Summary: Twilight would do anything to break out of prison. Anything.

TW: Rape, prison gangbang

T/N: A translation of "铁栏日暮" by 谋杀时间 (LOFTER)

GODS I love this fic SO MUCH! Not much the rape (that's not the focus) but how creative the author was with the prison break scheme, especially with how it's all foreshadowed but I didn't piece together the clues until the reveal in the end. It reminds me strongly of Shawshank Redemption (a great movie!) so I asked the author for permission to translate. Hope you'll enjoy reading this as well!


The hard, cold gate slid shut between them.

Opposite countries, opposite loyalties, captor vs prisoner, on top of that ridiculous phony brother-in-law relationship from their pretend family, Yuri Briar and Loid Forger—or shall I say, Agent Twilight—had never stood on opposite sides as literally as they were now.

Yuri lowered his hat to slightly cover his eyes, having nothing to say, but seeing Loid Forger turn on his heels and walk away without a hint of hesitation in his steps, he couldn't help the dark tone that slipped out of his mouth.

"The one who betrayed you is dead." He heard himself say and felt disgusted. "Someone who has no use to Westalis isn't of any use to Ostania either. Too many scums would threaten the bigger picture, so I executed him on the spot."

Dammit. He didn't mean to make it sound as if he felt bad for Loid to be in this predicament and was making up an excuse to get revenge for him.

Disgusting. He felt sick. Yuri swallowed the fury bubbling up in his chest and the urge to puke.

Twilight's capture won Ostania a major advantage politically. Even if interrogating him was futile and gave them no information they didn't already know, as long as Twilight was in their hands, they could use him as leverage when negotiating with Westalis to obtain more benefits for their country.

But Yuri wanted himself to be the one who caught Twilight based on the limited clues he left behind, to slowly ensnare him and gradually force him into a corner before finally capturing him, and not for some random traitor to pop up and betray Twilight, causing this legend to fall into their hands so easily.

It was like a cruel joke, but no matter how ridiculous the situation was, it happened, like the goddess of luck was on Ostania's side.

"I couldn't care less about the death of a traitor who turned on his own country for some fleeting glory." Twilight didn't look back as he said in a cool tone like this had nothing to do with him.

Now that his identity was revealed, there was no need to keep pretending. The compassionate facade of the civilian Loid Forger had been replaced by the tepid, chilling aura befitting of a legendary spy such as him. Like a steel blade being yanked out of its sheath, its sharp edge glinting with barely suppressed killing intent, and thrown deep below the ground, into this prison.

Held down by shackles but not held down by everything he left behind, Twilight calmly walked into the abyss without a glance at the last beams of twilight in the setting sun.

Yuri squinted due to the incoming sunlight and pressed. "You don't have anything to say to my sister and Anya?"

Twilight was already a step into the darkness. Not a hint of Loid Forger remained. He canted his head slightly but remained silent, and disappeared into the prison.


"A special inmate requires special treatment. Don't let him break out, and don't let him commit suicide." Yuri stood in the warden's office dressed as immaculately as always, like the elite he was. He couldn't be bothered to sit down since he despised having to deal with these rotten old things, but official business left no room for any noncompliance, and so he put up his signature smile and pretended to be the humble, polite youngster he was not. "But I'm sure there's no need to worry about accidents occurring under your watchful eyes."

"That's right." The warden leaned back in his chair as if his bloated body needed any more rest. The fat chunk of flesh on his hand barely squeezed out of the gold ring that was half a centimeter wide. "You should be more worried about him dying due to the other inmates' treatment of him. Y'know, him with that face of his would certainly cause a disturbance upon his arrival."

"He's Twilight, Warden." Yuri kept the placating smile on his face and lowered his head slightly to hide the disdain and mockery in his eyes. "There's a limited number of deaths permitted for each prison. If you allow these disturbances to occur, then it would only bring shame upon you when the list of inmates and the numbers of preoccupied beds in the morgue were brought into light. So I strongly suggest you to not underestimate Twilight," he lowered his voice, "if you do not wish to be rebuked for improper supervision."

The warden seemed slightly shaken by his gaze and tone and laughed dryly. "You youngsters and your jokes, haha. Don't worry. I get it. Twilight, top spy from Westalis. Who doesn't know his capabilities? He'll fit right in under my watch. Nothing will go wrong."

Yuri let his smile fall briefly as he silently observed the warden who obviously didn't take his advice to heart, and then the humble smile returned once more as he said light-heartedly, "I sincerely hope that's the case."

He politely excused his leave and left, glancing back at the iron-clad behemoth when he stepped past the prison gate.

Twilight, oh Twilight. Will you end up being devoured?


Before snapping that arm, Twilight was thinking about Yor and Anya who got dragged into his mess and were probably currently under close inspection. Considering Yuri's reaction, they seemed to be doing fine, so not charged with any crimes, then. Probably kept under watch and would have their movements tracked for a while, but with the help of both Yuri and WISE, they would eventually be cleared of any suspicion and return to a normal life.

Just as he was sighing to himself in relief, he felt a giant brute grab his ass.

All it took was a brief moment of contemplation halting his immediate attempts to prevent their approach, and the onslaught of the malicious harassment resumed once more. He couldn't let it go on like this, but it wasn't entirely unexpected that the fear of being crippled or even killed couldn't stop them from reaching for libido. Men, always thinking with their dicks.

Twilight stomped on the broken arm half-heartedly, the knotted curly hairs on the arm making bile rise in his throat. Countless inmates were lying beneath his feet, having fallen after challenging him fearlessly. And countless more inmates were yelling in the crowd surrounding him, the cacophony intensifying his displeasure.

It seemed that laying low was a mistake. He had planned on keeping to himself to avoid making too many enemies, but in a place like this, laying low was akin to showing weaknesses and painting a target on his back. Maybe showing his strength and channeling fear into everyone would be more effective?

Twilight thought, and when he lifted his head again, his sharpened gaze pierced through his messy bangs, giving off an obscure aura that would make people think twice before trying him.

"So you want this the hard way." He cast a cursory glance at the crowd, pleased that some had already taken heed of his unspoken warning and were inching back slowly, but there were still many overly prideful buffoons leering at him with a burning hatred in their eyes. He sighed and spoke so softly it could barely be heard, "Let's put an end to this."

It was a beautiful show of his strength. A spectacular slaughter. Twilight's flickering figure dashed through the crowd of inmates, too quick to be touched, his strikes too lethal to be parried. Cold fury faded into something fainter, barely causing waves on his facial expression, but was still present in his fluid maneuvers to pummel every man who dared to act on those lewd thoughts.

It was over almost instantaneously.

Twilight stood amongst the fallen foes, shining victoriously like the twilight in the setting sun, his tall figure exuding dangerous charisma like the devil, blinding the spectators with the orange glows of twilight shining onto the field from above.

The ones on the ground were half-dead, the ones left standing were trembling from head to toes. The inmates encaged within the lethal fence were fearing for their lives as the armed prison guards on the watchtower blew their whistles.

With everyone's gazes on him, Twilight shook his hands as if he had just finished a relaxing workout and instinctively brushed his bangs out of his eyes, running his long fingers through his blond strands and revealing his narrowed blue eyes.

It was a nondescript gesture that wouldn't mean anything normally, but in a setting like this, surrounded by people like them, it managed to seem lewd in the eyes of the many aroused inmates.

In the days that followed, there would be many panting loudly in their dark cells as they masterbated to that sight, to that head of blond hair, to those gorgeous blue eyes, to those long, slender fingers, and making themselves see white.

They'd spat and curse him, but they'd also desire him, all of him, from head to toes, from his inside to his outside, and then they'd ejaculate, shooting their dirty, thick cum everywhere.

Why can't he be my little bitch screaming my name as he writhed underneath me?

Because he was smart and could fight, leaving no openings for people to take advantage of.

Then we'll just knock him out and break his lean arms and legs so he can no longer put up a fight even if he was conscious.

In the deepest depth of the shadow came whisperings of schemes to eternally subject Twilight to the darkness of this prison.


The last time he was stabbed in the back, Twilight became a captive and was thrown into this steel cage. This time, he became the most feisty plaything in this steel cage. Inmates collaborated with the prison guards and used the power in numbers to overwhelm him and drug him when he was distracted. Even Twilight couldn't take precautions against a scheme like this.

They came prepared. Hitting the back of his head with a blunt object, holding down his limbs, their purpose bare and intense: to gangbang him.

The hands roaming all over him were rough and searing and slick with foul sweat as they groped at him unrelentlessly.

Even with his mind befuddled, Twilight could still make out his injuries from the blood dribbling down his cheek and over his eyes. Not fatal, but it would make it impossible for him to fight back immediately in this state. He struggled to curl his fingers into a fist, failing, before someone grabbed his wrist to make him hold onto something hard and hot.

A penis. He realized groggily but couldn't do anything to stop himself from being used as a tool for their pleasure. The palm of his hand rapidly rubbed against the black, almost purple, cock. At least the pain from the abrasion managed to clear his muddled mind a little.

Burly men surrounded him from all sides, their crude eyes taking in every inch of his skin greedily and their dirty words mixed with their erratic breathing spewing onto his face. A vomit-inducing, absolutely revolting tongue forced its way into his mouth but was soon retracted and replaced by an oddly shaped cock.

Fingers prodded him open, scraping their sharp nails against his inner walls and making him bleed.

The never-ending violence officially began. Twilight lay naked on the cold, damp floor, forced to take on assault from both ends and exposing all his vital areas to potential lethality. His neck was bent backwards to accommodate the cock thrusting into his mouth. Some came immediately onto his face, their sticky cum impeding his sight. He couldn't even tell who was the first one to force into his ass.

The scums had even gotten into an argument, cursing each other out, before eventually coming to an agreement and figuring out who would take his mouth and who would take his ass. Some even took his hands, feet, and his chest. The order at which they would fuck him was also determined.

He had to adapt to the different rhythm and angle at which he was being fucked by different inmates, and then endure their sperm filling him up until his lower abdomen was slightly protruding as a sticky mixture of red and white dripped down his thighs and into the cracks of the floor tiles.

Being used from inside and out, being shared by scums, being devoured by criminals.

The agony his body was going through was starting to feel distant as he watched on coldly from some place too high to be touched, as if the protagonist going through this torment wasn't him.

Their blatant leering didn't end after getting their share. The scheming ruffians still seem aroused and wanting more.

Once someone had gotten a taste of what they desired, they would only want more, and would fight even harder for more of that sweet nectar. In this dark, desolated prison with no hope for an escape, their primitive lust was unleashed and allowed to take over the more logical side of their brain. If possible, it wouldn't surprise Twilight if they would even empty out their sperm along with everything in their brain, since the fear of death evidently didn't stop them from scheming and assaulting him.

Twilight closed his eyes, too tired to deal with all this. He wanted to rest, just for a short while.

But he knew, unless he put himself to an eternal sleep, he would have to deal with this situation again in the future.


When Twilight awoke, he was surrounded by white, too white, an unfamiliar sight for the first time since stepping foot into this prison. He was in the infirmary, the IV drip beside his bed, feeding a translucent liquid through the thin tube into his veins.

The metallic taste of blood remained in his mouth, its tartness nearly bursting from the depth of his throat. Twilight frowned in discomfort. His whole body felt like it had been disassembled and then reassembled. Every single bone ached, every inch of flesh and blood throbbed and dried.

"You look pathetic."

Twilight was dazed for half a second before slowly turning his dry eyes to the side, glancing at Yuri Briar who was leaning against the wall and glaring at him in an overbearing way.

The young man who used to have a brief, phony relationship with him through his sister had a look of contempt on his face as he announced in suppressed fury, "The warden has been fired."

Twilight pondered Yuri's intent behind telling him this, and said in a rare, teasing tone, "Oh? Does that mean you're replacing him?"

His weak, raspy voice was irking to listen to, so was the words spilling from his lips. To no one's surprise, Yuri Briar was pissed and stopped suppressing his fury, letting his harmless facade shatter and revealing something far more terrifying.

"You almost killed yourself!" He fumed. "I hope ending your own life isn't your plan to avoid trial!"

"Ending my own life?" Twilight redirected his gaze onto the ceiling where a spot of mold resided, spoiling the white and flawless appearance of this place. "Maybe so. Dying pathetically as a coward, no longer being held down by the shackles of war and peace. Sounds enticing."

This didn't sound like something Twilight would say. Yuri was certain. So after that display of fury, he found himself surprisingly calming down after hearing this.

Yuri clearly knew something was straying from its path, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to stop it.

"No," he said at long last. "You will live to face your trials."

Like he could decide whether Twilight stayed or left.

But he knew, he couldn't.


Twilight sat in the cafeteria, having just left the infirmary, and noticed how the change in management seemed to have caused the prison guards and the inmates to become more wary of him.

He held onto the fork as he dug into the lunch meal that looked no different from pigswill. Anyone looking at him wouldn't be able to tell this was the kind of meal even inmates on death row couldn't force themselves to swallow.

A survivor of war often took away from their experience the value of food, regardless of its taste and appearance. Plus, surviving was far more important than being picky about what you ate or drank.

After returning to his cell, Twilight crouched in a corner and revealed the fork and hypodermic needle he swiped from the infirmary earlier when no one was noticing, pointing the sharp ends at himself. He contemplated as he gazed coldly at these little things that could be used as a murder weapon, an air of depression falling over him.

Ending my own life, huh…

He curled his lips bitterly and furled his hand into a fist like he was clutching onto slim hope.

The next time he was cornered by brave inmates with more brawn than brains, he striked, and a few of the men who had humiliated him collapsed into a puddle of blood.

A prison guard then escorted him to a solitary confinement room by shoving a baton against his back and ogling at his ass the entire way. It wasn't hard to imagine what was on his mind with the way he was licking his lips.

As soon as they arrived at their destination, Twilight turned and directed a chilling, murderous look at the guard, successfully scaring the frail, gnarly man into changing his mind and shoving Twilight inside while cursing loudly before locking the door and leaving with an embarrassed look.

Twilight sat in the dark and closed his eyes, using this great moment of opportunity of finally being alone to regain his composure.


The arrival of a new warden appeared to have alleviated Twilight's living conditions. After that utterly humiliating incident, no inmates could find any opportunity to corner him when he was alone and unleash their pent-up stress on him, but they had started to notice that Twilight was willingly approaching certain individuals secretly.

Though calling it "seducing" would be more appropriate.

Twilight was putting his good looks to good use and seducing those braindead inmates and guards into thinking of him as a quick fuck.

Like he was doing now in the kitchen, being pressed onto the butcher's block by the guard in charge of today's lunch and fucked like he was a livestock being prepared for slaughter. The guard didn't even bother to unbuckle the button on his uniform pants and just let his thick cock out through the zipper hole, thrusting his blunt cockhead deep into Twilight that had him gasping for breath. The belt buckle continued to rub against his waist, chafing the skin causing red to bloom like a flower.

The hook hanging above his head was hooked onto a large piece of fat pork that would be used to extract pig oil from. Despite being shoved back and forth by the pounding in his ass, Twilight was still able to split his attention to calculate the thickness of the fat and the size of the pig skin. He never focused on the people fucking him.

"You're distracted, babe."

A hand grabbed his chin but he jerked his head away from the incoming kiss from that foul mouth. His eyes were cold but a faint, flirtatious smile was on his face when he hooked his arms around the guard's neck.

The man was a brute through and through and held him up by the hips, letting him sink onto his cock and pounding into him mercilessly. Cooking utensils and rotten vegetables filled Twilight's swaying vision. Finding something to use as a weapon and kill this man wasn't hard.

But he only hugged the man's head and grabbed onto his faded blond hair, huffing out a pained laugh. "Your hair color is similar to mine."

The man came inside him with a grunt, not paying any attention to what he just said, and flipped him over, pinning him onto the block again and reentering him from behind. His cock was still flaccid due to being in the refractory period after having just ejaculated, but this didn't pose an issue for him since it wouldn't take long for him to get hard again.

Twilight's eyes were low-lidded and void of emotions, not at all affected by this sexual act. His irregular breathing was only due to the biological changes going on in his body. It had nothing to do with his personal feelings on this matter.

"Ssss…"

He hissed when the man leaned down to bite his neck on the juncture that connected it to his shoulders. He tightened his grasp on the man's hair but he grabbed too hard and accidentally yanked a lock of blond hair out of the scalp, causing the man to growl in pain.

He apologized flatly with no sincerity in his tone, though this could be interpreted as a bizarre way of teasing, and received a harsh slap on his ass.

"I've heard from many people that you loved to yank on people's hair. Sounds like you're begging for a good fuck!" The guard's thrusting became even more violent as he spat dirty talk to ridicule Twilight. "How does it feel being pounded by our cocks and forced to come? Admit it, you're just a cocksleeve born to take cocks! A fucking slut, whore, our personal blond bitch!"

Twilight turned around with slight difficulties and pushed the man away by his shoulders, coldly returning the insult. "Likewise, you're a blond bitch too."

He chose the moment before the man ejaculated to kick him, causing the cock to slide out of his hole and spurt cum all over his lower back and ass and pooling onto the butcher's block.

He slid down the block smoothly like a fish and stood before the dazed man, lightly slapping his cheek.

"I want to use the water hose here to wash myself. I'll clean up this place afterward."

"I'd prefer you boil me a soup with your semen," the man jeered distastefully. "Go ahead, but don't take too long."

Twilight acted like he didn't hear that remark and quietly picked up his uniform from the ground.

The man's face fell and he clicked his tongue when he failed to elicit a reaction out of Twilight. Having lost interest, he turned and left the kitchen, yawning in sleepiness from the sex.

Twilight looked up at the hook with its sharp edge glinting from the light.

Fooled by his pretense, people had begun to forget who they were dealing with and slacked off, allowing themselves to let down their guard around him and allowing him to stay in a room with all these murder weapons, alone.

Twilight lifted the water hose and tilted his head up, rinsing the shameful marks of sex and violence on his body.

Twilight dimmed in the setting sun outside the window, casting a warm, golden hue onto him. Turned out holiness and filth could coexist.

Even as Winter passed and Summer thrived, the twilight behind bars remained the same.


Yor glared at Twilight in shock and fury. The Twilight before him was full of sensual appeal while also appearing cold and distant, as if he had thrown away his honor and dignity and chosen to live the contradicting and surreal lifestyle Yuri never thought he of all people would succumb to. His every move was suggestive and alluring, like he was giving out some kind of unspoken, sensual offer, luring every man that crossed his path to stop in their tracks and glance at him.

That cold yet enchanting aura was so foreign, so unlike him that it was frightening.

Who is he? There's no way he's Twilight!

"You allowed yourself to give in! To fall! Don't you have any shame!?" Yuri knew he wasn't in any position to scold Twilight on his mannerisms, and he didn't even know why he felt so offended, so irked that the legendary spy had fallen, but he couldn't help storming up to the man and grabbing onto his collar as fury washed over him and left behind a sense of helplessness. "You're tarnishing your country! Destroying everything 'Twilight' stood for!"

"Everything 'Twilight' stood for? Even I don't know what that is." Twilight didn't struggle. He lazily dragged his eyes to meet Yuri's crimson eyes that burned with seething fury. "So why are you so bothered?"

Yeah, why was he so bothered? Yuri asked himself. Why did it matter to him if his enemy had fallen? Why did it annoy him so much? Anger him so much?

"You willingly succumbing to this is an insult to me who used to see you as a worthy opponent!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth, hoping, trying to convince the both of them that this was the reason why.

And then he slowly widened his eyes in disbelief.

Twilight smiled. It was the kind of soft smile he had when he pretended to be Loid Forger, when he heard something hilarious that brought a genuine laugh out of him, his gaze so warm and tender it felt so out of place in the parloir.

Yuri swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing, and opened his mouth to say something, but then Twilight trailed a finger onto the back of his hand and he shivered. It was an embarrassing reaction, but he couldn't care less. His fingers had gone cold and rigid and could no longer keep holding onto Twilight's wrinkled collar, but he couldn't let go and move away, all because of a single finger on his hand.

What was worse was that Twilight wasn't even applying any pressure. It was a light, feathery touch on his skin, so light that he could almost brush it off as his imagination fooling with him. But because it was a touch from Twilight, its existence and the sensation it brought forth was so strong, so extreme, that Yuri felt threatened.

"Yuri, you're hard." Twilight cocked his head to the side and breathed out softly, with a tone befitting of an adult disciplining a child, every single word hitting Yuri where it hurt. "But, I have no interest in men who can't be of any use to me."

That snapped Yuri out of it. He scrambled back but refused to look down and confirm that damned biological response. He didn't know whether he should be grateful that Twilight had shattered the awkward standstill between them, or be hateful that he was exposed like this.

So he decided to get the hell out of this absurd place and call an end to this short meeting.

"I heard you got promoted again." Twilight called out after him. "You're still young, so you should be more careful about what you show to the people around you. Being too successful and proficient at your job early on can be detrimental to your career. Don't let insignificant things or people trip you up and mess up your momentum. Just go at your own pace."

Fuck off! What the hell do you know about me!? I'm doing this for my sister! For my sister!

With his face cold and hard as steel, Yuri Briar practically fled from this dark behemoth that had managed to ensnare Twilight.


Not long after, the new warden was also fired, but it was for a crime even worse than his predecessor.

Twilight had broken out of prison, leaving behind a clone with its face severely damaged. Its blond hair matted with blood was the only thing that identified him, albeit barely.

Yuri Briar stood at the crime scene as a chill ran through his body. Someone was explaining the events to him, but it sounded more like a peculiar tale of a supernatural phenomenon.

The needle from the infirmary, glue, rubbing alcohol, pig skin and other boiled ingredients, burin made from sharpening a fork, men's hair, all insignificant items collected from areas the inmates were permitted entrance. And then with the limited tools and resources, he managed to create a fake mask to resemble a human face that managed to fool everyone he came across while wearing it after seventeen months of arduous toiling.

It wasn't the best of his craft, but it was no less effective.

How could they forget? Twilight was a master of disguise with remarkable acting skills and could become anyone he put his mind to.

Was this the real reason behind Twilight's 'fall'?

Yuri Briar found himself once again puzzled by the emotion that rose within him, but this time, it was exhilaration. He should be furious that his country had just lost a valuable leverage, that he got one-upped like this by his nemesis, but all he could feel was the glee and joy that slithered out of the corners of his heart, and he gladly embraced them.

Twilight. As expected of Twilight. My one and only Twilight.


But Twilight had forsaken this name.

News of Westalis' infamous spy Twilight dying in an Ostanian prison soon flooded the country, making the headline of multiple countries' news.

Ostania couldn't deny the claims because they had no Twilight to use as living proof. The real Twilight had already escaped from their prison, so they could only bring out the dead clone as a last ditch effort to make themselves appear as the victor, though it only served to bring their reputation down to the ditch and make them lose all trust the other countries had in them.

Almost immediately, Westalis took control of the situation and turned the tides against them, blaming Ostania for lynching a key personnel to his death without any trials and before any conclusive decisions could be drawn between the two countries.

The international standoff shifted completely to Westalis' favor. Twilight had extracted himself from that awful and harrowing predicament utterly and successfully.

What would he do next?

The thought bounced around in Yuri's head on his way to visit his sister, disturbing him, puzzling him continuously.


Anya was holding onto Yor's hand as they walked home. She looked a bit taller now, older, but still adorable. Yet, she was nowhere near as lively as she was before.

Twilight stood in the shadows beneath a streetlamp and lowered the rim of his hat, turning on his heels and walking in the opposite direction as the other pedestrians.

Anya suddenly lifted her head, her eyes brightened as she frantically looked around, searching for the person she knew was her Papa. Yor was more perceptive to gazes that fell upon her, but the gaze only lasted a fleeting second and was gone almost immediately, causing her to lose that palpitating sensation of being watched before she could determine where and who the gaze came from.

Anya cried as she hugged Yor, distraught that her Papa had left her again.

Twilight walked into a dark alley as a single tear fell onto his fake mask and sank into it, the fake skin drying up momentarily.

He had known the day he chose this lifestyle, that he was fated to disappoint some people.


Yuri found a suspicious figure lurking around Yor's house and followed after it in disbelief.

It was like Twilight was deliberately waiting for him as he read a newspaper while leaning against the corner of a wall.

The words "Twilight is dead" were spread across the newspaper in huge font, and behind the newspaper was an unfamiliar face.

But appearances didn't matter at the moment, because he knew who the person standing before him was and was glad to notice the seductive, alluring aura was no longer present on Twilight.

They both stared at each other. No one broke the silence.

And then Yuri asked in a lowered voice, "Why did you risk coming here? You know I can arrest you at any time, right?"

Twilight straightened his back and walked towards him, causing Yuri to tense up. It took all his willpower to not back up.

He stiffly watched as the man leaned in and for a second he believed he could see Twilight's real face beneath that fake mask. Warm breath ghosted over his lips, leading him to think he was in for a kiss.

But Twilight only pressed the folded newspaper into his chest and walked on, tilting his head when he brushed past Yuri to whisper directly against his ear.

"I'm leaving them under your care."

With that said, he strolled away with no hesitation in his steps.

Yuri clenched the crumbled newspaper and stared at the ground beneath his feet, lost in thoughts.

He had to force himself not to turn around and look at the man's retreating form. As if he wasn't embarrassed enough.

It was always like this. He and Twilight always happened to walk right past each other. Their life never intersected, and even when it did, it didn't last.


Twilight lit up his last cigarette and pinched the filter tip with his gloved fingers. He lifted his arm and watched as the sparks of embers burned mutely under the sunset.

And then he lit a match and burned the cigarette pack that contained a code, dumping the cinders into a garbage bin on the side of the street.

"Twilight" had burned to cinders, but soon he would have a new codename.

Not now, though. He needed to stay in the shadows for a while longer and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. And before this, he needed to wait for the cinders to scatter as well.

The lone man with no name walked away, his retreating form as unyielding and valiant as it always was, his shadow growing and extending into the sunset and beyond and connecting with the darkness on the other side.

Faint whisperings drifted over from beyond the boundary.

They said: Twilight was dead.