"Yusuke!"
The black haired boy groaned and lifted his head off the table. He was dressed in a green school uniform and black shoes. His hair was slicked back and only a few strands danged on his forehead. He leaned back in his chair and, rubbing his eyes, asked, "What do you want?" He glared insolently at the baby in front of him, who glared right back."Stop falling asleep! I'm trying to give you your next mission," the baby, a boy, instructed. He wore a strange-looking hat, bigger than his head, and from the looks of it, his whole body, that bore the Japanese symbol for 'Jr'. and lower down, the word 'Jr.' itself. In his mouth was a blue pacifier. He was clothed in simple clothes, but he emitted an air of command and royalty. "Now—may we continue, or will you grace our presence with your snores again?"
"Fine. Do what ya want," the boy, Yusuke, muttered.The baby smiled smugly, then beckoned to a figure in the doorway. A lady jumped at the sign, then with a, "Yes, Master Koenma," hurried in. She had long blue hair which she wore in a ponytail. She wore a pink kimono on her body and sandals on her feet. She positioned herself directly in front of Yusuke. "Your next mission—"she began, "— concerns the city of Clow and it's invaders, demons from the Outlands." She paused, waiting for a reaction.
Her unanswered question was answered by Yusuke raising his eyebrow. "The city of Clow? Demons from the Outlands? Where are these places? And what are they? And—and—what's this got to do with me?! I want answers before you send me off on some wily-nily adventure, Botan."
Botan grinned as if she expected this, then answered, "Fine, fine. First, you should know that there are four worlds: the human world, the demon world, the spirit world, and this last one you may not have heard of: the elemental world. It's a peaceful world, so we don't tell many people of it for fear it will be invaded. It's called the elemental world because it has a city to stand for each element. Each city has a prince or princess that guards their city. We don't have time to go into detail now, but one of the cities, Clow, has been invaded. The normal citizens cannot fight and have fled, but we cannot get the ruler of Clow to leave the city. There are too many demons for one demon to wipe out on it's own. Right now, it's fighting a guerrilla war. Dashing in, killing some demons, then dashing out. Unfortunately, more demons keep coming. So, your mission is to go to Clow, find the ruler, and convince them to leave." Satisfied that she had relayed all the information, Botan stepped aside for Koenma to add some details about the case.
"Ahem. Yes, that's right, Botan. One more thing, Yusuke— the Outland demons are some of the strongest demons in the Demon World. Their leader is a fearsome fighter, and someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley at night. He may be stronger than you, we're not sure, for no one who's seen his true power has lived to tell the tale. So this means that you are not to mess with him. Find the ruler and bring them back, that's all you are to do— is that clear? We would send Kurama or Hiei to accompany you and make sure you don't get into a fight with the Invaders, but it seems they've gone off; Kurama on vacation with his "mother", Hiei somewhere, we can't locate him. And Kuwabara, well, he's just as unreliable as you. Not that it matters, he's on a school trip for the next two weeks." Koenma paused to take a breath, then continued. "A trip that you would be on, had you gotten a C or up on your report card. But of course, Kuwabara's only recently decided to try to do well in school, and that was only because Yukina promised to help him study so he'd pass and he doesn't want to let her down. If only we could motivate you like that." Botan giggled and Koenma sighed. Yusuke glared at them both, then realized something.
"Hang on— if I'm to go in and bring this prince/princess person out without fighting the demons, what will happen to the city? Won't the demons overrun it?"Koenma nodded. "Yes, that is true Yusuke, but there's nothing we can do. Besides, the people were evacuated long before the demons came, so everyone's safe. And you've got to ask yourself— what's more important: a city or people?" Yusuke looked down; the answer was obvious, but still he wondered what would happen to the people of Clow? And what about the ruler? And what would the demons want with the city in the first place? He rested his head in his hands. Life was so much simpler when all he had to worry about was the teacher, Mr. Iwamoto. Something clicked in the back of his mind. 'Oh yeah, that low-life called me some crummy words this morning. When I get back, I'll have to do something about that,' Yusuke thought to himself. He looked up to see a very annoyed Koenma glaring at him and tapping his foot impatiently. "Now, if we may continue?" Yusuke muttered something under his breath. "Just as I thought. Now, I think I've covered everything, so you're off to Clow!""Wha.... now?!" Yusuke protested as his tiny boss raised his hands in the air and chanted something Yusuke couldn't quite make out. The next thing he knew, underneath him there was a swirling vortex consisting of ever-changing colors, all mixed together. It consumed the floor, and since he couldn't stand on air, Yusuke fell into it, landing hard in a sand dune.
With an "ump!", he pulled himself to his feet and looked around. He was in the middle of a huge desert that seemed to go on forever. All he could see was sand, and in minutes he was sick of the beige color. Yusuke surveyed the area, wondering where the heck he was, and if there was anything nearby. There wasn't an answer to either of those questions, there was only sand, as far as the eye could see.
Grudgingly, the detective set off walking, grumbling about his situation under his breath.
Night was descending upon the land, and for all he knew, Yusuke could have been walking in circles. Nothing ever seemed to change since all the sand looked the same. The boy plopped down and lay on his back, looking at the stars. He had no food or water, nothing to sleep on, no changes of clothes.
"Stupid Botan, stupid Koenma," he muttered. "Thanks to those two buffoons, I'm gonna die out here!" He groaned, wondering how he would ever get to sleep.
Suddenly, a voice rang out across the desert. It was a girl's voice, soft and clear. She was singing something... Yusuke strained to make out the words.
Let this memory go
Let it sail to the heavens
It'll puncture the clouds
Leave a mark in the sky
Yusuke listened intently to hear the rest of the song, but the girl had stopped singing. "Wonder who that was...," he mused. "I thought Koenma said all the people went away..." He fell asleep, the girl's song still ringing in his head.
The next morning had come, and Yusuke was still hiking across the desert. It was around noon, and the sun was at it's peak. It shone down onto the teenage boy, making him wish he had just a drop of water.
Soon Yusuke's legs were tired and about to give way. 'Of all the ways to die...,' he thought as his body hit the sand. He closed his eyes, and gradually the wind blew a faint layer of sand over him.
The figure peeked out from behind the city gate. The boy lay there, unmoving. It wondered why he hadn't come in, why he hadn't cried out in joy, or cried for help. 'An illusion,' it concluded, 'An illusion that the demons put around the city.' It glanced around, then hurried outside. The person knelt next to Yusuke and checked his pulse, making sure that he was still alive. It hoisted him up onto it's back and carried him inside the city, closing the gate behind them.
They placed Yusuke down near the gate with water, food, and a blanket. "That should help," the figure whispered, then dashed off into the night.