The sky was an endless bright blue abyss over the city. It gave a sense that Ikebukoro was a normal place where nobody lived extraordinary lives. A while ago you could swear the city felt like it was caving in on itself with the gang wars. Then one day the rigid grip that was holding them went away and they were put into the ordinary. Things like gang wars, The Slasher, and the Headless Rider that were all common place turned into urban myths. The storm left a quaint scene in its wake. Nearly a week after everything happened and despite the nice vibes he just couldn't accept it. No, this peace wouldn't last long. No peace did in Ikebukuro and he knew it. Apparently he was the only one who thought so. Everybody else is going about this like all those years of strange occurrences were just some sort of fever dream. He often wondered if everybody else was just lying to themselves. They were all in needlessly good spirits. To the point where he just couldn't ignore it. Maybe he was just turning into a cynical old man. Nethertheless he tried to stay positive for his own sanity.

People quickly moved out of his way hoping not to aggravate him most likely. Others tried to walk casually but seemed stiff probably expecting him to explode in their face for no particular reason. He'd admit that he did look a bit more haggard than usual he had barely had enough time to fix his hair in the morning. Maybe the hair sticking up every which way and irritable expression from lack of sleep made him look more scary than usual. No this was normal, many people tried to stay away from him. It would be weird if they didn't it had nothing to do with his appearance. He could look like the Dalai Lama and people would still be wary of him because of his strength. But everybody seemed on edge, like more than he was use to. Was it because of that stupid gang fight he had gotten into that past week. Yeah, that made sense. It didn't make the situation any less annoying though and for the sake of others and the surrounding property he pretended that he didn't notice. What else could he do? Just pretend that all of this had nothing to do with him.

He fished out his cigarette box from his pants pocket. Hoping it would take off the edge from the heavy atmosphere. There were only two left. A feeling of dread consumed him as he blankly stared at the nearly empty box. He would have to set the clock earlier and get some tomorrow. He shuddered at the thought, not surprisingly Shizuo Heiwajima was not exactly a morning person. He could save them for later. Oh yeah as if he would be able to get through this sea of tension without some form of release. 'I guess there's no other choice' he shook the feeling off and slowly put one of the cigarette butts to his lips. He quickly pocketed the nearly empty box into his pocket and fumbled for his lighter. As the flame met the end a rush of nicotine overcame him and he felt a sense of relief. It wasn't exactly a healthy form of escape but it was one of the only ones that worked for him. Plus its kind of hard to worry about your health when you seem practically invincible.

Although as he went back on his way his new limp had abruptly taken the euphoric feeling swimming in his head away. He was swiftly brought back into reality. What a pain. He remembered Shinra trying to tell him to just stay home and rest, that his injuries would take time to heal. It was hopeless though he knew Shizuo ever since they were kids and he knew that despite his words Shizuo would stubbornly refuse to listen to reason. Shizuo found the whole the thing nonsensical, he knew his body and he knew it could take a beating like no other. He had broken it a million times before what's one more time gonna hurt. Besides it wasn't even that painful he had been through far worse, what did Shinra know anyway.

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance over Shinra not to mention all of these assholes who were waiting for him to snap so they could run away in a panic. You know because that never gets old. Why can't people just mind their own damn business and leave him alone for once. Okay, deep breaths no need to start a scene here. That's just what they expect anyway. Just calm down and let the nicotine work its magic. He clenched his fists and took a ragged breath inhaling the contents of the cigarette and willed his body to relax. It worked for the most part so he continued to Tom and his meeting spot.

DRRR!

"Kinda early for a smoke, don't ya think?" a voice said taking him out of his doldrums. It was Tom. Had he really been walking that long? He hadn't even realized he made it the spot being too busy trying not to unleash his fury on random civilians. Maybe he was more out of it then he thought he was.

Shizuo shrugged in response not wanting to explain the situation to his employer. Work would be a good distraction anyway. Tom seemed to get the message as they went on their daily route. The limp was getting annoying to walk with though making him a lot slower. He was practically dragging his leg along with him making a scuffing sound on the pavement with each step he took. Tom seemed to notice Shizuo's struggling when he peered back to see his bodyguard was grinding his teeth into his cigarette in frustration trying to catch up.

He had gotten that injury a while ago but never bothered explaining from where. The first day was hell and a lot of people paid for his frustrations both figuratively and literally. Come to think of it maybe this wasn't so bad for business. Tom shuddered at the memory of his bodyguard unleashing maximum fury on everyone who got on his bad side. He particularly remembered not being able to stop him as the rampage almost getting some people killed. Yeah maybe not. He waited for him to catch up and tried to walk at a slower pace so they wouldn't lose each other in the sea of people.

"You alright?" he asked the blonde as they waited for the signal to cross the street. In retrospect he should have known Tom wouldn't just ignore it. He wondered if he could... Shizuo tried to balance on both his feet slightly leaning his body to the left. The dull pain that shot through his body put him right back into his previous position. Once again his body failed to listen to him at all. The sensation left behind a soreness like the ones you get from walking for hours on end. His body was taking most of the pain that he had gotten use to long ago. It was his mind that was willing him to press on like he did so many times when he was younger. It was the same thing that got him to Shinra's and Celty's apartment that night. However, that was in the beginning and he probably opened these gunshot wounds more times then he would likely admit. Needless to say it was taking its toll. He couldn't wait for his break just so he could rest both his legs and maybe get something sweet to take his mind off of the terrible start to his day.

"I'm fine." he responded flatly. Trying not to sound frustrated with his body not complying. Tom kept sneaking glances at him to make sure he was telling the truth. It made Shizuo feel pretty uncomfortable. He was supposed to be protecting him not worrying him. That coupled with the soreness and his useless bent up cigarette leaving a gross taste in his mouth (not to mention now he only has one left for the entire day).

"Let's just get through this." he added sounding slightly annoyed despite himself. Silence followed and Shizuo wondered if he should have just let the conversation happen if nothing more than to pass the time.

"Don't worry today won't be too difficult." Tom reassured. Shizuo nodded in response, relieved to see he didn't sour the air between them with his not so gentle demeanor. Good, because today was going to be a long day and the sooner it ends the better.

There seemed to be a crowd gathering across the street. The people whispering behind him not so subtly made the vein on his forehead pulse with rage. He tried to recede inward to avoid any incidents. Was this light ever going to change!

"Wonder what's going on." his employer ventured. Who cares it's probably just somebody putting on an act or something trying to get money from tourists. Wait some people are scattering, a fight? Great, if it was a bunch of idiots trying to prove how tough they were they would probably challenge him. He would have to kick their asses to Shinjuku to teach them a lesson while everybody would gather to see who would dare challenge Ikebukoro's strongest man. He was really not in the mood for that.

The signal to walk flashed just when he wished it hadn't. As they made their way to the crowd the sense of dread made a reappearance and overcame the blonde knowing he was walking into yet another fight. As they made it closer he tried to think of ways to avoid the encounter. Blending in was out of the question he was way too easy to spot even in a crowd thanks to his bleached blonde hair and strange attire. Just ignore them? Come on that never works, people who try to egg him on are the type of people who get him pissed off the most. There's no escaping this is there. The bodyguard sighed accepting defeat 'Fine let's just get this over with.'

Some delinquent looking teen with a yellow headband fell out of the crowd making Shizuo and Tom stop dead in their tracks. 'Here it comes.' The kid seemed to be quite shaken up but despite expectation he didn't seem to notice the two men. He instead looked forward in a daze trying to say something but he kept choking on the words. Shizuo was this close to telling him to get to the point before he got pissed off to when something unexpected happened.

"It's the mask..." the young man strangled out before running away with his group of yellow toting hoodlums. Then everything seemed to make sense. 'So that's what this is about.' He thought people were just on edge about him because of his obvious injuries. Thinking he could snap at anyone who even questioned if he was still the strongest man but now it made sense. The mask was back. Just when things in the city seemed to die down the city brought yet another player into its twisted game. He was right. He just didn't expect a reappearance.