Deanoru

"I'm not leaving you!"

- Nico

Deanoru is the femslash ship between Nico Minoru and Karolina Dean from the Runaways fandom.

Comics
Karolina and Nico met each other through their parents who get together one a year for their annual PRIDE meeting. Throughout the first volume of Runaways it is hinted that Karolina has harboured a long-time crush on Nico, but has yet to come out as a lesbian. Once they found out their parents were super villains and went on the run, Karolina is shown to dislike Nico's relationship with Alex.

Karolina later misread a situation with Nico and attempted to kiss her, but was rejected. This was the first time Karolina admitted to another Runaway that she was a lesbian. Moments after being rejected, Xavin appeared and claimed to be Karolina's fiancé from an arranged marriage Karolina had no knowledge of. After deciding to leave Earth to marry Xavin, Karolina left her medical alert bracelet with Nico as a token of remembrance. Nico was very upset by her departure and tried to use a spell to bring her back, but was stopped by Gert.

While Karolina was away Nico kept her bracelet, holding it when praying. When Karolina later returned to Earth, Nico asks her where she attempted to kiss her to prove that she wasn't an imposter. Nico was also disappointed to see Xavin still with Karolina despite their marriage not taking place. Xavin later took the form of Nico to see if Karolina still had feelings for her, which lead to her confessing she was still in love with Nico. Despite this, Karolina remained staunch in her devotion to Xavin until he chose to take Karolina's place as a prisoners of the Majesdanians.

Two years after the Runaways had drifted apart, Karolina reunited when Nico - Chase and Gert were trying to "get the band back together". This time Nico attempted to kiss Karolina, who in turn rejected her due to already having a girlfriend, Julie Power, and dismissed the attempted kiss as Nico's habit of seeking comfort in times of stress. When the Runaways started living together in the hostel again, Nico and Karolina grew closer once more.

Following Julie and Karolina's break-up, Karolina invited Nico to attend her parents’ legitimate foundation's charity ball with her. While there, Karolina's usual nervousness was replaced by newfound confidence, because of Nico's support as she's felt Nico had “always seen the real” her. Nico confessed she was confused about herself for so long she couldn't see her clearly, alluding to Karolina's first attempt to kiss her two years prior. Nico knows who and what she wants now and asks Karolina for a second chance. Karolina was surprised and scared, which exacerbated her old feelings of rejection when Nico pulled away. But Nico seized her chance and the two kissed, beginning a relationship.

Season 1
Nico and Karolina were childhood friends who grew apart after the death of Nico's sister, but her death anniversary two years later brings their whole group of friends back together.

Both Nico and Karolina had different, hetero love interests at the beginning of the series: Alex Wilder and Chase Stein, respectively. Karolina slowly realized that she was gay and developed a crush on Nico while also somewhat passively entertaining Chase's attention. On the other hand, Nico explored a possible relationship with Alex, who has been crushing on her for years. Beyond a kiss, however, the relationships between Nico and Alex & Karolina and Chase did not progress further (after multiple disagreements about their situation in Nico and Alex's case).

On the night of the school dance (episode 9), Karolina kissed Nico, stating that she might not get the chance to after their mission. When Karolina was left behind later that night, Nico was desperate to save her, and when they did, Nico kissed Karolina.

TV Series
"The light inside of you. That warmth, that openness. That’s everything that I like about you. That’s what makes you who you are."

- Nico; Rock Bottom

"I lamp you."

- Nico; Split Up

Fanon
Deanoru was a common pairing in the early days of the Runaways fandom due to Karolina's obvious crush on Nico. While pairing names were not as popular in the fandom, it was sometimes called Nicolina. The pairing became rarer after Xavin was introduced and Xavolina became canon. Regardless, the unresolved tension in their relationship kept many fans speculating.

Once the TV series began airing in 2017 there was hope among shipper that the Hulu adaptation would have Karolina's feelings for Nico be reciprocated. Around this time they gained their current most popular pairing name: Deanoru. Not long after Deanoru got together in the TV series, they also began dating in comics.

On AO3, Deanoru is the most written ship for both characters and the most written in the Runaways tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Karolina/Nico (TV) on FanFiction.Net
 * Karolina/Nico (Comic) on FanFiction.Net
 * Karolina/Nico (Comic) on FanFiction.Net

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * The ship has been featured on the Fandometrics most reblogged ship list several times:
 * It was the 6th most reblogged ship, the week ending January 8th, 2018.
 * It was the 5th most reblogged ship, the week ending January 16th, 2018.
 * Rainbow Rowell, the writer of the 2017 comic run, refers to Nico and Karolina's relationship within the comics as Nicolina, and uses Deanoru to reference the show's version of their relationship.