It had only been a few months since Aomine left for war, yet the melancholy and loneliness that filled Kise every day was getting worst and worst.

"I gotta be strong! For Daikicchi!"

Kise would reassure himself that the war would end in no time and Aomine would walk through their front door very much alive.

Aomine and Kise wrote letters to each other, once every month to just tell each other what was happening. It seemed to Kise that Aomine was doing alright in the gruesome terror that is war. They both wanted the war to end as soon as possible, hoping the other side will tire and back down. Those letters were each other's safe haven where they could both escape their separate realities and make a world where they were together again. But they became scarce, almost non existent, as the fight went on, Aomine having to dig the trenches, bury bodies, and survive the on sought of newly powerful war weapons that he didn't even know existed.

Things were going alright, not necessarily bad, good almost for Kise back in America. That was until the Spanish pneumonia spread through out the United States like wildfire. People were dropping like flies, and a cure far from the reach of the public.

Kise had to close down his shop as he started losing customers in the area due to the disease. It was also unsafe for him to go out, in fear of getting the illness himself and risking death. He hasn't known anyone that has lived from it.

Kuroko Tetsuya, the neighbor from next door and Kise's best friend and Aomine's childhood friend, came frequently to check up on him. Kuroko's soul mate and lover, Kagami Taiga, had also gone to war, so Kuroko was nice company and he knew what Kise was going through. He was a stoic but calm man with pale skin and light blue hair with blue eyes.

It was when Kise let out his first cough that Kuroko had begun to get worried as he stared at the blonde, worried etched in his oceanic eyes. But Kise had waved it off, saying that it was just a tiny cough and would go away in no time.

Of course it didn't. It became worst, and got to the point where Kise couldn't speak without doubling over. The blonde had stopped Kuroko from coming over when he coughed every other word he spoke, not wanting the bluenette to catch the deadly epidemic. He would throw up everything he ate, quickly losing weight and strength. His skin turned a deathly pale, his eyes sinking into his skull. Soon, he wasn't even able to move. He had caught the flu that he had feared so much and at this rate, there was no hope for him for survival. His lungs, body, muscles, and brain all ached. He wanted it to just end, but he knew it would only end with his death.

"I'm sorry Daiki..." he took a deep breath, willing himself to not stop breathing just yet.

Let my heart keep pumping in our afterlife.

"But I don't think…I'll be able to-" he was broken off by a large coughing fit, blood spewing out of his mouth and on to his chin and hands.

"I don't think I'll be able to wait in that spot by the door and watch you come home."

A loving smile crossed his lips, tears falling down sickly pale, perspired cheeks, the lost one he'll ever smile. He gave a soft laugh, realizing that it was the 7th day, of the 7th month, the same day where he had first met his lover on that concrete plaza as a young boy.

"Fate sure has…a cruel attraction…to the number 7...don't you think, Daiki?"

Let fate have us in love for eternity.

"Forgive me."

"Ryouta."

Something in him broke, maybe his heart, he didn't know. All he knew was this sad feeling wash over him, as if something happened.

Ryouta, no. Please Ryouta, no!

And somehow, the tan soldier knew that his soul mate wasn't on this planet anymore, wasn't living anymore. He just knew. He could feel it.

I love you.

"I love you so much, Ryouta," he started moving forward, crawling out of the trench he was in and cocking his gun forward, firing aimlessly as he walked into no man's land.

"Wait for me, Ryouta!"

Let's go together into death.

As the countless amount of German bullets hit his body, his heart, his head, his arteries, his blood pooled around him as his lifeless body fell down on the earth.

Neither death should do us part.

And at the moment the first bullet, that had hit Aomine's heart, Kise's heart gave one last beat before it stopped simultaneously with Aomine's.

I guess the number 7 is our fate's lucky number.

5 and a half months later:

When he first stepped off of the boat, finally back on the land he was born on, he sighed a sigh of relief, glad to finally be home and alive, ready to see his lover after 7 months.

"Taiga!"

Said person whipped his head around in the direction of the voice, seeing a light haired male quickly walk towards him, wrapped in a brown wool coat and grey slacks with black boots on his feet.

"Tetsuya…? Tetsuya!"

The redhead ran to the man, embracing him tightly as he spun the other around, keeping him in his arms.

"Welcome back, Taiga," said Kuroko as he felt some liquid pull at the bottom of his eyelids as he took in his lover's scent.

"I'm home, Tetsuya."

Kagami pressed a sweet kiss to the other male's lips, glad to finally feel his lover again.

"Taiga…Where's…Aomine-kun?" Kuroko's voice slightly trembled as he whispered the dreaded question. He looked up at the redhead just as the sun kissed male turned his head, closing his eyes as he thought of the best way to phrase what happened.

"He's…He's gone, Kuroko. He's not coming back."

The tears that had pooled at Kuroko's eyelids finally fell, a watery falling down his pale cheeks as he gave a soft hiccup. Kagami felt his own tears prickle at his eyes, feeling Kuroko's pain as he held him even closer.

"What about…Kise?"

Kagami knew it may not be the time for it, but they needed to tell Kise. No matter how much neither wanted to and just wished for Aomine to come back from the dead. But Kagami would soon realize that he didn't need to as Kuroko shock his head.

"Kise kun…is…gone too Taiga…the flu took him."

Ruby eyes widened at the news, not knowing what to make the crude coincidence that followed the two lovers.

"For…how long?"

"He died on July 7th."

"J-July 7th?!" Kagami exclaimed, his mind working at the eeriness to this all.

"Yes, July 7th. What's the matter Taiga?" Kuroko looked up at his lover, wiping away his tears as he got slightly confused at the other's answer.

"It's just that…Aomine also died on July 7th. The idiot ran into no man's land into German artillery. Do you…do you think they died at the same time?"

The blue haired man blinked as he registered what his lover had said. It could be that they died at the same time considering the fact they died on the same day. Both of them losing their soul mates at the same time on the same day, it was entirely plausible.

"Maybe. I would like to think they did," Kuroko said as he let a small smile cross his lips.

Kagami stared confused at Kuroko.

"Why?"

"Well, don't you think it has a romantic feel to it Taiga? They didn't crossover into death alone. They did it together. This way they are guaranteed to be together forever, even in death."

"Heh. You're right. I don't know whether they're lucky or not, those two idiots."

"Who knows? Now, how about we go out for dinner. We can celebrate and mourn."

"Let's go to that burger joint and you have yourself a deal. I haven't had burgers in forever."

"Then we can make our own makeshift graves for the two lovebirds."

"I'm in."

"Hey…Taiga?"

"Hm?"

Kagami looked into blue eyes as he felt his hand being entwined with a smaller one.

"Thank you for coming home. And I'm glad, glad that you haven't changed much. I can't even begin to understand the horrors you have seen."

"Ah…yeah. It was tough but Aomine, he taught me something. I was not only fighting for this country, but for you as well. I wanted thinks to go back to the way they were before this war even started."

Kuroko smiled as he leaned up on his tippy toes, kissing the cheek of his lover.

"I love you, Taiga."

"I love you too, Tetsuya."

Let our fates be as cruel and lucky as theirs.