Brushing aside gloomy thoughts, Kenshin fetched a stool and wrench, then began unscrewing the tank's fittings. After five minutes of grumbling, he managed to loosen them all and removed the bottom part. Lowering it, he eyeballed measurements and noted plans for the future formation.
With knowledge of formation creation acquired, he'd first gotten blueprint skills, as if studying them for years, but while his basics were top-level, he lacked reflexive memory, risking errors.
Having scaled it and planned the work, Kenshin nodded to himself, climbed down, and began inscribing runes on the tank's bottom. He approached it meticulously, and the blueprint took about fifteen minutes. Setting the finished part aside, he climbed up again and even more carefully inscribed runes inside the second part. This took twice as long; by the end, sweat poured from him, and his arms refused to lift, but he pushed through and finished.
Screwing the bottom back in minutes later, he inscribed an unknown symbol on the outside, and the tank's inner runes glowed bluish before fading.
"Seems I did it right, no errors. If I mess up a simple water heating formation, tackling anything complex would be too dangerous..." Kenshin murmured thoughtfully, hoping it worked, but he could only check in half an hour. The formation drew ambient world energy, converting it to heat, warming the water to eighty degrees Celsius, then switching to passive mode to keep it hot.
Kenshin rolled his stiff shoulders and left the bathroom. Entering the living room, he saw Aya sitting on the floor by the bookshelf, holding an open book, chuckling quietly. Noticing him, she turned and said,
"Kenshin, look at these funny books! An old couple tried to bake bread, but the dough came alive and ran away! Ha-ha-ha, then a fox ate it! But foxes don't eat bread... Or do they?" Aya murmured thoughtfully, stopping her laughter.
The young man sat beside her, gently stroked her head, and asked, "Can you read?"
"Uh-huh, but poorly. Grandpa taught me a little. As a kid, he told me many tales of the chakra progenitor, the Sage of Six Paths, and the god of shinobi—Hashirama Senju. But I think it's all nonsense. Shinobi are strong, but they can't create a moon or grow a whole forest!"
Kenshin sat beside her, hugged her affectionately, and kissed the back of her head. "They can, and more. Maybe our kids will be even stronger than the First Hokage, or even the Sage of Six Paths..."
"What? Kids? But neither you nor I are shinobi—how could our kids be that strong? Besides, by then we'd be old folks..." Aya murmured with a sigh.
"Well... Actually, you're already pregnant..." Kenshin said, and before he could continue, Aya exclaimed in shock,
"WHAT?! But..." She was immediately cut off by Kenshin.
"Quiet, let me finish," the young man said, and Aya instantly fell silent. Realizing he'd accidentally used a "commanding tone," he hugged her, pulled her close, and whispered in her ear,
"Don't ask what's happening. I can't tell you everything, but you're pregnant and will give birth in two weeks." As soon as he finished, Aya whipped around, staring at him in shock.
"Don't ask. You can't know, for your own good," Kenshin said with a sigh, pulling her back to him and kissing her sweet cherry lips.
They kissed passionately, and after half a minute, Aya fully relaxed, joyfully wrestling tongues with her beloved man. Kenshin let his hands roam, gently stroking her back, then sliding his right hand forward to cup her small but perfect breast, pinching the nipple. The girl moaned into his mouth and stroked his muscular chest, savoring the relief of his pecs.
After several minutes, Kenshin broke the kiss and said, "Uuuuf, enough. We have lots to do; we'll play later. Come, I'll show you something."
As soon as they entered the bathroom, Aya gasped softly, covering her mouth with her small hand. "God, what is that?" she murmured, staring at the large bathtub at the room's end. She couldn't resist stroking the smooth tiled wall, wondering what it was made of.
The girl had visited Konoha's hot springs and others a few times but never seen such smooth, shiny walls. She thought such splendor must exist only in high officials' or powerful shinobi's bathrooms.
"This is our bathroom. Look..." Kenshin said, grabbing shower gel from the shelf, opening it, and holding it to her face.
She sniffed and widened her eyes. "Mmm, smells so nice... Even rich ladies' perfumes don't smell this good. Where'd you get this perfume?" Aya asked curiously, inhaling and wrinkling her cute nose.
"It's not perfume—it's shower gel. For washing your beautiful body," Kenshin said tenderly, running his right hand down her back and squeezing her small, firm ass.
"Aaah! No wonder I fell for you, Nakayama Kenshin. You're a real flatterer!" Aya purred, pressing her whole body against him. Delighted by her admission, he hugged her tenderly, then introduced the curious beauty to hygiene items from toothpaste to shampoo, razor, and aftershave lotion.
"Hm, need to inscribe a small formation on the razor so the blades don't dull," the young man thought, then moved to the main "wonder."
"Come here, look," he said. "This is the water faucet. Lift this thing, and voila—water flows. Turn left for cold only. Right for hot only. Adjust as you like. Try it." Kenshin stepped aside.
"Wow! No more hauling buckets and heating on the stove forever? Amazing! God, every time I think I've seen it all, you surprise me again, shattering my view of the world..."
"You'll be surprised many more times, sweetie," Kenshin said, hugging her from behind and unbuttoning her shirt. "Now let's freshen up a bit."