On the 441st day, exactly what Kenshin had long awaited happened. Waking early, he spent minutes unable to grasp what was happening. Every thought echoed in his head, nearly panicking him into thinking he was going mad.
Barely composing thoughts, realization hit: this was what he'd strived for. So glad at second consciousness stream awakening, he joyfully scooped up waking Makoto approaching the window, pressing her to him. She didn't falter, instantly locking legs behind his back.
"What happened?" she asked with a smile, hugging his neck.
"I made a grand breakthrough! Now we have better chances to prepare for coming chaos!" he replied joyfully, tenderly kissing her cherry lips.
With each day, he saw Makoto less as little sister and more her blooming sexuality. He couldn't and didn't want to resist her flirtations and full readiness for adult life, but delayed final union as much as possible.
Opened prospects were far weightier than first glance. Kenshin's brain was key in sons' achievements, linking and largely analyzing ninjutsu/taijutsu experience.
Lately, analysis tasks ballooned beyond capacity, so Kenshin couldn't handle info volume and consciously slowed some areas, prioritizing others.
After shower, he fully immersed in comprehending new ability, adapting only after hours to this totally new sensation. Like writing two different text pages simultaneously with left/right hands, but several times harder. Even rich psionic control and environment probing experience only slightly sped second stream adaptation.
Kenshin couldn't help thinking of Nagato, who seemingly split consciousness into six streams with barely quality loss per stream. He wasn't fully sure Pain used true full consciousness split, as this world had tons of insane/"impossible" techniques.
However, he couldn't dedicate the entire day to training, even if he really wanted to. The closer Noriko got to giving birth, the more nervous and aggressive she became. That's why Kenshin had to stay nearby all the time, dissipating the aggression that quickly built up.
"Don't Touch!" Noriko half-growled, half-whined, lying on the modern medical Bed.
"Shh, calm down. It'll all be over soon..." Kenshin whispered tenderly, stroking her head.
"Don't touch me! Last time I didn't even have time to blink before you did your dirty deed, and now I'm lying here!" she hissed, hitting Kenshin on the arm.
"Shut up. You're whining worse than the most pampered girl! You're no warrior—you're a crybaby!" Hitomi declared, not hesitating for a second over her choice of words.
"Wh-what?! How dare you, you cow! I am a real warrior!" Noriko exclaimed in shock, instantly suppressing all her sobs.
Kenshin just shook his head but didn't continue the conversation. He decided to use a much more effective way to calm the wild beauty—namely, the TV.
As soon as Noriko saw the group of hunters on the screen driving their prey, she immediately fell silent. Her pupils narrowed, and her attention focused on the incredible hunting process. She was completely immersed in what was happening on the screen, feeling the same emotions as during a wonderful hunt.
To Kenshin's surprise, the birth process went much more smoothly than he expected. Noriko winced in pain only a few times but continued breathing steadily, not taking her eyes off the TV. However, as soon as she heard the pitiful cry of a baby, Noriko felt something like a Lightning strike and instantly demanded the child.
"Give! Quick!" she growled, staring at Kenshin with a blazing gaze.
"Shh, little one, here, go to mommy..." Kenshin whispered tenderly, handing the small bald bundle back to its mother.
Noriko wordlessly pressed the baby to her chest and let it taste her mother's milk. Only then did the baby quiet down and eagerly begin to suck, doing everything in its power to draw milk from its mother's breast.
Kenshin silently watched Noriko's actions as she carefully wrapped the baby in soft but warm fabric and began stroking it. Tears involuntarily flowed from her eyes, and she only held the child tighter.
"I never thought she could awaken maternal instinct at the very last moment..." Hitomi whispered, instantly softening toward the unruly and wild girl.
"Congratulations, dear. Talent Level 40! Eat up, Forty-Second baby, and grow into a strong warrior!" Kenshin said joyfully, receiving a child with the highest talent score.
"My baby will be the strongest warrior in our tribe and will easily push aside his older brothers!" Noriko declared, without a shred of doubt.
Kenshin was overjoyed at the birth of such a talented son and spent a lot of time with him and Noriko until even the incredibly resilient warrior woman finally fell into a deep sleep. He just kissed them both and quietly left the delivery room, letting them rest.
The following days completely absorbed Kenshin. In addition to the huge volume of work, an equally huge burden of attention to his women fell on him. And although the TV helped distract most of the wives, Keiko and Makoto still demanded attention.
However, while Keiko just wanted to be near Kenshin and talk to him for hours about everything under the sun, and Makoto only wanted to sleep in his Bed, Noriko's behavior surprised him the most.
The new mother had no intention of making allowances for the baby's age, and as soon as he started walking, she began training. Kenshin resisted this approach for a while but then realized its effectiveness. Forty-Second baby was a true son of his mother and perceived these trainings as incredibly fun games, even if he could hit himself quite painfully.
Falls and bruises didn't stop the baby at all, and he displayed one of the best qualities not inherent in all of Kenshin's sons—namely, persistence. He was so unrestrained that he could growl at his own mother when something didn't work out. Even her cuffs didn't make him change his attitude, and he only got angrier until Noriko finally gave in and, unable to beat her beloved child, pressed him to her.
The only one Forty-Second feared and respected was his father. Kenshin was much kinder than Noriko and only spoiled the baby, not considering it necessary to train him while he was growing, but he didn't oppose Noriko's interesting experiment, knowing how unusual her Kekkei Genkai was.