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. I'd also like to thank Neon Master for being my 150th reviewer of this story.

DIMENSIONS

BOOK SIX

Tricks

CHAPTER 26

The Trick to Telling All The Nonakas

SATURDAY, 10TH JULY 2010

Nonaka Residence, Shinjuku Ward

22:16 JST

"Look, Kristy, I have something…something really major to tell you."

Kristy tilted her head curiously at her crouching sister. "Like what?" she asked, Rika pondering how she could tell her sister, an eleven year old, what she had to tell her. Rika was sixteen, and she was having a child, this was hardly the sort of thing for someone so young to even hear about. Nonetheless, it was going to affect their lives dramatically, and Kristy was going to hear about it sooner or later. It was probably just simpler to do it sooner so that all their family knew of the child in Rika's womb.

"Kristy, I'm not sure entirely how to tell you this, but seven and a half months from now, I'm going to have a child," Rika stated, Kristy giving her a bewildered look at first.

"Really?" she asked, a bit confused. This wasn't the usual kind of thing that happened, was it?

"Yeah…and Takato's going to be the father…and that is why we had this big dinner this evening," Rika explained, elaborating on her point.

"Really?" Kristy asked, a bit bemused and surprised by the concept.

"Yes really," Rika stated again.

"Really?" Kristy asked once more.

Rika groaned, rolling her eyes and asserting it more this time. "Yes!"

"Wow, that's so cool," Kristy said, in awe of the concept and not particularly noticing Rika's irritation by how she didn't understand it.

"Huh?" Rika asked, her expression quickly changing to confusion.

"A little baby…um, niece! That's going to be so…hold on…aren't I a bit young to have a niece?" Kristy asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise and tilting her head in a questioning pose.

"29 seconds Rika, your sister is stupider than I thought she was," Chaos joked, Rika turning and glaring at him once again. Did he really lack a sense of timing that much?

"Hey, you take that back! I'm not stupid!" Kristy argued, glaring at Chaos as he simply smirked, rolling his eyes.

"You took…" he began.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE SHUT THE HELL UP!" Harmony blasted, sick and tired of her opposite's endless annoyances this evening. Time was, she'd have grabbed him, thrown him into the door and slammed it repeatedly on him until he finally shut up, or died. And of course, anyone who had known Chaos for as long as she did knew that those two were usually one and the same. But of course, times had changed, and Harmony knew that to do that, she'd have to injure Takato too, not something she was willing to pursue, particularly since Harmony would never hear the end of it from Rika.

"…you didn't have to yell, you know," Chaos mumbled.

"Of all the mind-numbingly irritating jerks in the world…" Harmony muttered, before Rika took back control, turning to her now bewildered sister.

"Why are all my days like this?" Rika asked, sighing. "What happened to normality?"

"Will you just tell me what's going on?" Kristy asked, frustrated that no-one was giving her a clear answer.

"Okay," Rika answered. "I'm not going into specifics, but basically, Takato and I did something we weren't exactly old enough to do, okay?"

Kristy's mouth turned into a thin line, not sure if that counted as a clear answer or not. Finally, she nodded, smiling.

"Thanks," she said, before curiously looking up to Rika. "But what does this mean now then?"

"Um, Rika, you forgot to mention something," Takato noted, interrupting Rika's conversation with Kristy. She groaned, turning around.

"What is it this time?" she asked, exasperated at how every time she got into a conversation with Kristy, they were interrupted.

Takato raised an eyebrow, how could she forget the most obvious factor in it all? Rika got the hint. Kind of.

"Oh no Takato, she's an eleven year old girl, I am not going into specifics about…"

"Rika, how on earth could you forget me?" Rey asked, her eyes widened at her mother.

"Oh, right," Rika corrected, her exasperation vanishing and being replaced with simple tiredness. Tiredness at how everyone was making things so difficult, tiredness about how she now had to tell Kristy without being able to prepare first, and, of course, simple tiredness from lack of sleep.

"Huh, what does she mean?" Kristy asked, curious as to how Rey was involved in all of this. Rey saw an irritated Rika go to answer the question, before butting in herself and taking Rika's place. Rey bent down, smiling, to her aunt's level, her voice soft and calm about the concept.

"Kristy, you know that I'm from the future?" Rey asked, tilting her head in question.

"Yeah, everyone knows that," Kristy answered, smiling. "What's it like, by the way?" she asked, oblivious to the true nature of what was going on.

"Terrible, but that's not the point. The point is, well…you know the concept of going back in time and meeting your own parents as teenagers?" Rey questioned, Rika quietly impressed by how she was dealing with the situation so calmly.

"Yeah?" Kristy asked, curious. Rika pondered how unbelievably naïve Kristy seemed to be. Then again, for an 11 year old girl, the concept of not only their sister being pregnant at 16, but also the baby being a time traveller from the future who they had met before, wasn't exactly the sort of thing she'd expect.

"Well…I actually did it," Rey answered. She paused to wait for Kristy's response, but it was hardly a long wait at all.

"What?!" Kristy spluttered in surprise, the thought occurring to her that this was all some silly joke that Rika and Rey were in cahoots on. "It's really mean if it is."

"Yeah, it really is Kristy. I am Rika's daughter, Rey Matsuki. Oh, and Realmon is Renamon's daughter," Rey noted, deciding to drop two bombshells at the same time on the girl. To be fair, it avoided a lot of confusion later. Renamon glanced up, as did Realmon surprised at how carelessly Rey revealed their secret.

"Oh, thanks," Realmon said sarcastically.

"Wow, that's all so cool, but I have to say, it does sound a bit farfetched," Kristy answered.

"Yes, the concept is very unlikely," Kudamon piped in, yawning afterwards from tiredness. They had both woken up not long beforehand, of course, and this was simply interrupting their sleep.

"It's true though," Takato noted. "And that's why Rey's been so secretive around us," he added.

"So I'm your aunt?" Kristy asked, the concept recurring in her mind as she raised an eyebrow at the girl towering over her.

"Oddly, yes," Rey answered, Kristy running up and hugging her legs, before smiling and looking up into Rey's face.

"That's so cool," she cheered, Rey simply being surprised by Kristy's odd happiness regarding the revelation.

"You better not be as much of a handful as her," Rika warned, looking to the girl who she would soon give birth to. Rey grinned, looking back to her mother.

"I can't promise you that," she laughed.

"I'm just glad this is finally all over with," Takato said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Don't speak too soon. We've still got everyone else to tell," Rika reminded. "And I think that could be the hardest of all."

"Hmm…"

"Yes?"

"Just pondering."

"I know. It's surprised me a lot too."

"I'm surprised you didn't faint."

"Hey, I'm not that fragile."

"You're now going to say that you're surprised that I didn't faint, aren't you?"

"You know me too well."

"So, what do you think about all this?"

"I'm worried Takehiro, that's really the truth of it all. One day he was my little baby, getting crayons stuck up his nose, and then he suddenly ended up going on a wild adventure with Guilmon and all those other Digimon. I guess I should have seen that he was growing up so fast, but getting a girl pregnant? It's the last thing I expected from him."

"Yes, I am rather disappointed in him too. But I think he already knows what he's done wrong."

"I know, and I can't be helping by labouring the point so much, but it just worries me. I always thought that Rika girl was normal and friendly, even if the two did have a strange relationship together. But, after she mentioned how her mother had her when she was 15, it left me rather concerned."

"Why exactly?"

"It seems that things could just be repeating themselves, and it leaves me unsure as to whether Rika could really be a good mother."

"But Rey seems fine enough?" Takehiro suggested.

"I get the impression she's rather…unstable. And why is she here in the past anyway?"

"I'd like to know that too, but she seemed to imply it was better if we didn't know."

"And how does that reassure us? If we don't know her reasons, how can we trust her?"

"Rika and Takato seem to trust her."

"I suppose so," Mei replied, frowning as she glanced to the door of the large traditional room, a double futon laid out in the middle of it all, and soft lights illuminating it. "I just worry about Takato, he seems to be growing up way too fast, and I just don't want him to make too many mistakes, particularly not big ones like this."

"Of course you don't, you're his mother, and it's natural for you to be worried about him."

"Yes, but I'm used to making sure he gets up in the morning, making him breakfast, ensuring he gets off to school in time, scolding him when he doesn't get home until late, but now he's growing up, and I'm worried that he's not going to know how to be a father at such a young age."

"Takato has proved himself to be very resourceful, and mature when he needs to be. He will grow up to adapt to this, I'm sure of it."

"I miss him simply being a child though."

"I'm sure you're not alone in thinking that Mei. All mother's probably think that. Even Rika will probably miss Rey being a child when she finally ups and leaves."

"It's more than probably Honey," Mei noted, a slight smile appearing on her face. "All mothers hate the concept of their children flying the nest."

"But Takato isn't leaving Mei, and he won't be for a few years yet. Even if he goes to university, he'll still be back every weekend, asking for money."

"You paint such a fantastic view of the future."

"But you understand what I mean though, don't you?"

"Of course Takehiro, but you can't pretend that this isn't going to change things."

"Of course not, it's going to change things dramatically."

"Naturally, a child will change everything for them, and us."

"Takato doesn't know how to do the laundry, let alone change a diaper, he's going to need to learn a lot, and he's going to need to learn most of it from you."

"Yeah, you're right about that. He's going to need us to be supportive, even if we're critical of his actions in the past. I can't imagine the toll fatherhood is already taking on him."

"Yeah, he bottles up a surprising amount."

"Not at all like you then, you just seem to say whatever is on your mind."

"Oh thank you."

"Did I make a mistake in raising Rika mum?" Rumiko finally spoke, breaking the silence that had descended in their living room. Seiko sat quietly, contemplating events while reading a book, whilst Rumiko was previously deep in thought, the endless silence defining the shock they had received from that evening's revelations.

Seiko looked up, frowning as she pondered how she had pre-empted this question a way off. It was natural; Rumiko had had Rika at a young age, and she had been fearful herself when she had become a mother. But her daughter making the same mistake seemed to validate that fear. The latest events would inevitably make Rumiko think she had been a bad mother in the end, just like she had always feared. Seiko knew she would have to tread carefully here; she didn't want Rumiko to think she was a bad mother, because, of course, she wasn't in Seiko's eyes. Whilst slightly misguided at times by her career and her short-lived romances since her divorce, she still showed a deep care for Rika when it mattered, regardless of how much the pair came into conflict, usually over trivial matters. The pair had made a real effort as of late to improve their relationship, but Rumiko had taken the revelation that Rika had been keeping such a huge and life-changing secret from her pretty hard.

"Not at all," Seiko answered, looking back to her book again as she flicked over to the next page. Unfortunately, the pause, albeit short, had unnerved Rumiko already. She who frowned, glancing down at the traditional table nearby and contemplating the events in the room earlier that evening.

"I was so worried about how this evening could go badly, talking to Takato's parents and all, that I didn't realise why Rika and Takato arranged it all. But why couldn't they simply tell us?"

"Because they needed each other for support," Seiko noted.

"I wish I had had that when I was with Kiyoyuki, all I remember is how fearful he was of becoming a father. When I got pregnant with Kristy, I suppose that was the last straw that set events in motion."

"Takato is probably just as fearful of becoming a father as Kiyoyuki was, but I know they will stay together."

"Why?"

"Because we not only have the daughter herself within this house to prove it, but I can also see it in their relationship. Both of them rest on each other for support - both of them feel the other is better at managing situations than they are, and so they end up helping each other. And I know that neither of them will step down from the challenge of parenthood, even if it does scare them."

"You're right; I can't see Rika giving up on a challenge, no matter how large it is."

Seiko glanced up to her daughter, smiling confidently. "You and she are both so similar in that respect I find it amazing. No wonder you clash so often."

"We do have problems with backing down."

"You've certainly both more than made up for the absence of a man in the house," Seiko noted, her eyes still in the book she was reading, only paying half-attention to the conversation.

Rumiko frowned, sighing. "Yes, I suppose that's true…but, I do wonder, what it would be like, if Kiyoyuki had stayed, or if I had remarried. Whether Rika would be like she is today, or whether she would be different."

"Depends what the man was like."

"Yes, I suppose so. Whenever I date someone nowadays, it seems I'm always thinking of what Rika and Kristy would think of him, even to the extent where I forget myself in the equation. I just think perhaps I should have settled down into a relationship by the age of 31, you know?"

"Perhaps that is the peril of having such an early relationship? You make the mistakes so early on in your life that you become pre-emptive of those in later relationships."

"So do you think that Takato and Rika's relationship will last?"

"Hmm…I think it will…they seem to have made such a connection between them over the past three years, deeper probably than most relationships. And Rey, if slightly quirky and unstable, doesn't seem to have come out too badly, even if their relationship were over by then."

"I do hope they stay together though. I know I bug Rika about it a lot, but they do make an adorable couple."

"I suppose part of it is that, any mistake Takato does make, Rika will simply accept it as part of his nature. Well, within reason I suppose. And likewise, Takato knows how uncomfortable Rika feels in certain situations, and accepts that, even aiming to help her."

"You seem to know so much about their relationship."

"I have a keen eye, and an analytical mind. Which is exactly why I just completed 12 pages of my novel while we have been talking," Seiko answered, placing the book aside on a small table.

"That's impressive," Rumiko noted.

"Of course," Seiko answered. "Did you expect any less from your mother?"

"Well…perhaps…" Rumiko began, smiling.

Seiko smiled. "Cheeky, are we?" she asked, smiling in reply. "You never change."

"But should I?"

"What do you mean dear?"

"Should I change?"

"I don't believe that anyone truly changes," Seiko answered, frowning. "People simply display different parts of themselves, and as they learn which parts are good, and which are bad, they appear to change. Look at Rika. Before, she seemed to always spend time alone, attaining to the loner side of her personality, but now, she is far more open, as she has learnt that it is okay to show your feelings to someone. And, as they have demonstrated, people can help each other to learn which parts of themselves fit with which situations."

"I see," Rumiko answered. "So do you think there's a part of Rika that wants to wear dresses that she simply doesn't think is good yet?"

Seiko smiled, shaking her head. "Of course not dear. That would be completely out of character of her."

"She can't wear jeans forever though."

"Oh come off it dear, of all people I think you should know that the whims of fashion change nightly. She could be completely in fashion in the future, wearing what she wears today, or she could find something else that she likes equally. But, perhaps she will go her own way with fashion. I suspect that she will be a prominent figure in the world in any case, and so she will be able to wear what she likes without being judged downwards."

"You seem to understand fashion even more than I do."

"Yes, but you understand the actual clothes far more than I do. And I can never get a grip on what colours suit each other."

Rumiko chuckled, smiling and nodding. "Yes, but you do better than most. Nonetheless, I am pondering taking my newfound granddaughter out for some clothes shopping…"

"Rumiko, are you sure that's wise?"

"Why not? She is my granddaughter, after all, it could be nice to have some time to bond. We don't know how long she could be staying, so we've got to make the best of it."

"Then promise me dear, just promise me one thing."

"Of course I will, what is it?"

"Please listen to what she actually thinks about the clothes, and don't just tell her what she should like."

"Aw, ruin my fun why don't you?"

"Asleep yet?"

"No, and I won't ever get to sleep if you don't stop asking Gogglehead."

"Huh?"

"What is it now?"

"You haven't called me that in a while."

Rika groaned, putting her pillow over her head.

"Sorry, I was just…ouch!" Takato spluttered, feeling a sharp pain in his leg.

"The beds may not be joined, but I can still kick you from here, so let me sleep for god's sake!"

"Meet Rika the mood-swinging human, your hot-tempered pal who's fun to be w…"

"That's it, die Chaos!" Harmony yelled, leaping across and beginning to strangle Takato, who garbled uncontrollably. Harmony finally stopped, glaring into Chaos' reddened eyes as he choked uncontrollably, before he glared back at her.

"You could've been more polite, even if I know you'd never kill little innocent Takato," he joked, before noticing the position that Harmony had taken up in order to strangle her. Ooh, but almost right on top of me, turns out Takato and Rika's parents were right about what we'd try to do tonight after all."

Harmony simply and sharply shoved Chaos aside, before pulling the blankets over her head and holding them down tight.

"Harmony?" Chaos asked, an odd level of concern in his voice.

"I don't think she's listening anymore," Takato noted, before both of them sighed simultaneously. Takato, at how Harmony and Chaos were continually coming in-between himself and Rika. Chaos, at something that was genuinely concerning him.

"Fine, don't listen to me. Some day it's going to be really important Harmony, you know that?! And then you'll regret treating me as if I were some stupid, loudmouthed idiot!" Chaos ranted, his voice getting louder and louder.

There was a sharp bashing on the wall, a voice shouting through it, albeit muffled.

"GO TO SLEEP!" Kristy yelled. Chaos frowned, leaning over to give some final words to Harmony.

"Because, I know what you're really afraid of Harmony," he said forebodingly. "You're afraid of me being better than you…because then, you might have to look at yourself for once," he whispered, turning over and falling onto his own pillow, both he and Takato rapidly falling into the world of sleep.

Under the blanket, Harmony had opened her eyes in surprise.

TO BE CONTINUED…

And finally I'm over and done with for this particular day. So, hopefully you've all seen both the new Stratagems, the new Extra Dimensions story "Survivor", and of course, the wiki (link in my profile), so I haven't got much else to say here but simply to advise you to check them out if you haven't already.

The clue for next time is "bitter".

Until next time…