…
[Flashback of the day before Ash died in his previous life]
Outside a convenience store, a young man in his early twenties with short black hair was smoking leisurely as he sat at one of the tables while looking at the document on the table with a thoughtful expression.
'Hufft… I guess this is the time for me to retire and spend more time with Laura and Lucas.' Ash let out a long sigh as a thick cloud of smoke escaped his mouth.
The document was a medical checkup that he received after checking his health thoroughly a few days ago.
In a nutshell, it stated that he had a serious injury and he might die because of it in the near future if it was not treated properly. However, even if he started to get the proper treatment, the chance of it being cured was almost impossible.
Which was why Ash was thinking about a lot of things after he got the results and finally decided to retire from fighting as an underground MMA fighter.
As to why he fought in a more brutal underground fight instead of an official fight, it was because he had a bad record of beating up people badly a couple times. Fortunately, he had never gotten into a jail since what he did back then mostly could be said to be self-defense, or the problem was resolved amicably.
One of the worst cases was when he beat up three people badly, to the point that they even had at least a broken bone each. Ash did that because these people were bullying and had beaten up his brother quite badly and made his little sister cry because his brother was bedridden for a few days.
Ever since his parents died five years ago from a car accident, Ash had become protective towards his brother and little sister, as he felt the responsibility as the oldest.
Because of the death of his parents, he decided to take a high-risk job and the fittest job for him, as he was good at fighting since he practiced martial arts from the age of 5.
…
After coming back from the convenience store, Ash stood silently in front of the old apartment door, staring blankly for about a minute before finally pulling out a key and unlocking it.
"Big Brother!!"
Ash heard his little sister's voice as he opened the door.
A cute little girl dressed in white clothes who seemed to be around 8 years old was running towards him as she opened her arms widely.
"Laura, where's Lucas? Is he home?" Ash asked affectionately, embracing his sister tightly and gently stroking her hair.
"Oh! Brother Lucas is on the sofa watching football!" Laura said excitedly. Her eyes sparkled when she noticed the bag in Ash's hand. "What did you buy?"
"I brought lots of chicken wings for our dinner," Ash replied warmly, raising the bag filled with two buckets of freshly bought chicken wings. "We're going to have a feast tonight!"
"Wow, really? Yay!" Laura jumped with excitement, immediately dashing towards the kitchen. Soon, the sound of plates clinking echoed through the apartment.
Ash only shook his head at his little sister's behavior and immediately walked towards his room to put the documents that he hid underneath his shirt before walking towards the sofa.
Lucas lay lazily on the sofa, scrolling through his phone during the football match's halftime.
"Lucas, let's have a chat after this." Ash said as he sat down and looked at his brother.
"Huh? Sure." Lucas was confused as his brother became a little bit strange but still answered with a nod before switching his attention back to his phone.
…
A short while later, Ash stood by his bedroom door and motioned Lucas to follow him. "Lucas, let's talk now."
He then turned to Laura with a reassuring smile. "Laura, you can eat the rest of the chicken wings by yourself. I will talk to Lucas for a bit, okay?"
"Okay!" Laura replied by raising her little hand before continuing to eat happily.
Inside his room, Ash retrieved the hidden documents and seated himself on the bed, placing a wooden chair in front of him. "Sit down and close the door," he instructed.
Lucas had a hunch that his brother probably wanted to discuss something important with him since a similar situation had happened a few times before.
"Read this." Ash threw the documents to Lucas after he sat down on the chair.
"Don't be surprised about it. Stay quiet, as there are things I need to explain afterward." Ash then opened the window beside him before taking out a cigarette and lighting it up.
Ash noticed that his brother's expression became sadder as he read further, and then he noticed that his brother was about to cry. Ash then put down the cigarette on the window's handle before putting his hand on his brother's shoulder and saying with a serious expression.
"Lucas, listen carefully. First of all, please don't tell Laura about this, understand?"
"Okay, but… Brother—" Lucas nodded and wanted to say something before getting interrupted by Ash.
"I know what you're thinking, but don't persuade me to get proper treatment, as it would be such a waste of money since I don't think that it would work either." Ash said gently but firmly.
"Remember, you'll need money for a good university in a few months, and in the future, Laura will also need more money for her studies too." Ash said with a smile as he patted her brother's shoulder.
"Brother, I can get a job to help, and I can even delay my studies! But your health can't be delayed, even if the chance is slim, but there's still hope, you know. Let's go to the hospital right now!" Lucas expressed his opinion and wanted to stand up, but Ash stopped him from doing so by putting both of his hands on Lucas's shoulder and pressing him to sit down again.
"Lucas, sit down and listen to me. I've already thought about it thoroughly since a few hours ago. This is my final decision and probably the best decision I have made in my entire life."
Lucas finally broke down into tears, overwhelmed by grief. Ash comforted him, rubbing his head soothingly.
"It's alright. I'll have more time to spend with you and Laura from now on. Honestly, I knew this day might come ever since I decided to become an underground MMA fighter. It's a dangerous job, but it was the only way to make enough money after Mom and Dad passed away. Their savings could only last a few years, and I wanted to ensure you both could attend good universities."
"However, you know that it would be extremely hard for me to find a job with a high salary since I didn't even graduate from high school because of an incident back then after beating up these bastards. Which was why I decided to become an underground MMA fighter back in the day." Ash said with a smile as he helped to wipe his brother's tears.
"Brother… I am sorry. Because of me, you—"
Looking at his brother became even sadder as he felt guilty. Ash then interrupted Lucas as he rubbed his hair and said with a smile,
"Hey, what's done is done, you know? Anyway, I have no regrets about the choices I made. Thankfully, my years in underground fighting have given us enough savings for your education and a bit extra. Plus, my life insurance will cover Laura's future expenses too."
"Wahhh, brother, please don't say that!" Lucas couldn't suppress his emotion anymore when his brother mentioned life insurance money and immediately hugged his brother tightly as if he was afraid that his brother would leave him in the next second.
"Hey, you're grown-up now. Don't cry too loudly, or Laura will hear," Ash patted his brother's back and decided to let him have his moments for a bit.
"Knock… Knock… Knock."
"Big Brother, what's wrong with Brother Lucas? Why is he crying?" Laura knocked on the door and asked as she heard that Lucas was crying from the outside.
"It's nothing. I just told him a sad story. Keep eating the chicken wings by yourself first, okay?" Ash replied.
"Okay." Laura responded before walking to the living room again to continue eating the chicken wings while watching her favorite cartoon on Utube.
After a minute or so, Ash let go of the hug and stood up and said, "Go wash your face and join us in the living room later."
"Okay." Lucas replied with a nod.
Ash then hid the documents before changing his clothes and going to the living room, as it was drenched with tears and snot.
The next day, the trio spent the entire day together, making precious memories by shopping, playing arcade games, watching movies, and capturing happy moments in photo booths, etc.
…
That evening, Ash lay comfortably in bed, Laura cuddled on his left side and Lucas on his right.
"How was it? Did you have fun today?" Ash asked softly, gently stroking her hair.
"Hmmm… hmmm, today was the best day ever!" Laura exclaimed, hugging him tightly.
"Oh right, Laura. I just want to say that you're the most important person to me. No matter what happens in the future, just know that your big brother loves you the most, okay?" Ash said with a bitter smile as he continued patting her little sister's head softly.
Laura squeezed Ash warmly. "Laura knows. Laura loves Big Brother the most, too!"
She paused briefly before excitedly climbing over Ash and wedging herself playfully between him and Lucas. "Of course, Laura also loves Brother Lucas!"
Lucas couldn't contain his emotion again, tears started to form at the corner of his eyes as he hugged both Laura and Ash tightly.
"Remember, you have to be strong mentally and physically for Laura in the future." Ash smiled bitterly, ruffling Lucas' hair softly.
"Why are you both acting weirdly since yesterday?" Laura asked with a confused expression.
"It's nothing, your brother is probably still affected by the story that I told him yesterday." Ash chuckled.
"Anyway… Let's sleep together like this for today."
…