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Shinji would have nothing to do with the planning of their first armed robbery. He had practiced enough so he would not shoot himself in the foot, but that was about it. So while Toshi and Sho were holed up with Kei, Shinji was walking, or rather limping, to a drug store. The pain from his leg was gone, but he liked the feeling of peace the pain pills offered him. He did the walk on his own, not wanting the others to gripe at him over it. He could handle himself, Shinji thought. He only took a few, and one bottle would last almost a month. It was a cheap price to pay for some relaxation, Shinji figured.

Sho, Toshi and Kei were busy planning. Actually, it was Kei doing the planning, while the two kids just nodded. Soon enough, Kei thought, they would be able to do this on their own, and he would just be backup for their deals. But this was their first time to rob and have a firearm, and Kei was not about to let his charges get shot, especially by each other. That would suck. Kei would have to be their protection, but still give Sho enough room to think that he was accomplishing something in his own at the same time. This would be tricky, but it was workable.

Kei set their target, one of the ubiquitous grocers in the city. They would strike just before they closed for the evening, that way the till would be as full as it was going to be for the day. Toshi entered first, followed by Kei and then Sho. In spite of all his bragging and strutting, Sho was so nervous that he was afraid he would lose his grip on the pistol. But he would be a man, he thought to himself. He could do this. It would be easy. So, just before the owner closed the shop for the evening, Sho pulled his chromed pistol.

"Hand over the cash, old man! Hand it over, or get shot!" Toshi pulled his pistol as well, pointing at the cashier. "Come on, hand over the cash!"

The older man that ran the little shop was in shock. It looked like he was being held up by munchkins with toys. But he had been on the wrong end of a firearm before, and these were no toys. The owner could not believe it, but he really was being robbed by little kids. Holding up his hands, he carefully walked over to the register, moving the cashier out of his way. "Look, we don't want any trouble. I'll get the money for you, just give me a moment." One of his hands went for the cash. The other, out of sight under the counter, was reaching for his own firearm, a sawed off shotgun. He had been held up before, and he had no desire to see his day's profits vanish yet again.

Both sides realized what was about to happen at about the same time. Toshi hit the floor, and Sho fired a shot at the same time the owner pulled out his shotgun and opened up on the two kids. Sho's shot went wild, shattering one of the windows. The owner's shot also went wide, blasting a soda bottle stand to pieces, covering the floor with sticky goo. Kei turned around at the racket from watching the door. What could have gone so wrong so quickly? Toshi took a pop shot at the cashier, but the man had already hit the floor from a well developed survival instinct, screaming bloody murder as the glass stand behind the register exploded from Toshi's shot. The stench of alcohol filled the store.

Sho ducked behind a shelf of canned veggies, peeking around the corner for another shot. The owner had his shotgun well in hand, and was waiting for another shot in his direction. What he didn't expect was Kei pulling his own pistol from his waistband, and aiming at him. "This can go east, or hard. Which would you prefer?" Apparently, the owner wanted to do this the hard way, because he turned to shoot at Kei. But before he could pull the trigger, Sho got off a lucky shot. The man spun in place, as he took a bullet in the shoulder. The shock of the hit was enough that he dropped the shotgun.

Sho stood there, his jaw hitting the floor. He had talked himself into shooting another human being, over the nights on the firing range. This was something completely different. The blood was so bright under the lights, the scream of pain from the man was unbelievable. Toshi was also in slight shock. Sho had actually shot someone! Even Kei took a second to absorb the scene. He had wanted to teach Sho to be a fighter, a warrior. He had warned over and over, a firearm was not a toy. Kei thought that Sho could handle it. But it was Kei in the deepest shock though.

Sho just fired again, catching the owner in the back. The man fell to the floor, bleeding all over the dritty tiles. Toshi was still stunned, but Sho yelled to him. "Get the cash, we have to get out before the police get here! Go now, hurry!" While Toshi ran over to the register and started pocketing the cash, Sho calmly grabbed some items from the shelves. With Kei in the lead, the three took to the streets, getting around the corner before the police could even arrive at the gristly scene. Toshi was bouncing more than usual, his adrenaline pumping thruogh his veins. Sho was quiet, as was Kei, though for different reasons. Kei was regretting not being able to feed, wasting all of that precious blood.

Sho got around a few more corners, then found an empty trash can to dump his dinner from earlier into. Toshi stopped at the sound of retching. Kei held Sho's shoulders until the heaving came to an end. Then he brushed Sho's hair out of the way, and looked him in the eyes. Those eyes were haunted. "Does it get easier? To shoot someone?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It does get easier," was the answer from Kei. Wiping Sho's face with the tail of his shirt, Kei continued. "It gets all too easy, my young friend. Now, let's get you all cleaned up." Kei grinned wryly. "Otherwise, your brother is going to have something else to hate me for, bringing you back in a mess. Can you walk now?"

"Yeah. Let's go home." Sho walked silently for a few more bucks. Then he perked up a bit. "Toshi... how much did we get?"