Chapter Ten
Inksewn: Yay! :D I've hit the 50th review mark! *epic dance time* Okay, so I figured I owed you guys, so everybody who reviewed Chapter Nine, and isn't anonymous, got a story review from me! :D I know I told someone *coughcoughSNOWDROPcough* that this was going to be something else (not spoiling!) but I still need to work out the bugs before I start writing that. :| Okay, so review replying time!
LadySchwarzDestinySBH: Oh, stop it you! *is flattered* Thanks for the wonderful review! Wonderful reviews make me smile. oUo Oh, and good luck on your fanfiction! I'll be sure to review every chapter! EVERY CHAPTER. :D
Katty Taco Kisses: Ooh, you've added Taco to your name! :D TACOS. Okay, moving on… thanks! And yes, Gumi and Gakupo's friendship is one of my favorite friendships in the whole world! But I don't ship 'em. XD
The Dark Puppet Mistress: Cool penname. :D And yes, Gumi is fighting in a paint ball war with pajamas on, how weird is that? XD And yeah, no fat-free cakes for Mik-ster. :L
Miku: D: And don't call me Mik-ster! D:
RPR: Really? :O I remembered an episode from Community and then I was thinking of having the Vocaloids do it… It was very funny. XD
vocaotaku: Well, not necessarily hungriness, but SPOILERS someone dies eating, so yeah. XDDDD
poweredtoenail: Yeah. Dessert dispenser! :D And I mess with Miku a lot because her reactions are funny.
TheSilverWisp: Rin! Your roudroura? (Roadroller)
Marshmallow Ninja: [on Chapters Seven, Eight and Nine] Thanks for your reviews, Mallow! I hope you enjoyed reading! Oh, and it was a lot like THG except no one wins and Gakupo and Gumi aren't lovers. :P
Rin: Len, have you seen my roadroller?
Miku: Hey!
Rin: :) That's what you get for messing with Lenny…
Miku: AH AH AH INKY HELP ME!
Inksewn: Sorry, Miku. I'll try not to screw with your mind anymore. :| Disclaimer!
Luka: Vocaloid's owned by Crypton and Yamaha. Inksewn is just a lonely, boring fanfictioner—
Inksewn: THAT'S ENOUGH DISCLAIMING! On another note, the writing contest is being postponed to a later date! 8D
"So, what're we going to do today?"
This became Gumi's 'catchphrase'. Every day she asked this, knowing that someone would have something planned. A trip to the mall, a visit to the zoo, a karaoke party; everything was set and ready when it came to the Vocaloids.
However, Gumi nearly spit out her cereal when Meiko spoke.
"I dunno," she said, chewing on her sausages.
"Wha—what do you mean, you don't know?" Gumi asked suspiciously. "Let me guess, it's a surprise party? Or are we going on a spontaneous—"
"Gumi, we're not doing anything," Len said, digging into his omelet, "We've all been tired…"
"Hey, wait—" Gumi said, "What about the pool? We haven't been to the pool befo—"
"No! No swimming!" Miku insisted angrily, "I will never go swimming again!"
Rin chuckled. She had appeared to be over the sorrowful incident and was now considering it as a joke.
"Well, what about the park? We've never been there before, guys!"
"I'm really sorry, Gumi, but we don't feel like going anywhere today," Kaito said, swallowing another spoonful of delicious ice cream. He patted her on the back as she stared at all of them in bewilderment.
"But—you always—fun—events—" she stammered. Luka merely raised an eyebrow at her.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but we're not doing anything today," Luka stated, "But we're not stopping you from going anywhere, we have absolutely nothing planned."
"Oh… okay," Gumi sighed in disappointment. Well, she could always go to the park by herself. It could still be fun even without the others. Besides, she could still go on the swing, go down the slide, try the monkey bars…
Gumi was such a child. She could be as hyper and childlike as Rin if she wanted to.
Gumi finished her breakfast and made her way towards the elevator. "Bye, guys."
"Buh-bye," Miku said effortlessly.
"Enjoy!" Rin said cheerily.
"Don't hurt yourself," Meiko warned. Kaito gave her a smirk, to which Meiko smacked his head.
Gumi nodded and walked into the elevator, waving goodbye to the table of Vocaloids.
This was all quite unusual for Gumi. She and her family had always gone to new places, and they never ran out of them, and the Vocaloids had a similar habit. It was only January twenty-seventh, but they had had different things to do every single day. A visit from good 'friends', a trip to the beach, and ultimate paintball war…
Yep, they had been able to do at least one thing thrilling once a day. But today, Gumi was just going to have to go alone. She'd done that when her parents were busy, or when they had to do overtime at work.
Gumi exited the elevator and then opened the orange door to her room with her key. Same old mess. She approached her closet, yanked open the door and picked out an orange jacket, a white t-shirt and some old, blue jeans. She was still going to wear her usual orange converse, as it matched the sunny day she was about to enjoy.
Well, she didn't know whether it was going to be so 'sunny' yet.
Gumi reentered the elevator and pressed the button labeled '1'. Usually she'd strike up a conversation with someone who'd enter the elevator with her, but this time she was alone.
She strolled over to the entrance, her sneakers making light sounds against the newly-waxed floor. Squeaky sounds that echoed over the silence in the room. Gumi gripped the door handle, looked back to see if anyone else was following her, and then entered the outside world in disappointment.
The park. Kaito had told her that it was a few blocks away. All you had to do was go straight and then take a left turn by the McDonalds on the corner. Gumi repeated these instructions in her head as she walked casually down the street. Go straight and take a left at McDonalds. Go straight and take a left at McDonalds.
McDonalds. The big, yellow 'M' caught Gumi's eye and she took a sharp turn. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the street for a park.
Gumi stopped at a rusty, black gate with the metal-made words 'Ebony Park' on it. Gumi knew that this was the place and opened the door, releasing a loud screech into the atmosphere. She winced.
The playground looked like it hadn't been used for years. The bright colors that had been painted on the frames had faded to a chapped black. The chains holding up the tire swing seemed weak and about to break. The slide had ants crawling all over it.
This playground had been overworked and was now sitting in retire. However, Gumi was determined to seize the day.
Gumi charged for the monkey bars. They were short; or, to be more accurate, she was too tall. She was slightly taller than the monkey bars, her green hair poking over the top of it. Struggling to bend back, she slowly slid under the monkey bars and grabbed one of the handles with both hands, bending her knees so that her toes barely touched the ground.
"Yes," she whispered under her breath.
Slowly swinging from bar to bar, Gumi had a hard time not touching the ground. Gumi's exhausted and calloused hands nearly let go of the last handle as she reached the end. The trouble was, her feet were lower than the platform and she couldn't bend them anymore. Gumi sighed and let go of the handle, annoyed in a disappointed manner.
Roundabout. Next best thing.
Gumi ran for the roundabout and grabbed the side from the outside. She ran and ran, summoning all of her strength to start turning the roundabout. This thing was really rusty and hadn't been played with in years. Eventually, she was able to get it into a slow yet consistent spin, but this didn't satisfy Gumi at all. The greenette gritted her teeth and leaned forwards, her arms rigid and straight as she continued to push the roundabout at a quick speed. The roundabout was now turning in a blurry manner and Gumi grinned. Now all she needed to do was jump on.
With her emerald eyes following the entrance to the roundabout in utter concentration, Gumi kept a timer in her head, counting down from five.
Five, four three, two… one!
Gumi pounced at the multicolored roundabout, hitting her head with a soft thump on the roundabout floor. She stood up, tired and her heading throbbing slightly, and sat down, closing her eyes as the pain seared throughout her head. Stupid, stupid Gumi! she told herself, See, this is why you need other people to accompany you at the park, you don't have to jump on when the roundabout gets to its peak.
She sighed and stopped the roundabout, sitting down on the open space at its entrance. One last thing left to do, since the slide was hosting an ant colony.
Gumi sat down on the tire swing, not putting all of her weight onto it, and tugged the chain. It didn't budge. Even if the swing looked weak, it was still strong enough to hold Gumi's weight, especially strong for someone who was eight years too old for the park anyway.
Gumi put her full weight onto the swing and sighed in relief when the tire held her weight silently. She pushed the swing back by kicking her feet at the ground and pushing the swing up, and then she let go.
"Whee!" she said in an attempt to make her feel like she was enjoying herself, "See, Gumi, you can enjoy yourself just fine!" Her excited face turned into a determined one. She swung higher and higher, her green locks swaying in the breeze, brushing them away from her rosy face.
Suddenly, with a faint 'twang!', the tire fell to the ground and Gumi was thrown into the air.
She landed on her hands. They skidded against the concrete, leaving scratch marks onto her palms. She brought them up to her face and stared at them, wide-eyed. Droplets of red glistened and grew on them.
And the memories flooded into her mind.
"Ah!" a six-year-old Gumi fell onto the ground as the swing continued to hit her. Her hands were bleeding, and Gumi's eyes started to well up with tears. She had been innocently enjoying herself in the playground nearby her house. Her mother and father were smiling and talking on a bench nearby when they suddenly noticed her sniffs and ran up to her.
"Gumi, what's wrong?" Her father lifted up her hands from her knees and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"It's okay, Gumi," her mother said comfortingly, kissing Gumi's wounds and giving her a big hug.
Gumi looked up and stopped sniffing, the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"The pain will go away soon." Her father's and mother's soothing voices calmed Gumi down, and soon her face was tear-free. She gave them a hug and bore the widest of grins.
"Don't worry, we'll always be there for you," they said, and Gumi felt reassured, clutching them in a warm embrace.
Gumi sat in her room silently. This was the first time she had ever felt this homesick since she had stayed at Vocaloid. As the credits faded in on '101 Dalmatians', Gumi sighed and covered her head with her pillow.
She felt something churn in her stomach as she tried to fall asleep. She didn't feel right. Maybe if she fell asleep she'd forget about everything.
Before Gumi had resided into her room, she had gone to the clinic in the lobby and gotten her wounds disinfected. She had several plasters on her palms, which was a peculiar and uncomfortable sensation. She hadn't spoken to the Vocaloids since she had come back because she needed some alone time.
But suddenly, they all barged in, Rin frolicking in first.
"Oh, hi there," Rin said in a casual yet perky tone as she sat on the bed. Gumi dug her forehead deeper into her mattress.
"Listen, Gumi," Meiko said, "We're really sorry we didn't go with you to the park."
Gumi slowly uncovered her head from the pillow and looked up.
"We didn't know it was that much to you," Len said, looking down at the floor, "We should've considered your feelings more and been more tactful."
"Yeah," Kaito said, and Rin and Gakupo nodded in agreement. Miku gave Gumi a great big hug, and Luka shook her hand and muttered her apologies.
"Thanks, guys," Gumi said, smiling, "But it wasn't that much. I should lower my expectations and give you guys a breathing period."
And so they all hugged.
Rin: The end!
Miku: It can't be the end! It's only chapter ten, we have 89 more chapters to finish!
Rin: Oh.
Miku: ...
Rin: ...
Miku: ...
Rin: YAY!
Inksewn: Thanks for the reviews again, guys. It's April 28th here, my birthday. Had to rush it a little so I could update for you guys.
Hugs and kisses,
Inky.