140.But Kyuutarou just could not remain idling.He always picked up brooms once Mieko grabbed his other tools,and sterilized towels after he cleaned up the floor.The couple showed so much solicitude towards each other that even the clients were deeply moved,who remarked they were a good example for couples.
141.Before long,Mieko was pregnant.Noticing his wife's belly growing bigger and bigger,Kyuutarou became happier and more diligent.
142.At the sight of Kyuutarou who was so excellent,Mieko was happy the same way.But there was always a shadow in her mind,and that was her decision to persuade Kyuutarou into quitting from his organization,quitting from any violent activities.Due to this shadow,Mieko always apprehensively expected him before he got home.
143.One afternoon before he left his office,Kyuutarou phoned her,telling her he had an appointment with some friends and would be home late.Kyuutarou did not go home all night,and Mieko remained unsleeping,fidgeting all the time to expect Kyuutarou.
144.Not until dawn did Kyuutarou return home,fatigued from head to foot.His new clothes put on when he left home were torn up,and his face was blue and black.Apparently he had just had a fight with somebody.Mieko felt pained when she wiped and applied hot towel for him.
145.After that,Kyuutarou began to tell his story slowly.That night,Kyuutarou followed a plan to lead two of his men to the Beach Road.American soldiers often drove over there to swim naked at the sea,and flirting women passing by.Kyuutarou and his men planned to stab the tires and stole the clothes of the soldiers.
146.Their final purpose was to warn the American soldiers not to swim naked over there.
147.Kyuutarou and his men hided themselves behind the woods along the road,expecting the gang of people who often swam naked over there.At eight o'clock at the evening,their targets appeared.A middle-sized vehicle stopped at the roadside,four American soldiers,who had stripped off clothes,got off their car and walked towards the sea straightly.
148.Kyuutarou approached the vehicle stealthily,with a sharp knife in his hand,piercing two tires in sequence; and one of his men,namely Kohikari opened the door of the vehicle to take away the clothes of naked swimmers.Suddenly,a tall heavy seaman jumped out of the vehicle.He had been drunk lying on the back seats.The tilt of the vehicle had awakened him,and he jumped out at the moment the door was opened.
149.That man was muscular and smart.He hit down Kohikari in one single blow with his fist.Just at the moment when he was going to jump at Kohikari,Kyuutarou took a sudden big stride forward,intercepting his heavy fists and fighting with him.
150.After a few rounds,Kyuutarou found his rival was also well trained,whose was as best as himself,and no one could easily beat down the other.In this way,Kyuutarou was entangled.
151.Just at this moment,Kohikari picked up a stick to join the fight,and that alleviated Kyuutarou's predicament.Taking the chance when the enemy evaded the stick,he gave a heavy blow on the neck of the enemy,striking him down to the ground.The other four soldiers swam nakedly at the sea had noticed what was on,and Kyuutarou found they were running over here before he could give his rival another heavy blow.
152.At the sight of this,Kyuutarou hurried to pull up his company hit down to the ground,and the three supported each other and run towards the woods.
153.Chased by the American soldiers,they ran around and hide for a whole night,and did not go home until the dawn when they became safe.
154."I'm tired out,I need a nap." Kyuutarou said exhaustedly.With these words,he lay himself down to the bed,and fell into sleep.
155.Gazing at Kyuutarou,Mieko felt pained and scared.She sat quietly at the bed,holding her husband and remaining still.
156.Kyuutarou slept for the whole day before he got up.Noticing Mieko had got supper ready,he felt guilty,"I'm very sorry to have scared you.It won't happen anymore,I promised,my dear.Trust me."
157.At these words,Mieko replied extraordinarily calmly,"Just do it if you think it deserves; or you quit." This supper was in a sense of oppression; none of them said more words at the meal.After supper,Kyuutarou went to have a shower as usual.When he returned to the sitting room,a cup of tea had been prepared for him,but Mieko was holding a novel,reading quietly aside.Nobody said a single word to each other that night.
158.Early the next morning,Kyuutarou woke up in the scent of meal and Mieko had put breakfast on the table,with two full bowls of rice as usual.The dishes were watery,and just coincidently,all things were watery that morning.The couple ate their breakfast tacitly,saying no words face to face,until Kyuutarou went out to work.
159.In his counselor's office at the company,Kyuutarou sat alone at his desk,thinking aloud in his mind,"Am I really confronting with the same fate as Bacon's?Is that doomed?Will I be so unfortunate?No,never.I'll change and stop all these.I will face myself,change myself and transform myself,redeeming through myself,and valuing the initial happiness and harmony of Mieko and me…" Thinking onwards that way,Kyuutarou bent over the desk and fell asleep.
160.In a light trance,a number of figures appeared before his eyes.He tried to recognize them.Unexpectedly,they were his mother Kiyoha,Mieko,Mieko's mother Nobuko,Mieko's father Bacon,and many faces that seemed familiar but he had never seen before.
161.In the dream,Kyuutarou struggled,twisted and shouted to the top of his voice,trying hard to shake them off,but in vain all the time.He was so anxious that sweats came out in his head.
162.Suddenly,Kyuutarou in his trances let out a loud cry,"No repetition of the nightmare of the Second World War on our generation."