Ayase Yukiya woke with a small scream after hearing a door slam open not too far from him. He rolled over to face away from the very unwelcome bundle of energy that had just run into the apartment. It's not that Ayase wasn't a morning person. His older brother, Akihito, was just too much of one. Especially since Ayase had been bar-tending until two in the morning the previous night. He squinted up at the alarm clock that he and his two brothers kept on the window sill.

"Onii-chan, do you know what time it is?" Ayase whined as he buried his head back under his blanket.

Akihito just smiled as he knelt down to tug open the zipper of his younger brother's sleeping bag. "Well the clock says 6:34 but it should say 'Akihito's time to shine!" the older boy laughed before ruffling Ayase's flyaway blond hair."Now get up and get dressed. Ewon is already downstairs clearing the street."

Ayase sat up and stared at his brother with his mouth hanging open a little. He couldn't for a moment think why his other older brother, Ewon, would be down in the streets, of their seriously low income neighborhood, clearing them.

"Why is he doing that?" Ayase asked quietly. He already knew he wouldn't like the answer. He never did when it came to Akihito.

His brother glared at him but it didn't last long. He broke into a grin and playfully punched his brother's shoulder. "I told you last night when you came home from work." His voice was dripping with excitement. "Kou finally managed to borrow his uncle's truck so today is the day we try out the 'Three Brother Vespa Truck Jump'! Don't you remember?"

Ayase stared up at Akihito in horror. "And Ewon agreed to participate in this?"

"Of course he did!" Aki enthusiastically responded. Ayase's eyebrows rose at that answer and Akihito deflated a little before speaking while looking at his nails. "An agreement through blackmail is still a valid agreement. Now get out of bed and get dressed if you don't want me to show your workmates the pictures I took of you snuggling with your teddy."

Akihito was already across the room and opening the door before Ayase could protest. The older blonde turned back around and grinned. "You have five minutes or you are just jumping that truck in your undies."

On that cheerful note, Akihito ran out of the apartment and let the door slam behind him.

Ayase sighed once more before dragging himself out of his sleeping bag. He and his two older brothers shared a tiny studio apartment that was located in one of the poorest parts of Tokyo. It wasn't a far walk from the corner that housed their sleeping bags to the door that held their dirty old toilet and tiny shower. The little blonde brushed his teeth but decided not to shower and just to get dressed. He knew to take Aki's threats seriously.

Ayase only had his work uniform and one other set of clothes. He decided it would be better to wear his street clothes for Aki's little stunt. They would cost far less to replace then his work clothing if his older brother's plan went as wrong as most of his other ones had.

This truck jumping scheme wasn't the first of Akihito's ridiculous ideas. He was twenty year old adrenaline junkie and he would do anything for his next fix of excitement. His job reflected this as well. Akihito worked as a freelance photographer for several different newspapers in the city. They paid him dirt cheap wages to follow around dangerous suspected criminals and get the goods on them. Akihito didn't mind though. They needed the money and he loved the feeling of taking risks.

Ayase's other brother, who was twenty-two and the oldest of the three, was a lot calmer. Ever since their mother had passed away Ewon had done his best to provide for his younger siblings. They were all actually half-brothers so they all had different surnames. There mother had never been able to keep a man for long.

Ewon worked as a waiter at a hotel in Shinjuku. He enjoyed his job as it kept him busy and paid a lot of money but most of Ewon's checks went to paying back old debts their mother had collected. Because of this the three brothers were barely getting by.

Ayase didn't mind though. He was just happy that he was still with his brothers. The only thing that worried him was that they wouldn't have the money to pay for Akihito's hospital bills once he seriously hurt himself trying to pull some stunt. A stunt like the one that he was about to participate in.

Once Ayase was dressed he grabbed the apartment keys and locked up their tiny home. He headed down the stairs and walked nervously out into the road. Ewon had done his job well and no one was out on the street. Ayase looked up and saw that several people were awake and hanging out of their windows though.

The most entertaining thing on this block was Akihito's stunts. A few of the spectators even had popcorn and some had tied boxer shorts to sticks and were waving them around enthusiastically.

Ayase sighed and walked over to his brothers. Ewon and Akihito were both standing next to Aki's Vespa. Ewon didn't look too happy but Ayase could see a small glint of excitement in his blue eyes. Ewon was nothing like Akihito when it came to things like this but he had a strong sense of curiosity that had gotten him into a lot of trouble before. Ayase could tell that his oldest brother still wasn't sure about doing this but that he was excited to see the outcome.

Ewon looked up when he heard Ayase coming and he smiled at his smallest brother. "Mornin Yuki. How was work last night? You got in pretty late."

Ayase yawned involuntarily at his brothers comment. "Work was great but Someya wanted me to stay a little late to help him clean up after a party. I hope I didn't wake you when I came in." Akihito and Ewon both chuckled and walked up to him. Akihito already had his helmet on and was carrying an extra under his arm.

"You know I never go to bed before three and Ewon could sleep through the end of the world without even rolling over." Akihito plopped the helmet down on Ayase's head and began to fasten the straps tightly under his chin.

Ayase took this chance to examine the set up of the street. On one end sat Akihito's old battered up Vespa and on the other end sat something that made him gulp nervously. An old red pickup-truck was parked right in the middle of the road. It had its tailgate down and propped up against it was a narrow wooden board. The board looked thick enough but if Akihito didn't hit it in just the right way the Vespa would just smash into the back of the truck.

Ayase looked up nervously at his older brothers but they both just smiled at him. "Don't look like that Yukiya." Akihito said once he had finished securing his little brother's helmet. "This is going to be great!"

He patted his brother's head and started to jog back over to his Vespa. As Akihito walked he waved his hands at the people in the windows and whooped enthusiastically. People laughed and cheered as he walked by. A few of them even yelled down that they promised to visit his grave if he died.

Hearing this didn't make Ayase feel any better and he glanced over at Ewon for reassurance. His oldest brother just smiled down at him a little nervously and began to walk after Akihito. Ayase sighed and followed his brothers over to the Vespa.

"Now it's a good thing the three of us are so small or else a jump of such magnificence would never be possible!" Akihito said loudly. "We are going to do it once Kou gets back from hooking up the boombox in his apartment. So get your helmet on Ewon; I don't have all day."

"You better drive carefully, Aki." Ewon said as he secured his own helmet. "I have a date tonight and I don't want to miss it by going to the emergency room."

Akihito glared at his brother. "Who are you going out with tonight? I thought you and Jiho broke up after you cheated on him that last time." Ewon winced at this comment but was saved from answering by the appearance of their neighbor, and Akihito's best friend, Kou.

"I got the sound system hooked up and once you guys are on the bike Takato is going to start it up!" Kou said with a wide smile. He and Akihito high fived before Kou ran over to sit in a lawn chair that had been set up for him on the sidewalk.

"Okay are you two ready to do something awesome with your lives?" Akihito asked as he patted his own helmet.

Ewon and Ayase both smiled at their brother's endless enthusiasm. Akihito had more energy than anyone they had ever met. "We are ready if you are Aki." Ewon replied.

"Great!" Akihito said before turning to address the people hanging out of their windows. "Are you guys ready for the show?" He yelled up at the crowd. They all whooped and cheered. Some of the spectators threw shredded bits of paper down at them. The wind scattered the pieces and it looked like confetti.

Ayase couldn't help but laugh at all of the enthusiasm for a silly stunt. This neighborhood might not be the most safe place to live but the people in it were great. They made something as strange as this into a party and that really did a lot to lift all of their spirits.

Akihito was soaking up the cheers and so was Ewon. A few girls had even thrown flowers down to Ayase's oldest brother. When Ewon picked up a rose and winked Ayase was sure he saw one of the girls in a fourth story window faint. The youngest blonde couldn't help but laugh. His older brother was a huge flirt but he had never shown the slightest interest in actually dating a woman before. Ayase was perfectly fine with his brother being gay. He didn't care about things like that. In fact he had a serious suspicion that Akihito might be into men as well.

Before he could think more on that Akihito grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the Vespa. "Okay, so I will be the one driving and Ewon is going to sit behind me." Aki explained. "You will sit behind him and hold on tight to his waist, okay?"

Ayase nodded and waited for both of his brothers to sit on the Vespa. Once they were both seated Ayase climbed on behind them. He didn't have a lot of room and almost all of his but was hanging off the seat. He wrapped his arms tightly around his brother and tried to scoot forward as much as he could. This idea had been even crazier than Ayase had originally thought.

"Is everyone ready?" Akihito shouted to the crowd as he started up the scooter. The spectators cheered some more and Aki laughed as he prepared to take off. The music began to play from a window above and Ayase closed his eyes in fear. He was so scared he felt like he was going to be sick.

He didn't have a lot of time to dwell on this though. About five seconds after the music started the Vespa took off. Akihito started out so fast that Ayase almost fell off. He held on tight to Ewon though and the bike just kept gaining speed. Ayase's long blond hair flew back and the wind burned his face.

Ayase had his eyes shut so he didn't see what happened next. The bike reached the make-shift ramp just fine but when the scooter was halfway up, the board began to break. The weight of the Vespa and the three boys was too much for it. It fell out from under them just as they shot off the end of it.

Because the wood had bent and cracked while the bike had been riding on it the Vespa didn't reach the amount of ift it needed to completely clear the cab of the truck. As the brothers soared over it their back wheel landed on top of the truck and their bike turned sideways.

The crowed gasped and some of the girls screamed as they watched the bike fly threw the air directly towards a large storefront window.

Akihito tried to turn the bike but he could do nothing while their wheels weren't touching the ground. He leaned his head down and tried to loosen his muscles so that the impact would be less likely to break them.

He didn't have time to warn his brothers before they smashed into the thick sheet of glass.