Tamaki opened his eyes to the relative darkness of the room with a small yawn, stretching languorously. Odd, his room wasn't this dark-

Ah.

He smiled, cheeks flushing at the memory as he turned on his side, eyes straining in the darkness to try to find the young man that, should his memories serve him correctly, should be lying next to him in the pitch black of the Shadow King's room. Sure enough, soon the darkness separated into varying levels of shadow, a mop of black hair splayed across the pillows, pale skin apparent and enticing even with the absence of light in the room. The blonde hesitated for a moment, debating, before grinning and deciding that mommy wouldn't possibly do more than yell and leaning to press a kiss to the exposed shoulder. Kyoya stirred once before settling back into his dreams once more.

"Kyoya…" Tamaki murmured, kissing up his neck whilst glancing at the clock. "Kyoya, mon amour… Ma cherie…? Kyoya, come on… It's noon. We sho-"

Tamaki stopped short upon finding himself pinned to the mattress, onyx eyes glittering in what little light struggled through the blinds. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Tamaki blinked, then paused, wondering if he dared remind Kyoya what had transpired last night. Too late, however, as recognition flashed across the raven-haired man's features, and irritation flickered across his face as he shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm going to kill you," he muttered as he fell back into the sheets, closing his eyes once more. Tamaki relaxed slightly, but not very much.

"It was Hikaru's idea…" he muttered, and Kyoya turned to spare him a death glare, making the blond shiver. He offered him a sheepish, sparkling grin. "You know I love yo-"

"Then I'll have to dispose of you both," he said after a few moments, cutting him off and sitting up with a small moan. Tamaki watched with a flicker of interest in his eyes, but Kyoya ignored it.

"But mommy… how many times have we done it? It's not like you've never handcuffed me to the bed. Why are you so-" Tamaki's whining rant was cut off with a swift blow to the head, and he pouted as Kyoya rose from the mattress and moved towards the bathroom, dragging a hand over his face. Tamaki watched his retreating form forlornly, the coldness of the room seeping under the sheets already.

"If I have bruises, that dog of yours is going to get it," Kyoya called over his shoulder, rubbing his wrists with a scowl. "And you need to be more careful about keeping her in your half of the condo. It's certainly large enough."

"She's used to a mansion, Ky-"

Tamaki's whine was cut off by the bathroom door slamming shut.

Kyoya sighed as the water ran over him, so hot it was almost scalding. Being the heir of the Ootori group, he knew exactly how bad this was for his health of course, but the fact of the matter was that on days like this there was nothing like a hot shower to relieve all the tension in his shoulders. If he really needed to, of course, he could always ask Tamaki for a massage, but… well, frankly he wasn't that desperate.

He sighed, guilt creeping into his usually conscience-free mind and tugging at the corners of his attention. That wasn't precisely fair. Tamaki could always tell when Kyoya was feeling too stressed, or needed a release of any kind. Of course, he also knew Kyoya was too proud to ask for any such thing, which occasionally led to things like last night. Misunderstandings. Which was actually rather interesting, if the Shadow Lord would let himself admit it-

Not that he would, of course.

His eyes strayed to the purplish marks around his otherwise flawlessly pale skin, and he winced at the contrast. He'd have to think of an excuse before they started classes again on Monday.

At that moment Tamaki walked in, rubbing his eyes adorably the way a child might upon being awoken too early and yawning. He reached for his toothbrush but then paused midway, eyes tracing Kyoya's lithe form through the glass door of the shower. Kyoya, for his part, his a smirk and pretended not to notice, watching out of the corner of his eye as he rinsed his hair. Tamaki shook his head and took his toothbrush, going through the various motions of brushing and staring all the while, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks. A trail of toothpaste dribbled out of the corner of his mouth, and the Demon King couldn't help but snicker as Tamaki squeaked and leaned over the sink.

"Oh, just come in already, you baka…" Kyoya muttered finally, and the blonde's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas.

"Really?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "No, I was simply saying that for my own personal amusement."

Tamaki pouted. "Mommy's so mean," he muttered as he pulled off his clothes. Kyoya ignored this as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair. The shower door opened and closed behind him before familiar arms slipped around his waist, Tamaki's chin resting on his shoulder as he let out a low hiss.

"It's hot! Why does mommy bathe with the temperature so high?"

"Don't yell in my-" Kyoya paused. "You're rather warm, Tamaki."

The blond cleared his throat awkwardly as Kyoya turned to face him, a single eyebrow raised. "Yeah, well… that's probably because I'm blushing." Kyoya squinted at him, scrutinizing him in response, and Tamaki sighed and dipped down to kiss along his collarbone. "I'm fine."

There was a gasp, however, as the ex-Host-Club-King found himself pinned to the cold tiles of the shower wall, a searing kiss cutting off his air. "And this is payment for last night," Kyoya said with a salacious smirk, nipping at his ear. Tamaki's gasps echoed through the oversized bathroom.

"Nngh, Kyoya… it's- ah!... It's cold…"

"Too hot, too cold… make up your mind, hmm?"

"Kyoya… mm…ahnnm!"

"Serves you right…"

"…Ah… mm… Kyoya?"

"Mm?"

"I… I love you."

"Mm."

"Tamaki, what are you doing?"

"I can't get up…?"

"That was only twice."

"… I know."

"And you asked for it the second time."

"… I know."

There was a moment's pause as the Demon King looked down at the blond sitting under the stream of now-warm water from the shower.

"You know, I was clean by the time you got in," Kyoya said with a sigh as he shut off the flow and stepped out of the glass structure. Tamaki opened his mouth to whine, but was silenced by a towel landing on his head and the sound of the toilet seat being closed. An arm slipped through one of his and he was glad the towel hid his flush as Kyoya helped him to said seat, where he sat on another towel.

"Arigato," he muttered. Kyoya was silent aside from the sound of him brushing his teeth and rinsing. "Who's fault is it, anyway…"

"Excuse me?"

Tamaki didn't need to look up to see the raised eyebrow.

"You were the one who insisted on washing my hair after the first time."

"Oh, so you would have preferred me to have just walked out of the shower casually and left you there? That sounds like a polite thing to do," came the amused reply.

"You say that like you're usually polite when you have a choice," Tamaki muttered. Kyoya turned and blinked at the blonde in shock.

"Tamaki…"

"Do you love me?"

"Nani?"

"How long have we been dating?" Tamaki demanded, yanking the towel off of his head and tossing it in the general direction of Kyoya's voice. The other man caught it and stood there staring at him as though he'd grown another head, and part of Tamaki relished in the amount of emotion writ across his best friend and lover's features.

"Two years, one month, one week…" Kyoya paused, irritated with hismelf. He was usually much better with numbers. "Three days? Four? No, today is-"

"So you can tell me the exact amount of time we've been dating. How many times have you told me you loved me?"

Kyoya blinked at Tamaki as if he'd gone insane, knowing full well there were no glasses sitting atop his nose to adjust to a glare. "I… I can't recall."

"Exactly! You hardly ever say it! Ever! How do I know you're not just with me for the se-"

"Urusai," Kyoya said sharply, and Tamaki broke off and looked away.

The two stood in the bathroom for a few moments before Kyoya sighed and moved across the bathroom, draping the towel over Tamaki's head once more. This time, however, his hands followed the soft white cloth, working through the blonde's locks gently.

"Where is this coming from?" Kyoya asked, a little more gently this time, but there was no verbal response. Instead Tamaki pressed his face to Kyoya's abdomen, the heat of his blush betraying him. "Hmm?"

"I dunno," he muttered, and Kyoya yanked on a handful of hair at the back of his head abruptly, forcing him to face upwards. As he opened his mouth to protest, however, he found them met with resistance as Kyoya's tongue slipped into his mouth, stopping any previously prepared thoughts in their tracks and scattering them to the four winds.

"Now, why don't we try that again?" Kyoya asked, pulling back only far enough that their lips were perhaps a centimeter apart. Tamaki attempted to follow mindlessly, until somehow he was standing, Kyoya assisting with his balance. The raven-haired young man helped him back into bed, pulling the covers over them both and tossing the towels over the footboard.

"Come on. Out with it," Kyoya demanded, arranging the blonde on his chest with a small smile that said volumes about what he thought of Tamaki's little rant. The man flushed.

"It's nothing, really," he muttered, looking away, but Kyoya tilted his chin up with a finger and raised an eyebrow. Tamaki looked away, a slight pout on his lips.

"Tamaki."

"But mommy-" Tamaki was cut off by another kiss, and he leaned into the Ootori in bliss for a few moments before Kyoya pulled away once more. Tamaki pouted.

"No more until you answer the question," he murmured, and Tamaki made a frustrated noise.

"It was… Hikaru was just bragging about how happy they were and how everything was going well and talking about how Kaoru loved him so much and he was so glad that everything was back to the way it should be and then we started talking about how he and Kaoru say 'I love you' like a million times a day and-"

Kyoya, tired of the blonde's ramblings, cut him off with another kiss. Tamaki complied happily.

"Enough. I understand," Kyoya replied, amused. Tamaki made a face, irritated that the kiss had been broken once more. The Demon King, on the other hand, turned serious suddenly, his eyes searching the violet ones of his partner. "Is this honestly a problem? Or are you simply throwing one of your innocuous tantrums, per usual?"

Tamaki opened his mouth to protest comically before looking at the amazingly earnest (considering the raven-haired man's typical stoicism) expression on Kyoya's face and thinking the better of it. "Not really a problem," he murmured, rolling to lie on his back and stare up at the ceiling. "I know you. I know how you are. You're self-deprecating and you never ask for anything, but despite the selflessness that you attempt to mask with greed for money and power, you're really rather possessive. Well, about people, once they get close to you. Like... like me. But you think that's weakness. And I… I don't know. And when I say it, you brush it off usually, but… I mean… I understand. But… it would be really nice to hear it more often, ne?" Tamaki paused for a moment before laughing quietly. "Gomennasai, that's kinda selfish of me, isn't it…-"

"Tamaki."

The blonde turned his head to look at his best friend, then let his eyes float closed as his lips met familiar resistance. This kiss was gentler than the previous ones, however; less demanding and more of a non-verbal apology. Tamaki, for his part, responded with a definite "I forgive you!", causing the Shadow-Lord to pull back after a few moments with a wry smile.

"At least twenty one times a year, if you're only counting pre-meditated instances," he said, pulling the blonde into his arms. "Forty seven times in total, for the five real fights we've ever had in our time together. Romantically speaking, of course."

Tamaki looked up from where his head had just been pillowed on Kyoya's shoulder with wide eyes. Kyoya simply ran his hand absentmindedly through the blonde's hair, staring at the ceiling.

"And if you're counting today, because I do love you, then that would come to a grand total of forty eight."

Tamaki flushed pink, and Kyoya looked down with a smirk at the sudden excessive warmth.

"You remember every single time?" he asked. Kyoya chuckled.

"Once a month accounts for twelve. Once for each of our birthdays makes it fourteen, and adding on the birthdays of the host club members as well that makes six more as the twins count as one. That tallies to eighteen. Then adding on special occasions, in this case being Christmas, mostly due to the fact that you're French as my family hardly holds any stock in the holiday, New Year's, and one other arbitrary holiday out of the various ones that you insist we celebrate, depending on the mood, coming to a grand total of twenty one."

"… So ka."

"For all that you love to play the fool Tamaki, your psychoanalysis betrayed you as anything but, per usual. You have an unrivaled talent for dealing with people, which is probably the only reason you were ever able to become my best friend in the first place. But let me ask you something. Taking into account the fact that I am admittedly very sparing with my declarations of adoration, does it not make it all the more meaningful when I do say it?"

"… Hai," Tamaki muttered, pressing his face into the crook of Kyoya's neck once more. "Gomennasai, Kyoya. I know you hate… talking… about… feelings and stuff."

"'Feelings and stuff'? I practically offer you an entire impromptu speech and that is the extent of your verbal capabilities? Where's your usual suave eloquence?" Kyoya teased, smirking once more when the face pressed to his neck heated once more. "And that's your tenth blush today, Tamaki. Has Kaoru been teaching you how to embrace your position as a uke?"

A moment of silence, then…

"Eleven."

"Kyoya!"

A/N: I think I like this one. A little more in-depth than my usual stuff. And the style is totally different. I'm also not really a KyoTama fan, but I find it really fun to write. xD Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and:

Hai- In this case, it is used to express agreement, Nani-What, Urusai-Shut up/You're annoying, Gomennasai-I'm sorry.