Let's Play House

by Tachikawa Mimi

(Another one of Mimi's Unfinished Jyoumi Series!) T.K, Joe, and Mimi are split into a group while in the Digital World, and come across a fantastic Digimon gourmet! A Digimon comedy resulting from Akazukin Chacha overdosage! Not-really-Jyoumi.

Just a little note for those that haven't figured this out...this is another one of my unfinished Jyoumi fics. I don't know if I'll ever finish it, but I like what I have so far, and I want to get it out on ffnet even if I never finish it. So please, read, review...and if anyone feels like finishing it, be my guest. ^^ Just give credit where credit is due.

Let's Play House

"I can't TAKE this!" Mimi wailed at the top of her lungs. Palmon remained by the young lady's ankle, giving her a sympathetic, although not quite understanding look.

Joe and Gomamon were walking a good distance ahead of her, the seal-like Digimon catching a ride on the eldest Digi-destined's back.

"Aw..." T.K. and Patamon tagged close behind Joe and Gomamon. "Poor Mimi!"

"Maybe we should slow down a bit, T.K." Patamon quietly squeaked.

"Joe, what do you think?" T.K. looked in front of him, and waited for an answer. After a few seconds, T.K. jogged up beside Joe, and sped up his walking to keep up with Joe's long strides. "Joe!"

Joe sighed, and trudged forward. "I don't think you get it, T.K. We're what's Mimi's problem."

"I don't see why we had to split up in the first place!" Mimi whined. "And why did I have to be stuck with the dweeb and the squirt?!"

T.K. looked behind his shoulder to Mimi, and then back to Joe. "Can't you try to cheer her up?"

"I am certainly open to suggestions." Joe droned.

T.K. looked to Patamon, "They're both pretty cranky."

"I've noticed that older humans are like that." Patamon replied. "You're not ever nasty like that."

T.K. smiled, and swung his arms happily. "You're jsut saying that because I'm your favorite!"

Mimi swung her arms heavily, and caught up with Joe. "Joooooooe...!" she whined quietly so T.K. couldn't hear. "C'mon, let's set up camp and go find something to eat!"

"It's barely mid-afternoon, Mimi." Joe noticed Mimi eyeing the emergency rations, and very un-discreetly put the bag on his other shoulder.

"Isn't it my turn to hold the bag, Joe?" Mimi faked the sweetest smile possible.

"I thought you said it was too heavy." Joe rose his eyebrows.

"That was earlier on!" Mimi stood in front of Joe, and flexed her arms. "The Digimon aren't the only ones getting the workout, you know!"

Joe walked past her, and handed her the bag. "Suit yourself."

Mimi took the bag's handle, and like a load of bricks, the bag hit the ground once Joe released his hold.

"Ow!" Gomamon popped his head out of the bag. "Joe, not so rough, I was trying to nap!"

Joe froze, and felt his vacant shoulders, just realizing the abscence of his Digimon. He spun around, a look of panic on his face. "Gomamon!"

T.K. held Patamon, and ran up to Mimi. "Why'd we stop?"

Palmon shook a vine at Gomamon. "I told you to eat more for breakfast!"

Gomamon hopped out of the bag. "But I wasn't hungry this morning!"

"Don't tell me he--!" Joe ran next to Mimi, and they both bent over to rummage through what remained in the bag.

"There's no WAY all of that food could fit in his stomach!" Mimi began to throw out empty wrappers.

"You better believe i--MMPH!" Palmon slapped a vine over Gomamon's mouth.

"You're making it worse!!!" Mimi's Digimon hissed.

Mimi and Joe leaned their backs against each other's and sat down in a sudden wave of exhaustion.

"He did..." Joe took off his glasses, and wiped them.

"I feel my stomach eating away..." Mimi pathetically whimpered.

Joe turned to look at Mimi. "I'm sorry, Mimi."

Mimi lowered her head. "For what, Joe?"

"This isn't the first time he's done this..." Joe sighed. "I should've kept a better eye on him."

"No, it's not your fault." Mimi sympathetically replied. "I shouldn't be whining like this...you're not in control of what happens here."

Joe smiled slightly. "But if I kept a better eye on him, maybe he--"

"You don't have to be sorry, Joe..." Mimi's tone was now that of shame. "I'm the one that should be sorry."

Joe lifted his head a bit at this.

"I'm sorry that I can't be more help. I'm sorry that I whine so much, and I'm sorry that I called you a bossy slave-driver..." Mimi sighed.

Joe sighed again, and then paused. He looked over his shoulder to Mimi. "You never called me that."

"I know, but I thought about it a few times." Mimi's eyes were closed as she slouched in an exhausted heap.

Palmon held up her vines. "Mimi!!" she hissed, and looked to Joe for a reaction.

Joe's eyebrow twitched. He turned around completely, and stood. Mimi fell back on the ground, no longer having Joe to support her.

"Looks like Joe got his second wiiii-iiiind!" Gomamon piped in a sing-song voice.

"Well, since we're getting it all out on the table, I'm sorry for thinking that you're a whiny, snobby, shallow little girl with the IQ of a broken blow-dryer!" Joe's face grew red as he managed to spit out his verbose insult.

"Well, I'm sorry that you're a walking nosebleed!" Mimi shot back, standing up herself.

"I'm sorry that you wouldn't know which direction to go if your dumb hat was on backwards!" Joe's voice rose to a shout, and this made T.K. and the Digimon uneasy.

"This isn't looking good!" Palmon said, sticking close to T.K.'s legs.

"My hat isn't half as dumb as your glasses!!" Mimi swiped at Joe in a fit.

Joe dodged her just barely, and tripped backwards onto the ground.

The two Digimon called out their partners' names, and left T.K.'s side immediately to split up the two.

Mimi sat on top of Joe's stomach, and began to shake him by his collar. "I am not dumb! I'm sick of you saying I'm dumb! I'm no dumber than any of you!"

"Mimi! Get off of him!" Palmon began to tug at one of Mimis arms, and Gomamon watched for a moment helplessly, until Palmon barked an order.

"Gomamon, help me out here!" the plant-type Digimon called over Mimi's furious babbling.

Gomamon jumped onto Mimi's back, and giggled madly as Mimi tried to shake him off.

"Let me go right now!!" Mimi hollared. "He's trying to pick a fight!"

"You're letting him, Mimi!"

"..." T.K. held Patamon. "They're acting like my brother and Tai."

"Hmm..." Patamon watched Mimi weakly pound on Joe's chest, her wails ringing over the others' objections. "If you ask me, it's a teeny bit different."

Angry tears spilled over Mimi's dark lashes, and she stopped the pounding on Joe's chest to only commence to toddler-esque bawling.

Joe caught his breath as she did this, and Gomamon hopped over to Joe's side. "Are you okay, Joe?"

Joe panted, and sent Gomamon a sweltering glare. "Oh, sure. I have a bawling girl camping out on my empty stomach, and she may have just given me a concussion. You might as well kill me now! I don't think I can take much more happiness!"

Gomamon shook a claw at Joe. "I'd keep it down, you might start her up again."

Joe clenched his teeth, and tried to strangle his grinning Digimon. "It's YOUR FAULT!!!!"

Gomamon was just out of Joe's reach--for he was still weighed down by Mimi and Palmon.

T.K. looked away from the two elder Digi-destined, and squinted a bit.

"What is it, T.K.?" Patamon asked.

"Do you smell something?"

The older two went silent, and sniffed the air.

"Wow." Joe peeped.

Mimi's eyes began to glisten. "That smells like my Aunt's macaroons!"

"We're saved!" T.K. threw his arms in the air. "There's a bakery nearby!"

Mimi jumped off of Joe's stomach, and took T.K. by his hands. They both spun around in circles, cheering loudly.

Joe sat up, adjusting his glasses. Gomamon smiled, twirling his tail a bit.

Joe glared over the rim of his glasses, and silently stood.

Mimi let go of T.K., and began to run ahead of the group. "It can't be far! This way!"

"Mimi!" T.K. called, and pointed in the opposite direction. "The smell's this way!"

Mimi spun on her heel, and followed the child. "Lead the way!"

Palmon stood by Joe's ankles, and looked up to him. "Look on the bright side, Joe! She's not angry anymore!"

Joe started walking behind the two younger Digi-destined, "At least until the next tiny crisis pops up. What if this place is like Dejitamamon's restaurant?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there"! Gomamon chirped on the other side of Joe.

Joe sighed. "It's that sort of thinking that gets us in all the trouble we've been in."

Mimi and T.K. held onto each other's hands, swinging their arms happily as they sang loudly.

"There was a hole--in the middle of the ground--the biggest hole--that you ever did see! And the green grass grew all around, all around! And the green grass grew all arouuuuund!"

Joe glared ahead, following Gomamon's lead. "Please find whatever destination we have, Gomamon. My head can't take many more rounds of that infernal song."

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? I don't know! I don't know! I am really hungry! Maybe they have pizza! Hey, let's go! Here we go!" Mimi pranced happily, signing her new version of "Are You Sleeping?".

"Ah! There!" Gomamon stopped at a clearing in the path.

Joe adjusted his glasses, and T.K. and Mimi joined him at his side with their respective Digimon.

"Wow!" T.K. gasped, and Mimi squealed.

"It's just like a fairy tale house!" Mimi ran a few feet up its pebbled path.

The two-story house was tiny, and resembled that of a colonial Italian or German cottage. The sweet aroma of cinnamon wafted out from an open window, and smoke came from the brick chimney.

Joe stayed behind as T.K. and Mimi made their way up to the house in a lively sprint. Their Digimon trailed behind, and Gomamon began to go after them. He sensed Joe's stalling, and looked back.

"Hey, Joe! Y'got lead in your pants, or what?" he joked. "Food's on!"

"Mimi's right. This is like a fairy tale." Joe quietly muttered, and frowned. "But not a good scenario..."

"You're way too pessimistic!" Gomamon replied. "Think about it after you've put something on your stomach!"

Joe sighed, and followed Gomamon up the path. "It's that 'act now, think later' attitude that gets the two of us in so much trouble all the time."

"But whenever I do, I get us out of it, don't I?" Gomamon chimed.

"Let me correct myself: it's your 'act now, think never' attitude that gets me." Joe finished as they stopped in front of the house.

"...is anyone home?" T.K. asked, standing on his toes to look into the open window.

"Of course! It can't be cooking itself!" Mimi held up an index finger. "Look." She clasped her hands together, and rose her voice in a dramatic presentation. "Oh, who could be making those scumptious-smelling goodies?!" She coyly tugged on the edge of her dress, and dug a finger into her dimples. "There must be a master chef living here!"

The boys watched with blank faces, and Joe nearly had a heart attack when the door burst open rather loudly.

"Oh, MY!!!" a female-sounding voice piped at an unmannerly volume. "Could I have VISITORS?!"

The children observed the digimon before them, expecting an explanation and introduction from one of their Digimon.

"Who're you?" T.K. asked.

Joe sweatdropped. Subtle as a hippo.

The digimon appeared female in it form, with a frilly apron and lacey kerchief tied over its head. It looked like a weird cross between a sheep and a Pampered Chef kitchen appliance.

"That's Appetimon!" Patamon spoke up on behalf of this new digimon.

***Digimon Data Sheet***

"A master of all culinary tricks and devices, she can turn the kitchen against you. Appetimon receives few visitors, despite the tasty smells coming from her house!"

***End Data Sheet***

"What DARLING children!" Appetimon doted on Mimi and T.K..

"...excuse me..." Joe quietly peeped, pointing to himself.

"I think you're too old to be darling." Gomamon said in complete innocence.

Joe sent Goma a silent glare.

"Come in! Come in and taste my cookies fresh out of the oven!" the friendly digimon took the three up from behid, and pushed them inside.

"Okay!" Mimi and T.K. sang.

"Appetimon?" Palmon said to Patamon. "How come I never heard of her?"

"...I dunno. I can't remember where I heard of her." Patamon answered.

The children sat at a wooden table, their legs dangling freely off the chairs.

"Wait`til Matt and the others hear of this place!" T.K. eagerly said to Mimi.

Mimi nodded. "It's a dream come true!"

Joe cynically looked over the house. "Just like Hansel and Gretel..."

"What's that, Joe?" Gomamon sat on a chair next to him.

Joe turned to Gomamon to answer his question, but Appetimon took Gomamon by the scruff of his neck.

"Good gracious! How unsanitary!!" she scoffed, and shoved Gomamon, Palmon, and Patamon onto the porch. "PET Digimon belong OUTSIDE!!!"

"...! How insulting!" Palmon huffed, folding her arms, pouting on the bottom step.

"Chill out! They're fine! Just picking up a snack!" Gomamon said to Palmon.

"Oh!" Patamon gasped, and hurried to the other two digimon. "I remember where I heard of her!"

Palmon looked up. "Where, Patamon?"

"When T.K. and I were at Puppetmon's house!"

Mimi craned her neck over the table to try to look at Appetimon's preparation of her goodies. "Smells yummy!" she called.

"Coming right up!" Appetimon called back.

Mimi turned to Joe, and smiled. "Cheer up, Joe! We were so hungry earlier, now we can fill our stomachs and not worry anymore!"

"I don't like having our Digimon outside." Joe admitted.

"It'd be too crowded in here for them, you know how they like to move around." Mimi insisted. "Enjoy this, who knows how soon we'll be having a sit-down meal again."

"...you're right." Joe mumbled. "You're right!" he said more strongly, and looked up. "Miss Appetimon, how's it going back there?"

"Almost ready!" she picked up a tray, and turned to them with a rosy smile. "I hope you're hungry!"

"Yes, ma'am!" all three chimed in unison.

Who cares if it's only three of you. The rest will have to come after you eventually...Appetimon set a tray of decadent iced cookies before the children. Besides, Puppetmon never said I couldn't charm their tastebuds before taking them out!

The kids gazed down with gleamy eyes.

"How pretty...!" Mimi squeaked.

"It's just like at Christmas!" T.K. gasped.

"No, this is better than Christmas!" Joe grinned.

"They're not here to look at!" Appetimon leaned over the table. "Help yourselves!"

"Don't mind if we do!!" they all said, and reached for two handfuls of cookies each.

Appetimon chuckled at their eagerness. They'll fall in love with my delicious sweets, they'll never want to leave! Then, the other children will come looking for them, and I'll have them all!

"You're both right! I need to learn to stare a good thing back in the face when I see it!" Joe said before taking a huge bite out of the cookie.

"That's right, Joe!" Mimi smiled, but it quickly faded. "What's wrong?"

Joe was still holding his half-bitten cookie, but it wobbled in his grip. He had stopped chewing, and his face went pale.

"Joe?!" T.K. sat up in his chair.

Joe forced it down his throat, and made a desperate gasp of air before color began to come back to his face. "Ugh..."

Mimi blinked, and took a bite off of her cookie. She chewed it, and tears began to come to her eyes. She swallowed it, and then dramatically threw herself into Joe's arms, weeping miserably. "It's horrible!!!"

"Hmm?!" Appetimon grunted, turning to the two older children sharply. "What's that?"

Mimi looked up, her eyes teary. "Are you trying to poison us or--MMPHH!"

Joe slapped a large hand over Mimi's mouth, and smiled nervously. "Nothing! She said nothing! We jsut haven't had food in so long...she gets a little emotional."

"You poor dears!" Appetimon slammed a layered cake in front of them. "In that case, try one of my newer recipes!"

"Mmp! Mmh!!" Mimi's eyebrows arched, and her eyes widened. Joe just sweatdropped.

"You two are funny!" T.K. laughed, and bit on his cookie. He paused, and looked up. "Hey, lady! Something's wrong with this cookie!"

"T.K.!!!" Joe wailed.

"Mmmmmh!!!" Mimi squealed. Oxygen!!!

Joe looked to Mimi. "Oh. Sorry." He lowered his hand, and let her go.

Mimi gasped for air frantically.

Appetimon growled. "You children have no manners."

T.K. frowned, and bit on another cookie. "This one's weird, too..."

"They're all weird, T.K.!" Mimi piped at the top of her lungs,and stood. "She can't cook!"

Appetimon twitched. "What?"

"Mimi, this isn't the time for honesty..." Joe tried to pull her down.

"And a sense of taste, to boot!" Mimi shot back, sticking out her tongue.

"Mimi! Don't you guys remember that we have our digimon waiting for us outside?" Joe gave an uneasy laugh, and took her by the arm. He grabbed T.K. by the back of his collar, and pulled him off the chair. "C'mon, T.K.!"

They made a bee-line to the door, but came to a screeching hault when a swarm of sharp cutting knives sunk into the door in front of them.

"You think you know good cooking, huh?" Appetimon paced up to the three, and pulle dout one of the knives. "I'm the best cook in the Digital World! You children couldn't bake a better recipe if you slaved in the kitchen for a lifetime!"

"If we did, would you let us go?" Joe whimpered.

There was a pause for a moment.

Puppetmon wanted me to capture them and get rid of them...but if they can cook better than me, I must get their recipe...Appetimon grinned. That's it! Get the recipe, then throw them into the furnace! Then I will be the best!

"I accept your challenge, children!" Appetimon extended an arm. "My kitchen--ingredients and all--are at your disposal."

"Joe, do you know how to cook?" Mimi whispered.

"I did a bit at Dejitamamon's place a while back..." Joe sheepishly replied.

Mimi gasped. "But I thought that was a disaster!"

"Well! Get started! I don't have all day!" Appetimon interrupted them.

"Yes, ma'am!" the two piped.

In minutes, they were all decked out in aprons and chef's hats. Joe was armed and read with a spatula and egg-beater. Mimi had a wisk and rolling pin at her disposal, and T.K. held a bowl and wooden spoon. They stood back to back of each other with determined faces.

"We're the Digi-Destined Cooking Team!" T.K. caled.

"Let's GOOOOOOO!!!!" was their battle cry.

It began to fade as they stood still.

"...."

"Joe, what first?" Mimi looked over her shoulder.

"...uh. That is..."

"It's okay! My mom bakes all of the time! She's great!" T.K. beamed. "I remember that she makes lots o' cakes!"

"All right T.K.!" Mimi cheered. "It's not hopeless after all!"

"Who'd have thought that T.K. would be a master chef in disguise!" Joe bent down to talk to T.K. "So, tell us what you know!"

"First, we gotta get out flour, eggs, water, oil..." T.K. began to count off on his fingers.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." Joe nodded,and looked up to Mimi. "You getting all this, Mimi?"

Mimi gave an encouraging smile, making a determined fist. "Not a bit!"

Joe nearly fell over at that, but quickly regained himself. "All right. It looks like I'll be taking charge here." He pushed up his glasses.

"Big surprise there." Mimi muttered to T.K., who giggled.

"Mimi. Get out the flour, and begin to sift it." Joe paused. "...I think that's what you call it..."

Mimi straightened up, and marched to a corner of the kitchen. "Roger!"

Joe sweatdropped. She gets way into these sort of things...He turned to T.K.,and smiled "T.K., can you beat the eggs for me?"

"Can I?! You bet!!" T.K.'s eyes got wide, and he went to another side of the kitchen.

Joe folded his arms, and sighed. "...now they've started..." What else did he say? ...oil...water...

Mimi hummed a giddy tune as she sifted the flour onto a sheet of wax paper. She turned to get another cup of flour when the flour fell into a large pile on the floor.

"Yeep!" Mimi looked over her shoulder and saw that Joe and T.K. were both occupied on the other side of the kitchen. She quickly crouched over, and scooped the flour back up onto the counter. She exhaled a small sigh, and continued to sift as though nothing happened.

T.K. was adding eggs left and right in his corner of the kitchen. The shells made a lovely crunching noise beneath the pressure of the wisk. "Wait until Matt hears about this! He'll be so proud of me!"

"Oil...oil...oil..." Joe searchd the kitchen for miscellanious ingredients. He came across a large green bottle. "...oil..." he read the label. "Check. Water...water..." he reached over the counter to test the faucet. "Check." He said as the water ran from the spout. He turned to check on T.K., and looked over the workspace. "Looks great, T.K.! Wow, you even got rid of the shells already! I'm impressed!"

"Nah! It's fun!" T.K. kept beating the eggs.

"Hey Mimi! I think we're ready to mix the flour with the eggs." Joe called to Mimi.

"Coming right up!" Mimi sung as she carried her sheet of wax paper over.

The three children intently watched as T.K. whipped the two ingredients together. Joe added a bit of oil, and a cup of water.

"We're just gonna have to eyeball it, here." Joe mumbled to himself.

"Wait, Joe!" Mimi interrupted. "Aren't we missing something?"

Joe blinked, and looked to T.K. with a blank expression. "...missing..."

"..what could...oh!" T.K. smiled. "Sugar!"

Joe slapped his forehead. "Of course!"

"And vanilla, right?" T.K. suggested.

"And vanilla!" Mimi spun aroundt o get a bottle of vanilla extract.

"...I wonder how much we're supposed to put in..." Joe opened a one-pound bag of sugar, and got a measuring cup handy.

"We'll just have to guess again." T.K. looked to Joe.

"Hmm..." Joe took the measuring cup. "We can always add more. We can't take out what we've already mixed."

They began adding cup after cup of sugar, and Mimi returned with a bottle. "I found the vanilla!" She twisted it open adn was about to pour it. "Now to add some depth to this cake!"

Joe's eyes widened when he saw the label, and he jumped at Mimi,and pulled the bottle away. "That's soy sauce!!"

Mimi yelped, and pulled back defensively. The contents of the bottle splattered onto the front of her outfit. They both dropped the bottle, and it fell onto the floor, spilling further onto the floor.

"...." the three children stared at the bottle now spinning in crooked circles.

Mimi glared up at Joe darkly, and T.K. watched Joe cower back towards him.

Mimi bent down, and picked up the bottle. With a furious look, she turned the bottle over to get a good look at the label. Her brow quivered, and her grip tightened on the bottle. The plastic began to give to the pressure she put against it. A tiny squeak escaped from the girl, and a hilarious fit of bawling followed soon after.

Joe sweatdropped, and T.K. watched with almost a manner of awe.

"I can't believe I couldn't read a stupid LABEL!" Mimi hiccuped, and lowered her arms.

Joe and T.K. looked to each other, as if to say "What are you gonna do now?".

Joe took the incentive, and tried to calm Mimi down with whatever he could think of.

"C-c'mon, Mimi! It was an honest mistake!" Joe nervously tried to think of something better to say. "We're all beginners here!"

"I don't see you making any dumb mistakes!" Mimi bawled still.

"...." Joe thought for a moment. "What about the sugar? Who remembered the sugar?"

Mimi's bawling ceased immediately.

"Who?" Joe repeated.

Mimi pouted, and muttered an answer. "...m-me..."

"That's right. So let's finish this cake, and get out of here." Joe finished.

"The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can clean up your outfit!" T.K. cheerfully added in.

That dangerous silence settled in on them again, and Mimi looked down at her dress.

Joe turned around, and gave T.K. a flat stare. "I was trying to draw her attention away from that."

"Oh..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's all I have! I hate getting stuck on stories! And I got so far on this one, too! What does a girl do? Nothing, I guess--maybe someone should hold an "unfinished fanfic" contest...;;; I'm sure we all have some.

Mimi-chan (read and review, please!)