RenChan

I believe all numbers have on and kun readings but they use the alternatives for 4 and 7 because they are unlucky? I dunno, I came up with a stupidly elaborate explantion to the word yonki ... [YossieNonRikaAi. I'm stupid but resourceful, go figure.]
Thanks for all the feedback! And Yossie's such a tough cookie it takes something REALLY sad to make her cry in my opinion

^^ We thought it would add believability if we included some real life events. Glad you enjoyed it!
And I knoow! I was practically crying while reading it; and I can say that without sounding bigheaded as I didn't write it!

Chapter 4;Ishikawa Rika's POV

She was always here first.
I waited. And I waited. I tried ringing her… No answer. I tried ringing again… voicemail.
My annoyance turned to loneliness which then turned to fear.
Aibon approached looking confused.
“Yossie isn’t here. She went off on her free period.” I explained. “She wanted to know what I was doing, she never texted me back! Why isn’t she back yet? You don’t think something’s happened to her?”
“No,” she said, and I was surprised by how assured she sounded. “I don’t think so. We both know Yossie’s too tough for anything bad to have happened to her.” True… “Her battery might have died, she’s probably just held up,” It’s plausible… “We’ll try ringing her if she isn’t here by the end of lunch, okay?” She hugged me, but I was still worried.
Nono appeared. “Where’s Yossie?” she asked.
“I don’t know. She went out on her free period and she isn’t back yet.”
“Hmm…” She replied, helpfully.
I went into a kind of daze. I couldn’t remember the last time Yossie hadn’t been at lunch with us. It was weirdly quiet without her.
“I’m going outside for some air,” said Aibon, looking shifty. Oh great, another thing to worry about. If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that the air Aibon was going to get was about as fresh as car exhaust fumes. Again, I knew I had to talk to her about this, but later, and in private.
I could tell Nono was uncomfortable, and didn’t want to say anything to upset me. I thought about bringing up Aibon’s mysterious disappearance, but I though better of it. Perhaps it was best for her to be oblivious to her best friend’s new habit.
“Have you tried phoning her?” she asked, her mouth full of onigiri.
“Nono swallow your food when you speak.” I reprimanded her. “And yes, I have, but I haven’t had any answer. It’s just gone straight to voicemail.”
She suggested I take my lunch outside. I agreed, perhaps being outside under the cherry blossom tree would be calming.
I was wrong.
There was a huge gaping hole where Yossie should be. I took out my phone and dialled Yossie’s number carefully, in case I’d somehow saved it into my phone wrong, despite reason telling me we’d been able to phone each other for ages without any problems. It rung for a while, then “Hi, this is Yossie!” My heart leapt at the sound of her voice. “I’m away from my phone right now, so please leave a message!”
I repeated the process getting more and more frustrated. I came up with two solutions. The first – it was perfectly innocent. Yossie’s battery had gone flat, and she’s been held up in some mundane normal boring thing. This was the one I hoped was true,
The second? Yossie was grievously injured somehow and COULDN’T answer her phone.
A third solution occurred to me, and it was almost as painful to think about as the second. Yossie was with another girl. I almost immediately dismissed this, but it didn’t stop the tears pouring from my eyes. Nono held me as I sobbed and I could help thinking it should be Yossie instead.
Of course, if she were here, there’d be no reason to cry.

The world is better with W =]

Chapter 4; Kago Ai's POV

Finally, it was lunch. When I got to the cafeteria, I saw Rika standing alone, looking worried.
“Yossie isn’t here. She went off on her free period. She wanted to know what I was doing, she never texted me back! Why isn’t she back yet?” she burbled. She looked close to tears. “You don’t think something’s happened to her?”
“No, I don’t think so. We both know Yossie’s too tough for anything bad to have happened to her. Her battery might have died, she’s probably just held up,” I reassured her. “We’ll try ringing her if she isn’t here by the end of lunch, okay?” I gave her a hug.
“Where’s Yossie?” said Nono, as she arrived.
“I don’t know,” said Rika, her lip wobbling. “She went out on her free period and she isn’t back yet.
“Hmm…” Nono looked thoughtful.
“She probably just lost track of time, that’s all.” I tried to assure them both. I hoped they couldn’t tell I was worried too. “Let’s get some food.” Rika looked at me with large eyes. “We’ll pick some stuff up for Yossie too.”
It was pretty stressful having to be the responsible one; that was usually Yossie’s job. I’d expect Rika or Nono to take over otherwise, but Rika was somewhat a gibbering wreck and Nono’s mind seemed elsewhere.
“I’m going outside for some air,” I told them. Nono didn’t seem to notice, but Rika looked at me suspiciously. I skidaddled.
“You again?” said Ichigo, as I approached their meeting place.
“Yep. Me again. Look, I need another cig. Just the one.”
Another of the girls snorted. “That’s what they all say at first, right Akane?”
“Sure,” said the tall one as she took another drag. “Then they come back for another… And another.”
I frowned. “It’s not like that.”
“Sure it’s not,” said the other girl, rolling her eyes.
“Leave her alone, Yumi.” commanded Ichigo. “Here,” she handed me a cigarette.
“Thanks.” This time I didn’t choke, but my eyes still watered. I hope I looked elegant, like women in movies, as I blew out a cloud of smoke. Once I’d finished, I got up, but then I hesitated. “Can I take another? For later? And I swear this will be the last.”
They laughed, but the girl called Akane gave me three cigs. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with certainty. I hoped she wasn’t right.
I hid the cigarettes in the bottom of my bag and went to look for the others. There was only one place they could be. I saw two silhouettes under the cherry blossom tree.
So Yossie still wasn’t back. I felt something gnawing in the pit of my stomach. Worry, or guilt? Maybe both.

Chapter 3; Ishikawa Rika's POV

“You really think we didn’t know that?” said Aibon.
Huh??? They knew?!
“What do you mean?” Yossie and I said. If I’d had my eyes closed, I’d have said we were Nono and Aibon!
Nono opened her mouth to talk. “You both separately confessed to us. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and we were both expecting it.”
So Yossie told them she liked me too? I couldn’t help but feel ridiculously happy about that… but… “You mean I was so nervous for nothing? Damn!”
I internally sulked. Couldn’t Yossie have told me she’d already confessed to the two top?!
“We’ve got 5 minutes until we have to go back in. We either walk now or run when the bell goes.” Said Yossie. “I’m voting walk now.” I followed Yossie as she headed towards school.
“I’ve got a free period now so I’m going for a wander.” She smiled at me. I’ll see you later. Bye!” waving, I tried to remember my next lesson. Oh, yeah, Biology with Yasuda-sensei. Shouldn’t be too bad; I am, after all, her best student.
My stomach grumbled as I walked to my next class; only an hour until lunch I thought cheerfully to myself. I settled into my seat at the back of the class, and had completed the hour’s work in about 10 minutes. I started to doodle on the back of the worksheet. Beep! I took out my phone and saw I had a message from Yossie.
What are you doing atm?
I texted back quickly.
Nothing, done all my work, dead bored. Want me to see if I could come and meet you?
I waited.. and nothing. Five minutes, ten minutes… half an hour… eventually the bell for the end of the lesson rang. I was miffed; what could possibly be more important to her than me?! I made my way to the lunchroom. My stomach dropped. Yossie was nowhere to be seen.