CThe next morning Kenshin and Ichiro got ready for Shukuba. Aya was very worried about her son who was going out into the world for the first time, to which Kenshin only rolled his eyes and chuckled quietly, making Ichiro blush and feel embarrassed.
"Mom, stop it!" he declared and after ruffling the hair of "three-year-old" Keiji ran out of the house.
"Take care of yourselves," Aya said, kissing Kenshin on the lips.
"Mm-hm. Everything will be fine. Don't let this sneak drink too much coffee or he won't sleep at night," Kenshin said with a smile and took his son in his arms.
"And you, little bandit, obey mommy, understood?"
"Yes!" little Keiji declared.
Kenshin laughed and handed his son into Aya's arms, then left the house meeting Ichiro at the cave exit.
"Don't be offended by mother. She loves you very much, that's why she cares so much," Kenshin said, adjusting his backpack and heading down the mountain.
"I know… But damn, I'm already an adult, and she treats me like a child!"
"Because you are a child. For her you'll always remain a child, even at fifty. Try to restrain your dissatisfaction, okay?"
"Yes, father…" Ichiro exhaled and followed Kenshin.
*****
By one in the afternoon father and son reached Shukuba and immediately headed to the wine shop. The salesman recognised Kenshin at first glance and greeted him warmly like an old friend.
Five minutes later Kenshin and Ichiro left the wine shop and went to see the sights, mainly to broaden Ichiro's horizons a little.
Ichiro looked like a country bumpkin who came to a big city for the first time. The blue-eyed young man spent most of the time walking with his mouth open, surprised by everything possible.
After an hour of wandering around the city Kenshin and Ichiro visited all the necessary shops and bought various things from spices to clothes, then went to a local eatery to eat. But here Kenshin caught an interesting conversation and listened more closely.
"No, I'm not lying. Why would I lie? Everyone's talking about it, you'll see, by evening this news will be on everyone's lips!" a middle-aged man with a face red from alcohol declared.
"It can't be! The Uchiha clan is one of Konoha's pillars, for the whole clan to be wiped out overnight? What nonsense!" a sturdy man of about forty with a short but thick beard declared, not believing a single word.
"Don't believe me? You'll see! Then you'll be ashamed you didn't believe an old friend…" the red-faced man said with a sigh and tipped back another shot of sake, washing it down with something resembling sauerkraut.
"And you shouldn't make up stories so often for your words to have any weight!" the broad-shouldered man said with a laugh and also tipped back a shot of sake.
"What?! The Uchiha clan was wiped out?! That means Itachi has already left Konoha, and Naruto and Sasuke are 10 years old… The canon is in full swing, and no one will wait for me!" Kenshin thought, shocked by this unexpected news.
"Let's go, Ichiro. No time to hang around," Kenshin declared, paid the cute waitress who had been making eyes at him the whole time, and headed for the exit.
On the way back Kenshin and Ichiro stopped by the same village and this time bought 20 bottles of wine, almost emptying the shop's stock.
At seven in the evening father and son returned home where Aya met them with little Keiji who squealed and threw himself into his father's arms, then looked at his older brother and reached out his arms to him.
Ichiro laughed and took little Keiji in his arms, playing a little with his younger brother.
Then Kenshin and Ichiro took turns showering, and Kenshin first thought that at this rate their apartment would become cramped for everyone. He could rebuild his "refuge" and create more simple showers but decided not to do it yet, assessing that there was still enough space for four people.
After showering everyone gathered at the table and began dinner. Aya cooked rabbit meat in the "oven" with tubers of wild potatoes which were practically no different from ordinary ones.
After dinner Aya and Kenshin went to the bedroom enjoying each other's company. They hadn't been alone for a long time, so they just lay in each other's arms kissing and caressing. Kenshin wisely reasoned that it was too early for sex because cheerful Keiji could run in at any minute, for whom the bedroom was his native room.
Ichiro washed the dishes, and Keiji ran laps from the living room to the kitchen, then suddenly stopped and stared hungrily at the table where a handful of candies bought in the city lay in a vase.
Ichiro, seeing his little brother's gaze, took several candies and put them in his small hands, causing a squeal of joy from the little boy.
"Thank you big bwother!" little Keiji said and hugged Ichiro.
"Ha-ha, you're welcome, Keiji. We're brothers and should help each other!" Ichiro answered with a laugh and ruffled his little brother's hair.
"Mm-hm!" Keiji cheerfully agreed and ran to the bedroom shouting: "Mommy, mommy, Ichiro gave me candy! Look, I brought you one too!"
****
The next, fourth day after Keiji's birth, or the thirty-fifth day after Kenshin's arrival in this world, the whole family after lunch went to the river to relax a bit from routine and let little Keiji feel a happy childhood.
Keiji loved his older brother very much and constantly tried to imitate him. For example, not knowing how to swim, he floundered and decided to swim across the river together with Ichiro but was instantly caught by his attentive mother and spanked on the soft spot.
But closer to evening Kenshin and Ichiro taught the baby to swim, and Keiji didn't want to leave the river he liked so much.
In the evening everyone had dinner and went to bed. This was the last night Keiji was allowed to sleep in the parental bedroom, so he made the most of it, begging mommy to let him sleep on the parental bed. And after long persuasion and grumbling from Kenshin, happy Keiji climbed between father and mother and quickly fell asleep.