After chatting briefly, they went their separate ways, and Amamiya Natsuki and Yukino continued their Mount Everest challenge.
Above eight thousand meters, most people chose to stay silent to conserve their strength. They even had to rest after walking only a short distance.
Amamiya Natsuki, on the other hand, felt no pressure. Apart from a slight tightness in his chest, he felt no other discomfort and even had the energy to tease Yukino:
"What would happen if I ran all the way to the summit right now?"
Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't help rolling her eyes at him.
"If you really ran all the way to the summit, you'd be on the front pages around the world tomorrow and become an international sensation overnight."
"Then I'll pass." Amamiya Natsuki shook his head. "I wouldn't mind making the front pages around the world if the news was that I'd proposed to you, Yukino."
"...Shut up."
Yukinoshita Yukino was breathing a little harder now, and didn't even have the energy to insult him.
There was no point.
Trash-kun was shameless and thick-skinned. Nothing she said would make him change.
After climbing dozens more meters over the frozen ice, Amamiya Natsuki stopped and said gravely,
"The wind and snow seem to be getting worse."
"Yeah." Yukinoshita Yukino caught her breath, her brows drawing together slightly. "They really are getting worse."
Amamiya Natsuki turned to look back. All he could see was a vast, dim expanse stretching between sky and earth. He let out a breath and said,
"Let's hope it's only the wind and snow, and nothing else goes wrong."
On the way up Mount Everest, climbers could encounter all kinds of terrible weather. The worst was an avalanche: once one hit, no one could escape. Of course, avalanches were rare and could only be