the counter-offensive, but Asuka got ahead of her."But you're not exactly friendly either, Niisan!", Asuka warned and set a harder pace to catch up with Momoe.

She looked around. In the back they now had the Helgerudkirke, a red stone church that looked more like a clumsy square block than a church. Disappointing because there should be much nicer churches in Norway. Asuka was looking for some kind of clue to a street or place name sign, but that seemed as hopeless as it was in Japan. The small group walked down the main street and luckily found a street sign that told them exactly where to go. The cheapest way was not to go to Kolsås, but to stay in Gjettum and cross the Levre forest.
After they had changed the side of the street and walked along a long footpath parallel to an expressway, they came to a first small climb. The Levretoppen, a small housing estate that stretched to the entrance of the forest, had to be passed.The small homes, surrounded by green lawns on which the early bloomers were already peeking out and the trees and bushes already had thick, light green buds, made a harmonious impression. It didn't take long and they entered the Levre Forest, which immediately indicated that it was only a mile and a half to the southern tip of the mountain, but their destination was the northern tip and it was over two kilometers further away. A cold wind came up and passed through especially the girls, whose school uniforms were much tighter than those of the boys. Fubuki gave Ryou a sharp look, which of course he understood immediately. He took a fluffy blue blanket out of his backpack and put it on Asuka. She suddenly stopped when she felt Ryou's warm hands through the soft fabric. She looked at him in surprise, but he quickly let go of her and followed Fubuki, who had taken the lead. There were blue markings in the forest that led to the summit so that you couldn't get lost.Asuka looked after Ryou, a little disappointed. She caught herself thinking that it was really great to get a little more from a hug like that. Her heart had made a short jump and the warmth that emanated from it had made her feel safe for a brief moment. Asuka's face turned slightly pink. What were these suddenly for feelings and thoughts that arose in her?
Ryou had walked awkwardly to Fubuki again. For a moment he had thought of letting the others go a little ahead and keeping Asuka in his arms a little longer. But he still hadn't been able to come up with the right words. If he confessed his love to Asuka, he had to at least rethink his words carefully to bring his deep feelings to her. He also had to be prepared to be turned away by Asuka. She surely saw him only as a friend, nothing more and nothing less. Surely he would have already noticed if she had lost her heart to him.Fubuki noticed Ryou's thoughtful look and nudged him lightly.
"You should have stayed with her, Ryou," he whispered to him, trying to avoid a root that he hadn't really noticed.
"Yes, but I don't know what to say if we were alone," Ryou replied quietly. Momoe walked close behind the two older students, but couldn't quite understand what they were talking about. It was too bad.
Fubuki replied softly, looking at Ryou's face with insistent looks and said: "What else do you talk about when you are alone? I mean, you will otherwise also talk about important and trivial things?"
"We generally don't talk very much, we're just with each other. You're right, we talk about everything and nothing when we talk. That's exactly what ... Now it's a bit uncomfortable to be silent," replied Ryou seriously.
Then Fubuki didn't know what to say. Bringing the Emperor of the Duel Academy together with his sister was still quite a bit of work.If the two of them were really alone, none of that would have been a problem, but it was more difficult that way.
The forest wasn't very dense. Apparently the paths were often hiked, so that there weren't many foot traps and otherwise you just had to be careful not to trip over stones protruding from the ground or slip because of the somewhat muddy ground. This is what happened to Junko. She had acted carelessly and threatened to lose her balance, luckily she got a prop from behind and found herself in Manjoume's arms.
"You'd better be careful where you're stepping!" He warned a little harshly and then let Junko walk on alone again. The red-blonde girl didn't even know what to answer. Embarrassed, she looked at the floor and followed Manjoume in silence. She was terribly cold. It seemed as if the cold crept stronger into her limbs from minute to minute and actually she had lost the desire to hike by now at the latest.The forest cut a swath and it went steeply downhill. At first there was a slight confusion, because they were supposed to find a way up and not down, but the foot of the mountain was slowly approaching. Junko glanced uncertainly at Manjoume. But he concentrated on the path that lay in front of him and did not notice the shy eyes that studied him closely.
“I wonder if he likes me?” It went through her head.
She looked at Momoe, who was still angrily trudging behind Fubuki and Asuka who quietly walked a few steps in front of her. Junko sighed softly. She would have loved to just turn on her heels and go home again. When they had relatively solid ground under their feet again and no longer ran the risk of falling down somewhere, just had to be careful not to slip in the modder, they first looked around a little. You suddenly had the choice to go right or left.Asuka asked Ryou to look at the map again. He reluctantly tried to make sense of the many lines and lines on the card, he quickly realized that Asuka should have the card with her and gave it to her. Ultimately, Momoe realized that they had to go to the right because she found a blue mark on a tree.
A loud rustling could be heard nearby. A narrow river that turned into a small waterfall appeared in front of the students. Its source was safely on top of Kolsåstoppen.
"How picturesque this place is!", Asuka remarked with shining eyes.
Ryou struggled to keep his blush under control, Asuka looked dreamily at the small waterfall and held on to a bare tree. A faint smile played on his lips at the sight of her.
"You are right," breathed his soft dark voice next to her ear.
Asuka looked at Ryou in surprise. She hadn't noticed that he was standing right next to her.The warmth rose inside her, she couldn't help but feel so calming about Ryou. As if she couldn't do harm when he was with her.
"How nice it would be if the trees were green!", Asuka said, not looking away from the rushing water. While Ryou stayed with Asuka, the rest of them paused at a huge stone that had been split in two. Ryou took this chance that Fubuki had re-engineered, but again didn't know how best to do it to tell her what he was feeling. Slowly he put his arms around her and pressed against her slim body. Asuka gasped in surprise, but relaxed into his arms.
"You bring enough beauty into the world, Asuka!" He said softly and tightened his grip a little.
Momoe's voice suddenly rang: "Hey you two, what are you doing there for so long?"
"We're coming!", Asuka replied and reluctantly broke away from Ryou. She shot him a challenging look.Secretly, however, she was disappointed to have to let go of him. Why did he say that? He sounded so loving. His voice reached her ear so gently, as if he was afraid that it would break as soon as he spoke too loudly to her. Why did she suddenly have this feeling in her. Why was Ryou so incredibly affectionate to her? He had never hugged her before, if she remembered correctly, and now it filled her with an incredible longing for him.

Ryou and Asuka crossed the small bridge that led over the river and rejoined the others. Something cold suddenly settled on the skin of the hikers, it was damp and felt uncomfortable. Junko looked up at the sky. Little white flakes came down from the sky and melted as soon as they hit the ground.
"Snow?" She asked incredulously.
"Or what's left of it," replied Manjoume, "It won't keep on the ground!"
"Well, we should see that we get further or it will be dark when we are up!", Fubuki said calmly and wanted to persuade the group to move on. Momoe and Manjoume got up again from their seats and persistently set off. Asuka and Ryou were also about to go with them, Junko remained standing.
"What's going on?" Asuka wanted to know.
"Oh, you know, I just don't feel like going up there in the rain or snow. I'm cold and that just spoils my mood. Go on without me, I would only be an obstacle and would spoil your good mood!", Junko replied meekly.
She really wasn't enthusiastic about rain or snow. Every time she had to walk through the rain she got in a very bad mood and could become obnoxious. The others could understand their behavior, but at least they were in a foreign country and it was easy to get lost.
Fubuki nodded: "But you can't go back alone. Someone has to bring you back!" Manjoume nodded resolutely and decided to accompany Junko without further ado."You saw that you couldn't take your eyes off her for a moment!", He said, but smiled. He immediately took her hand and said goodbye to the rest: "Have fun!"
Fubuki grinned after the two of them. Of course, Manjoume was immediately ready to help Junko. He was in exactly the same situation as Ryou, but he was less afraid to show her affection. So the rest of the group continued on to the top of the mountain. They passed a clearing that looked as if it had been created by human hands, but the signs on the edge assured that the clearing was not artificially created. On the left they had the rock wall and on the right there were dense young warrior trees a few meters away. Eventually the forest compacted again and they had to pass another small branch of the river. The path became increasingly steep and rocky. In some places it was difficult to