Disclaimer: Beyblade does not belong to me, nor do I get any profit from this.

Summary: Christmas shopping can be a pain, but for him you'd fly to Russia and back to buy it. YuBo, KaRe, implied TaMa. Sequel to rebecca85's x-mas one-shot.

Sapphire for your Eyes

by Little Myy

They say that ignorance is bliss. However, it wasn't everyday that these two bladers agreed with the saying. But as they cautiously made their way down the stairs, Takao and Max shared the opinion that they could live without hearing every argument that happened inside the house.

It was never enjoyable when there was a quarrel. The result always was either at least one irritated party, or the exact opposite; a happy couple making out right then and there. And really, sometimes it could be very disturbing for your eyes. Therefore normally Takao and Max were careful to avoid the argument rooms, for their own sanities' sake. Unfortunately for them, the current bickering was going on in the kitchen, and the duo wanted to get something to eat this morning. So they gathered up their courage, as they were decided to take the risk of getting in crossfire, for Rei's delicious breakfast. You never knew how long one squabble could take; especially considering quarrellers.

Takao took a peek into the room so that they could decide the safeties way to proceed. Kai was sitting at the table reading morning paper and drinking his coffee, ignoring the noises. Rei was seated next to him and was glancing every once in a while at the disagreeing Russian couple. Boris was leaning against the worktop his arms crossed, while Yuriy was facing him, heatedly trying to make some point about Christmas shopping. Yes, shopping, the feared word and probably one of the most trivial things to argue about.

Seeing as the coast was as clear as it would get, Takao sneaked in and sat down at the dining table, Max joining close behind. They wished a good morning with a low voice and took the plates, which Rei had kindly prepared for them. It was nice to have a team-mate as insightful as the neko-jin; now they could eat without endangering their health by going near the angry redhead. Hungrily they started to fill the plate with food.

"Fine! Do what you want," Yuriy finally spat, giving up. He spun around and let his cyan-eyes scan the occupants of the dining table. Takao and Max stopped their eating, before they even actually managed to start, Rei lowered his teacup and even Kai raised his gaze from his reading, waiting what came next.

"Rei!" the youth finally called, making the others let out the breath they had been holding. Now everyone's attention was turned to Rei, who exchanged a quick alarmed looks with his boyfriend.

"Yes?" the Chinese asked warily. Takao actually sympathized with his team-mate; he definitely didn't want to be the one under the scrutinizing.

"As certain someone doesn't want my company," Yuriy spoke, giving Boris a glare out of the corned of his eye. "Would you join me for Christmas shopping?"

"Umm…" the neko-jin muttered trying to figure out what to say. They had agreed yesterday that they would be decorating the house together, but now it seemed there would be a little problem to it. Either Rei declined; making the redhead even more pissed off, or agreed; leaving the rest of the occupants with the job. Takao tried to send the message through his eyes, that his friend would chose the second opinion. Finally the ebony-haired youth cleared his throat before answering. "Sure, why not. I'll just go get my wallet."

"Great. I'll wait you outside," Yuriy said, quite emotionlessly and walked out of the kitchen. Rei quickly stood up to follow the other blader.

"Try not to make a mess," he told before giving a quick peck on Kai's lips. He didn't want to make the Russian wait. The youth was already upset from the fight with Boris.

"Don't worry. We won't," Max reassured. "Have fun!"

Rei nodded with a smile and disappeared to the hallway. Only after they heard the out door open and close for the second time and saw the two bladers walk past the kitchen window, Takao continued to eat.

"Do they always argue about something this small?" he dared to ask Kai with a whisper, hoping that the taller man on the other side of the kitchen didn't hear. The question had been bothering him and really, how could he know, if he didn't ask. The team captain just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? I wouldn't know. They normally always talk in Russian."

"Beginning to regret the house rules?" Boris taunted, making it clear that the discussion was heard.

"Hey! It wasn't fair before," the blue-haired youth said defending himself. "How were we supposed to know if you were planning something against us?"

"You weren't," the other simply stated and walked out of the room, disappearing somewhere to the next floor.

Takao shivered slightly. He had nothing against the two Russians, really. They were kind of pleasant company, every now and then – as long as they didn't get any sadistic ideas. But with them, you could never truly know what was going in their minds. Not that he wanted to know. It would be just too disturbing.

"I'm glad we agreed to only speak Japanese in the house," Max said optimistically, snatching another piece of bread to his plate. "That way I know what the argument was about and can avoid the subject."

Takao just nodded in agreement, following the blond's example and taking another serving. He decided to concentrate in eating as he needed the strength. They had the whole house to decorate and there was no chance that Kai or Boris would help them. It would need some kind of twisted parallel universe for that.

As if to prove the blue-haired blader right, Kai neatly folded the morning paper and stood up. He placed his empty coffee cup into the sink and left the kitchen. Takao and Max continued their eating, not really caring about their captain's doings. When they heard pair of steps coming down the stairs and after a while the sound of the front door opening and closing, they got curious. The two bladers sitting at the table exchanged a puzzled looks and glanced out of the window. With a small stretch of their neck, they could see Kai and Boris walking away from the house.

"Where do you think they are going?" Takao asked still looking out, even though there weren't anything to see anymore.

"Maybe they changed their minds and decided to join Rei and Yuriy," Max suggested, also staring at the snowy scenery outside.

"They went to the different direction," the other youth pointed out. The only answer he got from the blond was a small hum of agreement. The both boys turned away from the window.

"Do you think Yuriy will be still angry when he comes back?" Takao asked after a while of silence. He was kind of worried for the couple. He really wanted to see them happily together on Christmas. It was part of the whole celebration, to merrily enjoy the company of your beloved ones.

"I don't know. He could be," Max replied thoughtfully. "But he got Boris here for the holiday. He should be happy about that, shouldn't he?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "It would be kind of sad if they were in bad terms during Christmas."

"I'm sure they manage," the blond said reassuringly. However, not soon after a look of realization overtook his face. With a big smile on his face, he continued. "And I know how we can lend them a helping hand."

"What? How?" Takao asked confused, having no idea what his friend was thinking about.

"You remember the mistletoes among the decorations…"

A large grin made his way on the blue-haired blader's lips as he caught the drift. "Maxie. You're a genius."

"This isn't working," Takao whispered to the blond next to him.

They had been relieved when Yuriy and Rei had come back from shopping last night, as the redhead's mood was seemingly good. However, when he had found out that Boris had disappeared somewhere, he had gone back into being annoyed. Things hadn't gotten any better when the older Russian had returned and refused to tell where he had disappeared to. Cherishing hopes that things would settle down during the night had been pointless, as in the morning Yuriy had pretty much plainly ignored his boyfriend's whole existence.

So, here Takao and Max were, trying desperately to put their 'operation mistletoe' into action. The problem was that it wasn't exactly working. The whole day they had tried to get the couple under one of the sprays, without results. The only ones caught under, were Kai and Rei, who certainly didn't need any more encouraging. After that incidence the two of them had disappeared somewhere upstairs and were still MIA.

"If they're not going to the mistletoe, maybe we should bring the mistletoe to them," Max suggested with as hushed voice as his friend's.

Their targets were at the moment occupying the couch and looked like they weren't going to move from there anytime soon. So the new plan of action was sounding quite good at the moment. The difficulty with it was that Yuriy was sitting as far from Boris as he could. So even if they managed to sneak behind the duo, it didn't really count as being caught under the spray… on a second thought, they couldn't be picky right now. They had a goal to achieve.

"I'll go get something where we can tie the branch," Takao agreed and disappeared to get a stick. That way they didn't have to go in arm length from the couple. They had to think of their own safety as well.

When the equipment for their plan was ready, they needed a volunteer. Unfortunately neither of them was fond of the idea of sneaking into the room, so they had to solve the problem with a nice game of JanKen. After three draws, Takao finally managed to beat Max with a rock. The blond took the stick and gathered his courage to enter the room.

The youth staying at the doorway, kept a keen eye on what was happening. When the mistletoe was set, he could call out and make the couple kiss. Or at least he hoped it would be that easy.

But yet again Lady Luck was against them. Just as Max was starting to make his way behind the sofa, Yuriy looked up from the magazine he had been flipping through. The redhead adjusted his reading-glasses as he looked straight to Takao, who was in vain trying to look like nothing was going on. The piercing cyan-eyes glared at him for a moment longer, draining all blood from his face, before turning towards Max. The blond also paled slightly and remained in his place, hoping that without any sudden move there wouldn't be any problem. Finally Yuriy removed his gaze as he stood up.

"I'm going out," he informed and threw the magazine to the couch, making Boris look up from his book for a second. Yuriy just plainly walked past Takao into the hallway, while putting his glasses away. Only after the door was closed behind him, Max dared to move. He quickly joined the blue-haired blader as they made their way to the kitchen.

"We need a new plan before he comes back," Takao informed.

"Maybe we could put the mistletoe over the front door and as he comes back, we make Boris open it for him," the blond suggested.

"The door isn't locked," the other youth said, remembering how they had agreed to keep the door open, if there was someone in the house. The duo sat down trying to figure out a new plan of actions. Hoping to get some kind of inspiration, Takao turned to look out side, only to see the redheaded Russian standing there taking something out of his jeans' pocket with a frown.

The midnight-haired blader nudged Max, who was deeply concentrating to the problem at hand. Getting his friend's attention, Takao pointed towards the scene going outside. Yuriy had some kind of little paper bag in his hand, which he was staring at with a puzzled look. He opened it and poured the contents into his palm. Soon a blissful smile broke to his face as he closed his hand, pressing it against his chest with closed eyes. The redhead just stood there for a long moment, lost in his own thought. Then he turned around and almost skipped out of their view, back towards the house.

The door was opened and closed yet again, and they heard footsteps going to the living room. Exchanging a quick looks Takao and Max stood up simultaneously and quietly made their way to spy the couple – something that they seemed to be doing all the time. Boris was still sitting on the sofa, where he was left. But this time, instead of a book, his lap was occupied by a certain blue-eyed Russian.

"Looks like they doesn't need the mistletoe after all," Max sniggered as the couple engaged themselves into a kiss.

"Yeah," Takao agreed, feeling relieved that things had turned out alright. He had to admit that they looked quite sweet together like that

"I think I'm going to retreat now. Mission accomplished and all." The blond tried to suppress the yawn that escaped from his lips. "You joining me?"

"In a moment," the other blader replied, taking a quick final glance at the pair on the couch.

As Max disappeared into the staircase, he went to switch off the kitchen's light. Takao was just about to join his friend upstairs, when he heard low voices from the living room. Letting curious take over, he carefully made his way back to the spying doorway.

"Why in my pocket?" he heard Yuriy ask. "What if I had lost it?"

"I'd just make a new one," Boris simply answered, making it sound like it was self-evident.

"But that would have cost a fortune!"

"The things I do for you." was the slightly sarcastic reply.

"Shut up."

Takao couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange of words. He had been right. It was fun to have the two of them here – together.