Chapter Text
When Loid saw Yor enter the SSS party, he felt his stomach rip like a piece of paper being torn into two.
He tried to think of something, anything to stop her from meeting Captain Curtis. But when Yor walked into the room, Captain Curtis and Chloe rushed towards her with enthusiasm, leaving him too slow to act.
Twilight analyzed Yor’s face intently as she first recognized Captain Curtis. Her initial reaction was one of surprise, then anger, and then an expression of being deep in thought.
Please Yor, don’t mention that you’ve already met, thought Loid.
And she didn’t.
After the initial shock, she seemed to be talking to Captain Curtis normally; their conversation now being about Yuri and how great of an addition he was at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Loid greeted Yor, and joined the conversation.
He had been worried about nothing. Yor didn’t end up saying anything during the party and he was thankful. Maybe she didn't want to admit she got interrogated by the SSS in front of everyone at the party?
A careful analysis of Yor’s facial expressions during the first few seconds of her exchange with Captain Curtis told Loid that Yor did recognize the SSS officer. But when they got home, Yor didn’t say anything about it to Loid either.
He was glad that this crisis to Operation Strix had been averted.
Yor had been thinking about Yuri’s coworker’s party ever since it ended. Captain Curtis seemed like a nice guy, but she couldn’t forget that face. He was the one who had interrogated her in the alleyway just a couple of months ago! She had to do something.
“Yuri!” called Yor, as she flung open the door to his apartment without knocking. She was wearing her work uniform, having decided to visit him right after work.
“Sis!!!” said Yuri enthusiastically, waving his arms in the air, tears coming out of his eyes. “Even though we spent the whole day together yesterday, you still missed me enough that you came to see me!!”
“No,” said Yor.
Yuri’s face fell immediately.
“There's...something I need to talk to you about,” said Yor.
Yuri looked into Yor’s face; she looked uncharacteristically serious and grim. He hadn’t seen her with that expression in a long time.
“Is something wrong?” asked Yuri, his voice filled with worry.
“Maybe…” said Yor. She sat down on his couch. “I think…your coworker, Chadwick Curtis, is secretly a member of the SSS.”
Yuri's mouth parted slightly, as he took in her words.
How does she know that?, he thought.
“What makes you think that?” said Yuri, trying to keep his face neutral.
Yor looked away from him. “I…” she said, nervously. She then looked at Yuri, and suddenly stood up. “Yuri! Can you promise me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you!” she said, with a sudden intensity.
Yuri nodded. “Yes, of course, sis,” he said.
“A few months ago, an SSS officer approached me, and interrogated me!” said Yor. “That officer was Chadwick Curtis.”
Yuri’s eyebrows furrowed. There’s no way Captain Curtis interrogated Yor. Unless…he did it without telling me? But why would that be the case? Was my entire team in on it? They wouldn’t do that to my sister, would they?
“Was-was he with someone?” asked Yuri.
“Yes,” she said. “There was a man named Lieutenant Mop. He had curly hair and was shorter than average…I don’t think I saw him at yesterday’s party.”
There’s no Lieutenant Mop in the SSS, thought Yuri. And no one in Division 1 has curly hair. Could it be someone from a different division?
“What did they interrogate you for?” asked Yuri.
“My supervisor asked me to drop a letter off at the post office,” said Yor. “The officers told me that the letter had a cypher message encoded for the West.”
Yuri clenched his fists. He couldn’t believe Yor’s supervisor got her in trouble like that!
“The SSS agents said that if I had a family member in the SSS…” said Yor. Yuri tensed up, and sat a little straighter. “...that I could get out of trouble. Apparently, if you have a family member in the SSS, you can be let go of most crimes.”
What?, thought Yuri. That is not true at all! If you commit a crime, it doesn’t matter if your family member is a part of the SSS. Captain Curtis would never say something so false!
“Well…of course I don’t have a family member in the SSS,” said Yor. “So I told him that. He said there could be consequences for my entire family for resisting. But in the last second, it turns out Lieutenant Mop decoded the cypher incorrectly. There was no secret message. And I was let off the hook!”
Yuri was starting to get angry. Who were these people that interrogated his sweet sister? Who made her worry for the life of her family? He gritted his teeth in anger.
And what kind of police work was that? Decoding a secret message incorrectly? Who was this incompetent Lieutenant Mop?
“Why didn’t you tell me this happened to you!” said Yuri, with emotion in his voice. “I could have helped!”
“Well, Mr. Curtis told me to keep it a secret,” said Yor. “And when they let me off the hook, I didn’t need any help after that.”
Yuri got even angrier. This whole exchange seemed to be created to fool his sister, and for her to keep quiet so that no one in her life would know this happened to her. They used Yor’s sweet naivety against her! But what for?
“So, anyway, Yuri,” said Yor. “I wanted to let you know so that you would be careful around Mr. Curtis. He isn’t a part of the Ministry of Commerce. He’s an SSS officer who could arrest you if you say something wrong in his presence!”
Yuri couldn’t believe someone would trick his sister like that! And he wasn’t even there to help. Whoever these people were, they were going to pay!
“Yor,” said Yuri, in a serious tone. “I don’t think that man was Mr. Curtis.”
“I’m telling you!” said Yor. “I wouldn’t forget the face of a man who threatened me and my family! That man was Mr. Curtis!”
“I know Mr. Curtis really well, and he didn’t do this,” said Yuri, slowly.
“Are you sure? You don’t know what secrets someone might be hiding,” said Yor.
Both Yor and Yuri glanced away for a moment at those words.
“I’m sure,” said Yuri. He hesitated before saying the next part. “Sis…at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we gather information about spies from foreign countries.”
This was a lie, of course. It was the SSS that took on most of that work. But Yuri felt it was believable enough of an idea that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could keep up with information about foreign spies.
“There’s one particular spy from Westalis,” continued Yuri. “His name… is Twilight.”
Yor’s eyes went wide. “Twilight?” she repeated.
“He is a master of disguise,” said Yuri. “He can change his face and body to turn into anyone. I think he was the man you met that day. I think Twilight disguised himself as Mr. Curtis to interrogate you.”
“But what would a foreign spy want with me?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out,” said Yuri, thinking it over. “Maybe he wanted intel? He asked you if you had a family member in the SSS….”
Yuri’s eyes went wide. What if Twilight was trying to confirm if I’m an SSS agent, by asking Yor if she had any family members in the SSS?! That bastard! Is that how he was able to copy my face and body? He’d been surveilling me this entire time!
Wait…Yor said she didn’t have a family member in the SSS. So Twilight must have found out some other way….
Actually…he probably already knew I was an SSS agent before he ever decided to corner Yor in that alleyway. Maybe he was just trying to get confirmation? But why pull off this elaborate stunt for something so small?
Yuri scowled. Sis got interrogated by Twilight because of me! He’s going to pay for that!
“When did this happen?” said Yuri, with determination in his eyes. “Like the exact day.”
“Well…I remember it being the day after you visited our house for the first time, Yuri,” said Yor. “The day after you met Loid for the first time.”
Yuri gasped. Loid Forger! Could he have something to do with this? Something wasn’t adding up.
“Could…Loidy be involved?” said Yuri.
“Yuri!” said Yor, in a scolding voice. “You need to stop being suspicious of Loid! He’s a good guy!”
“That may be your opinion,” said Yuri. “...and also the opinion of all my coworkers,” he mumbled. “But it’s still very suspicious that this happened the day after I met Loidy! Don’t you think it’s a major coincidence?”
“No!” said Yor. “I trust Loid completely. He’s an amazing father and husband. There’s no way he would be involved with something like that!”
Yuri sighed. “I feel like we have all the puzzle pieces, but we don’t know how they add up. Why would Twilight target you, ask about me…I mean ask if someone from your family was in the SSS…and this happens right after I meet Loid for the first time?”
Could Loid Forger be Twilight? But he had gone down that road before. After that fight in the sewers in Shellbury, Loid did not have a gunshot wound on his arm. That confirmed that he wasn’t Twilight.
“What are you thinking of?” said Yor, as she watched Yuri deep in thought.
“I was just analyzing the idea of Loid Forger being Twilight,” said Yuri.
Yor gasped. “Yuri!!!” she said. “I told you to stop it!”
“I’m sorry, but it is something I have to think about!” said Yuri. “We can’t rule out anyone! Like you said just a few minutes before, you never know what secrets someone could be hiding!”
Yor looked down at her lap.
Both Yuri and Loid didn’t know she was an assassin. Could Loid be hiding a similar secret?
She shook her head. No, stop thinking that, Yor. Just because you have a secret, doesn’t mean everyone else does! Loid is a good man with a daughter to take care of. No way he could ever be Twilight.
“Yuri, seriously,” said Yor. “You shouldn’t let your dislike of Loid cloud your feelings, especially to suggest that he could be a spy against our country.”
“Fine,” said Yuri. “But listen Sis, you need to be careful. Twilight can turn into anyone. He even turned into me once.”
“He did?” said Yor, with wide eyes.
“This man is dangerous,” said Yuri. “He’s strong, he’s smart, he’s incredibly capable. If any more suspicious meetings like that happen, you need to tell me. If someone starts behaving abnormally, or if you feel like someone’s spying on you – those are things you need to let me know so I can keep you safe.”
“I will,” said Yor, solemnly. “Oh! Here’s an idea, how about we come up with a code word. So that if he ever disguises himself as you, I can just ask him for the code word to verify if it’s you.”
“That’s a great idea, Yor!” said Yuri. “Let’s make our code word Best Siblings Forever!”
“Yuri, be serious!” said Yor. “But actually….it’s so unique, I think it could work.”
“And vice versa, if I’m ever suspicious Twilight is disguised as you, I’ll ask you the same thing!” said Yuri.
“Twilight can even disguise himself as women?” said Yor.
“He’s just that good,” said Yuri, simply.
Yuri paused.
“But also…you can’t tell anyone our code word, okay?” said Yuri. “Not even Loidy.”
Yor tilted her head. “But why?”
“Just…don’t,” said Yuri. “Why would you even need to tell him? The less people who know, the less likely it’ll get back to Twilight!”
Yor searched Yuri’s eyes. “Sure…” she said, softly. “I won’t tell him.”
“I’ll talk to my coworkers at the Ministry,” said Yuri. “I’ll see if anyone has an intel about this. I’m going to do my best to protect you, Yor!”
Same, thought Yor. I’ll do my best to protect you as well!
She couldn’t believe this Twilight character disguised himself as her brother. He was dangerous.
“Why did Twilight disguise himself as you, anyway?” said Yor.
“Oh, he wanted to infiltrate the ministry,” lied Yuri. “To get into our secret files.”
So at least he didn’t hurt Yuri. That’s a relief, thought Yor.
The night ended with Yor and Yuri discussing ways they could protect each other before Yor headed home.
###
“The lilies look lovely this season,” said Yor, as she entered Garden’s garden.
“Don’t they?” said the Shopkeeper. He was currently pruning the branches of a tree with some large garden shears. He glanced over at Yor. Garden’s meeting had ended quite some time ago, but Yor had decided to stay behind to talk to him. “Was there something you would like to discuss?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Yor. “Shopkeeper…have you ever heard of a man named Twilight?”
The Shopkeeper’s garden shears suddenly snapped shut as he heard that name. He turned around to face Yor with a gentle smile on his face.
“Of course, I’ve heard of him. The master of disguise. He’s quite a famous figure in the underworld,” he said.
Yor was taken aback. “If you know about him, why haven’t we purged him?” she said.
“Well…he’s quite a hard figure to keep track of,” said the Shopkeeper. “We have no idea what he looks like, where he lives, or what his true name is. If we ever do learn more about his whereabouts, we would…..consider purging him.”
“I think Twilight talked to me,” said Yor. “He disguised himself as an SSS officer, and interrogated me.”
“Oh?” said the Shopkeeper, sounding intrigued. “Tell me all about it,” he said. “The more details the better. It could really help us find him.”
“Sure!” said Yor, enthusiastically. “Anything to help catch this guy!”
Yor told him all about it. How this man disguised himself as Mr. Chadwick Curtis, how he asked if she had any family members in the SSS, and how he let her go once verifying that the cypher was decoded incorrectly.
“Do you remember the exact date of this encounter?” asked the Shopkeeper.
“It was the day right after my husband met Yuri for the first time,” said Yor. “I can probably figure it out if I look at the calendar.”
“The day after your husband…met Yuri…for the first time…huh?” said the Shopkeeper, almost to himself.
Yor was sitting at the dining table, eating dinner with Loid and Anya.
She had been considering telling Loid about Twilight too. I mean….he could also be in danger from this strange man who can disguise himself as anyone.
“Loid?” said Yor.
Anya, who had been focused solely on her hamburg steak at this point and not paying attention, finally read Yor’s mind and gasped. She knew she had to stop her Mama, but–
“Have you ever heard of a man named Twilight?” said Yor.
The fork Loid was holding slipped from his fingers with a clang. He made sure not to show any other emotions on his face, but internally he felt his heart stop.
Did Yor just say….
… my code name?
…Twilight?
Did Yor find out I’m Twilight?
No, if she did, she wouldn’t be asking me if I knew a man named Twilight. Unless this is a test of some sort?
How did she even hear about my code name?
What does this mean?
Loid felt an even bigger rip to his stomach than anything he had experienced at the SSS party.
Anya’s eyes were wide, as she looked back and forth between her Mama and her Papa.
This is not good, she thought. If Mama finds out about Papa, the whole family might be in danger! Unless…Mama would be okay with being married to a spy?
“No, I’ve never heard of that name,” said Twilight, in a calm voice.
Please Yor, don’t say anything that might ruin our lives forever, thought Loid.
“Yuri warned me about him,” said Yor. “He said that he’s a ruthless spy from the West that can disguise himself as anyone. He takes the form of people that you know, luring you into a false sense of security before manipulating you into doing what he wants. Yuri said he’s really strong and dangerous. He won’t hesitate to hurt anyone who gets in his way of his mission.”
Loid felt his mouth dry up.
“He said that we should all be careful about the people that we encounter,” continued Yor. “If we come across someone that is acting suspicious, it could be him. If someone we know is acting differently than usual, that person could actually be Twilight in disguise!”
Anya’s eyes were wide open; she couldn’t believe they were having this conversation at the dinner table. And Mama was calling Papa ruthless?
Loid nodded. “Oh wow,” he said, forcing himself to swallow past the tightness in his throat. “I didn’t know someone like that existed.”
So it was Yuri Briar. But why did he tell her?, thought Loid. Did they speak about Captain Curtis after the party? Did Yuri correctly deduce that she got interrogated by Twilight that day?
He felt like his stomach was about to explode.
“And…why did the topic of this spy come up?” asked Loid, nonchalantly.
“Oh,” said Yor.
She thought about it. Should she tell him that she got interrogated by Twilight? She looked at Loid’s face; he looked just as accepting and caring as he always was. She was sure he would understand. But something made her not want to tell him. She didn’t want Loid thinking she was someone the SSS thought they needed to interrogate. Even if in this case…it wasn’t the SSS. But what does it say about me that Twilight chose to interrogate me? Would Loid think of me as not normal?
“It just came up randomly,” said Yor, glancing away from him.
Twilight narrowed his eyes.
He could tell that she was lying. But why would she feel the need to lie to him? Did she suspect him of being Twilight? This is bad.
Uh oh, thought Anya. And now Papa is suspicious of Mama.
Twilight continued to spiral. If she did talk to Yuri about being interrogated by the fake Captain Curtis, then that would mean Yuri knows too. He would naturally come to suspect that Loid Forger is Twilight. This was a terrible blow to Operation Strix. What should he do? What was the next step? He couldn’t see a way to remove that seed of doubt from Yuri’s mind. He would have to think long and hard about how he should handle this newest development.
“Well…” said Loid, with a sweet smile. “It’s good that your brother told us about him. Knowing about this will help us all stay safe.”
“Yes,” said Yor, with a smile. “Exactly!”
“But…” said Anya, her voice small.
“Oh, Anya, I didn’t scare you with all this talk about spies, did I?” said Yor.
“No,” said Anya, in the same small voice. “I just wanted to say…what if Twilight is a good spy? Like Bondman. What if he wants to save the world?”
Loid’s breath hitched. For a moment, his mind went completely blank at Anya’s words.
Why did he feel almost…touched by her words?
He had to shake it off. Anya was just going off what she saw on her cartoons like she always does. It had nothing to do with him.
His eyes cautiously darted over to Yor. He wanted to see her reaction.
Yor was looking at Anya with curiosity.
“A good spy?” she repeated. “I suppose that’s possible. But in the real world, spies usually aren’t like that. Yuri knows a lot about this Twilight character, and he says that he’s bad news. That he lies, and steals, and hurts people.”
Loid grimaced at those words, the meaning of them washing over him.
“Yor’s right, Anya,” said Loid. “You always get excited at the prospect of danger, but staying safe is more important. Real life danger can get you killed.”
Anya frowned, and moved the peas on her plate with a sad expression on her face.
She continued to read the myriad of thoughts that were floating around on the dinner table.
Papa’s mind was going millions of miles per hour, thinking of ways to protect himself from not being found out as Twilight. Questions about how much Yor knew, how likely it was that Yuri would start questioning everyone around the Forger family, and if there was anything he could do to stop this from blowing up Operation Strix.
Mama’s mind was calmer; she seemed to be happy that she was protecting her family with this information.
“Oh!” said Yor. “Yuri and I made a code word in case we ever think Twilight is disguised as one of us. Maybe… we should have one too! As a family!”
“That sounds like a good idea,” said Loid.
His jaw tensed. He knew he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask. Not that he ever planned to dress up like Yuri to talk to Yor. But intel was intel..
“What code word did you and Yuri choose?” he said.
“Ummm…..” said Yor, a blush forming on her cheeks. She looked away from his eyes again. “Yuri said I shouldn’t tell anyone but him.”
Twilight felt his stomach sink. He gave a tight-lipped smile.
“I see,” he said.
The sinking feeling got deeper. Yor was keeping things from him…and Yuri had done his job to prime her not to trust him.
“Okay, what should our family’s code word be?” asked Loid, his voice even, completely disguising how hurt he felt inside.
The code word Yuri and I chose is Best Siblings Forever, thought Yor. Should our family do something similar or something completely different?
“I know!” said Anya, as she read Yor’s mind. “Our code word can be Forger Family Forever!”
“Oh!” said Yor. “That’s perfect! What do you think, Loid?”
Loid nodded. “I like it,” he said, with a hollow voice.
“Great!” said Yor. “So if either one of us ever starts acting strangely, we can just ask for the code word! If the other person doesn’t know it, that means they are Twilight! But if they do know it, that means they’re exactly who they say they are!”
Twilight already knows of the code word though…, thought Loid, a little sadly, staring down at his plate.
The rest of dinner continued with an odd feeling in the air. Yor noticed that Loid and Anya were a little down after all this talk about Twilight. Maybe they were scared of what Twilight could mean for their family? She hoped she hadn’t scared them.
After dinner, Yor finished up the chores without much thought.
Loid, on the other hand, felt like he was going to faint from the intense pain in his stomach. His body slumped side to side as he got Anya ready for bed, every step feeling like he was being dragged down by concrete.
Later, Loid was tucking Anya into bed. Yor had already retired to her room.
“Papa,” whispered Anya.
“Hmm?” said Loid.
Anya used her hand to gesture that he should come closer. Loid looked a little confused but moved his head closer to her.
“I think Mama and Unckie’s code word is Best Siblings Forever,” Anya whispered.
Loid sighed.
“Anya, stop making things up,” he said. “Just because our family’s code word follows that format doesn’t mean theirs does as well.”
Awwww man, thought Anya. Papa doesn’t believe me. And I can’t tell him I can read minds.
Loid started to walk towards the light switch.
“Papa?” said Anya, now in a quiet, sad voice. Loid glanced back to look at her, startled by the sudden emotion in her voice. “Is everything going to be okay?” she asked.
He felt another sharp pain in his stomach. He had that same question.
“Why….?” he started to ask, trying to figure out the reason for Anya’s question. “Oh, is this because of what Yor said about….” He felt his mouth dry up as he forced himself to say the word out loud. “...Twilight?”
Anya looked down at her blanket; she didn't know how to answer him.
Loid fixed his gaze straight ahead, his eyes lifeless as he looked past her. “Don’t worry,” he said, his voice tight and hollow. “Twilight isn't someone you need to be afraid of.”
He turned off the light, plunging the room into darkness.