Half an hour later, Kenshin gathered necessities, donned the exo-suit, and went to Noriko's room.
"Put on this suit," he said gently, anger nearly gone.
"Keep it," Noriko replied, not touching the offered suit and trying to pass him.
"Put it on," Kenshin said more menacingly, boiling again at her blatant disobedience.
"It'll get ruined anyway if I use my ability," Noriko replied somewhat softer.
"I'll make you a new one. Put it on," he said seriously, tired of endless arguments.
Noriko shrugged, stripped naked again in seconds, then donned the exo-suit's components swiftly.
Kenshin couldn't help admiring her stunning figure in the form-fitting suit. He didn't understand his strong pull to this unruly girl but suspected the mutual ritual. He'd considered making her a concubine to avoid affecting his feelings, but didn't want her as an outcast in his family, so made her a full wife.
Explaining to his wives that their beloved husband was leaving home direction unknown was hardest. They were furious and wanted to vent at the main culprit. But Kenshin wasn't in the mood for arguments and nearly dragged Noriko away, nipping the budding quarrel.
With the sons, it was simpler. They weren't used to questioning orders, but Ichiro and Fifteenth worried intensely for their father and followed reluctantly. Their friendly looks at Noriko turned sullen and disapproving. They knew nighttime hunting desire came only from her and firmly disapproved of such irresponsibility.
"You didn't want fights with your bitches, but made them hate me," Noriko said calmly, perched on a tree.
"They don't hate you. Just be gentler with them and don't seek adventures at night. Could I let you go alone? Send someone else instead of me? You wouldn't listen to anyone and be utterly unmanageable," Kenshin sighed heavily from the branch opposite Noriko.
"Pff, as if you could make me obedient…" she said, pushing off the tree with her feet and leaping far away.
Kenshin raced after her, zigzagging through the forest for several minutes in an attempt to catch the girl joyfully bounding through the woods. She was in absolute rapture from the intoxicating feeling of freedom, so Kenshin had to put in a little effort to catch her and make her stop.
"What are you clinging to?! Get off! Go play your calf affections with your bitches, and don't interfere with my hunt!" she snapped in a displeased tone, twisting out of his grip and leaping onto a tree.
"You're racing around the entire forest for no reason, that's not hunting! If there are enemy shinobi in this forest, they've already spotted us!" he growled, pouring even more psionics into his muscles. In the next second, Noriko was caught again.
"I'm ready to face any enemy at any time! Worry about yourself!" she said, fiercely puffing up as she tried to break free from his firm grip.
"What's wrong with you?!" Kenshin shouted, pulling her down from the tree to the ground.
Noriko tucked into a ball mid-flight and landed on her feet without issue. Her slightly yellowish eyes flashed predatorily, and she lunged into an attack without a word.
"Calm down!" he exclaimed in shock, barely dodging her thrust.
This went on for about a minute. Kenshin kept dodging and trying to reason with the frenzied girl with words until he finally lost his temper enough to intercept her strike and hurl Noriko into the nearest tree.
Crashing back-first into a large tree, Noriko instantly bounced aside and flashed her eyes with unprecedented excitement. She charged at Kenshin again and again, who was growing angrier by the second.
Noriko stubbornly refused to heed his calls to stop, and after attacking him once more, she solidly struck him in the chest, sending him flying dozens of meters.
"Why are you doing this?!" Kenshin demanded, nearly breathing steam from his nostrils.
"To command me, you have to be the chieftain. But you're just a pup who thinks he can lead the pack with tenderness!" Noriko growled.
"You want me to show myself as chieftain? Fine!" he snarled, vanishing from where he stood. Appearing in front of Noriko, he delivered a straight punch to her face, holding nothing back.
"That's better. In my tribe, you'd have earned the right to carry beast carcasses from the hunt!" Noriko declared with loud laughter, rising from the ground after blocking the blow.
"I don't understand why you're angering me, but you clearly want a real fight. You'll get it." Kenshin said with a heavy sigh. He hadn't wanted to use force against his wife until the last, but she kept provoking him.
Noriko grinned in anticipation and rushed to meet him, exchanging dozens of hand-to-hand strikes that destroyed part of the nearby trees. In the end, their exchange ended in mutual punches to the face, and the newlyweds flew apart in opposite directions.
"You're just crazy!" Kenshin said, spitting out saliva with a knocked-out tooth, then laughed. At that moment, he didn't care anymore. He even started getting a little pleasure from venting his negative emotions.
"I'm sure even Makoto hits harder than you!" Noriko said with a laugh. Her teeth were much stronger than Kenshin's, so she just spat a bit of blood and charged into another attack.
They kept exchanging blows, building speed. At some point, Noriko completely lost herself in the magnificent feeling of a real fight and lost control. Her body seemed to swell; not just her muscles, but her bones grew much larger, and her strikes gained extra power, speeding up only slightly.
"Stop!" Kenshin shouted too late, but it was too late. The strongest blow hit him square in the chest, sending him flying, crashing through one tree with his back and countless branches from the next ones.