Gumi struggled to lift the heavy pot of soup onto a table without spilling it onto the pristine white tablecloth. She was pleased, and a little surprised, at how warm it still was. Taking off the lid, she watched in satisfaction as a little steam rose up.
The sun was just about to go down, and it was beginning to get chilly. Gumi was glad that she'd grabbed her jacket as she left. She put the lid back on the pot and reluctantly took her hands away from its hot surface. Turning away from the table, she could see Anon and Kanon greeting the other Vocaloids arriving. Miku had just reached the top of this hill with some unfamiliar people. Gumi wondered who they. Maybe some of the new Vocaloid 3's. There were a lot of new people now.
Lights had been strung up between the trees. Luka, who had a remote in her hands, pressed a switch. One by one, the lights began to blink on. Gumi put her hands in her pockets. Should she go talk to Miku? But it might be weird if she didn't know any of those other people's names.
"Gumi?"
It was Rin. Len was behind her, carrying a bowl of fruit salad. Rin came to see what Gumi had brought.
"Soup," Gumi answered. "It's that big pot there."
Rin put her hands on the sides of the pot and sighed happily. "We were taking turns with that ice-cold fruit bowl. Hey, Len, touch this! It feels awesome!" Len put the fruit salad down on the table and touched the pot. Gumi, looking at the two warming their hands so happily, had to join them. She brought her cold hands out of her pockets and placed them on the pot. It looked kind of like a campfire, since they were all huddled around it, she thought.
A group of four was just arriving. Gumi recognized Kiyoteru, Yuki, and Ryuto. She didn't know that blond boy with them. Wait…
"Isn't that the English Vocaloid? Oliver? I thought you guys were supposed to be with him."
Len laughed uncomfortably. "Um. Things happened, and we got separated. Kiyoteru's probably more responsible than us, anyway."
"How did you get separated?" Gumi asked. Rin and Len were still in the same clothes they had been wearing that morning. There were several new stains, and the fabric was wrinkled. "You look like you were chased by hyenas or something."
"Or something." Rin quickly changed the subject. "By the way, have you been up the hill?"
"What hill?" This was a park. There were lots of hills. They were on one right now.
"There's this really big hill near here," Rin explained, using one hand to fix the crooked white ribbon in her hair. "If you go to the top, the view is amazing. I think some of the others are up there right now."
"Do you want to see it?" Len offered. "We'll go with you."
"Okay," Gumi agreed. "Where is it?"
Rin stopped touching the pot. "Come on!" She motioned for Gumi and Len to follow her and ran off to a little dirt path. "It's this way." She waited for the others to catch up.
The path wound between bushes and trees, eventually leading up the side of a tall hill. Gumi saw a few figures moving around at the top. She ran to catch up to Rin, who, Gumi thought, walked way too fast.
"Hey, where's Len?" Rin asked when Gumi caught up to her.
"Huh?" Gumi turned around and realized that Len wasn't with her. "He must have gotten left behind."
"I'll go get him," Rin looked uncomfortable without her constant companion. "You can go ahead without me," she called, already heading back down the path. Those two were inseparable, Gumi knew. She started up the hill.
The top of the hill was all orange from the setting sun. It reminded Gumi of carrots. She reached the top of the hill and stood for a few seconds to rest. There were already some other girls there. Yukari was taking pictures.
"Hi, Gumi!" IA waved. "Look at this!" Gumi walked up to the very top of the hill. The Kagamines had been right. The view was incredible. The sunset blazed all gold and orange, and Gumi could look out over the whole park. She could even see where the party was. The lights looked like little fireflies from up here. She took it all in, trying to etch the scene into her memory.
"I think I see the first star," Gumi smiled, pointing at a little spark of light. The other girls looked in the direction she was indicating.
"Wait, isn't that moving?" Miki piped up. Gumi squinted. It was.
"It isn't a plane," Gumi said. "A shooting star?"
"Awesome!" Iroha squealed. "Make a wish, everyone!"
Gumi didn't think it moved like a shooting star. It bobbed around and wobbled in weird directions. A UFO? It seemed to be getting bigger. What if it actually was a UFO? It wasn't wobbling so much now either.
"It's coming this way," Yukari's eyes were wide as she stopped taking pictures. "Maybe we should move?"
It didn't feel very real to Gumi as she and the other girls scrambled away from the top of the hill. A shooting star/UFO happening to come down right when they were there? What were the chances? But still, right before her eyes, that little spark grew into a big spark, got closer and closer, and slammed into a tree at the top of the hill with a loud boom.