"What a strong bastard..." Kenshin muttered, standing before the mirror after washing with cold water. Overnight, the pain eased, and his mind cleared.
"Where the hell does a half-baked genin get such strength?! He obviously didn't use chakra for movement or strikes! So his strength and speed should be like a normal human's, right?" The young man argued with himself mentally.
"Either the brute has natural aptitude for physical strength and speed, or something's off, and this world differs from the screen in yet another way!" He noted, recalling numerous inconsistencies in characters' speed and strength across situations.
"In the Orochimaru fight, Hiruzen's punches—one of the strongest shinobi—weren't much stronger than that Koga scum! But in other scenes, weaker shinobi casually shattered big rocks with punches! Either Kishimoto twisted it here too, or this is a completely different world..." Kenshin pondered as he prepared for the road.
It was seven a.m., and he hoped to slip out of the city quietly, betting the previous night's thugs were dead drunk asleep.
Skipping breakfast, Kenshin snuck out the back and fast-walked to the city exit. Only after half an hour did he sigh in relief, tail-free.
Returning to the cache, he grabbed his backpack and headed home, where his beloved girl awaited.
Kenshin returned home at noon, the sun blazing high. It was two p.m., and hugging the squealing girl at his arrival, he went to the bathroom for a cold shower.
Throwing on his robe, he somehow made it to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, pulling Aya to him and burying his face in her tender neck, inhaling her floral scent. It was hard for Kenshin to lie on his side, let alone on his stomach, so he turned over onto his back, and his robe parted slightly, revealing to the girl's eyes a large blue bruise covering half his abdomen.
"Ah! God, Kenshin, what is that?! Lord..." the girl exclaimed, covering her mouth with her palm, shocked by what she saw.
"It's nothing, it'll go away in a few days," Kenshin replied calmly, not wanting to draw attention to it or cause worry for the pregnant girl.
"How is that 'nothing'?! God, hold on, sweetie, I'll be right back!" Aya said, and dashed out of the bedroom.
She returned fifteen minutes later with a small jar in her hands and a long strip of white cloth.
"Grandma taught me to gather medicinal herbs and make ointment from them," she said, and fully parted the young man's robe, applying the thick greenish ointment all over his abdomen. Then she bandaged the injured spot and kissed him on the lips.
"There, all done. Now rest—you need more sleep. I'll wake you before dinner," Aya said tenderly, stroking the young man's cheek, and left the bedroom, letting the exhausted Kenshin fall into a deep sleep.
The remaining few days before Aya's due date, Kenshin recovered and only did light work. He barely managed to set up the "aging formation," spending about eight hours on it. And now the five bottles of purchased wine aged a year in a single day. The young man decided not to risk it and age the wine ten years, fearing suspicion from more expensive, higher-quality wine.
"Samurai Blade" wine of ten-year vintage cost 500 ryō per bottle, ten times the original price. A bottle of twenty-year vintage cost a hundred times the original, and connoisseurs snapped it up like hotcakes for 5000-7000 ryō per bottle. Kenshin knew that producing ten-year vintage wine was the limit without trouble, while five bottles of twenty-year vintage would send him to an early grave.
Aya's belly had grown huge, and she struggled with housework, spending most of her time resting, awaiting the baby's arrival any day. Thirteen days had passed since conception, and Kenshin was on pins and needles, preparing towels, sheets, and several bleeding-stopping pills that Aya had taken from home. These pills were quite expensive and mainly made for shinobi.
The "blood clotting" pill cost about 200 ryō each, and most peasants kept one tablet in a safe place. The pill wasn't all-powerful—it only accelerated clotting without harm to the body—but it stopped bleeding from a damaged vein poorly, merely reducing blood loss to let the patient survive to the hospital. Arterial bleeding was out of the question. Only an iryonin could stop such severe bleeding.
"Ah, God, Kenshin! Kenshin!" Aya screamed.
Kenshin, training in the gym, rushed into the living room as if scalded and saw the girl's frightened expression.
"What happened? Already?!" he asked.
"Y-yes, I think my water broke..." Aya replied in panic. And then the young man noticed the wet spot on her sundress and a small puddle on the floor.
Kenshin froze in shock for a second, then snapped out of it and commanded, "Okay, do everything we agreed on." He carefully led Aya to the bedroom and helped her onto the bed.
Aya lay down, showing no signs of contractions. Five minutes passed, and the girl calmed down, chatting with the young man, when suddenly her smile froze and her eyes widened.
"Ah, God, Kenshin... Uuuf, it looks like it's starting!" Aya groaned, and began breathing steadily as the young man had taught her.
"Shh, calm down and just breathe. Don't get nervous," Kenshin soothed her, stroking her head.
"Uuuuf, okay..." Aya exhaled, trying to calm herself.