A/N: Clarifications:

1. I purposely omitted the 1st letter because I don't want to be too vulgar ;) at least with the title. Never mind with the content if it's vulgar ;);) Excapade is a shortened term for _ _ x escapade ;) (You have idea now what the story is all about)

2. It is Excapade 1 because it will be a series of excapades in which there will always be _ _ x, in one way or another ;) There, I have warned you. If you're offended of that, then stop reading right here.

3. Excapade will be a collection of SachikoxYumi stories. Each story could stand alone, meaning Excapade 2 isn't a continuation of Excapade 1.

4. It is Excapade (A) because I'm planning to do an Excapade (B) if I fulfilled the prerequisites that I've established ;)

5. This is my 12th fic.

6. And yeah, I dedicate this story to you who had been so nice to me ;)

7. Still, I'd like to say that you read at your own risk!

8. Most important of all, we are just so lucky that I don't own the characters :)

"Excapade (A) 01: Moonlight at the Beach"

---Arvendell---

Chapter 1

A petite girl lay awake at the middle of the night. Her name was Fukuzawa Yumi. She couldn't sleep because her mind was too occupied to rest, so instead of tossing and turning in her futon and thereby disturb the sleeping beauty next to her, she decided to take a walk. She was slowly treading the sand with her bare feet, in her hand were her slippers.

It was very quiet, except for the sound of seawater as it reached the shore. She inhaled the salty sea air.

This place was so beautiful. She wished she was walking with Sachiko right now so that it would be perfect. However, she neither had the heart nor the courage to wake Sachiko up. Sachiko must be really tired, from the trip to this beautiful beach, and from the activity earlier.

It was summer break, and the current Yamayurikai together with the former Roses had planned to spend a time at the beach. Everyone was excited. She and her classmates, Shimazu Yoshino and Toudou Shimako even shopped together to buy swimsuit.

And when the awaited day arrived, everyone together rode to the mini-bus they rented. It was quite eventful, mainly because Satou Sei, a former Rose, had her way to the driver's seat, which left almost everyone worried to death as they zoomed past many cars. She was very worried then, worried of Sachiko who easily got carsick. Thankfully, aside from Sachiko's anger, Sei's excitement, and fright of the rest, nothing worse happened. No one got hurt or anything. Besides, they were too excited to linger on scolding or being mad at Sei.

The beach was very beautiful. The clear blue water, which was very much like Sachiko's eyes, was so beautiful. And the clean air was refreshing.

Yoshino didn't waste any time. As soon as she had put her things to the room where she, Nijou Noriko, and Shimako would stay, she changed into her swimsuit and was soon enjoying the water, with a worried Hasekura Rei in tow. Really. Rei should really stop acting like a mother to Yoshino so as not to embolden the latter.

And she, Yumi, took so much of her time after she had worn her swimsuit. She didn't want to go out. She was embarrassed, and worried of what Sachiko might think of her. Surely she didn't look good in a swimsuit. She was not tall, and her chest was flat, and her skin was so unlike the smooth, milky skin of her Onee-sama. She was having second thoughts then, when Sei came bragging on to the bathroom. She didn't even have time to react as Sei dragged her outside while snickering. She only started struggling when she saw everyone, particularly Sachiko, looking at her and Sei. Who wouldn't notice with her and Sei making a scene?

She struggled, but Sei didn't let her go for some time. And once free, she knew that her face was red with embarrassment as she avoided Sachiko's gaze. Really. She must not let her guard down when Sei was around because there was no telling what the latter would do in a blinked of an eye.

"Sei-sama, don't you think that's going too far? What if Yumi got hurt?" She heard Sachiko said to the chuckling Sei.

"Well, if I hadn't done that, then you wouldn't be looking now at a sexy Yumi-chan," was Sei's response, which only made Yumi uncomfortable while Sachiko glared at Sei.

"Come on, guys! The water is so good!" Yoshino shouted as she was playing on the water. Rei, Noriko, Shimako, and Torri Eriko and Mizuno Youko, the other two former Roses, were already there, too. Sei joined them shortly, leaving her and Sachiko standing at the shore.

"Yumi."

"Y-yes?" She stammered, unable to look Sachiko in the eye. What was Sachiko thinking of her in this outfit of hers?

"You look good in your swimsuit."

She was startled, not only because of Sachiko's words but because she realized that Sachiko was standing in front of her and she didn't even notice her moving. It was probably because walking barefoot at the sand didn't make any noise.

She stared at the dainty feet in front of her first, before her eyes moved up to the long, smooth leg, and then to the flat stomach, and then to the gentle swells of breasts, to the delicate-looking neck, and to the slightly flushed yet amused beautiful face. She blushed all the more as she started chiding herself, 'Stupid Yumi! Now what would your Onee-sama think? That you're some kind of dirty old man or something?'

"Come on, Yumi, let's join the others," Sachiko said, breaking Yumi's internal scolding.

"Onee-sama, you are so beautiful in your swimsuit."

Finally, she was able to gather some words in her mouth.

Sachiko smiled with pleasure as she offered her hand. Shyly, she reached for it and hand in hand, they moved towards the others.

A loud splashed of water brought Yumi back to the present. She looked around, and realized that she had walked faraway from the cottage where Sachiko and the others were peacefully sleeping. Luckily, the moon was bright tonight so she wasn't scared to be alone in this place. She saw the rock that she wanted to take a closer look before, but forgot about it when Sachiko was with her. This time though, she went there and gazed at the imposing dark rock, as if standing guard at the night. She went around, and then sat at the sand, hidden from anyone who would be looking from the direction of the cottages.

---o---

Sachiko didn't know what woke her up. But she did. Frowning, she gazed at the windows and realized that it was in the middle of the night. She was about to close her eyes to go back to sleep when she thought of looking at Yumi first. She glanced beside her. Her eyes widened when she found the futon next to hers empty. She sat up in surprise. All sleepiness flew out of her.

"Yumi?"

When her call met silence, she stood up, and was about to search for Yumi when she thought that Yumi might just be in the bathroom and that her worries were for naught. She waited impatiently, waited for a few minutes, but no Yumi came. She started to worry, and when she reached and touched Yumi's pillow, she felt that it was cold, which meant that Yumi had been gone for a while.

In her worries, she just reached for her robe to cover her nightgown and then went out of the room to look for Yumi.

She first searched the bathroom, but seeing no sign of Yumi, she headed outside. Her eyes scanned the shore. Yumi wasn't in sight. Where could she have been?

Sachiko was about to go back inside to wake the others but as she turned, her eyes caught the imposing rock on the far left of the beach. She paused, thinking. Wasn't Yumi kept looking at that rock earlier, like she wanted to go there? What if she was there? But why would she go there alone? And at the middle of the night?

Instead of going back, she moved towards the rock. As she walked by, she remembered Yumi's excitement before, her child-like glee as she treaded the water, as she splashed water and played with everyone. It was a beautiful sight. And Yumi was so beautiful. And she couldn't help herself staring at her earlier. However, she tried not to show it to everyone, especially to Sei who would only tease them further. Though she enjoyed Yumi's pretty blushes, she didn't want her to be embarrassed often.

And this day was really enjoyable because she was with her friends, her Onee-sama whom she missed very much, and of course, with her beloved petite soeur. She even had asked for this resort to be closed with guests while she and her friends where here. Unknown to the others, maybe except to Youko, Sei and Eriko, this beach resort was owned by her family. She wanted them to be the only one here for now. It wasn't a wise idea, because this time was the peak season of people going to places like this. But that wasn't important. After all, she rarely spent time like this with her friends, her only true friends.

Sachiko's thoughts were cut when as she rounded the rock, she saw the person she was looking for. There was Yumi, sitting at the sand, looking at the expanse of the sea.

"Yumi," Sachiko called softly as soon as she was near Yumi.

Yumi let out a cry of surprise. No matter how gentle the spoken word, she wasn't expecting company here so she was really startled.

"Onee-sama?! What are you doing here?"

"I would like to ask the same, Yumi. What are you doing here, alone in the middle of the night?"

"Um, I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk. How about you, Onee-sama?" Yumi asked as she breathed her relief.

"I woke up, and found you gone. I was looking for you," Sachiko said as she sat beside Yumi, uncaring if the sand would dirty her robe.

"I-I'm sorry, Onee-sama. I didn't mean to worry you," Yumi apologized worriedly. Her mind started to chide herself again, but Sachiko saved her from doing so.

"You don't have to worry. Besides, the night is so beautiful."

A/N: Took me more than a week to post again. What with all the so-called rice crisis. We at the office had to work double-timed to prepare all the necessary data/information for a report on our university's stand on the issue. It gave me headache. People are panicking coz they are either uninformed or misinformed. (I'm just whining. An aftershock of a busy week that will be followed by another busy week. What's up with our country anyway! Sigh...never mind anyway ;)

22 April 2008