Tamaki walked along in Ouran High School, happily next to his best friend Kyoya Ootori. "I think we should import a whole bunch of flowers Kyoya, for the ladies at the club. It's winter mon ami, and flowers would be perfect for breaking this dreariness!" The 16 year old blond looked to his friend to see what he thought, and frowned. On Kyoya's neck, where it was hard to see, was a bruise. A particularly nasty looking one. Tamaki stopped and his friend did as well, graceful eyebrow arched in question.

"What is it Tamaki?" Silently, Tamaki reached out a finger towards the other boy's neck. The Shadow King backed away, but he followed.

Tamaki succeeded in poking the bruise and pulled back, smiling triumphantly, only to see that the bruise had gotten bigger. "What the…" The dumbfounded blond looked down at his finger, and saw concealer on it. The Suoh heir knew that Kyoya's father beat his sons to make them work harder and be better, and that Kyoya wore concealer to hide the bruises and scars. The only reason Tamaki hadn't told anybody-not even his precious children!-was because Kyoya had very scarily ordered him to never tell a soul.

But this bruise looked particularly bad and painful. Was his dear Mommy alright? Deciding to see the extent of the damage, Tamaki seized his friends hand and pulled him into an empty classroom.

"Tamaki, what the hell are you-get off me! Tamaki!" The black haired male snapped. His idiotic king had shoved him against a desk and was trying to get the concealer on his neck off! Like hell that was happening, he was wearing it for a reason.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki whined. "Hold still!"

"No. Now get the hell off me Suoh, I want it on."

"But Mommy, it looks bad!"

"I've handled worse."

"I know you have, but you want to tell our kids someday but right now you're scared of what they'll think of you, right? So think of this as practice!"

Kyoya stopped squirming and glared at the blond. "Why are you only logical when I least want you to be?"

Tamaki chuckled. "Because mon ami, when you least want me to be is when something bad is happening to you and you don't want me to know. Now please?"

Kyoya glared for an instant more before relenting and allowing his best friend to take the concealer of his neck.

Tamaki's horror mounted with every wipe. The angry-looking bruise just got bigger and bigger! What had Mr. Ootori done to his beloved friend? He felt sick to his stomach when the blond was done taking the concealer off, and realized the bruise took a certain shape.

With a rapidly beating heart and trembling hands, Tamaki put his hands around his Mommy's throat. They fit the bruises perfectly. "Mon Dieu…" The blond breathed, aghast. "Mon ami, your father strangled you."

Kyoya nodded stiffly. "I disobeyed, and so I lost the game. If you disobey, shame the family, or shame the company, you have lost the game called 'Fathers Approval'. And so you must be punished. I was fortunate enough to win the consolation prize-my life- back by apologizing profusely and taking yet another beating."

Tamaki's eyes were wide, his entire being distraught as he enveloped his most precious person in a hug. "Oh mon ami…" He murmured sadly, "Your life is a right, not something you should have to win in a game."

Silent tears made their way down Kyoya's face and he hugged Tamaki close, finally allowing his mask of cool indifferent composure to crumble as he was held in the arms of his friend.