Kapitel 34: The New Dream Pricked His Conscience

The next morning, Hisaki happily went to work with Heisuke as he was on the morning shift. Both of them didn't mention anything about last night yet, the faint blush on her old man's face urged Hisaki to chuckle.

Unknown to her, another dream came to Heisuke last night. That dream made it hard for him to look at Hisaki without feeling guilty.

"Then... I'll wait for you after work hours... to go back together," Heisuke spoke to Hisaki once they reached the warehouse. He could feel the tips of his ears getting hotter.

Hisaki just smiled, "Okay."

As if he wanted to run away from her, Heisuke quickened his pace to get to his workstation. He was silently berating himself for getting too worked up over that dream.

In last night's dream, Heisuke found himself lying on a bed, dressed in pajamas. While he tried to focus on the new dream, he felt a weight on his right arm. Heisuke was horrified to see Hisaki sleeping while putting her head on his arm.

She looked so much in peace as if she felt so secure and comfortable with him.

In the next second, Heisuke sensed that his left hand moving. To his horror, he placed his palm gently on her head before he stroked her long hair.

Heisuke wanted to retract his hand away, to jump out of the bed but, he knew his body wasn't under his control. Rather, it was commanded by his other consciousness; the one that lived the life he saw in those dreams.

In the previous ones, at least Heisuke could digest seeing them holding hands or doing activities like gardening and crocheting together. But, last night's dream was the first one showing they lay together on a bed.

Despite both of them being fully clothed, it still pricked his conscience.

It was really hard for Heisuke since his experience in this kind of field was almost none. He never had a girlfriend nor did he pay attention to a particular girl. Shuuya had been teasing him, saying he might stay an old virgin if this continued.

'I'm going crazy!'

Thus, a certain someone busied himself with various kinds of tasks to help his mind get away from the embarrassing dream. Heisuke didn't even rest properly during break time. He shoved the food inside his throat and chugged down the water before he immediately returned to work.

"What's wrong with that brat?" asked Tadao, one of Heisuke's close co-workers.

"I know that he's diligent but, won't he get exhausted easily like that?" The man named Yoichi chimed in, "Did he finish a carton of energy drinks?"

All of them had known Heisuke ever since he was a high school student. He often came here to do part-time jobs after school hours. Instead of going to the university, he chose to be a full-time worker here.

It was regretful but, there was nothing they could do when even Heisuke's mother couldn't persuade him otherwise.

At the same time, Hisaki had just finished her lunch. She went to a nearby eatery with her fellow colleagues. All of them had warmed up to her. Because they treated her nicely, Hisaki didn't feel intimidated by the more experienced colleagues.

"Have you guys decided? About the academic thingy that Mr. Mayeda told us before?"

A girl with shoulder-length black hair suddenly brought up the subject once they entered the office. Her name was Kiyomi. Her work desk was opposite Hisaki's.

"I can't. I don't have the brain and I'm already busy with the rascal at home," answered Minori who was a young mother of a four-year-old boy. She was the same age as Hisaki.

"Shouldn't you try it, Hisaki?" The young lady named Arisu directed the question to Hisaki. She was two years older than her, "Your bookkeeping and accounting are good. I also heard you learned English."

"Right, right," Miwa smilingly agreed, "Let's try it, Hisaki. My husband supports me. He said this could be a lifetime opportunity!"

Like her, Miwa was given a chance to further her study but her grandmother forced her to reject the offer. The old lady was just the same as Old Mr. Chisaka.

Miwa's fate was good because her husband, Masahiro, who was also one of the labor workers here, genuinely loved and cared for her. She was allowed to earn her own money and keep it for herself.

"I'll think about it," answered Hisaki even though actually she had made the decision, "I wanna know the other details first. Mr. Mayeda is supposed to give us a briefing sometime this week, right?"

"He did mention that," Kiyomi hummed absent-mindedly, "I think I wanna try it. It'd be a loss if later I regret it because I didn't even try."

"A good idea," Arisu was on the same page with Kiyomi, "My fiance said the same thing when I consulted him yesterday."

Aside from Mrs. Koyanagi who already had a teenage child, the married ones were Minori and Miwa while Kiyomi and Arisu were betrothed to their loved ones. Hisaki was the only maiden who wasn't attached to anyone.

Of course, no one knew that she was working hard to pursue a bashful young man. By how the recent events unfolded, she might be closer to success!

Hisaki was already giddy to celebrate that victorious day!

At four o'clock, Hisaki waited for Heisuke outside the warehouse. She enjoyed seeing the coastline from where she stood.

Several ships sailed toward the port. Hundreds of workers from different companies were still busy unloading the newly received goods there. From this distance, they appeared so small.

"Hisaki."

The beloved sound perked Hisaki up. She immediately turned to face her old man.

"Heisuke, let's go home?"

Heisuke quietly nodded, "En."

As his wife for two decades in their previous life, Hisaki could sense there was something bothering her old man. From the awkward and shy looks on his face, she was reminded of the early days when they first got together.

Heisuke was always clumsy in dealing with his own feelings. That was the reason Shuuya got so frustrated and pushed him to confess to her before.

What was he thinking?

Did he start to have feelings for her?

Hisaki really hoped it was the truth but, she didn't want to scare her clumsy old man away by openly asking him that. She was already grateful because, in only more than a month, they had gotten even closer.

Heisuke was so quiet. He didn't say a word even after they reached the last intersection. In a few minutes, they would meet the apartment building and the river.

As Hisaki couldn't bear it anymore, she opened her mouth after racking her brain for a bit.

"Heisuke, have you crocheted any piece recently?"

Heisuke inadvertently slowed down his steps. He glanced at Hisaki who walked slightly behind him.

"Just a simple coaster. How about you?"

Hisaki smiled, "I'm trying to make a cardigan. I only crochet one to two hours a day so, I'm not sure when I could complete it."

"Don't overdo yourself," Heisuke's eyes fell to the purple crochet bag slung on her shoulder, "I can see that your skills are good. It'll turn out nice."

His softly spoken words seemed like honey to her who was deeply infatuated with him.

Hisaki bravely made a request, "Can I look at them? I mean, even the ones you've finished before?"

Heisuke blinked. He slowly nodded, "Yes, you can."

Hisaki's smile deepened. It seemed like she had unknowingly secured a 'date' with her old man? It would be fun to see everything he had crocheted so far.

Once they got closer to the apartment, Hisaki excused herself. Under Heisuke's confused gaze, she said she had forgotten to make a call to her family.

After waving at him, she walked further down the road opposite the apartment. The row of public phones was located just a few tens of meters away.

As Heisuke watched Hisaki heading to the public phone, her words from earlier got stuck in his mind. Joy twinkled in her bright eyes as he made the promise of showing her his pieces.

His love for crocheting didn't come because he was fond of seeing his mother manipulating the loops of yarn balls. He did it because he wanted to forget the chilling sensation of red blood dirtying his hands.

On that fateful night more than a decade ago, he struck a blade into his own father's body. The splatters of blood turned his vision red. His last memory of that night was seeing his father lay motionless on the floor.

Later, once he woke up, he found it extremely hard to even utter a single word.

Every time he tried to speak, his throat tightened as if someone was strangling him. He also hated to see his own hands, fearing that he would harm another person as how he did to his own father.

Everything changed when he was amazed by how his hands could produce such delicate and colorful crochet pieces.