"Mama, get up! Kenshin said it's time for breakfast!" Karin exclaimed joyfully, tugging at Keiko's sleeve.
"Mmm..." Keiko murmured sleepily, and only after a few seconds jolted in shock.
"No need to fear. You're safe," Kenshin said calmly, and seeing how hard it was for the exhausted woman to get up, offered her a hand.
"Thank you..." she replied with a soft smile and couldn't help glancing into Kenshin's incredibly deep eyes.
"Mama, you have to try this!" Karin stated joyfully and handed her a plate of buckwheat porridge laden with plenty of fat and meat.
"I can't believe you have so much with you..." she murmured and stroked her daughter's head.
Keiko hadn't eaten a bite of what Karin offered, so Kenshin heated another can of porridge and handed her the plate.
"Thank you," she replied with a smile, then turned to her daughter and said: "Darling, are you full? Here, eat. You need to eat well."
"Mom, I'm full," Karin shook her head, having eaten a whole plate of high-calorie porridge.
Kenshin decided not to interfere and once again noted the woman's incredibly developed maternal instinct. She cared nothing for herself and was ready to give everything to her last to her child. He hoped her attachment to future children would be much less than to her daughter.
Pondering maternal instinct, he couldn't help thinking of Aya. He couldn't imagine what was going on in her soul and hoped nothing had happened in his absence. Such thoughts inevitably led him to reflections on achieving his goals. He dreaded imagining what would happen to his wives if several sons didn't return home.
"Thank you, sir," Keiko said softly, finishing her meal. Even in her weakened state, she hadn't lost her natural grace and poise.
"No need for thanks. And I'm not 'sir' to you—call me by name," he replied, to which Keiko just smiled warmly.
After a hasty breakfast, the whole squad switched to forced march again. Kenshin expected nasty surprises until the last, but all went well. With breaks every three hours, all members of the Nakayama Family finally entered their territory by five in the evening.
Almost all Family members not on guard duty came out to meet them. The women first scanned all the returnees and sighed in relief.
Hitomi ignored even her own sons' wounds upon seeing Kenshin's condition. She rushed straight into his arms and glared menacingly at Twenty Second, who warily shrank his neck and looked for a corner to hide from his mother's righteous wrath.
"Have you completely lost your shame? Why is there not a single uninjured spot on him again?!" Hitomi hissed, barely holding back from giving the useless pupil a solid whack. In matters of Medical Ninjutsu, she completely ignored family ties and treated her sons like pupils.
"I did everything I could, Mom... Dad is so stubborn and listens to no one. Even after a severe stroke, he still rushes to the front lines!" Twenty Second complained, feeling the injustice and deciding to redirect his mother's anger to the main culprit, knowing she couldn't be mad at Kenshin.
"Idiot..." Ichiro said with a sigh and gave his younger brother a slap.
Twenty Second belatedly realized he'd called Kenshin "father" in front of outsiders and now looked at Hitomi and Kenshin with a guilty gaze, expecting their displeasure.
"Stop arguing and let's go inside," Kenshin said tiredly, having no desire to scold his son. If before he could even raise a hand to misbehaving children, after losing Eighth, he'd become much more tolerant of their misdeeds.
Meanwhile, Keiko stood silently, trying to hide her surprise. She didn't understand why an adult guy called Kenshin his father, but after some thought, concluded that her benefactor's identity was more mysterious than anything she'd encountered in her life.
Kenshin hugged each wife in turn, paying special attention to Aya. There was no joy in her eyes, but the lessening of her all-consuming grief was a good sign.
His wives couldn't help noticing the red-haired woman and her little copy but wisely stayed silent, letting their husband decide when to introduce them.
Makoto, meanwhile, kept glancing at little Karin. She couldn't wait to meet the new girl and play together. All the other girls were much more mature, and she often had no one to play with.
Once inside the walls of his native mansion, Kenshin finally sighed in relief. Hitomi insisted on an immediate medical check, so Kenshin briefly introduced Keiko and Karin, entrusting Meyumi to help them choose a room, and headed to the infirmary himself.
"You can choose one of these rooms. Kenshin showed great generosity letting both of you live in the elite part of the castle, so it's in your interest to behave quietly so he doesn't change his mind, understood?" Meyumi said authoritatively, deciding to take initiative and put the new woman in her place right away.
"Y-yes, ma'am. We won't cause any trouble," Keiko replied meekly, not intending to argue with this young, beautiful girl who was likely one of Kenshin's wives.
"Good. My Kenshin is a very powerful man, and his abilities are immeasurable. Have you ever seen such magnificent clothes? He made all this," Meyumi stated proudly, pulling a beautiful blue sundress with flowers from the wardrobe, and an identical one much smaller.
"Th-this is incredible!" Keiko said in shock, discovering a huge amount of clothes not just for herself but for little Karin too.
"Wow, Mom, so pretty! I want to try it on!" Karin stated joyfully.
"You need to wash up first. I can't imagine how my beloved Kenshin endured that stench!" Meyumi snorted, wrinkling her nose at the somewhat unkempt appearance of mother and daughter.
Hearing this remark about herself, Keiko felt incredibly ashamed and, leaning toward her daughter, gently stroked her cheek.
"She's joking. You're my sweet bun, and you smell only of sweetness," she said with a smile and kissed her daughter, on the verge of tears, on the forehead.
Meyumi paid no attention to this and headed to the bathroom, then called out to mother and daughter.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up, I don't have time for you," Meyumi shouted discontentedly, and Keiko hurried to the bathroom where hot water was already filling the tub.
Over the next five minutes, Meyumi briefly explained the facilities and showed them a bar of ordinary laundry soap, deciding it was more than enough for two stray cats.
"After washing, put on something nice but not provocative, and wait. You're forbidden to leave this room without permission. Someone will call you for dinner. Clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Keiko replied meekly, and after Meyumi left, helped her daughter undress, undressed herself, and climbed into the fairly large tub.
Karin joyfully jumped into the hot water and started splashing. It was her first time experiencing something like this, and she was delighted. Keiko didn't interfere with her daughter's play and enjoyed the relaxing warmth of the hot water herself.
She carefully washed her beloved daughter, then washed herself, touching nothing but that one bar of soap. She knew the value of the various aromatic oils in beautiful bottles and didn't want a scolding for wasting valuables.