AoKuro

"I just... I just want to see Aomine play with a smile again"

- Kuroko to Kagami about Aomine in He's Beside Himself With Joy

AoKuro is the slash ship between Tetsuya Kuroko and Daiki Aomine from the Kuroko's Basketball fandom.

Season 1
Aomine later meets Kagami, Kuroko's new "light" and tells him during a one on one that his light is way too dim and he can't bring out Kuroko's full potential like he can.

In a flashback during their Teiko days, Kuroko notices Aomine has been missing practice more often, so he confronts him about it in which Aomine tells him that the more he plays basketball, it gets boring. Aomine then informs him that he will be missing out on games too, Kuroko immediately responds with putting a popsicle down Aomine's back and tells him that he can't do that, he tries to cheer up which is successful and they do their signature fist bump. Few days later in a match, Aomine is fired up until he sees that his opponents have given up and he changes his mind about what Kuroko said, while Kuroko tries to fistbump him after their win, Aomine tells him he will never find what he is looking for and that he's the only one who can beat himself, he then jogs away without responding to Kuroko's fist bump causing them to drift.

During their Interhigh match, Aomine walks up to Kuroko and tells him to come out of the bench, so they can settle the match and to show him the new light and shadow (Kagami and Kuroko.) The benched teammates in Touou, after the match began badmouthing Kuroko because his team lost miserably, Aomine got extremely irritated by this and pushed one of the guys onto a locker.

Season 2
During a trip to the hot springs, Kuroko starts feeling dizzy because of the steam and thinks its best if he gets out to rest, he puts a towel over his head and lays down on a hallway bench, then Aomine gives him a drink and says "here". Kuroko says thank you without realizing it was Aomine but then recognizes the voice and gets up quickly in a shocked manner. Aomine stares back at him and tells him "It's been awhile, Tetsu."

Before the Seirin vs Touou match in the winter cup, both Kagami and Kuroko walk up to Aomine, Kuroko has his eyes close and old flashbacks of their junior high years appear where Aomine tells Kuroko that they don't ever agree on anything else but they play basketball well together. Kuroko tries the Ignite pass Kai on Aomine and it succeeds passing him causing a shock to Aomine, he shrugs it off unfazed and tells Kuroko, it seems like he'll have fun with him too. After Kuroko tried to pull his vanishing drive on Aomine and fails, Aomine tells him that he can't defeat the light because a shadow cannot exist without light. A Kuroko who is pissed off by this comment, tries to pull off an ignite pass but is blocked by Aomine in an instant. He tells him not to disappoint him so much anymore.

After the quarter ends and it's break time, Kuroko goes outside for fresh air and Kagami spots him, he asks what he was thinking about and he responded that he just wanted to see it again, the smile Aomine always gave when he played before.The next half quarter begins and Aomine is charging in fast but he bumps into Kuroko who predicted his move. Kuroko then tells him if he can predict his moves, it should also be the opposite and Aomine tells him "You've done it now, Tetsu." During, Hyuga's free throws, Aomine smiles after finally getting what he wanted and whispers "Thanks, Tetsu." which Kuroko notices with a surprised look. The ball gets knocked out but Kuroko reaches it in time, he ends up hitting the walls. He gets up and begins talking to Aomine who was standing in front of him, he tells him that he can't let them pull away and that he believes in Kagami but Aomine just stares back without a response.

Tip Off
When Kise began questioning who Midorima is because he was with them at the convenience store out of the blue, Midorima says he should know the regulars on this team and Kise gets defensive and asks how would he know since he just joined the first string, Aomine tells him that's something he should ask Kuroko, he turns to Kuroko and asks him "right?" Kuroko then says "I won" while looking down on his popsicle stick that read "winner", which Aomine get's stoked by, he grabs his hand immediately to show off to Kise. After a practice game, Kise gets aggravated by how bad Kuroko is, he decides to finally ask Aomine during their stretches Kise points at Kuroko beside him and asks "how is he a regular", Aomine tells him to not point at his own mentor. Kise then asks who would win between Kuroko and him. Aomine tells him that it would obviously be him (Kise), which makes him even more confused so he asks again why. Aomine informs him that Kuroko's different and he's not like them two. He then continues and says that Kuroko is reliable in a game and that Kise will see how amazing he is soon.

Would You Mind Doing That Once More
Momoi informs Aomine about the rumor of a ghost haunting the gym because he was just heading there, he tells her that is just stupid and casually continues walking up to the gym and hears a basketball hitting the floor. He yells out a greeting as he opens the door but there is no one to be seen, he starts feeling terrified and questioned if it was true. He then hears a voice beside him saying "excuse me", he dropped to the floor in a terrified stance promising the "ghost", he wouldn't bring magazines in there anymore. The "ghost" says his name and it takes him out of his loud muttering to stare at them.

Kuroko explains why people think he's a ghost while they sit down on the gym floor, Aomine repeats it to make sure he heard that right about him being so unnoticeable that nobody knew he was in there, he begins laughing and stoic Kuroko tells him that he's laughing way too much at this, Aomine looks at him confused because he knew his name. Kuroko tells him that everyone knows him because he became a first stringer in his first year, Aomine asks him his name but Kuroko gets the wrong idea and tells him his string but Aomine clears up and tells him that he's talking about his name. He also continues and says who cares about what string you are in. He tries to comfort him about saying his own quote and Kuroko tells him that it's a strange saying. He then finally tells Aomine his name and they smile at each other.

Kuroko or Aomine proposed a one on one game it seemed, Aomine tells him to go whenever he's ready and Kuroko tells him to prepare for the "worst." Kuroko begins and Aomine starts going after him but Kuroko hits the ball on his knee which stopped the flow of the game, Aomine started yelling in confusion because why Kuroko is so horrible at basketball but he told him he should prepare for something huge, Kuroko reminded him that he told him literally to prepare for the worst. He began looking a little upset and asks Aomine if they should stop, Aomine scratches the back of his head then walked away or so it seemed, he gestured him to throw the ball. They continue their one on one play and when Aomine gets a shot on, Kuroko looked amazed at his skills. As Aomine was about to ask a question, Kuroko cuts him off by saying that his play was great and asks if they can go again. Aomine smiles at him and says "sure".

They go on for a while but then they decided it was time to lock up, they say their goodbye's and they went on their way but Aomine looked back before he left and there was no sight of Kuroko which scares him a bit but then he goes back to normal and says "what a weirdo."

Aomine goes to get burgers, his hands filled with a bag of burgers, he struggles to keep the door open which Kuroko walks up from behind him and holds the door. Aomine is about to thank the person but when he notices its Kuroko, he jumps.

Quotes
"I don't think you were wrong, but... I just can't. They all suck. I'll never find what I'm looking for. The only one who can beat me is me."

- Aomine about their earlier conversation in Don't Make Me Laugh

"I'm disappointed, your basketball will never win."

- Aomine to Kuroko after Seirin's defeat to Touou

"He's different. He's not like you and me but he's reliable in a game. You'll see soon enough how amazing he is."

- Aomine talking about Kuroko in Tip Off

"We can't agree on anything else, but we play basketball so well together."

- Aomine to Kuroko in Definitely This Time

"Sorry, Tetsu!"

- Aomine apologizing to Kuroko in his head before blocking his vanishing drive in Useless Effort

"Don't get the wrong Idea, Tetsu. A shadow doesn't exist without light. No matter how much you struggle, it never works the other way. A shadow can't defeat the light"

- Aomine to Kuroko in Useless Effort

"We both spent that time together. We get along when it comes to basketball, Aomine."

- Kuroko to Aomine in He's Beside Himself With Joy

"Tetsu... You bastard."

- Aomine to Kuroko after he made him miss in I Believe in Him

Fanon
Although, AoKuro has just as much scenes it can sometimes be overshadowed and rivals by AoKise and AoMomo, both popular Aomine ships but it still is a pretty popular ship in the KnB fandom. It has over 1,200 works out of the 22,394 on archive of our own placing 7th on the most works in the Kuroko's Basketball tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Aomine calls Kuroko by "Tetsu" which is derived from his first name Tetsuya.
 * In a Drama CD, Aomine says Kuroko presence is so low, he's like a ghost.