking for them. Certainly the others wouldn't have noticed the change in Yusuke's eyes. They were behind him, and there was a bit of a veil of hair in front of those eyes as well, which made it harder even for Harry.
Then the little bit of talking between combatants stopped and the fighting began. It was stupidly one-sided, moved around a lot, and was fast. Then Harry saw it. It was like watching a person shaking off the Imperious curse. Yusuke's eyes, his entire expression, changed. His voice lost that strange echo, and his hair was dark again as he chased after Sensui and started yelling at him to get up.
"Has your brain gone as fuzzy as your head?" Kuwabara asked. "We wanted him dead, and so did you."
"Whoever may have killed him, it wasn't me," Yusuke answered, voice a little bit frantic and slightly shaken.
"But we all saw you," Kuwabara countered.
"It looked like me 'cause it was my body, but it wasn't me in there when it happened. I mean it was, but it wasn't, do you understand?" Yusuke asked, and desperation joined with 'frantic' and 'slightly shaken'.
"PISS," Harry said.
"I beg your pardon? Piss?" Koenma asked.
"Post Imperious Stress Syndrome," Harry clarified. "The Imperious curse is one of the three Unforgivables. It robs a person of their free will. They're like a puppet to a puppet master, and depending how good that puppet master is, those around the victim would never know they were affected. Then the strings get cut. This generally happens in one of two ways. One: the puppet master lifting the curse when they no longer need their puppet any more. Two: the victim breaks free through their own strength of will, overcoming the curse. But after being released from the Imperious curse... well, how would you react to realising that your body was out of your control, even for a little while? Especially if you did something while under the control of someone else that... well, let's go with 'had some significant meaning to the victim'," Harry explained.
"I don't think anyone put a curse on Yusuke though," Koenma pointed out.
Harry shrugged. "It's the same principle though," he answered softly.
"Hey, he's not dead!" Yusuke announced when Sensui coughed up a bit of blood. "Potter-sensei, do you have anything that can fix him up?"
"I used up everything I'd stuffed my pockets with, except for the skele-grow, a bit before you re-joined us," Harry answered. "And making a restorative takes time I'm fairly sure he doesn't have," he added gently.
"What about you Kurama?" Yusuke asked, turning to the other member of their party who might be able to help.
Kurama shook his head. "I might be able to make his last moments more comfortable, but that would be it," he admitted.
"That won't be necessary," Itsuki's voice said, and a portal into blackness appeared before them, revealing him standing there, eyes down-cast as he held himself sadly. "Please," he said as he stepped out of his portal to join them. "Just let Shinobu go," he requested of them.
"If I'm going to kill a human, even an evil one, it's at least got to be me pulling the trigger," Yusuke objected, getting back up onto his feet. "I'll never know if I made that choice."
"Don't torture yourself," Itsuki advised. "Shinobu only had half a month left to live anyway. He was suffering from a rare and terminal disease. Dr Kamiya confirmed it, but even he couldn't cure it. Any normal human would have given up long ago, but not Shinobu."
"I don't like your sense of humour," Yusuke growled once the shock had passed.
"It's not a joke, it's all true," Sensui confirmed weakly. "But I'm not making excuses for my loss. With that last attack of yours, Yusuke, you proved to be much stronger than I."
"But that wasn't even me!" Yusuke objected. "I had no control over my body. You and I, we aren't finished yet. I still need to know who's stronger!" Yusuke insisted, falling back to his knees to talk to the fallen man.
"Trust me," Sensui said, smiling a little through his pain. "Consciousness exists on many levels. Part of you that was ready to make the choice must have taken control, but it was definitely you, a demon you, who killed me."
"Dammit you're not listening to me!" Yusuke yelled in his face. "It wasn't me, I can't be happy. I'll give you time to heal up. You take some painkillers now and we'll do it over," he insisted, pulling the man up by his tattered clothes.
"Only Yusuke would still want to fight a man after he's dead," Hiei complained. "Wake me when it's over," he requested and sagged against Harry, who he was standing next to.
Harry quickly brought up an arm to catch the small demon, and smiled down at him fondly. He really had worn himself out, and now the adrenaline that had been keeping him awake was running out. Harry fully expected Kurama to sag soon as well, and anticipating this, picked up Hiei and moved over to stand next to the fox-spirit so he could support both if he needed to.
They all listened to the dying man's last words, watched his life fade from his eyes, and let Itsuki take him away into the alternate dimension within his pet.
"If I still kicked his ass, why do I feel like he won even though he's dead?" Yusuke grumbled.
"Because, in a way, he did," Kurama answered. "Sensui achieved the very thing he intended by initiating all of this."
"Question, Urameshi," Kuwabara said.
"What is it?" Yusuke asked, turning to face his friend.
"Don't you feel kinda weird?" Kuwabara asked, stepping closer, pointing as he did.
"Now that you mention it, there's something on my back that's been making it itch for a while," Yusuke answered, reaching back to scratch and grab at whatever it was. Only to find out it was his own hair. It was the first time he noticed all the tattoos on his body as well. "I must look like I've been playing around with an electric socket!" he exclaimed in shock as he stared at the changes.
"Now, that's just what I said," Kuwabara supplied.
"That's just the physical resemblance to your ancestor rising to the surface, Yusuke," Koenma explained. "Though I'm beginning to suspect that he's still alive somewhere in this world."
The Detective frowned. "So then, he must have been the one playing me like a puppet on a string during that last shot on Sensui," he said, recalling Harry's explanation of the Imperious curse and how that worked, and how it possibly applied to him.
"If by 'last shot' you mean giving off a big blast of energy that caused some serious turbulence for us in the air, throwing Sensui around into stuff, treating him like a punching bag, jumping up and down on the wounds you'd made already, and hitting him so hard you broke the rock he was on top of before crushing his wind-pipe, throwing him into the air and then firing your spirit gun," Harry supplied plainly, though not entirely without feeling.
"What?!" Yusuke yelped. "I don't remember any of that stuff until the firing my spirit gun bit!"
Harry nodded. "That's normal," he answered. "That was the point where your own will struggled free and you cut the strings, taking charge again. The rest was someone else's will, which totally supplanted yours, essentially shunting you so far to the back of your own mind that you couldn't even watch. When we get back to Living World – and yes, Detective, we are going back, not hunting your ancestor down. Don't give me that look. I've been in your place before, so I know what you're thinking. But right now there are a few people top-side who don't know you're not dead. When we get back to living world I'll get out my potions books and make up a PISS potion, you will then drink all of it. That should recover the memories of what you did and how while your ancestor was at the controls."
Yusuke grumbled. He had been planning on hunting down his ancestor and giving him a fist to the face for hijacking his fight, but Potter had a point. He didn't know the guy's life story, but what he did know of Potter set him as a pretty cool guy, especially for a grown-up. So when Potter talked, Yusuke actually tried to pay attention. He had a short attention-span working against him, but he gave it a go, and right now... Potter was reminding him that Keiko was probably worrying about him, that his mother was likely wondering where he'd disappeared to, that Kurama's mother was almost definitely worrying about him, and then there was the whole thing about Demon World not really being the best place for Kuwabara to be hanging out in. Not to mention that he had no idea where to get anything to eat around here, and after the day he'd had, he could really go for a good meal in his stomach.
"And the longer we stand around here, the harder it is likely to be to get back," Koenma said, adding his argument to Harry's. "My father's SDF soldiers may be many things, but lazy is not one of them. While we've been stopping the bad guys here, they have no doubt been busy little beavers working on damming up the hole in the barrier and closing the tunnel."
"Right," Yusuke agreed. "Are you okay to carry Hiei back, Harry?" he asked. "Or would it be better for Puu to?"
Harry conjured a rope and strapped Hiei to his back with a smile on his face. "My broomstick isn't meant to carry more than one, but that doesn't mean that it can't if I need it to," he answered as he mounted it once more. "How about you Kurama?" he asked, turning to the fox spirit. "How far will that leaf carry you?"
"It will carry me just fine," Kurama answered, smiling weakly. "I am less assured of my ability to control my flight at this point however."
"I'll tow you then," Harry offered, conjuring another rope and holding it out to Kurama.
"Appreciated," Kurama said gratefully, and tied one end of the rope around his waist before offering it back to Harry and growing a new leaf that he could use to hold him aloft behind Harry's Firebolt.
"Alright. Guess that leaves us three riding Puu," Yusuke declared with a nod.
Kuwabara and Koenma both breathed a sigh of relief at this decision and joined Urameshi on the back of his spirit beast for the flight back home.
"Now, what's this about SDF?" Harry asked as they flew back into the pseudo-space.
"The Spirit World's Special Defence Force, my father's soldiers," Koenma answered. "Because of Yusuke's Mazoku blood, my father sent them to kill him – and make sure he stayed dead – at the same time as they were to close up the tunnel. One of them even attacked Mitari for no reason."
"Right," Harry growled in a way that sounded a lot like Yusuke. "So they're not going to be happy to see us."
"No," Koenma agreed. "As well as try and capture or kill Yusuke, I suspect that they will also attempt to arrest me. I did disobey my father's orders after all."
"Harry, what are you planning?" Kurama asked.
Harry smirked and pulled out his wand. Then he cast the disillusionment charm over all of them.
"Hey, where'd everybody go?" Yusuke asked suddenly. "For that matter, where did I go?"
"Well, if you can't see us, then they won't be able to either," Harry chirped happily. "I'll take the spell off once we're past the SDF guys."