DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).

Thanks to Crazyeight for beta-reading.

DIMENSIONS

BOOK SIX

Tricks

CHAPTER 25

The Trick to Pyjamas

SATURDAY, 10TH JULY 2010

Nonaka Residence, Shinjuku Ward

22:00 JST

"Such a beautiful and clear night, once those clouds passed at least."

"Yeah, the storm's passed. Poignant, eh?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call it a storm."

"Oh??"

"Nope. More like a hurricane!" Rey chuckled, grinning. "I really did think that Rumiko and Rika were going to do something they'd regret earlier."

Realmon chuckled, nodding to her Tamer who lay on the rooftop, looking up to the sky with a peaceful grin on her face. Whilst the room arrangements were being sorted out below Rey's back, she preferred to be out of the way for that. Of course, Rey knew that she'd need a room, but she also needed a time-out, and the roof was a lot better than most places for doing so. The faint moonlight from the half moon was reflected in the pond, but the main source of light was merely the light of the city around them, which turned the horizon a slight orange. Adding decoration to the scene were the small lights in the garden flowerbeds, along with the brighter lights from the home itself. Taking away the peaceful nature was Guilmon snoring away against the wall, and Renamon was sitting watching from nearby, turning the egg from hand to hand.

Rey breathed deeply, sighing happily. "It's so calm here."

"They're going to want to ask you more questions, aren't they?"

"Oh no, you've rattled me," Rey said with a stone-faced expression, the pair laughing afterwards at the way she had said it. "Yeah, but seriously, I'll get around to dealing with their questions later."

"Fine," Realmon answered, a comfortable silence once again descending on the pair of them.

Rey had a strangely joyful feeling despite the knowledge that her father's childhood home had just been burnt out. That's what time travel did; it made someone become detached from reality. She knew that she could simply jump ahead to when it was complete, with ease. But she still felt it when she saw the look on Takato's face, and she felt a warm feeling in her heart when she saw Rika go to comfort him. Rika was rarely like that, but when she was, she was amazingly good at reassuring a person, even if she did give out a far too tight grip every so often. Rey knew that all too well.

Whilst Rey reflected more or less cheerfully, Realmon frowned, her earlier thoughts riding back to her like a wave. As much as she didn't want to spoil the moment, she knew that otherwise the point would be forgotten. Besides, it seemed calm and quiet enough to interrupt the moment with more difficult questions and talk, despite the abundance of them as of late.

"Rey, are you afraid of failing?" she blurted out. Rey's eyes widened as she turned to her partner, surprised by the unprovoked nature of the question.

"What?" Rey questioned, not sure whether she was getting the whole point.

"I was wondering why we have been spending so much time not travelling, and you wouldn't answer me. But…I think I worked it out. Rey, I think you're afraid of failing to save the world, and having to face the others and tell them that."

Rey frowned, her tone dampening as she nodded. "Yeah, kind of," she answered. "Slightly, only the slightest bit…but a very big slight bit," Rey began, stuttering on her words a bit as she questioned whether to admit what she was thinking. "Well…completely…if I'm going to be perfectly honest. Of all the things that are bugging me, that's definitely at the forefront of my mind. Is that a bad thing?" she asked, genuine concern in her voice as her mumbling continued.

Realmon smiled, shaking her head. "No, I don't think so. Of course you're afraid, the thing you have to prevent is pretty major after all, and I'm not sure how you plan to do so. And neither of us wants to go back having failed, but I know they'll understand if we do. And…I'm sure we'll all come up with something new if that happens. His grip has been weakened; all that's left to do is take his hand off completely. And you…we can do it, we all can, and we're not going to go down without a fight. We've regrouped before, and we'll do it again if we have to."

"Yeah, but, it's going to be a bit of a pain telling them that we've not only failed, but also learnt a lot of disturbing secrets about their lives in the interim."

"That's their problem Rey; you're worse than your father at times. You keep making other people's problems yours."

Rey chuckled, smiling. "Yeah, you've got a point there. I'm surprised you don't have Guilmon's appetite to be honest."

"I have my moments. Thankfully, I have Renamon's self control."

Rey smiled, laughing, a laugh rather contrasting with the attitudes of those downstairs, but Rey didn't seem to care. For once, she was happy, something that Realmon was glad to see, and that was all that mattered for now.

"Realmon, with this whole changing the future thing, we're gonna give it our best shot, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Realmon answered. "I didn't expect us to try any less than that," she added. "Now, when are we going downstairs to join the nervous atmosphere?"

Rey frowned, shrugging. "I really don't know. They're all going to be asking me questions, and I really don't want to have to deal with them."

"Just say that it messes up time then," Realmon suggested.

"Yeah, but what if it actually does Realmon?" the redhead asked, concern lapsing into her voice. "Hell, what have I done so far? How much damage have I caused?" she asked, the thoughts returning to her once again.

"We still exist, don't we? You can't be doing too badly," Realmon comforted. "And to be fair, most things are better than the world we ended up in."

"True, true," Rey answered, sighing as those memories of war returned to her. "You had to remind me of that, didn't you?" she asked, sighing.

"Okay, so there's your futon," Rika said, gesturing to the blue all-in-one bed now rolled out on the floor. Rika's own one was moved aside to make room for it. "Right, now, I'm going to get changed so can you get out for a moment?" she asked, a sense of reluctance as she said it, feeling as if she was being forced to be careful. Besides, what difference did it make now they had explored the full extent of that particular taboo concept?

Apparently, to their parents it meant a lot.

"Seriously, this seems to all be a bit pedantic. A gap between the beds, getting changed in different rooms, all seems a bit late to me," Rika noted with a sigh, rolling her eyes at the requests of their parents. They made it more than a little obvious when arranging the rooms earlier, and it had left Rika with a bitter taste in her mouth. "After all that talkof me not trusting her, it turns out she doesn't trust me either."

"They're just a bit unsure of things now after what you did before Rika," Harmony explained. "They don't like the concept of you two being that way at all yet, let alone the fact it has already happened. Rumiko probably just thinks she's lost her trust in you after what you did."

"Yeah, I suppose we just have to play along with it all for now," Takato added in agreement.

"Yeah, but we're having a child together, the least we can do is be allowed to hug in front of our parents. But earlier on, I felt really uncomfortable with putting my arms round you in front of our parents, even when you really needed the support," she said with a sigh, looking down to the ground sadly as her voice took on an edge. "I mean, having sex again is the last thing we're going to do now, after what happened before, but that's exactly what they're afraid of us doing! But I can't tell them that, they'll just get at us," she added with an angered tone.

Takato frowned, nodding at Rika's point. It did feel like their parents no longer trusted them whatsoever, even if they themselves knew that it would be completely inappropriate to even think of doing anything.

Rika sighed, feeling a load return to her back once again. Nonetheless, she smiled as she felt Takato's arm round her back, pulling her close. She looked up into his smiling face and waited for some reassuring words, the sort he always seemed to manage to come up with, as inarticulate as they were at times. Her arm curved round his back, a peaceful moment passing.

And another one.

And another.

"You can't think of anything to say, can you?" Rika finally asked, the peaceful moment beginning to turn uncomfortable.

"Nope, not at all, I thought you just needed a hug," he answered, smiling his usual reassuring smile. "Anyhow, as you said, I'll go out of the room now while you get changed, maybe talk to Rey or something, and then we'll switch, and I'll get changed while…"

Takato paused in mid-sentence, staring off into middle distance as he considered something.

"Oh," he said, his expression remaining one of pondering.

Rika raised an eyebrow before she rolled her eyes, a realisation hitting her, and proving rather amusing to her.

"No pyjamas?" she asked teasingly, smiling playfully at him. He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, that's what I realised," he answered. She sighed, wandering out of his grip and over to the wardrobe stretching along the wall, hidden behind a set of sliding doors. She pulled a door aside, revealing a collection of…jeans. Mostly. Well, along with a several copies of the same blue hearted t-shirt, a few different shirts (to Takato's modest surprise, although he had seen her wearing different clothes before on occasion), and right at the end, Rika's old school uniform dumped on the floor. The dresses hanging above, clearly Rumiko's choice, were not given much better treatment than the school uniform.

"Well, you haven't got much to choose from…and it doesn't help that you're a lot taller and bigger than me now," Rika pondered, pressing through her clothes in the vain hope that she'd find something more appropriate. "I have a stupidly large dress, but you won't want to wear that, and I'm wearing the only pair of actual pyjamas that I have," Rika noted, taking out a brown traditional pair on a clothes hanger, settling it on the floor gently, before returning to the wardrobe. "Ugh, why can't you just wear your boxers on their own, what exactly does it suggest? Trust parents for that," she muttered, irritated, before sighing. "Right, old heart shirt it is then," she noted, throwing a shirt across the room to Takato who caught it clumsily, surprised by the action. "As for the bottoms, I don't know, can't be bothered with this that much, just wear your boxers, okay?" she continued to mumble, before she sighed, leaning her head against the frame of the wardrobe and groaning. "And I just remembered how this pregnancy is going to make pretty much my whole wardrobe unusable, thanks a lot Takato," she cursed, glancing back to him.

"Huh? I thought it was both of us who…" Takato began to explain, stumbling from surprise.

"Takato, just humour the mood swing please," Rika asked, turning to him with an exasperated tone. Takato nervously nodded, before Rika slid the wardrobe shut and yawned widely. "God I'm tired," she groaned. "Now just get out of my room," she ordered, picking up her brown pyjamas and gesturing to the door. "If I'm asleep when you get back, wake me up at your peril," she added, Takato smiling and nodding in response. He slid the door aside and stepped through into the cool hallway outside, holding only Rika's heart shirt before closing the door behind him.

"Oh yeah, cos this isn't going to make you look like you're in the middle of undressing her."

Blushing profusely, Takato resisted the urge to futilely argue back and stepped outside through a second sliding door into the cool summer night. The lights rose out above the city and contrasted dramatically with the peace of the ornate garden, except, of course, for the quiet snoring of Guilmon (oddly a lot quieter than he was at home, when he would sometimes stop Takato sleeping). Renamon stayed silent as ever, holding the egg in her arms and pondering over it.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" yelled a voice from above. Takato was too slow to dodge as Rey landed on him. He groaned in annoyance, although compared to Guilmon, her weight was a relief. Nonetheless, Rey quickly got up, turning and beginning to apologise, laughing nervously. "Oops, sorry, sorry, really, really, really sorry," she apologised, while Takato rubbed his sore head. Realmon landed gently and gracefully near them, before turning to look at them.

"It's okay," Takato noted.

"Although…it was kind of your fault for standing there, you should be more careful," Rey added, turning far more Rika-like. Takato sighed, removing his hand as he felt the pain in his head go away.

Rey glanced down to the object in his other hand, a blue heart print t-shirt, before rolling her eyes and smiling as she spoke in a mocking tone.

"Oh for god's sake, can't you control yourself?" she asked.

"Chaos already made the exact same joke," Takato sighed.

"And so will everyone else Takato, get used to it," Chaos stressed.

"So, what's the shirt for then?" Realmon asked, looking curiously at the boy who clutched it nervously and uncomfortably, the stigma of it now firmly attached in his mind thanks to his daughter and his alter-ego's mocking.

"Pyjamas," Takato answered.

"Oh, I have to see this!" Rey said, grinning at the concept.

"I don't think it's going to fit," Takato noted, lifting it up and watching Rey look over it carefully.

"That's an understatement. Seriously, does Rika wear anything else at this age?" Rey asked, raising an eyebrow at Takato.

"Not really, although she was just talking about how she'd need new clothes during her pregnancy," Takato answered.

"Yeah, but you're exactly the same as her. In fact, you all wear the same clothes almost every day, what gives?" Rey asked, tilting her head questioningly.

"Uh…I don't know…I just look okay in my blue pullover and grey pants," Takato explained. "I mean, I didn't expect to use them forever, but you know, trademark outfit and all. Maybe I got it from the TV series…I don't know."

Rey smiled knowingly, nodding as she considered something. "Aha, I think I get you," she answered. "Yes, and I do know how hypocritical I'm being in saying that while at the same time still wearing this boring old red shirt," Rey added, gesturing to the red D-symbol shirt with a rolling of the eyes. "But I have an excuse: I didn't have any time to pack; I've been wearing these clothes for several weeks now in real terms. Hell, I jumped at the chance Mari offered to wash them. But I'm planning to change them as soon as I get the chance, and I'm sure it'd take Rika's mind off things if she was able to…ah, who am I kidding? She hates shopping, particularly for clothes. And I'm feeling a bit wary of Rumiko; I'm not a fan of dresses so much, which leaves out Mimi too. I could ask Mari, but…"

"Rey, I have been alive for billions of years, passing through morons who can't tell their arse from their elbow and microbes which don't have to make that distinction, and I have to tell you that this is one of the most unbelievably boring conversations I've ever had the misfortune of being victim to," Chaos complained.

"Chaos!" Takato complained, sounding oddly like Henry and Terriermon did.

"Ah, Momentai. Okay Takato, here's a deal. I will not annoy you at all this evening, and remember that you're sleeping in the same room as Rika, so there's plenty of potential for that there, if, and only if, you can honestly say that you were remotely interested in anything, and I mean absolutely ANYTHING, that Rey just said."

"Uh…" Takato began, stalling on his words and giving Chaos all the confirmation he needed.

"Ah, a blank cheque for mischief, how wonderful!" Chaos cheered. "Don't let your guard down tonight Takato, or I'll be taking control faster than you can say "stop hitting Rika with a golf club!""

A short, uncomfortable silence passed, Rey looking oddly at Takato who simply turned his eyes to the heavens, praying that Chaos wouldn't take control this evening. Of course, Takato was well aware that Chaos wouldn't use the ability for sexual reasons, particularly not with Harmony of all people. No, Chaos preferred to simply cause uncontrollable Chaos, hence the name, and that was something Takato feared even more than his mother's wrath, particularly since Chaos would inevitably incur his mother's wrath in the process.

"So, anyway," Rey began, deciding that it was better to just put that item of conversation to rest rather than dwelling on it too long. "What are you wearing for bottoms?"

"Rika just suggested my boxers. She sounded pretty exasperated though, the mood swings are definitely getting to her," Takato replied. Rey nodded, sighing as she looked nervously down to her hands.

"You know…it's weird to think that I'm causing all this, if a bit indirectly," Rey noted, looking off towards the door to Rika's bedroom.

"It's not really your fault you know," Takato reassured.

"I know, I just find it weird, that's all," Rey answered.

"Takato, done now, so hurry the hell up so I can go to sleep," Rika interrupted, opening the door, and looking to the pair of them chatting, stepping outside into the hallway. A brown pair of traditional pyjamas had replaced her usual attire, loosely draped around her. "Sorry, just really, really, really tired," she apologised, running her hand through her now loose hair as she stood watching them from the hallway.

Takato smiled, nodding as he walked up towards Rika's room, a small kiss passing between them on the way. But it was as Takato put his hand on the door to open it, that they were interrupted by an unexpected voice.

"What's all the yelling about?"

"Huh?" Takato pondered, glancing along to the shortest Nonaka. Kristy looked towards them with bags under her eyes and a similarly tired Kudamon curled around her neck.

"Oh wonderful Rika, all your shouting has now means we have to tell Kristy," Chaos complained.

"Tell me what?"

Rika glared at Chaos, her mood swings and her usual intimidation combining into a single searing death glare. Unfortunately, she used it on the one being who would face it and laugh, as Chaos subsequently did, leaning against the wall in hysterics. The others stared on in bewilderment, Chaos not particularly caring.

"Chaos, one day, I am going to get you back for this," Rika spat, continuing to glare as her voice took on a sharp and bitter edge.

"For what?!" Kristy asked, feeling really sick of people not giving her enough information.

Rika shot a final scalding glare at Chaos, before sighing, relaxing her anger and walking over to Kristy. She bent down, frowning. "Look, Kristy, I have something…something really major to tell you."

TO BE CONTINUED…

And so, this now becomes my longest book yet. Celebrations aplenty, and the plot is now moving along properly again. No clue for next time, I can't think of a decent one.

Until next time…