Except for her red hair, Yoko Nakajima is a typical, obedient Japanese high-school student. Her life is fairly ordinary—that is, until Keiki, a unicorn in the guise of a young blond-haired boy, tells her that she is his master and must return to their kingdom. When the boy mysteriously vanishes, Yoko is left alone, confused, and wandering through a foreign land with nothing to help protect her save a magic sword and a magic stone. When Keiki suddenly appears at Yoko’s school, little does she realize that her life is about to change. Lost in a strange land--without a map—and demons on her trail, Yoko begins her quest for both survival and self-discovery.

Fuyumi Ono was born in Oita Prefecture, Japan. She graduated from Otani University with a major in Buddhist studies. During college she was a member of Kyoto University’s mystery story club for readers and writers of the mystery genre. She made her publishing debut in 1988 with her novella A Sleepless Birthday Eve, which was featured in Kodansha’s teen-targeted X-Bunko Teens Heart series. Besides The Twelve Kingdoms, Ono has written other novels in such genres as mystery and horror.

English Version By: Alexander O Smith