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The three did get better, with a bit of practice. Sho was becoming a great shot, if a bit flamboyant in his moves. Toshi was steady for most of their encounters, though he had a tendency of forgetting to reload his pistol if the firefight lasted too long. Kei was mostly in charge of cleanup, taking the blood before it spread too far over the floor, though out of Toshi's sight. It was a sweet deal. And it was bound to eventually come apart. Their luck could not last forever. It all became more than a game or a snatch, one night.

It started as normal. They arrived just before the store closed, and took up their positions. Only a few shots were needed to get the point across. The cash was in hand, and they were about to leave. Toshi headed for the exit, gun still in hand, and Sho right no his heels, carrying the paper bag with the cash. That's when the door out flew open, and four teens with pistols headed in. Apparently, this store was not having any luck, and was the target of two groups on the same night.

Toshi and Sho came to a halt, as the four teens also came to a stand still as they faced each other. Toshi's jaw hit the floor, and there were a few moments of shock on both sides. Then time returned, and each group took action.

"What the jigoku (hell)?" cried Toshi, as he ducked down behind the shelves. "Sho, we've got trouble!" Sho turned the corner, to find himself facing the four armed teens that had murder in their eyes. Diving for another isle, Sho hoped his feet were not hanging out as he tried to make himself as small as possible behind the display. The incoming teens opened fire, shooting the place to pieces. Toshi lay prone on the floor, covering his head from the flying pieces of metal and glass that showered the floor. "Sho, we're in trouble! How do we get out??"

Sho had another plan. Always the reckless one, he rolled across the floor, came up beside one of the teens, and opened fire. Three gunshots later, the number of teens had dropped to three instead of the original four. "Kei!" he shouted. "Spot me, I'm going for the rest!" Sho had been watching Kei at their last few heists, and wanted to see if his private and personal training would work. No time like the present, Sho figured.

Kei, on the other hand, was about to call for a retreat, when he saw something that boggled even his mind. As he called out to Sho to go left or right, Sho seemed to move with a speed that was beyond mere human. It was not graceful, it had no artistry to it. But Kei recognized those moves. Those were his motions, his way of walking through a firefight.

"Left!"

Sho slid to the left, barely dodging the incoming fire.

"Left!"

Sho moved further over, and took out one of the teens with a well placed shot.

"Right!"

Sho rolled to the right, ducking under the incoming fire, shooting the third teen in the leg.

Working in unison, the final teen was taken out by both Sho and Toshi, who had finally come from under cover to take a look at what all the shouting was about. After the final teen dropped to the ground, silence filled the air alongside the blue stink of gunpowder. The silence remained until the three of them heard sirens. The original robbery, coupled with the extra shootout, had given the notoriously slow police a chance to catch up for a change. Sho looked around, grabbed the bag of cash from the floor where he had dropped it, grabbed a stunned Toshi, and headed for the exit yet again. This time, there was no further trouble to get out of the store, and they vanished into the night, leaving three wounded and one dead teen on the floor of the grocery.

After returning to their hideout and splitting the night's take, Toshi headed out to buy some stuff, adding to his hat and shoe collection. He also wanted a haircut. Shinji had been sitting up, waiting for the three to arrive home. Shinji took one look at Kei, and realized that tonight, something had changed. Something vital. Feeling more and more like a failure as a big brother, he faded into his pain pills. The dosage was growing, but he still hid it from the others. They simply assumed that the reason he slept so much was that Shinji was usually on day watch, to make sure that no one came after them while the other three were sleeping.

Kei walked Sho down to the firing range, the silence between the two thick enough that it was almost choking. Kei took a seat in one of the chairs, pulled out a pack of smokes, and lit one. After getting through a few puffs, he turned to the silent Sho. "Alright, could you please explain what happened back there?" Kei thought back. He had been with these kids for over two years now, but that did not explain what he had witnessed at the robbery tonight. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Sho was a fledgling vampire, with those moves. Luka had never said anything aobut humans being able to pull those kinda of tricks.

Sho stared at the floor, mumbling as low as he could get away with. "I've been watching you, when we pull a job. So... I started practicing. It took a long while, a lot of training, but sometimes, when you move like you do, I can almost follow. It's like riding a wave. You move, and I can too. It's hard, like trying to surf on that wave you make with no board, but if I concentrate really hard, I can sometimes follow along." Sho sighed, and continued. "I wanted to be better, I wanted to be able to keep up with you, so you don't feel like I'm just using you. I want to be able to do those things, like you."

Kei took a moment to think. It was true, when Luka was still around, the two of them could move in concert, one seeming to read the mind of the other. Luka had explained that all vampires could do this, if they worked at it. It was a connection that was between them, a trust in each other that was very rare amongst vampires, which were usually solitary creatures out of self preservation instincts. So it was technically possible. But Sho was not a vampire, how could he do that? How could Sho really do what he did, without vampirism fueling that power?

Was it all based on trust? Did Sho trust him that much? That was a sobering thought.

"I think I understand. Sho, you know what I am. And you know my limitations. I never thought that you... well, let's just say I was not expecting this to happen. This is not something I was prepared to deal with." Kei sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "We're going to need to work on it though. It will certainly surprise anyone who comes against us." Kei offered a grin. "Next time though, give me a little more warning. You almost got your head blown off with that stunt. Deal?"

Sho grinned in return. "Deal."