Title: Latent Epidemic

Rating: PG-13 - R

Pairings: Yamachi/Taito (Matt/Tai, Tai/Matt), Miora/Sorami (Mimi/Sora, Sora/Mimi), Kensuke/Daiken (Ken/Davis, Davis/Ken), Takari (TK/Kari), Yolei is single, Joe and Izzy are single, and Cody is married to a woman called Allison (Original Character).

Warnings: Yaoi, slash, het, basically male/male, and female/female relationships. If this isn't your cup of tea then it's best that you press the little button at the top of your screen that says 'back' and read something else.

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. That honour belongs to someone else, and is something I can only dream of achieving. I am only borrowing the characters for a while with the promise to return them in one piece. Erm... well, I'll try and keep them in one piece anyway. uu

Well, this is the first digimon story that I've attempted.

I did post this before but one of my friends (and a few reviewers) mentioned that this was long and thought that I should split it up.

That said, Latent Epidemic has been split into chapters.

If you've already read this before then fine, but if you haven't I hope that this version is easier to read.

Thanks for reading this story, or at least getting to the bottom of the notes.

Sailor G

Latent Epidemic by Sailor Gaia

Chapter 1: Stability rarely lasts for long

Matt grinned as he sauntered into their apartment. He had just come back from band practice and was really looking forward to seeing Tai again. The grin didn't leave his face as he hung up his coat by the door.

"Tai..." he called out softly and walked into the hallway. He frowned as he got no answer. Of all the things Tai was, quiet was not one of them. "Taichi..." his good mood was vanishing fast and he started moving from room to room.

He walked into the kitchen first. Tai always thought with his stomach... second to his fists, and if he was anywhere it would most likely be there. Looking into the kitchen he was surprised to see Tai sitting at the table. It wasn't the fact that Tai was there that surprised him... the fact that he was asleep was.

His worried expression melted into one of adoration, love, amusement and slight concern. Tai pushed himself too hard again he noted as he took in the mass amount of paper littering the table and the floor. He smiled gently and walked over to his sleeping koi. Taking care not to wake him he pulled the brunette into his arms. He tensed slightly as he felt Tai shift in his arms but relaxed as it became clear that Tai wasn't waking up. He grunted under Tai's weight and headed for the bedroom. "Geez Tai, you're getting heavier by the day." He muttered as he manoeuvred his way past the door frame. He settled Tai down on to the bed and smiled.

Tai really did look cute when he was sleeping.

He leaned down and placed a kiss onto Tai's temple before moving away. I suppose I should make some lunch. Tai's gonna be hungry as soon as he wakes up.

Matt walked into the kitchen and grimaced at the table. Tai sure did know how to make a mess, not that he was one to talk. He was going to leave it until he was done cooking but after tripping on several paper balls he decided against it. Right... what am I going to cook?

Ugh, why does sunlight have to be so bright? He scrunched his eyes up and rolled over in a vain attempt to get away from the sunlight. The light levels dimmed slightly and he sighed contentedly, and snuggled into the pillow. Wait a minute... pillow! He cracked open one eye and met nothing but white. Pulling up he realised that he was lying on the bed. How in the world did I get here? he frowned and tried to recall the days events. I was working in the kitchen... I must have fallen asleep at the table. But how did I... he was cut off by the sound of his stomach rumbling. He blushed and got out of the bed.

"I'd better find something to eat, I'm starving!"

He had just reached to door when the smell of cooking reached his nose. He gave a few experimental sniffs and a massive grin broke out on his face. Matt was home!

He quickly, but quietly, walked towards the kitchen and stopped by the door. He smiled at the vision his koi made as he stood by the cooker. His hair was impeccable as always and there was a look of concentration as he stirred whatever was in the pan. Tai tiptoed up to his blond koi and gently wrapped his arms around Matt's waist. He smiled as he felt Matt jump and spin around in his arms.

"Geez Tai, give a man a little warning would you!" he gave his best glare to Tai as he spun around to face him.

"Sorry, but I wanted to surprise you." Tai pouted and put on his best puppy-dog eyes. Years of experience had taught him that Matt was not very good at saying no to him when he stared at him like that.

"Oh don't look at me like that Tai..." Matt really hated it when Tai looked at him like that, he always got a feeling that was akin to kicking a puppy. "Sit down at the table will you, breakfast is nearly ready." Matt grinned as he saw Tai's brown eyes light up and the brown blur as he shot over to the table. Matt shook his head and turned back to the stove. "Kamiya! You made me burn the pancakes!"

"Come on Sora, we gotta go!"

Sora rolled her eyes as she was shouted at to hurry... again. She grabbed her bag from the dressing table and walked out the room.

"It's not as though we won't be there on time."

The woman across from her frowned and tapped her light green watch.

"If we don't get there soon we'll miss the sales and all the good stuff will be gone!"

"It will be gone as soon as we get there you mean."

She rolled her eyes yet again as she was forcibly grabbed by the arm and dragged out of the apartment.

"Get in the car Sora, we've got lots of shopping to do and one day to do it in!"

Sora got into the car and looked over to the drivers seat. "It's not like everyone is going to be there the same day we are Mimi."

Mimi shrugged and started up the car. "Let's go!"

That was the last thing Sora heard as Mimi set about breaking the soundbarrier. And the next door neighbours mail box.

TK sighed as the house was filled with screams. Kari was out getting some groceries, and Aldora was screaming at the top of her lungs. Thankfully Wu was being looked after by Cody and his wife, Allison, so he didn't have to keep an eye on both of them. He rose from his seat and went into his daughters room. He winced slightly as the volume of her screams registered in his ears. He ignored the pain in his ears and pulled Aldora out of the cot. He hoped that she would stop crying if he rocked her for a while, unfortunately that wasn't working. He couldn't smell anything so she didn't need her nappy changing, so... she needed feeding.

Damn.. Kari wasn't here. He quickly put her back in the cot and raced into the kitchen, with any luck there would be some bottles in the fridge. His heart sank as he pulled open the fridge. There wasn't one bottle in there... not one.

He cursed and ran back into Aldora's bedroom. Kari will be here soon, Kari will be here soon, Kari will be here soon, Kari will be here soon, Kari will be...

"I'm back!"

Yes, she's here!

He dashed into the kitchen with Aldora in his arms.

"I'll do the groceries, you take care of Aldora." Kari looked shocked but nodded. "She's hungry and we didn't have any milk left for her."

Kari cooed at her crying daughter as she took her out of TK's arms. She carried her into the living room and sat down on the chair. TK sighed with relief and started unpacking the groceries.

Such things were best left to the experts.

"GOAL!" Davis did a little victory dance on the pitch. Demi-veemon fell onto the pitch he was laughing so hard. Davis ran over to Ken and jumped into the air. "He shoots, he scores! Daisuke Motomiya wins the match!"

"It hardly counts as winning when you only have one opponent Davis."

"Wet blanket, thy name is Ken Ichijouji." Davis commented as he wrapped his arms around Ken. Ken melted into the touch and rested his hands over Davis'. "What are we doing for the rest of the day Ken?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could maybe go into town for a while. I need to get some new parts for my computer." Davis sighed and moved away from Ken.

"You and your computer. We've had to go in and get parts for that things at least twice this week." Ken raised an eyebrow at him and folded his arms across his chest. Davis faltered slightly under Ken's gaze. "Okay I admit it, the first time was my fault. When they say flammable they really mean it! But the second time wasn't, I swear!" Ken opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a beeping sound coming from his waist. He reached down and pulled out his pager.

"It's Yolei. She wants to know if we can meet up later for lunch. She's going to try and get the others to come as well." He placed the beeper back on his belt. "It will be nice to see everyone again."

"Yeah, man it's been so long since we saw them last." Davis grinned and bounced away from Ken. "So, when did she say we were meeting up?"

"We have to be at the mall at 3:00." Ken looked at his watch. "That's three hours away."

"Great! That gives us more than enough time to finish our match!"

Ken sighed as Davis once again sprinted around the pitch. I should be used to this by now.

"I didn't know that there would be so many people here." Sora said to Mimi as they worked their way through the crowds at the mall.

"And you said there wouldn't be a lot of people here."

"Oh Mimi." Sora shook her head and looked at her watch. "It's only twelve. That leaves us three hours until we have to meet Yolei."

Mimi moved over to the window of a shoe store. "Did she say where she was?"

"No," Sora shook her head and moved to join her. "She only said we were to meet here. There's a restaurant on the third floor that Yolei has reserved a table in."

"Oh, the Lily Garden right. I know that one. Been there once before, Mom took me in during on of our shopping trips." Mimi grinned and grabbed hold of Sora's hand. "Come on let's go. I really want to go into that shoe store." With that said she dragged Sora into the shoe store and started comparing shoes. "What do you think of this one Sora-chan, isn't it just the cutest!"

Sora looked at a bright pink pair of sandals that was being waved under her nose by a beaming Mimi. She tried not to grimace as she was nearly blinded by the shoes. It wasn't that she didn't like the colour pink (dating Mimi required that you had to have some tolerance of the colour pink) she had just grown out of her pink stage when she was oh say... five. And yes before you ask, she had been through the barbie stage. So did Mimi (Sora found this out when they were forced to clean out the attic). This experience was amusing to say the least. Let's just say that 'Hawaii Barbie' looked more like 'Mutilated Barbie' by the time Mimi was done trying to crimp and dye her hair. Fake hair and crimpers do not mix.

Sora was jolted out of her thoughts as an annoyed Mimi waved the shoes under her nose again. "You still in there Sora? What do you think?"

"Um... they'd look good on you." Sora regretted that as soon as the words left her mouth. She had been trying for months to get Mimi a wardrobe, one in which 99.9 of the colours weren't pink. And here she went and practically told her to buy a pink pair of shoes.

She groaned and hit her forehead with her hand. Why oh why did I have to say that. Mimi doesn't need any encouragement. Fortunately Mimi didn't notice Sora's lack of enthusiasm as she had bounced over to one of the chairs. Sora frowned as she suddenly felt a bit light headed. She closed her eyes and felt around for a chair. After a bit of searching she found one and collapsed into the chair.

Mimi grinned in delight as the shoes fitted perfectly and looked stunning. She raised her head and looked for the child of love. Aha! There she is! Mimi opened her mouth to call her over but stopped and frowned when she saw exactly what her love looked like.

She had her eyes closed and looked like she hadn't slept in about a week. They had barely been shopping for an hour, there was no way that she could have been worn out after an hour.

Abandoning the shoes on the adjacent chair she walked over to her exhausted love.

"Sora, are you okay?"

She grew concerned as Sora opened her eyes to look at her. Her red eyes were dimmer than usual and she looked like she was having trouble keeping them open.

"..I'm okay." Mimi didn't believe her for a minute and tugged on her arm to get her standing.

"Come on you, let's go home."

"But... shopping..."

"We can shop any day. Today, you need to rest."

Sora smiled tiredly at the child of sincerity. She knew how much Mimi wanted to go shopping today, but wasn't because she was feeling ill.

She frowned and a thought crossed her mind. Why did she get ill in the first place? She was feeling fine this morning, and had been all week. She grew relieved as she saw their car get closer and closer. The light-headedness hadn't let up, and she now had a headache to boot. She moaned softly as the world started to swim and her knees felt really weak.

The last thing she saw before her vision went black was the concerned face of one Mimi Tachikawa.