The next half hour was spent in long conversation. Aya told Kenshin about herself, that her parents died when she was little, becoming victims of the Third Shinobi World War. And although they usually tried not to touch civilians, her parents moved in the same caravan with several Konoha shinobi, and the entire caravan was slaughtered by a sabotage detachment from Iwagakure.
Little Aya remained under the care of her grandparents. Her grandmother was a dressmaker and taught the girl the craft. And her grandfather was a carpenter, and often worked in Konoha, from where he brought his little granddaughter a lot of sweets and fascinating stories. Aya's grandmother died two years ago, and half a year ago her grandfather died, leaving the young girl an orphan.
After listening to the girl's touching story, Kenshin pressed her closer to him and hurried to calm her down when he saw two small trails of tears.
He conducted several experiments, identifying the degree of control over her, and found out that the girl's personality had not changed, but she was ready to fulfill any of his requests or orders. Terrified of the prospect of unknowingly harming the girl by saying something that would be taken as an order, Kenshin discussed with her the basics of her submission, assuring her that she had the right to challenge his words or opinions, but must obey immediately if his tone of voice became icy and as serious as possible. The young man decided that such methods of differentiation were the only thing that would help them maintain a semblance of a normal life.
While they were talking, the vegetable soup on the stove was finally ready, and the couple began to eat breakfast. Kenshin made a note to find at least a map of the area, and preferably the whole world. Unfortunately, the girl didn't have one like this at home.
As soon as they ate and Aya began to wash the dishes, there was a loud knock on the door and an impatient cry: "Aya, open up!" The old woman from the store blurted out that she saw you with some guy! Who is he? Open up, damn it!
Anger began to boil in Kenshin's chest, and he headed towards the door, wearing only his pants and no shirt.
- Get out, Aya is busy and doesn't want to see you. - Kenshin said, opening the door and seeing a fat man with a sweaty face in front of him. He only opened his mouth in shock and froze with his hand raised for the next knock.
- Oh, you whore! – Kaito shouted and tried to step inside, but was punched in the nose and took a few steps back, falling from the porch on his ass.
The fat man stared at Kenshin in shock, unable to utter a word, blood pouring from his broken nose, running down his lips and chin.
- You... You! You're in deep trouble! Do you know who you hit?! Just wait, you and this whore will regret everything! – Kaito shouted angrily, and when he saw Kenshin heading towards him, he quickly jumped to his feet and ran away at full speed in a random direction.
"Damn, this just wasn't enough…" Kenshin muttered with a sigh, walking back into the house and closing the door behind him. He realized that plans for the move needed to be accelerated to the maximum, and entering the kitchen, he told Aya to get ready for the trip.
The girl did not resist this decision in any way, and only asked where and for how long. Kenshin said that forever, and ordered her to pack light things, and he began to load the bags with a small amount of provisions, literally for a few days, but he collected all the salt and spices, not forgetting to grab a first aid kit.
He understood that he would inevitably forget something valuable, but there was simply no time. He really didn't want to be that "inept patriarch" who would be beaten to death by several ordinary people. He did not consider himself super strong, and sensibly assessed his chances against a bunch of people with weapons, albeit homemade ones.
Half an hour later, Kenshin and Aya finished packing two large backpack bags of things, and quietly slipped out of the house, leaving through the backyard in an "unknown direction."
Another half hour later, the door of Aya's house was knocked down, and five gangster-looking men broke in. Having broken the whole house, they began to question the neighbors, but they never found any clues about where the young girl had suddenly gone, and the "enemy village spy" who took the poor girl hostage, brainwashed her, and abused her. This is exactly how Kaito presented this story, wanting to find an excuse for future reprisals.
****
Once outside the village, Kenshin stopped and asked Aya: "Is there a hard-to-reach uninhabited area somewhere nearby?" The more inaccessible, the better!
The girl thought for a few seconds and said: "Mmm, to the east of the village there is a large forest that grows into large and impassable mountains, but it takes several hours to get to the forest...
- Great, what you need! Lead. – The young man answered with enthusiasm, pleased with at least such a small success.
The young man and the girl headed in the right direction, carrying large bags with things, but fortunately for them, they never caught anyone's eye. After three hours of walking, they approached the forest and sat down to rest in the thicket. Kenshin blamed himself for not taking more water on the road. The wineskin he took with him was practically empty, and the nearest mountain was still two hours away.
He was very surprised when Aya said that she did not know about the existence of plastic bottles or technologies like a TV or refrigerator. He thought about why the anime he watched in his teenage years was so different from reality.
"Perhaps Kishimoto somehow gained knowledge from this world, or was able to look at its history, and he himself added technologies known to our world? Or maybe this world is not real, and by someone's evil will I ended up in a fictional world... Or maybe I'm sleeping and I'm dreaming everything... Or maybe..." Without completing the thought, Kenshin interrupted his thoughts, deciding not to bother his head nonsense.
Kenshin pulled Aya towards him and began to rest, sitting with his back against a large tree. He felt that this young beauty was capable of giving a charge of energy with her mere presence, and he absolutely loved hugging her, inhaling her delicate floral aroma, and caressing her small fragile body. The girl purred, tenderly and completely surrendered to the loving embrace of her man.