(sings) Doumo arigatou Mr. Roboto! (grins cheesily) …(crickets chirp) Okay, anyhoo, thanks to Rachel, Akio the Dragon Master, and Misura! Your reviews have helped me a lot! Rachel, you especially should look out for Chapter 6… hehe. ;) On with the fic!

Stupid in Love
Chapter 3, Version 2

He Never Scratches ME Behind the Ears!

"…" Ryou looked from Bakura, to Shadi. "What's wrong with you two?"

"You just said that you ate cat food," Bakura said, face faulting. Next to him, Shadi has his nose wrinkled again. Although he had chosen to be a cat in clandestine, he was not overly fond of the food Ryou insisted on feeding him. He was, however, overly fond of Ryou. If what Ryou had said was true, he had competition. He turned to Bakura and stared at him with slit pupils.

"…Oh." Ryou scratched the back of his head. "…You're an idiot, 'Kura. I didn't mean it." Ryou rolled his eyes.

"Is that so?" Bakura demanded, angrily. Ryou turned around and stared at him quietly. …Was Bakura really gay?? Hm… If he was, this would be a good chance to tease him for awhile… especially since he thought that Ryou was going to commit seppuku. He wouldn't do anything to drive Ryou over the edge, in other words.

"…I think you eat this stuff, faggot." Ryou tossed the package at him, staring at him coolly. "Why don't you feed Shadi now." And then he left the room.

"…What the hey!?" Bakura glared at where Ryou had been standing a minute ago. Shadi stared too, but in a different way. The beige cat had it's head tilted, and it's eyes looked dreamy… "Stop acting so licentious Shadi." Bakura stared at the package of cat food. "…He called me a faggot. That's your fault, Mr. Kitty."

Shadi's tail swished back and forth, his golden eyes boring holes through Bakura. Even though he hated cat food, it didn't mean he wasn't hungry. Cat food was better than nothing.

"…Well, you're not being fed," Bakura said, and he shoved the bag of cat food back underneath the counter.

"MROOWWWW!" Shadi attacked him in a flurry of claws.

"OW!" Bakura kicked him. "Stupid cat!" He ran out into the living room for salvation from the evil Egyptian kitty from Hell. Ryou was reading again, his chocolate brown eyes intently focused on the words in front of him.

"………Is that the same book?" Bakura wanted to know.

Ryou looked up. "Maybe it is. Why do you want to know?" he asked slyly.

Bakura bit his lower lip. "You can't just commit seppuku, you know, that would kill me too…" Bakura was lying; he had no idea what might happen if Ryou killed himself. But, it seemed like a logical fallacy due to their yami-hikari bond, and so he went with it.

"Oh. Well, can you send me to the Shadow Realm?" Ryou asked innocently. 'He'll never do it.'

Bakura's eyes widened. "Wot?"

"Yeah. It'd be a lot less painful than seppuku as well," Ryou explained, a strange smile playing upon his face. Bakura took a step back, a little creeped out. Just then, Shadi came in, the little bells on his thick, blue collar jingling, and he leapt gracefully up onto Ryou's lap.

"Hi Shadi," Ryou sat, scratching him behind the ear again. Shadi purred; Bakura growled.

"Isn't it weird how Shadi's purring sounds like laughter?" Ryou observed.

"Yeah," Bakura glared like a hawk at the cat. "Fushigi desu."