Why I ship Aokise (part 1)
there’s plenty of ships in KNB, but is there a specific reason why I ship Aomine and Kise together the most and why it’s my favourite ship? The answer is: I have tons of reasons why I ship these two.
It’s not just because Kise looks up to Aomine the most and that Aomine is the one that inspired Kise to play basketball and helped him hone his skills the most, but it’s in the subtlety of their friendship, the unspoken words between the two. It’s their trust and deep connection with each other.
Disclaimer: This is not going to be about a post on how Kise has always idolized Daiki, but how these two, in my opinion, has the best relationship development. There’s no hating on other ships here, and please, if you have nothing good to say about this post then say nothing at all.
Some might argue that Kuroko and Aomine has a deeper level of friendship (no Im not hating on any other ships), but Aomine’s said it himself (you can check it out on wiki) - outside of basketball, the two have nothing much in common. Aomine in Teiko thinks of Kuroko as his best friend, Momoi coming in second because she’s has always been a constant in his life.
But Kise. The idiot he purposely threw the basketball at, the one who despite crushing several times, never stops asking hm for one-on-ones. Kise has also somehow wormed into Aomine’s heart, whether he liked it or not.
Part one - The Kaijo vs Too event
1. He acknowledges Kise as a strong opponent.
I’d like to think that Aomine has kept tabs on Kise in the few months they’ve been separated. Aomine knows that Kise is strong, probably stronger than ever since the GOM’s separation. He knows that his team wouldn’t last without Aomine playing - that’s how much confidence he has in Kise’s skills.
Aomine has never said it out loud, but he has always thought of Kise of a worthy opponent. Even during their Teiko times, Aomine is always seen baffled by Kise’s growth rate in basketball. He’ll never admit it but if Kise is able to play how most players do that has trained for years and years in merely months, then Kise is one of the few that has a standing chance against him.
2. They both know each other best
This is something that i’d been wanting to talk about. In fact i’m so excited to talk about this I’m not sure where to start. They’ve been training together for months, of course they’d get used to each other’s patterns. It was one of the craziest intense match as the two of them tried to outsmart each other. They know what moves the other might make and all that, but this isn’t just it.
Outside of basketball, they often hang out as well. In a few KNB games, the two often hang out and they both know what each other likes and dislike. In fact, Aomine knows how Kise doesn’t like worms but he got Kise a larvae as a gift on his birthday, knowing it would piss him off (in a small comic strip by the artist of KNB).
…i think I’ll write this part in another post.
3. Neither of them want the other to go easy on them.
After Kise gives Aomine “the look,” this is what Aomine said to him. He realizes that while Kise is using an underhanded tactic, Aomine doesn’t want him to go soft on him because of his 4 fouls. He wants Kise to win as much as Kise doesn’t want him to lose. This wasn’t stated in the anime or the manga but you can see that Aomine is sick and tired of Kise running after him all this while.
Kise knew Aomine wouldn’t hold back with his 4 fouls. Kise knew that this tactic of his wouldn’t work against Aomine. And the fact that Aomine found out about this little tactic of his made Kise happy - it just really means that they knew each other so much that Daiki was able to realize what the blond planned.
4. Aomine looks out for Kise’s wellbeing and feelings.
OKAY SO THIS IS LIKE. The main reason why I even ship these two to begin with. People ALWAYS tell me that it’ Kise hanging on Aomine most of the time and I don’t deny this. But have you ever notice the way Aomine treats Kise? Not as if Kise’s fragile, but in the way Kise wants to be treated - as a challenger, as a strong, worthy opponent. While Aomine has always told kise that he’ll never be strong as him, but Aomine knows that all these words will just serve to motivate the blond more.
Here, Aomine subtly states that he knows Kise isn’t at maximum power and full potential yet, and that he’s losing to Aomine now, but will be even better in the future, the next time they compete. Can I also take this time to mention how both of them are smiling wide and blissful while Kise is saying that? It’s like Aomine’s saying “yeah I know so its okay.” Aomine agrees with him (though like. very subtly)
Aomine knows that Kise has a bad leg. This can be proven as Aomine didn’t enter the zone against Kise.
Also, even Imayoshi knows that Aomine has a soft spot for his dumb blond.
This was translated slightly off from the manga. In the manga Imayoshi says: “If he had any weaknesses, it would be the soft spot he has for his former teammate.” Plural.
To those that think Aokise is an abusive ship, stating that Kise’s adoration is borderline creepy and how Aomine stomps all over Kise’s feeling, please look and consider again. These two share an amazing rivalry and friendship.
Aomine knows that whatever he says to kise would only hurt and make the blond feel like he’s making a joke out of him. Aomine actually knows how to hold his tongue when it comes to Ryouta.
THIS PART!!!! Some may overlook this part but it’s so so so very important. Aomine actually stood behind Kise to see whether or not he can get up by himself. His concerned face says it all. He knows that he was the one that pushed Kise to his limit, and Aomine is at a lost for what to do. ‘Do I help him up? What if he rejects my help?’ his face seems to say.
If Kasamatsu hadn’t come and help (not that I’m complaining since this is one of my ships too), I’d guess that Aomine would eventually offer his help.
And if anything, Kise looked like he was expecting Aomine to be the one who offered him help.
AND MOREOVER!!! Aomine stood by to make sure Kise has gotten help before moving back to his team. He made sure that Kise was in safe hands before looking away.
Aomine stood by to make sure Kise has gotten help before moving back to his team. He made sure that Kise was in safe hands before taking his leave. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I think this is exactly what it looks like. Aomine is a big softie (and a huge idiot) when it comes to the blond.
Ummmm? If you didn’t know, this title comes from Aomine’s point of view. Here, ‘おまえ /Omae’, referring to ‘your’, is used by Aomine. Kise uses ‘あんた’ when referring to others. Aomine is talking about ‘Their Basketball.’ No one else’s. I’m not sure why i added this point but this fact just makes me so giddy.
But in my point of view, Aomine both despise and love their basketball - he doesn’t like the way they play so similarly, the way they know each other best, the way Kise is trying to use Aomine’s style against him. But at the same time, he enjoys it. Aomine may make fun of him and belittle him verbally, but he really does enjoy playing with the blond because Kise is exciting as well as challenging. This is ‘their basketball,’ and nothing can change it. Aomine enjoys the blond’s company and vice versa (as seen from the manga) and knows that Kise could one day overwhelm him in terms of power (also from the manga). He knows that even if their basketball has changed, he wouldn’t trade it for the world.
PHEW! That was a long ass rant. Tl;dr - Aokise has a lot of potential, and I’m really sad that people actually shit on this ship. I wanted to bring this side of the ship into the light where it isn’t just Kise doing all the chasing.
I’ll upload the rest of the analysis later (teiko days, Aokise on casual days out, them from the Manga and Replace Plus, Knb Last Game, Official art and their screen time during games) So if you enjoyed this, reblog it or drop me a message!
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