Shadows in the Sunset
By: Ryocha

The sun was to set early today, Rollo reminded himself with a hint of sadness.

He stopped running, slowing down to a walking pace. The landscape of Ashford looked beautiful at twilight, the path folding out in front of the young teenager shone a luminescent yellow that contrasted with the sharp pink hues that tinted the grass like a warm gradient. A little ways off, behind a row of well-kept oak trees, was the villa Rollo shared with his brother Lelouch. It too shone a faint yellow and pink from the sun setting in the east. Rollo shivvered suddenly. Despite the warm look to the land, the wind was a strong, cold breeze that detered what beauty the scenery offered to the young assasin.

It has been four months, three days, twenty-three hours and thirty six minutes since Rollo became Lelouch's surrogate brother. The sandy-haired teen made sure to keep track of this time frame because he felt it was important to him. He had been unsure of the mission from the get-go, but instead had eased into the roll of the little brother almost naturally within the first month, and now was inseperable from his cunning, older brother.

This emotion he held with him as he walked a slow pace towards home, a thick black jacket making his thin legs look awkward underneith the heavy mass of his upper body, had him in its confining grasp. He didn't like this feeling one bit, the feeling of being cornered and fragile which made his disposition around Lelouch's friends even more unlikeable. He'd have to kill them all one day; why make it harder for himself?

Deep in thought, he looked up. The depressing haze left his mind and his vision became crystal clear. The front door had a lithe body resting its weight on its right hip and an amused expression on its face being directed to the cold, shivvering Rollo.

"Hey," Lelouch called out, "Supper is ready. I was about to set a plate aside for you if you had come home five minutes later." He turned to go inside, but spoke softly over his shoulder, "You shouldn't stay out so late, regardless of your tutouring. Come inside quickly."

Rollo dully noted that he had passed the row of oak trees in front of his house, and cursed himself for getting lost in thought so easily. With the urgency of a hot supper in mind, he began running for the door, which had been left ajar for him to close when he went inside his home.

His home.

He knew he shouldn't feel happy over such meaningless words. But such liberties needed to be taken time and time again. He would keep on running despite the ache in his heart when he'll eventually kill the brother he has come to love.

Rollo hopes, with a hint of eagerness in his thoughts, that he would never have to come down to that decision in his life.

He closes the door to his home with Lelouch.
Trapped inside the warm, deceitful lie he has come to believe as an act of love.

-OWARI