This is the one thing I really don’t like about AoKuro fics:
Aomine (the arrogant bastard) was beaten out of his ass by Kuroko (the saint) and even through everything Aomine did to him, Kuroko still wanted to save him because he’s the nicest person in the planet.
Or the short term, It’s all Aomine’s fault.
Well, it probably wasn’t really phrased like that but in general, most of the AoKuro fics have the same thought. Like, Aomine is the jerk who was saved by Kuroko then proceeds to keep his distance from him because he doesn’t deserve him. And Kuroko accepted him and did everything just to make him smile again (which is true!) but what’s not is that…it was a one-way thing.
Kuroko did not just save Aomine, but the real fact is that they have both saved each other.
For one, we all know that if it wasn’t for Aomine, Kuroko wouldn’t even be where he is right now.
Kuroko is this kid with almost no presence and was most of the time, ignored by everyone. He sucks at basketball no matter how hard he tried, but even so;
Aomine asked for his name. This probably won’t mean much to most people. But it must have for Kuroko. Because, like it was always pointed out, no one notices him. And even if they do, they would just ask how long he’d been there and ignore him afterwards. Yet, Aomine did not ignore him and even talked with him. Moreover, it wasn’t just any other person but it was Aomine Daiki. The same person who (according to Kuroko) is famous, for making it in first string during his first try, one of those who already made regulars despite being first years and that person who was the ace of the team. Think of how amazing Kuroko must have felt with even holding a conversation with him.
He doesn’t care about his strength, just about his love for the sport. When they first played against each other, Aomine saw how badly he sucked. And Kuroko was almost sure that he would be disappointed and stop, but he didn’t. They continued playing with each other until late at night. They even walked home together.
He wanted to play with him. They’ve been practice-partners for a while, and Kuroko still doesn’t improve. He was totally discouraged because he saw how far Aomine’s strength is from him but Aomine notices his hardwork and they even made a promise to play together despite there being more people who was more worthy of Aomine’s time.
He befriended him. Aomine didn’t just played with him once. They were together everyday after that. They were still in different strings which means they practiced in different gyms but even so, they still played together after their own practices. They even spent time and ate together after that.
He encouraged him not to give up. And more than that, Aomine didn’t give up on him. Kuroko sensed the limit of his own strength and had wanted to give up. Because no matter how much effort he put in, he couldn’t see the results. He was fed up, and wanted to escape from basketball. However, Aomine stopped him. Aomine told Kuroko that he respected him. And that he didn’t want him to give up. That, besides his love for basketball, is why Kuroko still had second thoughts about quitting.
He tried helping him with his style. We all know that Aomine probably hates analyzing or thinking and all that stuff. So, I can say that Aomine cared about him enough to help Kuroko think of how he would be of any use to the team. It may just be a little thing but since Kuroko doesn’t really look like he has any friends, it probably means a lot to him.
He sacrificed his own position in the team just for him. When he overheard his coach and captain talked about demoting Kuroko, he quickly stepped in without a second thought and tried to convince them not to. When, they don’t seem to be listening to him, he declared that he would demote himself as well if Kuroko failed, just to give him another chance. Kuroko overheard everything and asked him for his reason and he answered with saying because he doesn’t think it was fair. But the greatest point of this conversation is the fact that Aomine believes in Kuroko. He did that, not because it’s okay to be demoted as long as they’re together or some cliched reason like that, but because he knows that he won’t get demoted. His tone was firm, without the slightest hint of doubt. Why? Because he trusts him. Because he knows that Kuroko could do it. And you can see that Kuroko was really touched at that ‘cause Aomine was still there for him. When everyone else gave up on him, Aomine didn’t. When even he didn’t believe in himself and his own abilities, Aomine did.
He cared about him. And vice versa. I can talk about this forever. Since the day they met, you would have to be pretty blind to not see that Aomine cared about him. Except for basketball, Aomine and Kuroko didn’t really have anything in common. They have different opinions on a lot of stuff and may even argue at some point yet they still spend more time with each other more than anyone else. When Kuroko was promoted to the first string, they were finally able to practice on the same gym. At his debut match, Aomine tried to get him to relax. He was genuinely worried for him throughout the match especially when he messed up. After that we can all see that Aomine tried to cheer him up when he noticed he was down. After Kuroko succeeded, you can see relief from Aomine’s face and how happy he is for him. When Kuroko was finally made into a regular, you can just see that Aomine is proud of him. And Kuroko was really happy too. Also note how Aomine defended him from Kise, who keeps saying Kuroko sucks. He even resorted to bullying Kise for that. Aomine also cared about him enough to always notice him which is almost impossible for everyone else. Which brings me to my next point;
He made him feel like he was special. The first indication here is how he addresses him so familiarly. Aomine calls him ‘Tetsu’. Which is his first name. And a nickname even! At this point, there’s only one person of whom he calls by their given name, Momoi. And he knows her since he was a little kid. (They probably know each other since birth) So that must be saying something, right? Another thing, Aomine knows how to read Kuroko’s expressions and even know what he’s thinking. (I’ve got a lot of proofs for this statement but I’m afraid it would become too long, if it wasn’t already). After they became partners, all throughout the manga or the anime, I don’t think there’s any scene which Aomine was even surprised of his appearance anymore. There are even a lot of scenes which Aomine would notice him first despite his lack of presence. Also, there’s this time where Kuroko and Momoi were in trouble with some high school idiots then Aomine and the rest of the miracles came to their rescue. Kuroko thought that Aomine came back to pick Momoi up but Aomine said that he came there because he was worried for Kuroko considering he was injured. He was even mad at Kuroko for potentially getting himself hurt more. Another scene I really like is when Aomine and Momoi were fighting over Kuroko for the three-legged race. Why would Aomine even want Kuroko to be his partner? It would probably be difficult if they partner up with height difference and all. But he still chose Kuroko. Again, because TRUST. And Kuroko wanted to win for him. For Aomine. Because Aomine is the reason why he still play. Because his words made Kuroko regain the courage to face basketball again. There are so much more of these scenes that which happened back at Teiko and now, we can say that Aomine isn’t just his light in basketball, but he has also given him the light when he was alone in the darkness. The kindness he had shown, which came from Aomine’s true and honest self should be enough for Kuroko to not give up easily in anything he would do. Right there and then, Aomine has saved him.
So, Aomine did all these wonderful things for Kuroko, but he made this one stupid move and most people think he’s nothing but an asshole.
Which, for me, is just wrong.
Okay, so we all know that Aomine probably broke Kuroko with the whole 'I’ve long forgotten how to receive your passes’ scene but we should also remember that he saved him multiple times. Nine times out of ten, he was this perfect friend; then he made a mistake once and people just focused on that one time. But that’s life. Everyone’s more concerned over the wrongs more than the rights. Which sucks, right? But getting back to the topic (since this post is about AoKuro and not about the unfairness of life), I think that’s what fans had in their mind.
So now, flash forward to High School…
I don’t think I need to say much about this. A lot of these had been pointed out by countless fans.
Aomine had changed from his pure, kindhearted self to a selfish arrogant bastard. (That may be true, but please don’t think he’s just that).
Kuroko went to Seirin to prove the Generation of Miracles wrong. That winning is not everything. He wanted to show him his basketball. But more importantly, it was because he wanted to get the light back in Aomine’s eyes. He wanted to save his friend. In the Touou vs Seirin V1, he failed. Simply, because he wasn’t strong enough. We saw how distressed Kuroko was after the match because he wanted to win that match so badly. Also take note of how Little Expressionless Kuroko openly had such emotions shown in his face. Back at Touou’s lockers, Aomine almost punched someone. Because he made fun of his best friend. Of course, he’s angry, and of course, he still cares. Moreover, the expression in as Aomine’s face is not suitable for a winner. Sure, others might say that it’s because winning is already a given but that is not the expression of boredom. You can assume that it’s because deep down, he wanted Kuroko to save him.
Remember Aomine’s look at Seirin vs Kirisaki Daiichi match? Full of regret. And the way he said “What you need isn’t logic, it’s trust’” just broke my heart. Does Aomine, in his asshole glory, miss those times? Back when it was still him, who Kuroko trusted? He even warned Hanamiya for making him mad. Because he just knows.
And then came the scene in the hot springs. There’s one question that’s been running around in our AoKuro minds: If Aomine has a drink, why did he give Kuroko his and proceeded to buy a new one? Maybe it’s just because he knows Kuroko likes that drink so he just settled for a different one? Or maybe because he actually doesn’t like Pocari that much? (Which brings us to another question, why did he bring that with him?) Or maybe it’s all just coincidence. Really, who knows?
In Touou vs Seirin V2, Kuroko stated the real reason he wanted to win. “I’d do anything to win this game. Just one more time, I want to see Aomine-kun playing with a smile” And when he finally smiled, just look at Kuroko’s face. Afterwards, the long-awaited fistbump. When, after everything that’s happened, they finally, finally met each other halfway. Kuroko has saved him.
When Kuroko needed to learn to be able to shoot, he chose Aomine. Aomine, who he just defeated the day before. Not only because he was the best at shooting but because he knows him best. And it was proven with that, he noticed something most people wouldn’t even care about (if they managed to see Kuroko) and pointed that out to help him. One more thing, look at both of their expressions when Aomine mentioned they’d be enemies again. We can also see that Aomine is probably his inspiration, his determination when he faced Yosen.
Kuroko gave him back the happiness he had given him. They saved each other. It was not a one-sided thing which a lot of things would make you believe. I’ve been seeing a lot of things which were saying the same thing. Aomine did not deserve Kuroko after everything he put him through but Kuroko is this forgiving goody two-shoes who will always accept him, etc… I’m not against those by the way, I’m just saying, please don’t blame Aomine so much, it’s not like he wanted this. Not like anyone wanted this. But the real point of everything I’m babbling about, like I have been saying multiple times already, this is not a one-sided thing, When Kuroko fell, Aomine helped him stand up. When Aomine was lost, Kuroko helped him find his way. Once again, THEY HAVE BOTH SAVED EACH OTHER. I CAN NOT EXPRESS THIS ENOUGH.
-I used the manga as reference. Also, the light novels. I don’t trust the anime very much.
-I know I’m being repetitive and all, but I don’t care.
-I’m also possibly just overthinking all these stuff but once again, I don’t care. Besides, this is my OTP. And that’s what we, as fans, do! We overthink every little detail!
-Maybe I’ll edit this tomorrow, right now, I need sleep
-I wrote this because I read a fic, not really Aokuro but is a MiraGen friendship fic. i actually love the story, the plot and all, but there was just a few conversations that kinda upset me.
-The story puts every blame on the Miracles (it wasn’t really stated like that in that story but it was saying something along the line of… the miragen were being unfeeling idiots and they were selfish but they regret it and kuroko was there still being forgiving even if his friends are monsters
-Please proceed to blame the Teiko adults instead
-Lastly, sorry for the long post. This wasn’t meant to be this long, guess I got a bit carried away.
One more thing, not related to the post and all:
Aomine and Kuroko shared an indirect kiss in Replace I xD
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
janainaart
tangentwithtanner
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
