A/N: Hello everyone, I've once again returned with a new story. I know it's been far too long, but this time the updates will be regular (weekly) as I have most of the chapters already typed up. So here's the sequel I promised to my original story, Dangerous Secrets. When we left there, Ali had defeated her twin sister and gained all her power. Now, we return to her story five years later (and on the fifth anniversary of its predecessor's publishing here on this site). I mention this because the characters have obviously all grown in this time and will probably seem OOC to you, but I assure you that I have kept them as much to their personalities as possible. Also in this story I have a lot of my own characters and the original Tantei are also all grown up now and moving on with lives of their own. This story is more of a fanfic based in the world rather than based on all the characters. I hope this does not discourage you from reading, and I do encourage you to read the original story before reading this one. With that said, I feel I must also issue a warning that the original story was written over 5 years ago and so the style and quality are not nearly up to par, particularly with the first few chapters. I think I will re-work the opening chapters to that once I have finished this one, or in any spare time I have. So with that, I shall commence with this story! As always, reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Flames will be used to fuel my flamethrower to burn up offensive comments and reviews. Enjoy!

Chapter 1-New Conflict

Hushed whispers, pens scratching notes on papers, and pages of textbooks being flipped were the only sounds in the university library where a young silver-haired woman sat studying and reviewing for a physics exam she had the next day. A lanky blonde-haired young man stumbled over to join her with his own stack of text books. "Hey Ali, mind if I sit here and study with you?" he asked softly.

She smiled. "Of course you can, Yuki. Let me help you with those," she replied in a hushed tone as she stood to grab the topmost of his books. Her hair was plaited and hung over her sweatshirt-clad shoulder. Black and violet streaks ran through the braid all the way down to her lower back. Her sweatpants were dark blue and made her light-blue eyes appear silver as her hair.

"Thanks," Yuki whispered as they sat down and resumed their studies. In the five years that had passed since the final battle with Sayuri, his hair had also grown long, though he kept it even at shoulder-length. While he was still thin, he had gained back a lot of weight that he had lost as a captive to the manawydans. He was much healthier and often trained with Ali at the university gym. He looked up from his book to see what she was studying and chuckled to himself. "Physics test tomorrow?"

Ali nodded. She hated physics. "Yeah, and I just know he's going to pop some obscure question on some minute theory he never went over in lecture. I swear he's crazy."

Yuki laughed again. "You could always use your telepathy and get the answers," he smirked.

She gasped, mock-shocked. "That would be cheating! Why in the worlds would I want to cheat on a silly little exam?" The look on her face made him snort back another laugh. She growled in annoyance, a trait she exhibited more frequently since her victory over Sayuri.

He ceased his chuckling although he continued to grin at her. "I don't see why you bother staying here in the ningenkai to go to college," he said shortly after. "Everyone thinks you're some sort of super genius anyway since you maintain a 4.0 with an extensive course load and extracurricular activities. How many clubs are you in now?" She rolled her eyes and continued to glare at her physics notes and textbook, willing all the answers to fly off the page and into her head. "Although it would be a disgrace to our kind if you achieved anything less."

The two students were wolf demons, the last of their race as far as anyone knew. Wolf demons had been renowned for their intellect and numerous skills before they had been erased from the worlds. Ali sighed. "Yes, I know. But in order to stay here to continue to live and work here, I need a degree of some sort. I can't get any degrees if I don't go to college."

"So this is it then?" Yuki frowned. "You're just going to remain here in the ningenkai?"

She looked up and saw the longing in his aquamarine eyes. He missed his home and yet he didn't want to leave her on the off chance they'd never cross paths in the future and he would be alone in the worlds again. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "Yuki dear, if I return to makai I would be living my life in danger. Ever since I defeated Sayuri and gained all the power that the Legend spoke of, I've been aware that there will be others out there after me for my power. It's safer for me here. Hiei understands that too." It had been Hiei who suggested she not return to the realm of demons in the first place. He probably worried for her safety most of all, though of course he would never admit it to anyone.

Yuki nodded his understanding. He didn't mind living in ningenkai after all. It had been five years since he first moved in with his long-lost childhood friend and as long as she was well and not too far he didn't care where he was. He had enrolled in Sarayashiki junior high and attended classes with her and the rest of the gang. Now that they had all graduated, their lives had taken different paths. Yusuke and Keiko were engaged. Kuwabara had moved to Genkai's to be closer to Yukina and to train to become stronger. When Ali and Yuki decided to stay and attend the university, Hiei ventured back to makai. Every now and again he would return to check up on her and assure himself that she was fine. Only Yuki, Kurama, Koenma, and Nikkie knew of Hiei's relationship with Ali. The others had never caught on and he was just fine with that.

While they continued studying, a group had gathered outside and begun making quite a ruckus. A group of juniors had surrounded a smaller freshman and were beating him with their fists and feet. The noise was frustrating Ali as she attempted to continue studying to no avail. She startled Yuki when she jumped up and stormed outside to the rowdy group. He quickly got up and followed her, knowing she might need to be held back if she were angry enough. They couldn't afford any mishaps or accidental deaths or Koenma would have their heads.

"Hey!" she yelled at the gang of guys. "Knock it off!" They ceased their punches for a moment to look around and find the source of the demand. No one ever had the gall to tell them what to do. When they saw that it was only a sophomore, and a girl at that, they started to laugh.

A dark-haired young man sauntered over to her with an air of importance. More like arrogance, Ali thought to herself as she glared at the apparent ringleader. "Well, well, well. What have we here?" he sneered. He was at least a foot taller than her, but she would not be intimidated by a stupid human boy. "Looks to me like the pretty little girl here would like for us to stop beating the worm." He grabbed her chin with his calloused, battle-scarred hand. "Why should we stop? This pathetic excuse for a human being your boyfriend or something?" He let go of her and turned back to the whimpering boy. "You're so weak you need your girlfriend to fight your battles for you?"

Ali growled again. "I don't know this kid, but pummeling the life out of him is not going to solve anything. And you're all making it hard for me to study." She pushed her way past him and through the gang to help the battered boy to his feet. "You're the pathetic excuse for a human being," she snarled. "It's not right to mercilessly attack those who are weaker than you."

As she led the bruised boy away, the leader grabbed her by the arm and held her back. "You got some nerve girly. I like that. Why don't you and I go back to my room and I'll show you what a real man can do?" He smirked as his friends cheered him on.

A vein in her forehead visibly twitched and Yuki feared the worst for this hapless human who was about to face the wrath of a woman who had been living for centuries longer than he. She pushed the freshman over to Yuki. "I know I just said it's not right to mercilessly attack those who are weaker than you," she said in a low malicious tone, "but in this case I'll make an exception. If you don't release me in the next three seconds I swear you'll never have any children in your lifetime."

"Ali, just let it go!" Yuki pleaded for her soon-to-be-victim's sake.

A couple of the guys in the gang surrounding them paled when they heard her name. How many girls named Ali were at their school? Only one. Shinamori-san was an instructor at a local martial arts training center and she was unbeatable. "Be careful, Hokuto!" one of the guys yelled. "If this girl is who I think she is, you'll never win!"

"Shut up," he yelled back. "What's a scrawny chick like her going to do to me?" He turned back just in time to see her fist shooting straight for his head. The next thing he knew he was flying back into his gang of friends. "Shit," he muttered as he rubbed his jaw and stood to fight back. "Crazy bitch." He looked back to where she had been standing just seconds before only to find her missing. "Where the hell'd she go?" he fumed.

"Hokuto!" one of his comrades pointed up and he looked up only to see her flip and drive her leg down through his collarbone. He fell to the ground at the impact and cried out in pain. She stood victorious over him and sneered, content with her work.

Yuki, still supporting Hokuto's victim, came over to her. "Geez, you think you could have been a little bit nicer?" he said. His sarcasm was not lost on her and she simply shrugged. He had honestly hoped that she would have stayed true to her threat of obliterating his male organs, but figured she would settle for breaking a bone or two.

"You three," she pointed to several of Hokuto's group. "Get him down to the nurse, he's going to be needing a splint for that minor fracture." They obliged and helped their leader to his feet as they half-dragged, half-carried him to the infirmary. Ali and Yuki followed with the freshman they had rescued. He thanked them graciously before they headed back to the library.

The crowd had dispersed and the excitement had died down. No sooner had the two wolf demons sat at their table than did Botan appear. "There you two are," she said as though she'd been searching for them for hours. "Koenma needs you now. He needs to brief you on a new assignment."

Ali groaned. "But I have to study!" she protested. Botan blinked back her surprise. Surely Ali was not serious. Yuki grabbed her by the arm and dragged her with Botan's help back to Koenma's. She whined the whole way but they simply ignored her.

When they finally arrived, the rest of the gang was already waiting. She sat down in a free chair next to Yusuke while Yuki took the last seat on the end next to Hiei. What's her problem? he asked Yuki telepathically.

She's mad because she has a test tomorrow and would rather be studying. Hiei raised an eyebrow ever so slightly and Yuki added, You know how she gets.

He sat back in his chair. Yeah, I know all too well.

"Everything alright over there guys?" Koenma asked when he became aware that the pair were not paying attention. Hiei straightened again in his seat and feigned attentiveness while Yuki muttered an apology for Koenma to continue. "So as I was saying..."

Ali was suddenly curious to know what they had been doing. What was that about? she asked Hiei.

Nothing, he replied.

Hiei...

You're honestly upset that you're not studying right now? What's wrong with you?

She would have growled except she didn't want to draw attention to herself. Nothing's wrong except that my physics professor is psychotic and so are his tests! She heard his chuckle in her head. It's not funny! she protested.

No but you are, he replied with a smirk.

This time she didn't suppress the growl and she stood to face him. "So I'm funny am I? I'll show you funny!" He got up and ran out of the office away from her as she chased on.

Koenma sighed in frustration. "Why do I get the feeling that neither of them heard a word I just said?" The remaining Tantei looked out the empty door with slight confusion. Kurama nodded his agreement with Koenma as Yuki offered to go retrieve the delinquents.

Meanwhile, Ali had chased Hiei to the forest and finally tackled him to the ground. "You big jerk!" she said while sitting triumphantly on top of him. "You disappear on a two-week mission and the first thing you do when you get back is make fun of me. Well glad to see you too!" She folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

He chuckled and flipped her off of him, pinning her to the ground by her wrists. "Silly puppy," he said with a smirk, "you fell for that again."

She growled playfully and used the same move to pin him under her. "Yeah well so did you! And I'm not a puppy!" she protested.

He wrestled an arm free and wrapped it tightly about her waist to pull her in for a kiss. "No, you most certainly are not," he replied with a sly grin. She relaxed and rested her head on his chest for a moment. She had missed him in the two weeks that had passed and didn't want to waste any second she had with him.

When Yuki found them, she was sitting in Hiei's lap braiding her hair. Both wore smiles as they sat in the light of the moon but he was frustrated that they had gone in the middle of such an important meeting. "You idiots! Were you even listening to Koenma back there?"

Ali rested her head on Hiei's shoulder as he rolled his eyes at the blonde before them. "Sorry, my attention was diverted," Ali giggled. "Koenma didn't hold my interest very well. Did he say anything important?" she asked with a tender smile.

Upon seeing the urgency in his features she sat upright to hear him say, "Hitokiri is back, and he's allied himself with wolf-hunters!"

A/N: Well, there you have it. The exciting intro to the sequel of my original story! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to getting this story out to you after so long! Please review! Until next chapter! Chapter 2: Hitokiri's Return.