So I decided to write this to get away from all the heavy stuff that I normally do on this site, and I just thought it would be fun to just do something where Natsuko, a character that I very much love, is the obnoxious future in-law to Hikari. While there will be heavy elements of Takari considering the fact that they need to be engaged for this plot to make any sense, the main point of this is the relationship between Hikari and Takeru's mother. Also, this is not AU. As such, the digimon will be mentioned as will things that happened in our beloved TV shows. Thank the Maker for things like Netflix and Crunchyroll where we can watch it again to relive our childhoods.

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon.

It wasn't butterflies that filled Hikari's stomach, but dragons as she paced around the living room and waited for the visitor they were expecting. Takeru had told her time and again the previous night before they went to bed not to worry and to be relaxed about it all since it was just his mother who was going to be staying over, but Hikari knew better than Takeru did that 'relaxation' and 'Natsuko' were two words that never went well when put in the same sentence.

It wasn't that Hikari disliked the woman, in fact when it came to Natsuko's professionalism and hard-hitting journalism that had won her a Pulitzer Prize Hikari idolized her, but in a more personal sense, something that only happened when Hikari started dating her son when they were seventeen, the two of them had never really gotten along since then. It was different when she had just been friends with Takeru back in high school, at that time Takeru had been very seriously dating an artistic type that came from a wealthy family with good connections whom Natsuko just absolutely adored, going so far as to joke that the artist girl was going to be her future daughter-in-law. Hikari had liked Takeru back then, she hadn't been in love with him but she liked him nonetheless, and she had decided not to try and interfere with Takeru's relationship with the wealthy girl, but that all changed when Takeru randomly burst into her apartment one night while she had been watching a game show with her family to declare his undying devotion to her. Hikari had thought it had been romantic at the time and had decided to date him, which led to her current engagement to him six years later, but needless to say, Natsuko had been more devastated by the break-up than anyone else.

"I don't know why you're so worried," Takeru began after silently watching his fiance frantically walk circles all over the room. He and Patamon were as excited as ever to see their mom visit again, Tailmon just looked bored as she tried to sleep on the couch right beside the giddy Patamon but to be fair she always looked bored, and Hikari was the only one who looked at all flustered. "my mom loves it here."

Hikari stopped in her tracks, and then glared at Takeru. "This house that you bought maybe, but she hates me!"

Takeru chuckled. "Of course she doesn't hate you! She just," he paused for a second trying to think of the most appropriate words to use, "wants to protect her baby boy."

"For six years?" she demanded.

"What can I say?" Takeru shrugged. "She's a good mother."

Exasperated, Hikari sighed and walked over to the couch to plop herself beside Takeru. She understood why he wouldn't want to think anything bad about his own mother, and she got why Takeru wanted to sit there and pretend that everything was gum drops and unicorn poop and ignore that the two most important women in his life didn't get along. Sure, she thought that the nightly one, sometimes two, hour phone calls between Takeru and his mom were a bit annoying, especially since Natsuko always seemed to call whenever they were about to start naughty fun bedroom time, and sure, she hated how Natsuko was still practically best friends with Takeru's ex-girlfriend from high school and how he didn't see any kind of problem with it, but Hikari would have been able to forgive everything, including that time she set Takeru up on a blind date with the daughter of an Arabian Sheik she had interviewed, so long as Natsuko finally accepted their relationship after six long years.

She reminisced about moments that only reinforced the unpleasantness of her future mother-in-law, and then she turned her head over to her fiance. "Do you remember the last time that she visited and she wouldn't eat the lemon chicken I cooked because she said she was allergic?"

Takeru immediately defended his mother. "To be fair, Atushi didn't want to eat it either."

"Your nephew is four."

He waved it off. "Same difference."

She glared at him for a moment because she knew that he was going to brush it off, and then she smacked him in the arm before she continued. "And remember how she made us all go to that restaurant to eat since apparently my cooking could have killed her?"

"Yeah?" Takeru answered slowly, not sure where it was that Hikari was going with the conversation.

"Do you remember what she ordered?" she pressed.

"I can't say that I do."

"The lemon chicken."

"Well," Takeru started before his face fell when a realization hit. "damn."

She nodded her head once to make her point. "And do you remember that cruise trip fiasco?"

Takeru grinned when he remembered what had turned out to be one of the most awesome vacations that he had ever taken. "Well, that one was my fault really. I got on the wrong boat."

"Takeru!" Hikari pinched him in the arm to get the smile off his face. "The woman sent you on a super model cruise."

He rubbed his arm and prepared to protest, but then the two of them heard the doorbell ring. Hikari took in a deep breath to prepare herself for a day filled with Natsuko. Reluctantly she stood up and trudged towards the door to answer it, though before she did she made sure her make-up and hair were okay so that Natsuko wouldn't innocently ask if she was cosplaying as a prostitute again.

As her hand rested on the doorknob however, Hikari couldn't bring herself to turn it. Was she prepared for another week of backhanded compliments? Could she handle being around the woman without having the desire to sneak into her room in the middle of the night and suffocate her with a pillow?

At first it was in amusement that Takeru watched his fiance prepare for his mother, but after a while he had started to get somewhat worried. After staring at Hikari simply grabbing onto the doorknob of their front door, not doing anything more other than that, Takeru sighed and stood up to walk over to her. He loved his mother, but he understood that Hikari sometimes had difficulty with her.

"You know," he began as he rested a hand on Hikari's shoulder. "she probably already saw us through the window."

"We can hide?" she offered.

His hand rubbed her in sympathy. "It'll be fun."

She took a deep breath since she knew that there was no getting out of Natsuko's visit. She closed her eyes and braced herself, and then turned around to face Takeru. "If I kill her you have to help me bury her."

Takeru only laughed, not knowing how serious Hikari was. "Seal it with a kiss?" he leaned forward.

Instead of agreeing, she raised a finger to stop him. "Sorry, it will mess up my make-up."

He frowned for a moment, but then just shrugged and raised his pinky up to her instead. "Pinky promise then?"

She accepted the gesture, but right before she was about to thank him for it, she heard the door bell ring again. She turned back around to face that gateway to hell that was known as her front door, and not giving herself any option to run away she immediately opened it. It was at that moment that she came face to face with her archenemy.

"Momma!" Takeru went in for a hug as soon as he saw his mother.

After the hug, the woman pulled away from her son's embrace and smiled as she grabbed him by the chin and took a moment to study his face. "Takeru, you're more and more handsome every time that I see you! And Patamon!" she continued as the digimon flew from the couch into her arms. "It's always nice to see you too. You're adorable."

It had been too long since she had seen either of them on account of the fact that she had been touring North America unveiling her newest book to eager crowds of young passionate women. It was a book further showcasing the contemporary role that the young feminist has when it comes to shaping the future of the world. Natsuko had loved the trip and the people who had all gone to support her new book, but there wasn't anything that quite beat coming back to Japan to spend a week or two staying with one of her boys. As she looked at the expectantly waiting Yagami Hikari however out of the corner of her eye, Natsuko did admit that there were things about visiting her youngest son Takeru that she had never been quite so fond of.

On her end, Hikari smiled and waited for Natsuko to greet her just as she had Takeru and Patamon, and sighed in resignation for what she expected from the week ahead when the woman simply invited herself in and walked right past her without even saying a word. Takeru made himself busy grabbing Natsuko's luggage and bringing it inside, and Hikari reluctantly turned and followed Natsuko over to the living room and sat on the couch that was opposite Takeru's mother. They sat in silence, with the exception of Tailmon yawning, and she watched as Natsuko rested her eyes meaningfully on Tailmon.

The older woman raised a hand to pet Tailmon, but after a moment decided that it was best not to and simply squeezed on tighter to Patamon again. "You know, you shouldn't keep a cat in the house if you're pregnant. It could make the baby sick."

Hikari looked at Tailmon who had no idea that people were talking about her at the moment, and then back to Natsuko who really should have known better considering she was supposed to be some great journalist of her generation. "I'm pretty sure that's an old wives tale. Also," she added almost as an afterthought, "I'm not pregnant."

Natsuko only shook her head and proceeded to give Hikari one of those 'mother knows best' looks. "Honey, we can all see that you're pregnant."

At first, her mouth opened and she couldn't say anything because of the sheer audacity of it all. It wasn't as if Natsuko saying something backhanded had been new to her or something that she hadn't grown to expect, but this was the first time that Natsuko had ever gone so far. It took Hikari a moment to get her bearings, but when she did she had to stop herself from glaring at the woman.

She did her best to maintain the air of civility that she had been trying to culture for the past week and a half in preparation of the visit. "Takeru and I are not having a baby."

Natsuko just sighed and looked down in disappointment. "I know that you kids love that you're living in sin and the rock n' roll lifestyle that you two currently have, but do you really need to take it out on the baby?"

Hikari's eyes widened, not sure where Natsuko pulled her crap from. "Rock n' roll lifestyle? Takeru and I do yoga twice a week, and the most hardcore thing that we do is like eating chocolate pudding while we pay our taxes. That, or going antiquing." the young teacher raised her hands in mockery. "Watch out guys! That couple is buying insurance, you don't know what they'll do next!"

Not having a clever retort to that, Natsuko only scoffed and looked away from Hikari. Instead she waited until her son was done bringing in all the luggage she had brought, which was more than he thought she would have, and she smiled at her boy as he then joined them in the living room when he finished.

"So," Takeru smiled and clapped his hands once, all the while hoping that nothing too bad had been said in his absence. "are you guys ready to go and meet Yamato at the restaurant?"

Hikari grinned at her fiance, glad for a distraction, and as Natsuko watched the two of them she then got an idea. "I can't wait to see your brother and his family. And you know, I think I already know what I want to order."

Takeru shared a glance with Hikari before he looked back at his mother and raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "Oh yeah? What?"

Ignoring her son, Natsuko smirked at Hikari. "Lemon chicken."

I made a reference to another story of mine just for the fun of it, and if you guys have read it you probably would have recognized it right in the second paragraph as to why. Haha, sorry friends but I couldn't help myself. Anyways, I had fun with this and will look forward to continuing this romp. Or, at least I think it was a romp. I have no idea how you guys felt about it.

Next chapter will deal with them at the restaurant I think, unless I come up with a different idea that I like more than that one. We'll see comrades, we'll see.

In any case, if you read then I have to give you my thanks for that. More thanks if you favorited, followed, or reviewed it though.

Peace be upon you folks.