Yes, I am back after long last. I am so sorry that it took so long to update. Life has been quite hectic of late. At any rate, here is the continuation of the story and really hope I have not lost any of my fans.


Maria awoke to a light knocking on her door. Grumbling, she moved to open it, only to find Kurama there. She shrieked and closed the door as she was dressed in her light pajamas. From out side the door she could hear a chuckle.

"I was just making sure you were awake. We have about an hour before school starts so get ready." He said, before walking away.

Her heart was beating a million miles per minute. She had not expected him to be on the other side of the door. Blushing heavily, she hurried to get ready for school. After a quick shower, she threw her uniform on and pulled her hair up into a pony tail. When she entered the kitchen, Yukina offered her a small smile from the sink and gestured to the table. There sat Hiei and Kurama eating in silence. She sat beside Kurama and ate her breakfast. Before she knew it, Kurama was shooing her into his car so that they would not be late for class.

School that day was boring. Maria took notes and did the lab experiments but she didn't really have the mind capacity to concentrate on it. Her mind was focused on a certain red haired boy sitting next to her. He pretended not to notice her glances but inside he was smiling. At lunch he greeted her in the hall way, took her hand and led her out side. People stared at them the entire way and girls threw her envious if not murderess stares along the way. He ignored all the other kids and spoke to her in low tones. He led her to the small wooded area and they sat under a large tree and ate their lunches. Their hands were entwined the entire time and he did most of the talking. For once in her life, she was to shy to say anything. He picked up on that and chuckled under his breath.

Finally, school was over and they were headed to the police station to see if there had been any news about her aunt's death. Kurama waited outside the detective's door as she spoke to Mr. Bentley.

"Do you have any news?" she asked softly.

"Well, the autopsy came in. She was relatively healthy and there was no sign of a struggle on her part which leads us to believe that she knew her attacker. The only odd thing that the corner came up with was the fact that her heart would not beat, even when he attempted to reanimate it. The muscle is just frozen. They are now doing tests to see if maybe she was some how poisoned. I am sorry that we have not come up with anything else. The crime scene as well as the rest of the house had no finger prints on it except for yours and hers."

After his speech, he observed her for a minute before speaking again.

"I know that this is hard on you and I am very sorry for your losses. I will be in contact with you if we find anything else out."

"Yes, of course. Thank you very much detective." She said before leaving the room.

As they drove back to the temple, Maria held onto Kurama's hand tightly. He squeezed it reassuringly and said nothing. The silence that stretched between them was on an uncomfortable on and she was grateful for it. When they arrived, Hiei was waiting for them and opened her door for her. She thanked him softly before taking a deep breath and following him to the dojo. Inside, Kuwabara waited for them.

"Hi Ya Maria! Are you ready for the great and mighty Kuwabara to train you?" he exclaimed.

"Moran." Hiei muttered in disgust.

"Yes, what are we working on?' Maria asked.

Kurama and Hiei sat down on a bench and watched them closely. Kuwabara became serious and told her to close her eyes. Using telepathy, he told her to focus on the life forces in the room and locate each one. She felt for each of them with her mind and was able to locate them easy enough. Then the boys began to silently move around the room and she tried again to pin point their locations. This time it was not as easy, but in a few minutes time she was able to find them. Hiei's voice flitted through her mind. Find me now. And suddenly his aurora disappeared.

"What?" she asked opening her eyes.

"Hiei has hid himself some where in the yard; use your sense to find him." Kurama said from her left.

As she left the dojo concentrating, she heard Kuwabara grumble about how he was supposed to be the teacher. Once in the yard, Maria closed down all her other senses and sought out her brothers unique signature. There, she thought about a mile to the west in a tree. And with that, she took off in that direction. But as she was nearing her destination, she felt his presence leave the area, but she was locked onto her target and was able to track his movements even though she could not keep up with him. Kurama and Kuwabara joined into the little "game" until she was able to tell each one where they were and what direction they were heading. The boys reappeared in front of her with volumes of congratulations for her quick progress. She smiled happily as they made their way back to the temple.

Yukina was waiting on the front porch when they returned. She smiled and waved Maria to her side.

"It's my turn." She said.

"Alright, where are we doing this?" Maria asked.

"Oh, the front yard should be just fine." Yukina said as she walked to the center.

Like the others, Yukina had Maria show her what she could do. Maria was not very verse in the ice arts as she was in fire, but she tried. The best she could do was to create large chunks of ice to throw at her opponent. Yukina had her concentrate on the air around her and pull any of the heat out of it and into her body. In this way, she could make the air colder and keep her self warm at the same time. In this way she could warn an attacker to stay away as well as slow his or her movements by the sudden drop in temperature. Maria did as she said but was only able to drop it a few degrees.

" I am sorry, I am just not that good at it." Maria said sheepishly.

"It's okay. You can freeze solid objects, so maybe that is all you were meant to do." Yukina said with a small smile.

"That's just her way of saying that you suck at it." Yusuke yelled from the front of the gates.

Every one laughed as Maria attacked him laughing. They sparred for a while before collapsing on the front porch. Kurama came and sat beside Maria, a twinkle of a smile in his eyes.

"You did a good job today Maria." He said.

"Thank you."

"Hey," Yusuke said, grabbing Kurama around the neck with his arm "How'd the date go. Did you kiss?"

Hiei hit him on the back of the head and they started going at it while Maria did her best to stop the blush from spreading on her face. Yukina pretended not to notice while Kurama bit his lip to keep from smiling. After a few minutes, Genki broke the fight up and made them all come and sit in the kitchen with her. As soon as every one was in there chairs, she spoke in a low voice.

"Koenma has contacted me with some unsettling news. There has been a long stream of thefts in the demon world. The style is similar to yours," she looked pointedly at Kurama before continuing, "Who ever is doing this, reportedly a man and a women, has been stealing some very dangerous objects. No one knows what their purpose is, but it can't be good."

Silence met her speech. Kurama was running a list of possible suspects in his head. Koenma took this opportunity to make his approach. Yusuke yelped when he appeared out of thin air and Kuwabara fell out of his chair. Hiei rolled his eyes at the pair and Koenma shook his head.

"What she said is true and there has been very little information given on who the people might be. All I know is that we have to find them and take them out before this turns into a catastrophe."

"You mean WE have to find these guys and take them out." Yusuke said narrowing his eyes at the prince.

"What ever. It has to be done. It's a good thing you have Maria along with you this time, you guys are going to need the extra help."

After delivering this unsettling news, he left them with a promise to get in contact with them soon. The night passed on and the routine went back to normal with Yukina in the kitchen making snacks and the boys playing video games. Kurama and Maria worked on homework while Hiei sat in the window above them looking board. At the end of the night, every one retreated to their homes or rooms and that left Maria and Kurama alone.

"Well, now what?" she asked.

"It's getting late, we should turn in." he said.

"We?" she asked.

"I have a room here that I use some times. My mother is on a business trip with my father for a month so I decided to stay here. My brother is at a friends house so it will be fine." He smiled at her slight blush.

He stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and they walked to her room in silence. Once out side, she turned to say good night but was not able to get a word out. He leaned the small distance between them and kissed her. It was long and slow and left her breathless once again. He really did know what he was doing and it made her feel inept. When she voiced this he just laughed and said that he had had centuries of practice that was all. He kissed her again and bid her good night. When she flopped into bed, she had a warm feeling coursing through her and she felt more at peace with her self then she had felt in a very long time.