I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I want to point out that the worship center mentioned in this chapter does exist.

Chapter One- The Trip

"Ouch!"

Bakura stuck his finger in his mouth, sucked for a moment, and then pulled it out to examine it. His brown eyes glared at the puffball who had done the damage. "Stupid cat," he muttered before sucking on his finger again.

Ryou looked up from where he was sitting cross-legged, petting a cat who was purring on his lap. "That's what you get for scaring him."

"I didn't intend to scare him." Bakura retorted as he took his finger out. "I just reached out like this." He demonstrated with his hand palm down.

"Well, there's a couple of things wrong with your approach. One is you need to crouch down or sit. The second is offer your hand palm up." Ryou demonstrated the motion.

Bakura sighed as he crouched down by a kitten this time and imitated Ryou's hand motion. The kitten stared up at him and then at the hand before swiping at it, Bakura barely getting his hand out of the way in time. He glared at it and it scampered away. "Here's a thought, baka. Cats just hate me and I hate them."

"Well, that's surprising considering cats are worshipped in Egypt."

"Cats are unpredictable, not reliable like dogs and horses. Plus, they're stupid."

"Actually, cats can be predictable if you watch their body language and they are smart in their own way, just like any living creature."

"Easy for you to say. You love cats."

"Yeah," Ryou said softly as he stroked the cat still in his lap. "Uh, Bakura? You know why I'm here in this cat room at the shelter, right?"

"Of course. Your biology report on cats."

"Well, I have time to do extra credit on it and plan to fly out to Egypt. Thing is I shouldn't go alone…"

Bakura gave a grunt. "Fine. I'll go with you."

Ryou beamed a bright smile. "Thanks, Bakura." He cradled the cat as he stood and put it back in its cage. He carefully moved around the room, gathering up the felines while his other half leaned against the room's door. He sighed softly. He couldn't understand Bakura's dislike of cats, for he believed hate was too strong a word. Who wouldn't love these furry little guys? he thought as he poked a finger in a cage and the cat rubbed her cheek across it. Ryou smiled at the affectionate reaction. Maybe our trip to Egypt will change his mind.

Bakura watched Ryou with a sour look on his face. His hikari didn't understand. He had had bad experiences with cats his whole life. There was an especially bad one. He had tried to rob a shrine dedicated to the cat goddess, Bastet. He ended up setting off a well-concealed trap and ended up with a crisscrossed scar for his trouble. Granted, the scar was no longer there, but the memory remained. That botched rob led him to believe that all cats hated him; after all, if he couldn't rob a shrine of Bastet's that had to indicate that he keep his distance from felines and all things to do with them. He inwardly grimaced as he and Ryou left the cat room. This trip to Egypt is going to be torture.

Ryou sighed in relief as he and Bakura entered the Cairo airport terminal. The flight over had not been fun for Bakura had been moody and his facial expression made it clear that he would have preferred to stay in Domino city. Maybe he'll cheer up a little now that we're not on the plane.

"So, where to?" Bakura grunted.

"Ishizu offered to take us to Bubastis where the main center of worship to Bastet resides," Ryou said, consulting a piece of paper as they headed to luggage claim.

"The main center? We can't just go to an abandoned shrine?"

"Nope. I want to do this extra credit right." Ryou grabbed a suitcase and led the way outside to see Ishizu waiting beside a jeep.

The trip to Bubastis was both long and short to Bakura; long as Ishizu and Ryou chatted about cats and their reverence to the Egyptians. It was short as Bakura didn't want to arrive at Bubastis. He slowly exhaled. Well, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home and put this behind us. He trailed behind the others as they entered the worship center. Ryou listened avidly to Ishizu as she talked, taking notes all the while and asking questions.

"What can you tell me about Bastet?" Ryou asked. "I mean, she is the cat goddess, right?"

"That's correct. She was a powerful deity whose revenge and vengeance can be both benevolent and malevolent. It all depends on the severity of the crime or prayer."

"Oh, what's that?" Ryou pointed at a statue of a cat with jade stones for eyes.

"That is the worship center's worship statue," Ishizu said. "It's said it has magical properties to grant both wishes and deal temporary punishment."

Ryou gazed at the statue before closing his eyes. "I wish to have a cat or kitten, even if only for a little while."

Bakura snorted as he came up beside Ryou. "Gods, Ryou. Why in the world would you want to own a cat? I already told you what I think of them and this," he pointed at the statue. "is no more magical than the so-called 'powerful goddess.' Bastet is not worthy of any type of worship." The statue's eyes gleamed a brighter green before Bakura stalked away.

"Keep an eye on him, Ryou," Ishizu whispered as they left. "Bakura may have earned the wrath of Bastet. It's said if the eyes of the statue gleam brighter, a wish or punishment will occur a day or two later."

"I'll watch him," he promised. He believed Ishizu completely when it came to magic and Egypt. It was likely that the statue had just cast a punishment on Bakura, but it was also possible that it was granting Ryou's wish. He kept an eye on Bakura as they flew home the next day and as he organized his notes while Bakura slept off his jet lag. At last, his notes were together and decided to leave the actually writing for later; as it was spring break he had time. Indeed, it was Saturday and had gotten permission to miss school Thursday and Friday for the extra credit.

The sound of Ryou getting up, roused Bakura. He blearily opened his eyes and yawned. "Finished with it already?"

"No. I'll write it later. I think jet lag's catching up with me now."

Bakura got up and stretched. "That being the case, I'll go nap in my bed." He took several steps toward the bedroom door when a green light outlined his body and froze both boys in confusion. Bakura began to shrink as the light brightened. Ryou shut his eyes against the light and opened them once it had passed. He blinked when he saw he was alone until movement made him look down. He gasped when he saw a pure white kitten with green eyes. It looked up with an expression of confusion and then shock filled its eyes.

"Bakura!?" he gasped. "Is that you?"

The kitten nodded and said, "Mew?" Bakura put a paw to his mouth at hearing the sound. He lowered it. "Meow?" he asked.

"Oh!" Ryou squealed as he reached down and lifted Bakura. "You are an adorable kitten. Don't give me that look," he said when Bakura shot him a dirty look. "This is your fault for insulting Bastet and the statue. This is your punishment. Until you learn your lesson, you're stuck as a kitten."