Ryou Bakura was ecstatic. He almost felt like jumping for joy as he scurried about his family's two-story home.

"Alright- this room should be ready; I'd better go double-check the living room again.."

The white-haired teen ran about, carefully ensuring that every room of the house was animal-proofed.

After years of begging and pleading, his father had finally agreed to let him keep a pet.

"Right, the electrical cords are out-of-reach, and everything's been dusted..."

Grinning widely, the high-schooler proudly glanced over the array of items he'd just brought home from their local 'PetsRLove' shop.

He'd bought all the necessary supplies- a handsome scratching post, a plush pet-bed, plenty of kitty food, several different toys, a matching set of water and food dishes, and (of course) a large bag of litter with a fresh litter box that was made of specially-infused plastics. The box gave off a pleasant pine scent, leaving the bathroom smelling clean and ready to accommodate a new feline household member.

Satisfied with his preparations, Ryou sighed as he relaxed into his favorite living room chair. "Excellent- I just wish father had given in sooner... it'll be difficult for the little guy to adjust when spring break ends and classes start again."

Mr. Izou Bakura, or 'father' to Ryou Bakura, often spent long periods of time away from home. He worked at a very high-security private laboratory that specialized in some sort of biological engineering. Everything they did was incredibly hush-hush- even Ryou wasn't entirely certain what his father's line of work entailed!

But regardless, the nature of the occupation meant many long hours at the lab; and due to rigid security restrictions, only active employees could live on the company property. Which meant that family members like Ryou had to find someplace to live that was nearby, but not impossible for a daily commute. Despite this, Mr. Bakura rarely came home at night- he was always 'on the verge of a breakthrough' or 'fixing an urgent miscalculation' that would surely take all of his attention.

So the poor boy often went weeks, and sometimes even months without seeing his father in person. Phone calls were allowed, but they were always actively monitored, without exception. And Ryou felt a bit odd speaking for too long under such circumstances. Something about having another person silently 'listening in' on their conversations made Ryou want to hang up faster.

Mr. Bakura had insisted that Ryou's loneliness would soon be 'a thing of the past'. He assumed his shy son would open up more once he was enrolled in the local high school.

"Domino High is big, Ryou. You'll be sure to meet some great kids there." The scientist had cheerfully promised his nervous progeny.

But as large as the public school was, Ryou had still only made a handful of 'close' friends by the start of spring break. And unfortunately, most of them did not live close enough to visit on a regular basis.

So the next time his father was actually home, Ryou had asked if he couldn't have something waiting for him to come home every day- something small, low-maintenance, and fluffy.

And his father, surprisingly, agreed. In fact, he had an unexpected smile on his face as he spoke to his delighted son. "Actually, this is rather good timing- we have some lab animals that no longer can provide us with any valuable data, and we want to see them be humanely re-homed."

The optimistic teen eagerly agreed to host one of these 'former experiments,' and Mr. Bakura laughed.

"Then I should probably ask- do you have any preferences?"

"Well, I'm very fond of cats..." Ryou suggested hopefully.

"Hmm... I already have one in mind."

As evening approached, the skies started to darken. Ryou quickly shut all the windows in the two-story house. It was soon raining heavily; thick, loud droplets falling rapidly from the sky and blurring the city skyline. Ryou glanced out the front windows at the wet streets with a look of trepidation. 'Goodness... I hope father makes it home alright in this...'

Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting, there was a hurried knock at the door. Ryou smiled- his father was always forgetting his house keys at the lab.

"Coming!" Ryou cried out as he quickly turned the deadlock. He could feel his excitement building as he stepped back from the entryway.

The painted door swung open- and there, standing on the front stoop, was his father... and another person. Both men were wearing heavy raincoats, but the newcomer also had a dark hood pulled over his face. Ryou blinked in surprise- the wide smile on his father's face clearly indicated a guest, but he'd never mentioned a visitor-?

"Ryou, I've brought someone home I think you'll like." He quickly ushered the mysterious stranger inside the house.

"Oh!" The flustered teen gave a quick bow of greeting. "Um, good evening! I'm sorry; I wasn't expecting any guests tonight..."

The newcomer didn't reply; he only started to fidget with the buckles on the sopping outerwear.

"Ah, I'll take that." The homeowner quickly unbuckled the soaked trench coat and removed it from the stranger's back. The black hood fell off along with the drenched coat.

Ryou gasped in shock. The boy looked just like him- he was around the same age, height, and skin tone. His hair was even a brilliant white, but it was much longer and wilder than Ryou's own. But it wasn't just the similar features that shocked Ryou. No, it was the two ears sticking up on top of the outsider's head- two pale triangles of white that perceptibly swiveled toward various sounds. Just like a cat's.

"He's a bit disheveled- we weren't expecting such heavy rain, and he hates getting wet."

The stunned teen could only nod in disbelief as he glanced over the new arrival. Ryou was soon further shocked when he realized that the other boy had been hiding something else beneath the sodden coat- a long, lithe tail. The white, fur-covered appendage was currently swishing back and forth at an anxious pace.

"Father- what-?!"

"Oh, are you surprised by his appearance?" The middle-aged man chuckled as he hung the drenched coats on a metal stand. "I thought you might find it amusing- yes, he's designed to look like me and you. We were told to use unusual genetic markers to help identify the different subjects in our study- I chose white hair so that everyone would know that he was part of our division." The man pointed to his own pale locks, which were a very pale shade of pastel blue. "And of course, it was easy to set his other traits using a model, so we decided to match my skin tone and so on. His eyes, however; were a bit of a failure- they were meant to be closer to yours, but, well..."

Ryou turned his soft, cocoa-tinted eyes towards the face of the experiment. Two brilliant, blood-red orbs glared harshly back at him.
"Is... is he... related to us, then?"

The senior scientist chuckled rather loudly. "No, not at all- what you see is merely mimicry. We don't use our own genetic material- that would defeat the purpose of our goals in advancing bio-genetic innovations."

"Riiiight..." The confused son slowly intoned. "Um, but father- I thought you were bringing home a pet for me- like a cat? Not another human- I mean, he can't be a pet, right?"

"Nonsense!" The elder Bakura laughed as he mussed the top of the stranger's hair. The unusual hybrid growled in displeasure, but was ignored. "Don't let his outward appearance fool you- he's barely half human! His internal organs are quite different than ours, and his DNA is a patented jumble of several species. Not to mention, he can barely talk, and has little-to-no social skills."

"That still doesn't make him an animal!" Ryou was beginning to feel like he was being ignored as well. "Father, really- how is this even legal?!"

"Relax, Ryou- it's completely legal. Like I said, our private company funds experiments in genetic cross-breeding for... specific purposes." The curved lenses of the older man's glasses seemed to take on an odd gleam as he explained. "This experiment, #363, no longer meets the stringent requirements set by our clients. However, his entire genetic makeup is the patented concoction of our company's work. So we can't just toss him in some random animal shelter- he could still be a valuable asset to any competitors looking to reverse-engineer our technology. Instead, I offered to take him home, since you said you were feeling lonely and wanted a pet."

Ryou sighed- he wasn't even sure where to begin with what was wrong with that argument. But his absent-minded father clearly thought he was doing everyone a favor.

As he glanced at the stony-faced crossbreed, Ryou felt a sinking feeling inside his chest.

'Oh dear... something tells me I won't be needing all those felt mice I just bought...'