Zero to Hero (Prequel/prototype)

Chapter 20. Guilt

With the sun peeking through his blinds and the sound of laughing children, Ken slowly woke from his slumber. When he tried to turn and get off his bed, he realized there was an arm hugging him around the waist and turning his head, he saw the peaceful sleeping face of Genesis.

Turning to face Genesis, Ken gently pinched one of her cheeks until her face started to twitch.

"Good morning, Ken." Genesis whispered softly with a smile.

"Why can't you girls make it easier for me to focus on my studies. You do realize it benefits you if I get stronger, right?" Ken sighed deeply.

"What if one day you have to fight this super beautiful girl? This is just training to build up your tolerance for cute girls." Genesis suggested with a smirk.

"Why would I ever fight a beautiful girl? If it's in the tournament, I won't have to go easy anyways since everyone is protected."

Choose to pretend she couldn't hear his rebuttal, the pair got out of bed and got ready for the day. After shooing Genesis out of his room, Ken took a quick shower, got dressed and headed down to the living room for breakfast.

Greeted warmly by his siblings, Ken was almost done with breakfast before Genesis finally showed up.

"Do all girls take forever to get ready or is it just you? How early do you have to get up to be ready for classes?" Ken wondered as Genesis sat next to him for breakfast.

After finishing his food, Ken joined his mother in the field to tend to the crops while Genesis stayed in the kitchen to finish up her meal.

"Ken. Are you and Genesis going to get married? What about Emma?" While Ken was helping on the field, Gwen showed up with a concerned look.

"Marriage? I really haven't thought about that even though I am at that age aren't I. After getting selected for the academy, I'm mostly just focused on my studies right now." Ken answered truthfully.

"I can tell she really likes you and that girl we saw in the mirror at the tournament too. Emma looked pretty sad when she saw how close the beastman girl is with you."

"You know Gwen, before I left for the academy, I never looked at Emma any different from the rest of you. Even when you put it like this, I don't know if she actually sees me as anything more than her brother."

"Ken, I know you are too smart to pretend that Emma doesn't have feelings for you. If you don't feel that way about her, then you need to tell her straight so you don't hurt her any longer."

"Look at how much you have grown so quickly, Gwen. It's not really a lie that I never looked at Emma that way, it's more because of our situation, I couldn't allow myself to think about it.

What sort of life could I have offered her? Up until I got accepted to the academy, I just wanted to escape. Don't tell anyone else this but my original plan was to leave and go travel the world and live off the land after I failed the selection and just disappear like our older siblings did when they turned 15.

I was exhausted from the burden, I wanted to escape, to run away, to be free. But when I saw how much you all struggled like I and Emma did when our old siblings left and what Emma had to do to support the family while I was living my life selfishly, eating great food, learning from the greatest professors and flirting with cute girls.

I don't know what to feel right now. I feel guilty, I feel sorry for you all because I'm such a terrible brother and I feel the worst for Emma and not sure how I should even face her anymore." Ken answered while deep in thought reflecting on all of the decisions he had made.