FutoKuno

FutoKuno is the het ship between Futoshi and Ikuno from the DARLING in the FRANXX fandom.

Canon
Futoshi and Ikuno knew each other since they were young children living in the Garden but they barely interacted with each other. When they turned 14, they were assigned to the same FRANXX squad, with Futoshi paired with Kokoro and Ikuno paired with Mitsuru.

The two hardly interacted with each other other than during briefings and free time activities between the squad.

In the manga, after rescuing and hiding the 9’s, Futoshi and Ikuno eavesdrop on Kokoro and Mitsuru talking. Futoshi is sad that Kokoro and Mitsuru are getting closer. Ikuno says it can’t be helped because Mitsuru said the words Kokoro needed to hear. However, thinking about Ichigo, she says protecting someone dear to them makes them want to act. Wanting to protect Kokoro, Futoshi agrees with her. However, while Ikuno searches for Mitsuru, Futoshi tells her that he saw Mitsuru heading towards the greenhouse where Kokoro is. Miku tells Ikuno that MitsuKoko are acting strange. This catches Ikuno and Futoshi’s attention, and both seem intrigued.

In Episode 11, Nana proposed a partner shuffle due to Mitsuru and Ikuno’s incompatibility. Futoshi initially says there is no reason for him and Kokoro to split apart because he promised to protect her forever. However, after Ikuno asks to try linking with Ichigo, Kokoro asks to try riding with Mitsuru, which came as a complete surprise to everyone, especially Futoshi. During a capacity test, Ikuno and Ichigo fail to connect and time out whereas Mitsuru and Kokoro manage to maintain a low but stable connection. As a result, Futoshi and Ikuno are paired together, and Kokoro and Mitsuru are paired together.

During their first sortie as a pair, Futoshi is determined to try his best with Ikuno but Ikuno sighs in irritation at Futoshi for getting emotional as he goes off to fight without Kokoro as his partner. However, the two perform really well together. They use Chlorophytum to hold the klaxosaur off while Kokoro and Mitsuru try to talk out Mitsuru’s problems and reconnect.

After Kokoro and Mitsuru’s memories are altered, Kokoro attempts to partner with Futoshi again but he refuses and insists that he will team up with Ikuno so that Kokoro and Mitsuru will stay as partners.

During the second battle at Gran Crevasse, they are part of the rescue effort to help Zero Two reach Hiro. However, the passage leading Strelizia’s location is blocked off and they are cornered by VIRM soldiers on the other end. Ikuno and Futoshi go full power to blast open the passage but Chlorophytum deactivates. Futoshi is shocked to see Ikuno panting and her hair has turned white.

Despite Ikuno’s declining health, she and Futoshi take part in the galactic battle against VIRM and to help Hiro rescue Zero Two.

Two years later, when all the parasites join hands to send their thoughts and prayers to HiroZero in space, Futoshi and Ikuno hold hands, and he smiles at her as she says she is using whatever time she has left for others.

Ten years later, while Ikuno, who has aged into an elderly woman due to her retaining her accelerated ageing process, is confined to her hospital bed and checks on Ichigo who is pregnant, Futoshi visits her with his new bread recipe. While he chats with her, Ichigo, and Naomi, he is irritated at Naomi for joking how he hasn’t lost any weight and he blames Ikuno for getting his appetite back. He then credits Ikuno for her research in keeping the parasites’ accelerated ageing process under control, and she compliments his bread. He tells her that Kokoro and Mitsuru are expecting their fourth child and she replies she heard.

Fanon
This shipping is not popular in the fandom as Ikuno is attracted to Ichigo and Futoshi was initially in love with Kokoro. Some people ship them only because they are partners, much like the people who ship MitsuKuno and HiroMi. Others theorized that after the Partner Shuffle, Futoshi would lose weight to win Ikuno's heart. This didn't happen as Futoshi was never attracted to Ikuno and Ikuno had a crush on Ichigo. During the series finale, Futoshi married an unnamed parasite, while Ikuno got together with Naomi (IkuNao), sinking the ship.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Ikuno’s English voice actress, Leah Clark, is both an IchiKuno shipper and a MitsuKoko shipper. Whereas, Futoshi’s English voice actor, Blake Shepard, doesn’t have an opinion.
 * In the second OP, while the rest of the squad are either looking at each or have their eyes closed while sleeping, Ikuno and Futoshi are looking away from each other with their eyes open. This indicates a degree of indifference between them.
 * This can also mean that they both have unrequited feelings for other people, in Ikuno's case Ichigo and in Futoshi's case Kokoro.