[Izaya's POV]

The three traveled down the street quickly, all on their way to Shinra's apartment to get checked out and also plan what to do in a safer environment. They had no way of knowing how long whoever had done this has been watching them, if they know that they would head to Shinra's place immediately or not and keep tabs of them, but it was better than sitting in the detonation zone if the attacker had more than fake ammo.

And, just as a precaution though much to Namie's disappointment, they were all walking there on foot instead of taking Namie's car in case it had been tampered with.

About half way there all of them were still on edge. They had no idea who was behind this, where that person would be, how they would try to scare or attack them next.. The stares of passersby didn't help as they drew closer to their destination and more people knew them as dangerous beings who were usually at each others throats. Can't you see none of us are in a good mood? Just smile and walk already! he mentally sighed, ignoring everyone as they trudged along.

For a fleeting moment he thought of enticing Shizuo into a chase. It would get them to their destination faster and people wouldn't look at them twice if they actually were fighting, since that was the norm even if it was quite the spectacle. But, they did have Namie with them and there would be no way in hell for her to keep up with them if they suddenly gave chase to one another. And, as another almost nonexistent option for why they had been assaulted, she could also be a target of whoever was after them.

Sure, she didn't look like much of a threat, but she did work closely with him and he was dangerous so maybe someone wanted her for information? It most likely wasn't their main objective but she could be in danger as well, if either of them were in serious trouble. Just another person I have to worry about...

Izaya let out a sigh as he walked behind the blond brute, having been shoved there by said beast after they got outside since he was 'still his bodyguard'. He tried to rid himself of the troubling thoughts for now, telling himself that he could focus on it more once they were at Shinra's and getting checked up. For now he looked around and tried to see if anyone was looking suspicious. No one that looked at them seemed to have anymore interest in them than the rest, all appearing freaked out that the two strongest men in Ikebukuro were taking a leisurely stroll together in the city.

I can't blame them. This is really weird.. Wonder what look they would have on their faces if I told them that Shizu-chan was protecting me~

That thought at least put a smile on his face, it shifting to a smirk and settling there until they finally got to Shinra's and knocked, barely getting one rap on the door before it was thrown open. Shinra stood there, face serious for once as he immediately looked them all over and evaluated them before they even stepped foot into his home. None of them were bleeding or even looked like there was a scratch on them; Shinra seemed to notice this too. "Alright then, explain to me what happened." Shinra finally announced, moving to the side so the three could shuffle in and start talking.

He ordered for all of them to go into the back room and sit on the bed, then to roll up their sleeves so he could do a basic check-up while they explained what had brought them there. When they got to the bit about it just letting out smoke that hurt their eyes, Shinra glanced up at them with interest. "Someone went to the trouble of setting up a grenade launcher, pointing it right at your window, waiting for you to be there perfectly in place, and then setting it off correctly... Just to throw a smoke bomb at you?" the doctor repeated, rightfully skeptical. All three of them nodded and he sighed softly before telling them to go on.

"There isn't much left. The thing went off, we all got up, made sure things were alright, then called you. Here we are now." Shizuo finished for them, getting a hum of agreement from Namie who was currently getting blood taken. Nothing had seemed to be wrong with them internally but Shinra was always one to be extra careful; in this situation, despite his brunette assistant's deep hatred of needles, they all thought he was right to be so. He also quickly checked their heartbeat and breathing, just to make sure none of them got too much smoke inhalation. Namie once again muttered about them only being in the room for about 10 minutes with the smoke but Shinra insisted on doing everything for his check-ups.

He was just finishing up with them when there was another knock on the door, Celty answering it and coming back with Kasuka trailing behind her, obviously worried. "Are all of you alright? What happened?" Kasuka asked quickly, looking them over like Shinra had done earlier.

Izaya couldn't help smiling a bit now that his boyfriend was present. "We're all fine. Our bodyguard here made sure of it." the informant announced, jabbing his thumb as Shizuo who irritably nudged it further away from himself. Namie rolled her eyes at them as she rolled her sleeves back down.

The actor visually relaxed at the information, smiling as well before he drew closer and wrapped his arms around the informant, ignoring the other people in the room for a moment before he glanced at Shizuo. "Thanks for helping, aniki." he muttered, making both the blond and ravenett blush a little from how grateful he sounded. The two started babbling at the same time.

"It was nothing-"

"He didn't do that much-"

"I did save your ass-!"

"It was a fake, we weren't in any real-"

"Both of you shut up and let him hug you. Now isn't the time for arguing." Namie demanded, shutting the both of them up again. Kasuka gave her a thankful nod before releasing Izaya for a second, giving his brother a hug as well before backing up, returning to his usually serious demeanor.

"Alright, time to break it to me.. What happened?"

Chapter 88!

And we're back at Shinra's! Don't worry guys, they're all perfectly fine it's just a reasonable thing to do after getting a mysterious smoke bomb to the face.

Izaya and Shizuo are back to their now-usual bickering and Kasuka is about to hear that his boyfriend, brother and kinda-friend just got bombed... Fun.

So, stay tuned guys, I'm still planning out just how long this arc might be for us and how much real impact it'll have on the original arc.

I hope you all liked this chapter! Favorite, follow and review to see more!

Nice to see you back again, Beato-sama! ^-^