twispitefic

Title: Hareheyare
Author: LittleCaity/sinestris
Fandom(s): The Twilight 'Saga', Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha (Both Soulless Army and King Abbandon)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 8,769 + Notes
Inspiration: The uncanny resemblance between the powers of the Cullens and the Investigative Powers of Skill and Pagan demons in the Raidou Kuzunoha games
Warnings: Violence, a couple of curses, a rampant OC, time travel and a mad scientist, sodding long
Summary: A pair of Devil Summoners come to Forks. Their mission: destroy the Cullens and save Bella.
Disclaimers: I don't own Twilight, I own copies of Raidou but it ain't my intellectual property (otherwise Narumi/Raidou would be canon), Carmel is the only thing I own here and I'll fight to the death to keep her.

The very worst part of the plan was the part that involved her going back to high school, Carmel mused as she adjusted her clothes for about the tenth time in the half hour that she’d been at Forks High School. She was only a couple of years older than most of the kids, but she could have sworn the fashions even then weren’t so... exposing.

“I will get you for this, boss,” she whispered to herself as the teacher gestured for her to stand at the front of the room instead of letting her find a seat somewhere so she could at least try to blend in.

“We have another transfer student today,” he said, sounding almost as enthusiastic about the whole thing as she did. “Why don’t you introduce yourself before finding a seat?”

She was tempted to tell him that it was idiotic and she refused, but her cover relied on her not causing too much of a stir. “Hey. I’m Carmel Rasputin, like in the song. I’ve just moved here from England with my adopted dad because of his job, I like running and hockey-” mostly because people tended to not look twice at someone running around with a hockey stick as opposed to a sword “-and classic jazz. That’s it.”

She headed for the nearest empty seat before the teacher could do something as unspeakable as let the students question her. A blonde girl sat at the table, her hair cut pixie-short and a cautious expression on her face. She nodded at her and set her books out quickly, looking forward expectantly. Biology had always been one of her better subjects, due less to natural talent than to her boss’ insistence that she needed to know how both humans and demons worked internally. It was knowledge that had stood her in good stead over the years.

The work was simple, stuff she’d covered far earlier in her education thanks to the different curriculum back in London – strange to think that they’d been in this miserable country for three months now – and soon she found herself taking notes automatically so she could watch the class through little glances.

There was a strange air about the place. Not quite the aura of present demons, although there was the feeling that demons had been nearby quite recently, but one of expectation. A sense that everyone in the room was waiting for the metaphorical shoe to drop.

A glance towards the back of the room made her do a quick double-take, and she forced herself not to look back again. Bella Swan, the one she was here to hopefully save. She knew that aura like the back of her hand, probably better. Once again she damned the fact that auras didn’t show in photographs.

She had the potential to be a bloody Summoner, and instead she’d gotten herself tangled up in an entire family of demons unknown to the Yatagarasu.

Crap!

*-*-*

She sat with Lauren, Angela and Mike during lunch. She’d started chatting with Lauren after Biology and had been more than a little pleased to discover a sharp mind and cutting wit hiding behind the fashionable clothing and perfect makeup. Angela was sweet and friendly, and Mike reminded her of a big puppy, friendly and eager.

"So, what does your dad do?” Mike asked, trying to sneak a chip from her plate clumsily. She pretended not to notice, partially because she was grateful to have found some kind of acceptance so quickly and partially because the food the school served was atrocious. She was just going to have to cement a reputation as being hopelessly British and bring her own food. “I mean, London’s a long way away.”

“He’s a special advisor to Interpol,” she said, biting back a smirk. While it wasn’t entirely a lie, it still amused her. It wasn’t so much Interpol as one of the members of same often called on them to handle certain investigations that got too close to the Dark Realm, and in return he would vouch for them when they needed to travel. “He’s working with Chief Swan at the moment, something about a possible sighting of someone he’s been looking for. I try not to ask too much.”

Actually, Chief Swan was like an increasing number of law enforcement officers starting to notice the disturbing new activity of demons. When he’d realised that there was something severely strange about the relationship between his daughter and some group called the Cullens, he’d asked an old friend for help, and said old friend had asked another friend, and eventually word had gotten back to the boss.

He’d been wanting to make more contacts in America for years, so he’d made sure there were no loose ends back in London that the local Kuzunoha couldn’t handle for a few more weeks and booked them a flight.

“So he’s kind of like an FBI profiler?” Mike asked, stealing another chip. “I saw a special about them on TV last week, it sounds hard.”

“Not quite a profiler, but the same general area.” That was the cover they’d agreed on, and Chief Swan had agreed to back them up as long as they got Bella away from the Cullens. “He loves the job, though. I might do the same thing myself.” Already was, but hey. She was supposed to be a teen right now.

They carried on like that for a little while, talking and chatting, fielding questions, until Lauren looked just behind her and her sunny smile turned into a dark scowl. “Of course she comes back when the Cullens are away.”

Someone jostled her shoulder, a glob of the sickening gravy from the meal threatening to splatter all over her shirt until she deflected it onto the table with a quick movement. A tray clattered down next to hers and Bella Swan sat next to her, a painfully fake smile on her face.

“Hey Lauren, Mike, Angela. Like the hair, Jess.” There was something off about her eyes, a flat dullness that sent a warning shiver down her spine. Her hands itched for the smoothness of her tubes and the demons waiting inside, but the only one she had was tucked into her jeans and only carried a tiny Poltergeist. It was a creature well-suited for scouting, but worthless in a situation that seemed to require the touch of a more delicate power.

“It’s Carmel,” she said automatically, glaring and wondering if anyone would actually care if she smacked the girl. Lauren was glaring at her with undisguised hatred, Angela was averting her eyes, and even Mike’s puppy-like energy had drained away to an expression of resignation.

“Whatever you say, Jess.” Bella continued to ramble on for a while, completely ignoring anything that was or wasn’t said to her until she finished her lunch and wandered off vacantly.

“That right there? That was creepy.”

“It’s those bloody Cullens,” Lauren growled, picking at her food for a few moments before shoving her tray away with a growl. “She was always kind of a bitch, but ever since she started going out with Edward, she’s been lost in her own little world. I can’t believe she’d confuse you with Jess! You don’t even look alike! And we told her Jess is having her appendix out!”

“The Cullens? Are they some kind of cult or something?”

Listening to Lauren rant about the Cullens, along with the occasional bit of input from Mike and Angela, Carmel quickly realised that she was in over her head. Time to call in the boss’ resources.

*-*-*

“Amazing. Everywhere I go, you turn up within hours. How in the world did you manage to get this in beneath a supermarket? ...Never mind. Heya, Victor.”

“RASPUTIIIIIIIIIIN!” Victor shouted, throwing his head back and laughing maniacally. He was acting even more loony than usual, the odd gouges on his face standing out sharply, and she wondered if it was because of America’s high demon population or if he’d just come out of a Kuzunoha-inspired fusing frenzy.

“So much for my eardrums. Up for a little research, Victor? I’ve got a real doozy of a demon problem on my hands and the boss’ books didn’t help. Now there’s a first.” The books held a lot of obscure demons, even a few that the Yatagarasu didn’t know about, but whatever these things were, if they’d been encountered by summoners, they weren’t serving the Messenger or friendly enough to share information.

“I am always up for research, dear girl!” Despite herself, Carmel grinned. There was something infectious about the boundless enthusiasm the pale and possibly demonic alchemist showed when it came to his art. “Tell me everything you know.”

“Humanoid, visible to normal people, unnaturally pretty, strong, fast, hard to hurt, yellow eyes, and at least one person could swear blind that they sparkle when exposed to sunlight. Some of them have special powers, too; at least one of them likely reads minds, and another seems to be able to manipulate emotions.”

“Sparkling? Seriously?” Victor threw his head back and laughed again, less his usual insane-scientist laugh and more of a ‘I can’t believe you actually said that and meant it’ laugh. “I assume you still have that terribly annoying excuse for a telephone? I’ll let you know when I have something. In the meantime...”

“You know me so well,” Carmel said, reaching for her wallet. “Thanks to customs, I need to restock a lot of tubes... I think I may need to do some fusion once I know what I’m up against, too.”

You knew life was strange when the demented cackle of a mad alchemist who may or may not have been human was reassuring.

*-*-*

Two more days of classes passed. She stuck mostly to Lauren and the others, although she did beg out of a trip to nearby Port Angeles for that Friday, claiming a traditional family night and offering to cook for them if they wanted to visit sometime. Making friends could only help her cover, and besides, she did have plans for Friday. They were just different from what was considered good family fun by most.

Thursday brought the Cullens back to the school, and she spent most of the day in a whirl of nerves. The feeling of a powerful demon nearby was always bad, but there were five of the sods in the school, all in different classes, and it was taking every scrap of strength in her body to keep from yanking one of her tubes from the inside of her waistcoat and start attacking.

The worst part was that people could see them. She suspected they didn’t quite see what she saw, the sharpness of teeth and the sickly yellow eyes and the vaguely wrong angles of their bodies, but they could be seen nonetheless. They weren’t possessed, they were something new. And that was possibly scarier than looking up at a rampaging Oni and demanding submission.

The one she was here for – Edward, the part of her brain that wasn’t panicking madly supplied – looked away from Bella to give her a long, sharp examination, his expression stony. She felt a familiar nudging at her brain and slammed it away with the same determination she used to control her own demons. There would be no mind reading on her, thank you.

He looked briefly shocked and snarled before smoothing his face and turning back to Bella, expression almost nauseatingly sweet.

“Who the hell is that?” she asked Lauren, shuddering a little. “Did you see that glare he gave me?”

“That would be Edward Cullen. Looks gorgeous according to Angela, about as nice as a kick in the balls,” Mike supplied, flipping through his biology book and grumbling. “Hey, you’re good at this stuff. Help me out?”

“Sure.” She spent the rest of the class helping Mike identify the different parts of cells while keeping her mental walls high and strong. Being closed off would draw suspicion, but at least she had a chance in hell of keeping to the mission. The instant he got inside, it would be over and she’d have to fight him right there.

It was an unspeakable relief when her phone went off between classes, Victor’s number (too short, as always) pulsing bright on the screen.

“I need to take this. See you in Lit.” She ducked into the girl’s bathroom and flipped the phone open, grinning with relief at the loud cry of “RASPUTIIIIN!” that assaulted her ears.

“I would bless you if I wasn’t half-convinced you’d burst into flames, Victor,” she said, laughing breathlessly. “Please tell me you have good news. The Cullens got back today and at least one of them is a mind-reader with no boundaries.”

“I have something,” Victor said, and he sounded uncharacteristically subdued. “It’s not much, but I can tell you that a Kuzunoha fought something like them. He didn’t write how to defeat them, but I have his observations. They might spark something for your master.”

“I’ll come collect it after this blasted day is over. I’m new enough that I can’t skip without being noticed, sadly.” She’d dearly love to get out of the school right now, though. She could sense one of the demons approaching and shuddered. “Shit, one of them is close. I gotta go. Thanks, Victor.”

She flipped the phone shut and was halfway out the door when she realised that the demon had stopped and was watching her. This one was a small, pixie-like girl, not as small as Carmel herself but definitely less of a monster than the male demons she’d seen thus far. Her expression was strange, curious and angry and intrigued and something almost... hungry. Yatagarasu willing, she wouldn’t find out what that hunger was any time soon.

She ran to her next class and sat between Mike and Angela, trying to ignore the way her hands were shaking. She’d thought Edward had presence... Alice was terrifying.