UsoKaya

UsoKa is the het ship between Usopp and Kaya from the One Piece fandom.

Canon
Usopp and Kaya are close friends who have known each other since childhood. Both of them resided on Syrup Village, with Kaya living in the biggest mansion on the island. The two became good friends after Kaya lost both her parents and Usopp, with his talent for fabricating stories, would cheer her up with one of his tall tales which always made her smile. They have a great fondness of each other and, after the events with Kuro, have still kept each other in their thoughts since Usopp joined the Straw Hat Pirates.

Shortly after her parents’ deaths, Kaya developed an illness that risked taking her life as a result of the shock of losing them. With Usopp’s father having joined the Red Haired Pirates when he was a child, and the untimely death of his own mother, he found great understanding in Kaya’s grief and wished to make her days better. As a result, he would sneak onto the mansion grounds to climb into a tree outside her bedroom window where the two would chat all day, with Usopp telling grandiose tales about his adventures. He did all this despite the constant animosity he received from her personal butler, Klahadore. Whilst Kaya was fully aware that his stories were simply lies, she still enjoyed his company and would look forward to him coming to see her. She credits Usopp with helping her cope with her grief and ultimately recover from her illness.

Their relationship is thrown into disarray, briefly, after Klahadore reveals to Usopp that he is a pirate by the name of Kuro, who had masterminded a scheme to steal Kaya’s inheritance from her parents. Usopp desperately tries to inform Kaya of this but she does not believe him, believing he is telling a typical lie, but with the malicious goal of slandering Klahadore, and slaps him, ending their friendship. This leads to a stand off between Usopp, his new friends, Luffy, Nami and Zoro, and Kuro’s entire pirate crew. In the process, Kaya discovers Klahadore’s true identity and intentions, vindicating Usopp. Luffy is able to successfully defeat Kuro whilst Usopp protects Kaya from Kuro’s subordinate, Jango.

After these events, Usopp makes the decision to go out to sea, just like his father, in the hopes of becoming a “brave warrior of the sea” and to have plenty of truthful tales to tell Kaya on his return. Whilst they do miss each other, they accept going their separate ways, for now, when Usopp joins Luffy’s crew. As a parting gift, Kaya is able to gift Usopp with the crew’s first real ship, the Going Merry. Kaya later revealed to Merry, once Usopp left the island, that she wanted to stop him from leaving but knew she had to let him go. Since their parting, Kaya remains fond of Usopp and constantly keeps up with his crew’s exploits with the hopes of hearing more about him. She was also able to see through Usopp’s new found disguise as “Sogeking”, when he got his first bounty. When she sees this bounty poster, she remarks that she must go home and do her medical studies so she can treat Usopp’s injuries when he returns.

Usopp’s attachment to Kaya is reflected in his love for the ship she gifted to him and the crew. Usopp spent nearly all his time trying to fix the ship, and was the only crew member to see the ship’s spirit on Skypiea. This fixation on the Going Merry almost led to him leaving the crew after Luffy informed Usopp that they would have to get a new ship. Usopp was in serious denial about the extreme state the Going Merry was now in, and instead wanted everyone to continue sailing with the ship they had gotten from Kaya. It was only when faced with the crushing reality that the Going Merry cannot sail any further, and that he might lose his new found friends, that he came to terms with losing the Going Merry.

Fanon
UsKa is a well-received pairing by the fandom. In fact, the pairing is even embraced by non-shippers as well. Both Usopp and Kaya are never shown with any outright indication of romance, but their portrayal implies romantic undertones that might become apparent in the future. Many fans view Kaya as a person waiting for her love to return from sea.

There are rivals to this ship, the most prominent one being UsoNa, the pairing between Usopp and Nami. This stems from their similar personalities and strong bond. However, the nature of Usopp’s friendship with Kaya, that makes it difficult for fans to see them as just friends, takes a dominant precedence and often many fans see Usopp and Nami as the best of friends, as oppose to being a true rival.

Fandom
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