Written on 6/9/2014 for cerulean-city on tumblr who requested 'my favourite pairing from my gay basketball anime' for the AU ficlet meme:
29. Going away to war AU
Warning for character death.
They're both young and strong, with years of national-level sporting achievement under them. They're ideal recruits - not that they really had any choice in the matter.
Neither of them really wants to be here, but they both felt that it would be too shameful not to, and they feel like they're protecting the people they love; Aomine has Momoi to fight for, and Ryouta has his sisters.
And he also has Aomine.
Ryouta's not sure if they're going to make it out alive, but he's willing to do everything to make sure that Aomine does. Ryouta could probably do any kind of work, from piloting to sniping; he's adaptable and learns quickly, as long as he can see someone do it first, and his reflexes are insane. But he does everything he possibly can to keep by Aomine's side, and even on the days Aomine pulls him aside to yell at him about how stupid he's being, about the opportunities Ryouta has to escape the worst of the war with his talents, he refuses to budge.
I won't go home without you. It's a prayer, a curse, a promise.
(The greatest tragedy is that neither one of them ever never really does come back from the war, at least not entirely; because Kise never did make it home, and part of Daiki was left behind in the last place he saw Kise alive in the moment before the blast swallowed him whole.)