seven-year-old took a deep, audible breath and closed his eyes. Resolutely, he clenched his fists. His eyes returned to their serious and focused expression and focused on their target.
He calmly put one foot in front of the other. Then, when there was no longer any way to protect himself with his hands, he knelt and crawled along the branch. The matter became increasingly shaky, so that he finally snuggled close to the bark of the tree and carefully pulled himself forward.The window just didn't seem to want to get any closer. Only after what felt like an eternity did his fingertips touch the window sill. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He gently swung his foot forward and set it on the window ledge. It didn't look particularly elegant, but after all, he didn't take part in a gymnastics competition either and was hoping for good posture grades.
Now he felt safer. A little more courageously pulled his body.
And again nature put an obstacle in his way. Of course, the window sill was wetted with condensation. With a low, barely audible scream, his foot slipped off the board and his body fell forward.
Just in time he was able to grab hold of the top with both hands. But there he was now: his cold arms were tired from climbing and his face was sweaty and glowing again. He whimpered. How should that end well?
He dangled here a few meters above the ground and his hands threatened to slip further and further.He tried desperately to pull himself up, but he just couldn't succeed. He couldn't call for help. He would be able to do this by himself, no matter what!
With this thought he gathered all his strength in his arms again and finally he could hoist himself up.
Panting, he leaned forward, his body trembling with relief.
Man, that was really close!
He was breathing quickly with excitement, steaming up the window in front of him. He had come this far. The hardest was done.
Now he just had to come into the room behind the window. And he had worked out a very special and infallible plan. Confidently, he pulled a plastic card out of his pocket. For a moment he felt sick with panic because he hadn't found the card at first. It would have been quite a letdown if he'd lost it while he'd dangled deadly on the window sill. But the business card, on the back of which was a calendar from two years ago, was there.It hadn't slipped out of his pocket inconspicuously.
There were still things that didn't go wrong today!
And now he concentrated on the window again. He carefully placed the card in the gap between the window and the frame and grinned inwardly.
He loved sleight of hand! He knew a lot and he was very, very proud of that!
He gently pushed the card into the gap and jerked it a little. He hoped for a sound and waited and waited and waited ...
And since...
Click!
Yes, it was finally successful. The window was open. A silent cheer and the boy congratulated himself again on his genius.
The window swung open and he jumped into the room he had just gained access to.
Without looking around, he immediately closed the window. Then he sank to the floor and only now took a closer look at the room. This room wasn't big. There was a curtain rod over the window, there were even curtains here, but they weren't drawn.So the moonlight could fall into the room unhindered. To the right of Raidou was a desk that looked very untidy. Various sheets of paper and open books lay everywhere. There were several colorful pieces of paper on the pin board above the desk, none of which could be seen more clearly.
Much of it appeared to be mere memorabilia.
Photos, tickets, brochures.
There were occasional notes between these things. Raidou couldn't see that, but he knew it was.
In the corner there was a wastebasket that, in Raidou's opinion, would have been good to empty it. Fortunately, there was mostly paper there. Food waste, such as banana peel, would have given the room a rather unsightly smell in this daily heat. On the other wall was a wardrobe that cast a threatening shadow into the room. Various things were stored on top of the cupboard. Among other things, a box, the contents of which Raidou did not know; a backpack and a sleeping mat.Next to it was the door and in the corner was a chair with crumpled clothes on it. The owner of the room didn't seem to care much about ironed, neat clothes.
Raidou's gaze wandered on and finally his gaze at a bed much. A person was curled up in it, and that person's chest rose and fell. Raidou grinned broadly. He knew that it was his best friend, Genma, who was lying there in bed and sleeping peacefully.
You couldn't see much of him. You could only see a few of his brown hair, sticking back and forth from his head and lying on the pillow. Otherwise, Genma was completely wrapped in his duvet and Raidou doubted that he would be able to move in his sleep.
Raidou crept up to the bed as if on velvet paws. Genma had actually said he would still be awake at this time. But as it had now turned out, he was probably not persistent enough for that.

Raidou, however, was wide awake.He had suffered a lot for that, though. In order to stay awake longer, he had smuggled a cup of coffee into his room and was disgusted through the evening. He quietly swore that he would never drink coffee again in his life and he did not understand what adults found in this drink. This brown broth tasted bitter and ate its way into the mucous membranes that you got an unmistakable, disgusting bad breath. Just hideous!

For a second he pondered how to wake Genma. He could have tipped the water glass on his bedside table for him, but he wasn't that cruel either. He made his first attempt by trying to shake Genma awake. It didn't work particularly well, so he took a corner of the bedspread and pulled hard on it. The blanket rolled up and with a loud rumble, Genma fell over the edge of his bed to the floor.
Raidou hadn't planned the action that loud, so he hoped that Genma's parents had a very sound sleep.Carelessly, he let the blanket, which he was now holding in his hand, slide to the floor and leaned on his knees to watch Genma begin to stir.
Grumbling, he sat up and blinked a few times. Raidou had to resist a loud laugh. His friend's normally neat hair stuck out in all possible directions. Another one of those moments when you just want a camera.
Genma's brown eyes targeted Raidou and his gaze darkened.
"Thanks, that's how I always wanted to be woken up!" He said sarcastically. His voice croaked strangely.
Raidou grinned. "Didn't you want to be awake when I come?"
You could tell Genma was desperately looking for the quickest answer possible. Raidou thought she heard the little cogs rattle behind Genma's forehead. But this didn't seem to come up with a really good reaction, so it tried a rather stupid excuse for his unwanted trip to the land of dreams."Yes, I wanted to. We had an appointment at midnight, but you didn't come! So I just ..." He broke off.
Raidou rolls his eyes. "Sure. That explains everything!" He just said and helped his friend up.
"Yes it does!" Genma confirmed, completely unnecessarily. He stumbled through his room, grabbed the sweater that was lying crumpled on the chair in the corner and pulled it on. Raidou looked enviously at the sweater, which looked as if it would definitely keep you warm. But he said nothing. He just sat on the windowsill and watched Genma get dressed.
Finally, Genma took the backpack from his closet. The day before they had packed everything they needed. This saved them a lot of stress.
They took one last look at each other, then Raidou opened the window again. The cool night air brushed gently towards them. It felt really good. Neither of them had noticed how stuffy and warm it was in Genma's room.Raidou was the first to leave the security of the room and faltering to death again to the branch. He was particularly clever in doing so. First he wiped the windowsill dry with the hem of his T-shirt and finally got into the same position in which he had gotten involuntarily earlier. Only this time not with your face but with your back to the wall. Then he stretched out his legs and actually managed to loop them around one of the branches. Carefully he let go of the windowsill and now he dangled upside down from the branch.
"Don't throw up!" Said Genma, who didn't seem to have any admiration for Raidou's acrobatic performance, from the window.
Raidou's hands safely grabbed the thick branch and now he slowly pushed himself towards the trunk. Finally, Raidou climbed the other side of the branch and sat on it to watch Genma solve the problem.
He casually stood on the windowsill and let the window close. With a single, dexterous jump, Genma managed to get to the safe, unsteady part of the branch without swaying even briefly.Raidou stared at him in amazement and Genma shrugged her shoulders a bit arrogantly. "I've just been practicing!"

The way down turned out to be very easy. Climbing was hardly a problem for either of them and so the two boys were more or less exhausted a few minutes later at the foot of the tree.
Without saying another word, Raidou and Genma rushed off as if on command. As fast as they carried their little feet, they sprinted along the meadows with astonishing speed. The contents of Genma's backpack gave a strange, muffled rumble. Only after a while did they slip to a standstill and tried to orientate themselves.
Konoha was big and at night it could happen that you just lost your bearings. But both knew very well that they were plagued in the right direction.
But for the time being they went into the protection of house shadows. The four feet made slow progress, but they were not far from their destination anyway.They didn't talk to each other. What they were up to now was one of their most secret things.
Absolutely top secret. Just a man's thing!
Soon they had to emerge again for all to see. But