====
Seashore Confessions
====

====
A/n: First things first: this is written for the marvellous Consortium-Of-Yuri's Spring contest on deviantART! Go and check out this group, I will post a link down in the description box. Really, all the yuri fanfiction goodness there is overwhelming :3

Secondly: the theme was pools/beaches. So I tried my best to come up with some lovely beachy fluffy story, and well, here's the result! I hope I did well with this one (: Not going to tell anything about it, except that the pairing is YayaxTsubomi from the lovely anime Strawberry Panic! I've been writing about those two for ages, so I figured I knew best what to do with them, then to try and write about some new random pairing I don't know shit about 8D I've been ignoring my OTP for too long.

Anyways, enough ramblings: enjoy!
====

====
The girls from Astraea Hill were on a well deserved holiday on the beach. Shizuma, being the Étoile and all, had simply arranged a week off for all of them, which would be Tsubomi and Yaya, Miyuki and Tamao and Nagisa and herself, of course. They had rented a wonderful little bungalow that was overlooking the sea, and enjoyed every day spending time on and near that beach. Just swimming, sunbathing and late-night storytelling by the fire. Barbecuing, going to the nearby city at night to go out and just have fun.

They had gone surfing, taking lessons that Shizuma had paid for; kite-flying with self-made paper kites; taking trips to several cities around and they had hired a little car to take them to the city centre to go out and back.

But for today, which was also the last day of their vacation, they had just decided to lay in the sun and do nothing at all, embracing the warmth for the last time possible because the sun shone so incredibly bright today. You could practically hearthe sun scorching everything that was around at the time, hear the Earth sigh with contentment as the rays of warmth and light kept beating down so gently.

Though it was a popular beach, not too many people were around. The salty scent of the waves and the dry, dusty smell of burning sand hung pleasantly in the air while seagulls so often disturbed the ever-present sound of the surf with their cries.

"Hey there!"

All of the six girls who were just quietly laying in the sun sat up, squeezing their eyes shut because of the bright sun until they'd found their sunglasses to cover their eyes and to look at the stranger talking to them. It was a friendly, bubbly man, holding out a red flyer.

"Sorry to disturb you," he apologized as Miyuki reached out and grabbed the leaflet, "but we've got a contest going on. And not just a contest, but a sandcastle building contest!"

Shizuma let out a sigh, "So?"

Miyuki and Tamao both muttered something to the Étoile under their breath, and Nagisa poked her in the ribs not all too subtly, but the man seemed unruffled.

"Would you like to enter? No offence, but you seem kinda bored."

Yaya chuckled, "Sure, sign us up."

"Did you really have to do that?" the silver-haired woman asked with a heavy sigh when the man had walked away to ask other people to enter too, throwing Yaya a very, seemingly very annoyed glance.

"You know, it could actually be fun. Come on, let's start. Tsubomi, you're with me!"

"Wh-what?" the pink-haired girl couldn't do anything as Yaya wrapped her hand around her wrist and started dragging her off to a quiet place to build their sandcastle. Once she felt like the spot was good and big enough, she stopped, making Tsubomi bump into her.

"So, Tsubomi-chan, what do you want to make?" Yaya lightly sang in Tsubomi's ear whilst wrapping the smaller girl in her arms from behind. She grinned as she felt the pinkette stiffen up under her touch and practically felt the girls' cheeks redden.

"Hmpf, who decided I want to team up with you anyway?" Tsubomi retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. On instant, Yaya tugged Tsubomi closer to her body, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Aww, doesn't my Tsubomi-chan like being teamed up with me?"

Tsubomi suppressed the warm shiver that ran down her spine from the purr that Yaya breathed in her ear, "Since when am I your Tsubomi-chan?"

"Since I saved your ass from making a total idiot out of yourself in front of Hikari," the raven-haired girl said, a smirk playing on her lips, "multiple times."

"That's not- I was just- just-" Tsubomi stammered away, feeling her face warm up to uncomfortable temperatures. She hated the way Yaya could catch her off-guard and make her lose control of her feelings so much and so easily, but she knew she had no other choice now. She never had around the girl, but knowing Yaya, she'd probably be better off now if she didn't resist at all.

"Fine." she grumbled at last, and wriggled free from her friends' arms.

"That's more like it! Now, let's build something awesome." Yaya said, dropping on her knees in the sand, staring very intensely at it as if some random sandcastle would pop up out of nowhere.

"Do you even have any clue what you want to build?" Tsubomi half-laughed, sitting down next to Yaya, casting her eyes on the other girl's brown ones while trying to ignore the feeling in her stomach whenever the sun made them sparkle.

"Nope."

"Want to win the contest?"

"Yep."

"Well, let's get building then."
====

====
About two hours later, Tsubomi and Yaya had finally decided what to build, and it actually started to look like a sandcastle. Bit by bit, they shaped the sand into what they wanted it to become, and they couldn't say they didn't like it. It was waist-high now, and some one meter long, with lots of towers and even a courtyard. Yaya even tried to craft little trees and such but that was just impossible.

Though it was near five o'clock, the sun still beat down warmly on the pair of girls, who had been working on their sandy threshold non-stop since they had begun. Tsubomi frowned at a particular part, not knowing what it needed to be or how to form it.

"Yaya-senpai, what's this supposed to be?" she asked, and Yaya scooted closer to her to see what she was talking about.

"Ah, I see." Yaya said after looking at it for a while. Then, she bent over to make the bottom piece of a new tower. Tsubomi gulped: Yaya was hanging over her with half of her body. She could smell the elder girl's perfume ever so slightly and feel her hair lightly grazing her leg. Though it was already pretty warm, Tsubomi felt her cheeks blazing uncomfortably. She just took a deep breath and tried to ignore it.

She'd been trying to ignore all of those stupid feelings she had today whenever she just looked at Yaya. She'd been trying to ignore all the blushes, all the dangerously loud, skipping heartbeats and the somersaults her stomach made. And she was doing a good job so far but this was really testing her.

"Just make a tower out of it, okay?" Yaya said as she moved back, smiling a wide grin at Tsubomi, her eyes sparkling. That was the final drop for the little pinkette.

"R-right, but I'll fetch us some drinks first," Tsubomi replied in a shaky, restrained voice as she got up from the ground, "we haven't had any in hours."

With that said, she quickly walked away from Yaya, trying her best to keep breathing evenly. What was wrong with her? She'd been feeling all warm and woozy around Yaya all day. Oh hell, who was she trying to kid, she'd been feeling like that around Yaya for a long time, just not as bad as it had been today.

It had become too obvious to deny for Tsubomi that she indeed had a crush on the older Spican. But now it seemed more than just a crush; she'd really fallen for Yaya.

And it wasn't that she needed to ignore her feelings so bad because she didn't want them to be there, but for the fact that she knew that Yaya wouldn't ever feel the same. From what Tsubomi knew, Yaya was still getting over Hikari. The pinkette could see the hurt that was still in the other girl's eyes, could see the longing that was still there, though less than ever before. But seeing the long time she'd taken to get this far, Tsubomi guessed it would take forever to let her feel somethingagain. Let alone for herself. Yaya wouldn't ever want her.

Tsubomi let out a low, somewhat sad chuckle as she opened the little cooling box back at the place where the girl's towels still lay. Grabbing two drinks, she closed it again and walked off, lost in thoughts again.

The worst thing about it all was that Yaya saw her as her plaything. Not in a sexual way, but more like, her target for her teases. And every time Yaya felt the need to out those, she would practically cling to poor Tsubomi and hug her at random, tickle her, embarrass her in front of people or something like that. They would usually end up in a fight or Tsubomi surrendering to Yaya. And Tsubomi could take all the comments and the growling retorts whenever they had an arguement, but the physical assaults were just too much. That was also the main reason why she scoffed on Yaya so much: just so she would back off and not give her ideas or the slightest bit of hope.

But things just didn't work out that easy. Lately, Yaya had been very much around Tsubomi. Not that the latter minded, not at all, but something in her head started telling her to be wary; she wasn't planning to get her hopes up to have them destroyed again.

Then again, she wondered if this was because of the vacation. What if Yaya would slump back into her old habits once they were back at school? She liked the way Yaya showed way more interest, but was afraid to lose it again. Tsubomi didn't like thinking about it but just maybe she would have to do something to show what she felt. But with Yaya, that's way easier said than done.

Tsubomi shook her head, took a deep breath and walked over to Yaya, holding the drink in front of her face, "Here."

"Oh, thanks," Yaya said smiling as she took the drink and opened it, "I've added another wall over there by the way." she added and took a sip from the can.

Tsubomi chuckled softly as she sat down again. She loved the way Yaya could just lose herself in something, even if it was this meaningless.

"It looks nice. I think we're about done with it, aren't we?" the pinkette said as she looked at the monstrosity of a sandcastle they created. It wasn't very skilfully made but it sure made a big impression with all it's towers, windows and walls. Tsubomi noticed that Yaya had dug a ditch around it and even made a bridge to connect the front door with.

"Yeah, I think so," the older girl replied, smiling brightly, "Alriiight! I'm ready for those judges, bring it on!"
====

====
"Too bad we didn't win, huh?" Tsubomi said awkwardly as she and Yaya walked back from the award session. Some sculpture of a mermaid that two guys had made had won the first prize, and Nagisa and Shizuma managed to get the second place. Yaya and Tsubomi had ended in fourth place and they were a little disappointed. Not because they wanted the prize so badly, but they had worked their butts off for nothing.

The sun was slowly setting above the sea, the glow becoming slightly orange, dipping everything in a honey-coloured shine. Though it was already dawning a little bit, it wasn't cold at all because the wind was gone now, replaced by a soft, warm breeze that smelled like flowers and sand.

Shizuma, Nagisa and the others had already returned to their bungalow to prepare dinner, but it was as if Yaya and Tsubomi had come to a never spoken agreement to wander around the beach for just a little longer. Tsubomi couldn't help herself but to be a little bit on edge. The beach was about empty and it felt as if something was bound to happen. Of course, Tsubomi knew it was too good to be true but something inside her couldn't make her heart stop from beating rapidly.

"Oh well, I had fun," Yaya replied. She grinned and bumped into Tsubomi from the side with her hip, "'Specially with my Tsubomi-chan on my side."

Tsubomi stumbled sideways for a bit and grimaced, "How many times do I need to tell you I'm not your Tsubomi-chan?" And with that said she couldn't help but laugh a little bit as she bumped Yaya back, but with no success. The taller girl didn't even need to step aside. Then, she smirked mischievously at Tsubomi and before the latter knew it she was knocked over by Yaya, who landed right on top of her.

They landed on the sand hard, and for a moment, both were speechless. Poor Tsubomi, who was still trying to comprehend the situation, didn't notice the devious smirk Yaya still wore, and therefore, the pinkette was too late for the tickle attack that followed.

"No! N-no! Haha- Yaya-chan! Hahaha, s-stop it!"

"Sorry, what's that? Can I hear a please?" Yaya smirked as she kept tickling Tsubomi. The poor girl under her was shaking and wriggling violently, trying to escape the older girl's hands but failing to do so.

"Ahaha-haha! Y-Yaya-chan, knock it off! Haha! Plea-hahaha!"

"Come again?"

"Please! P-please! Hahaha- stop it!"

"Very well then." Yaya chuckled and ceased her tickling attack, folding her arms over her chest and looking down at Tsubomi with a mysterious, happy glint in her eyes. The younger girl was still laughing a little, breathing heavily and looking everywhere but Yaya, her eyes shifting back and forth nervously. She was absolutely sure that the dark-eyed girl could hear her insanely loud heartbeat, but despite that she tried to hide all the obviousness and awkwardness as well as she could.

"W-well, I hope you at least enjoyed that." Tsubomi said, trying her best not to let her voice tremble. Her head felt like it would be exploding soon, and the delicate weight of Yaya on top of her sent her heart reeling.

"Oh come on," Yaya replied, leaning in closer to Tsubomi's face, her arms now on either side of her head, "don't tell me you didn't like it." she smirked.

Tsubomi avoided Yaya's gaze like it was lethal. Her stomach was making double, if not triple flips, her mind was far beyond reasoning. She felt the soft, warm breath of Yaya on her lips and for a moment she was unable to reply, only making it more obvious for the other girl to notice.

"Hmpf, as if." she managed to stutter, daring to let her gaze meet Yaya's. Right at that moment that was just too much for the pinkette, seeing that crooked, honest grin and those brown eyes shining ever so mysteriously, but she gulped and breathed out deeply, trying to regain her focus.

Yaya just smiled.

"Well, then I'll just have to convince you otherwise." she said, then simply leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips upon those of Tsubomi.

Tsubomi's eyes burst wide open and she was too stunned for a few seconds before even daring to reciprocate into the kiss. Slowly closing her eyes, she felt the movement of Yaya's lips on her own and just drowned in the feeling. The older girl's scent and taste were suddenly very intoxicating, switching off any ratio that was left in her mind. She wrapped her arms around Yaya's neck and pulled her closer.

Yaya pulled back when the need for air became too unbearable, and Tsubomi slowly opened her eyes again, only to look back in insecure ones. She shivered.

"Now, you can't say you didn't like that." the raven-haired girl said with a little smirk though her voice was trembling slightly. Tsubomi could see the fear in Yaya's eyes. Of course. How could she have forgotten? Yaya was scared. Oh so scared, afraid she had made the same mistake again. She tried to hide it behind cocky words but Tsubomi could see she was scared. But there was absolutely no reason for her to be.

"...N-no, no I can't." Tsubomi laughed, stuttering a bit. Her heart nearly bounced out of her chest and she couldn't think straight. She didn't even notice her arms still being around Yaya's neck: she was too busy scavenging her scattered thought, but all she could feel were her lips tingling and how she longed for more.

Yaya's expression changed. Some hope flickered in her brown eyes, and a small smile played on her lips. She bent down again and briefly kissed Tsubomi again.

"I like you a lot, Tsubomi. I really do." Yaya declared, making Tsubomi's heart melt on the spot, "And I really do hope you'll be here to make me fall completely in love with you."

"I've always been here." the pinkette replied, her heart literally jumping out of her ribcage. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. For how long had Yaya liked her? How was it she could hide it so well? What happened with her feelings for Hikari? But before she got the chance to ask any of those questions, the taller girl flashed yet another smirk at her.

"Now, was I good?" Yaya asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Oh my God, Yaya-senpai!"
====

====
A/n: I hope you guys liked it! The ending is a bit lame in my opinion, but on the other hand I quite like it. It's totally Yaya. I feel that it's quite in character too, if not for some parts of the story. Yeah, yeah I had fun writing this (: Anyways, please Read&Review! It would make me really really happy :3
====

====
Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!
====