Author's notes: So… I just really wanted to write a model!Kuroko. And then the rest of the story kinda grew around that. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: if KnB was mine, there'd be a lot more yaoi. But there's not. (so it's not mine)

Chapter 1


Aomine was thoroughly pissed off. It's Kise's fault, he thought, shooting a glare at said person. It's all Kise's fault, he repeated as he stood shirtless in front of a flashing camera, a very pretty blue-haired girl pressed close to his chest.


"DAI-CHAN!" Momoi yelled as she opened the door to the school's rooftop.

"Go away, Satsuki," he groaned, wishing to sleep some more. "I'll go to practice in an hour." Despite vowing to be serious and attend practice after their crushing defeat against Seirin, it was still difficult for him to overcome his sleeping-during-practice habit. It was already January of the new year, and the Winter Cup seemed ages ago. Scenes of the final match played in Aomine's mind.

"That too, but that's not why I called you." she marched towards him with something in her hand.

"What then?" he peered over only to have a magazine shoved in his face.

"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing at a spot on the page.

Aomine pushed it away from his face to scrutinize it. "It's just Kise," he made a face, "why are you showing me a picture of Kise?" Over the years, he'd gotten used to seeing his former teammate in numerous magazines and advertisements.

"No," Momoi whined, "look here!" she jabbed at the same area on the cover. Aomine made another face and looked again. Kise stood by himself in an elaborate garden, one arm leaning against an ivy-covered pillar and gazing down with a tender look in his gold eyes. His hair was styled in a slightly tousled fashion, which only enhanced his already good-looking features. It was his latest photo shoot for some big-name clothing brand and had all the girls screaming and fangirling. Aomine squinted his eyes trying to find what Momoi was pointing at. After squinting his eyes even further, they opened wide.

"What?" Aomine yelled incredulous. He grabbed the magazine and held it to his face. Upon closer inspection, Kise's tender gaze was actually fixed towards a person. A person with sky blue hair and azure eyes fixed in a familiar blank expression – Kuroko.

The blue-haired boy wore a wig that matched his hair color perfectly and fell in soft waves around his face, just past his shoulders. He had his back on the pillar and faced Kise, yet his blue eyes stared up at the camera. In a pale yellow gown, he matched Kise's formal ensemble and fit so perfectly with the garden setting. His slightly parted lips were painted an innocent shade of pink; his naturally long eyelashes appeared even longer; and, as Aomine skimmed through the magazine's table of contents, there were more.

The magazine had 4 double page spreads of the photo shoot. Each had a picture of Kise and Kuroko in various outfits and poses in the garden. Of course, no one saw Kuroko at first. It looked like Kise had been all by himself. But when Kuroko was finally noticed, a whole new dimension was added to the photo. His presence somehow made Kise more eye-catching, more handsome, more… sensual.

Aomine quickly flipped to the other spreads. In the first, Kise lay in a bed of white flowers. His fully unbuttoned dark shirt contrasted nicely with the grass and showcased his wonderfully sculpted abs. He gazed at the camera with a listless expression that could have been interpreted as bored. But then Kuroko magically appeared in an off-white lacy sundress lying on Kise's arm. His blue wig splayed out in the grass gave an impression of the sky reflected in his hair. Kuroko held one hand to his mouth, the other evocatively close to the hem of the other's pants. Kise's bored expression turned sultry.

The second showed Kise lounging on a sofa underneath a flower trellis. He cradled his head in one hand and held a single rose in the other. This time he only unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and made his expression irritatingly smug. But the long-stemmed red rose that hung carelessly in his hand touched the slender, pale neck of Kuroko who sat demurely on the floor. Kuroko's dress draped lazily on his shoulders, leaving his collarbones bare. He remained expressionless as ever, azure eyes looking straightforward. But his head rested on Kise's knee and suddenly, the picture became a whole new kind of suggestive.

The third picture had Kise in a pond littered with pink lotus flowers, his white shirt soaked and leaving nothing to the imagination. Liquid-gold eyes once again tilted downwards, and a languid hand ran through his hair. The sudden appearance of a slight figure with blue hair equally drenched, suggested Kise had just caught him from a fall. Half submerged in the water, Kuroko straddled Kise keeping both hands on his abdomen. He held his blank face dangerously close to the other's, yellow eyes meeting blue.

The last showed a close-up of Kise, looking dramatically in the distance as if in deep thought. In fact, he looked as if he wanted to cry. But then pale arms wrapped around him and held him close. Suddenly, Kuroko appeared behind him staring straight at the camera, face hidden by the other's nest of hair save for his eyes and had a somewhat softer expression. This picture seemed different from the others in that it held an aura of comfort. Kuroko's expressionless face almost looked kind.

As Aomine gaped at the last picture, Momoi squealed, "Doesn't Tetsu-kun look absolutely adorable?" She began ranting about how cute and wonderful her Tetsu-kun was, but Aomine tuned her out still flipping through all the pictures.

They were incredibly frustrating. All of them. He couldn't imagine how Tetsu could agree to do this, Tetsu of all people. Tetsu the phantom player, Tetsu his shadow, Tetsu his best friend. The boy who no one ever noticed was now seen all over the country in the form of beautifully taken photographs. Aomine couldn't believe it was the same person he knew in those pictures.

But it was the same person, and that frustrated Aomine. Frustrating because he just couldn't believe how Tetsu could be so…

Beautiful.

At this thought, he threw the magazine in Momoi's face and stalked off.

"Hey, what was that for?! And where are you going?"

"To practice!" he slammed the door of the school roof.


"Kuroko!" various voices exclaimed as said boy walked into the gym. All members of Seirin's basketball team crowded around their coach. In her hands was the same magazine Momoi had shown Aomine.

Their faces held varying degrees of surprise, disbelief, and wonder. It was Riko who directly addressed him, "Kuroko! Explain this!" She held the magazine in front of Kuroko's face.

"It's Kise," he replied simply.

"No!" Hyuuga broke in, "Why are you in here too?"

"Ahh…" Kuroko mumbled before explaining.


"Kurokocchi!" Kise cried as he ran to wrap his arms around a small blue-haired teen.

One morning after the Winter Cup, Kuroko was out grocery shopping when he saw a very distressed Kise running towards him. "Hello, Kise-kun," he greeted with no change of expression, "How are you?"

"Kurokocchi!" the blonde said again with tears in his eyes, "You have to help me! I'm doing this super important photo shoot for a big company's fashion line and the girl I was supposed to model with today suddenly couldn't make it, and now the photographer and agency won't let me leave until they can get a replacement model, but she's coming in from another city and it'll take a long time for her to get here and I have a qualifying game for a tournament today and I can't miss it!" Kise spoke quickly and ran his sentences together making it difficult for Kuroko to comprehend.

"I don't want to." was Kuroko's immediate response.

Kise wailed, "Kurokocchi! The shoot's right across the street and won't take long, promise!"

"I'm not a model, Kise-kun."

"It's okay! The photographer's super talented!"

"I'm not a girl."

"That doesn't matter! The make-up artist is amazing too! Please help me, Kurokocchi! Pleeeaaasseee!" Kise's pleas were getting to him.

Kise-kun will miss his game… Kuroko thought to himself. Kaijou had suffered a crushing defeat at the Winter Cup. Even with Kise's inhuman copying ability, the game had been way too close for comfort. He already wants to be back on the court.

Kuroko sighed, "I understand," and paused before adding, "you have to buy me milkshakes for a month."

With tears of happiness, Kise beamed, "Thank you, Kurokocchi!" before nearly dragging him to the photo shoot.


"And that's how it happened," Kuroko finished.

"WHAT?" was the teams collective response to Kuroko's story.

"Oi, why's everyone so loud today?" Kagami yawned, entering the gym.

"See for yourself," Kiyoshi took the magazine from Riko and tossed it to Kagami who caught it with one hand.

"It's just Kise," he frowned.

"Look closer," Izuki urged.

Just as Kagami's eyes widened, a group of girls walked into the gym shrieking Kise's name.

"Kise-kun, you were so handsome in Ivory!"

"Kise-kun, can I have your autograph?"

"Kise-kun, who's that girl in your pictures?"

On and on they went chattering and clambering to get closer to the blonde model who stood in the center of their group.

"Oi! We're having basketball practice right now! Please leave!" an annoyed Hyuuga shouted to the prattling girls. They fell silent and then left grumbling. Kise stayed behind.

"Yo," he waved a hand and grinned. "Kurokocchi, I'm here to deliver what I promised! Let's go." He pointed his thumb towards the door.

"Practice just started," Kuroko said.

This time Riko spoke, "Kise-kun! It's our first day of practice. After the Winter Cup, I think you'd understand our desire to get back to training. We don't need any of you and your distractions." She gestured at the girls who just left and the magazine in Kagami's hand.

Kise raised his hands as if in surrender. "I'm sorry, but I really do have to talk to Kurokocchi concerning that." He pointed to the magazine. "Doesn't he look amazing in those pictures by the way?" he grinned.

The team remained silent. Kagami sputtered looking between Kuroko, Kise, and the pictures in the magazine, "W-who?! Wha- what is- ? W-"

Kuroko sighed, "Then please excuse me. I will speak with Kise-kun and return immediately." He gave a curt bow to his team before following Kise out the door. Kise and Kuroko heard Kagami's reaction as they left the gym.

"Ah seriously, Kurokocchi, thank you for saving me back then," Kise said referring to the photo shoot. "I don't know what I would have done without you!"

"Did you win your qualifying round?"

"Of course." Kise beamed.

"That's good," a brief smile flitted across Kuroko's face before settling back into its usual expression.

"Anyway, my agency's going crazy about the pictures. They keep getting calls and emails asking who you are and if you were photo-edited or something. Want to read the critiques?" he took a ripped-out page from his pocket and handed it to Kuroko.

"This 'vanishing model' might be the biggest breakthrough in fashion history!"

"The girl has the most bewitching eyes I have ever seen. I have never been so entranced by such a beautiful and awe-inspiring gaze."

"Being able to disappear without any sort of editing is remarkable! This girl's ability might as well be the biggest thing this industry's ever seen."

Kuroko stopped reading and returned the page. "Is there anything else, Kise-kun? I want to get back to practice."

Kise felt a sharp pang in his heart, "Kurokocchi, you're so mean." He stopped walking and leaned on the side of a building. "The truth is, my agency wants to recruit you."

"No thank you." Kuroko bowed and walked back in the direction of the gym.

"Hey!" Kise stood up and ran after him. "Just consider it okay? Take this card." Kuroko took it and read: 'Masamune Tasuku, agent for Iris Models' a number was also included. He slipped the card in his pocket.

"Thank you, Kise-kun. I'll see you around," he bowed again and turned.

"You look amazing in those photos! I'm serious!" Kise called after him. He didn't know if Kuroko heard though because he showed no reaction and kept walking. Kise shrugged, the campaign was a success. That's all that mattered.

Still, he thought as he walked in the direction of Maji burger, more than once did I feel like my heart was going to leap out of my chest during that photo shoot.


Kuroko came home that day exhausted. His team had bombarded him with questions after he spoke with Kise. Riko ended up threatening them with extra training to get any sort of practice in. But the questions continued well after practice.

"Seriously, Kuroko, I don't get it," Kagami sighed as they walked home. The rest of the team had already left. "It's just too weird seeing you in a magazine."

"Don't worry, it was a one time thing," Kuroko said slurping his milkshake. Kise stayed true to his promise and paid for a month's worth of milkshakes in advance.

"No I mean," Kagami rubbed the back of his neck, "It's just- you looked really nice…" he trailed off.

Kuroko was surprised although it didn't show on his face. Kagami sure said unexpected things sometimes. "Thank you, Kagami-kun."

That night, as Kuroko lay in bed, he thought of what happened that day. Ever since the magazine had hit the shelves, nearly every reader asked: who was the mysterious girl? No one at school, save for his team, recognized him though. It's okay, he reflected. Getting so much attention from his team was a lot already. And he didn't show it at the time, but the critiques really did make him happy. Never mind that they thought he was a girl, a compliment's a compliment.

Kuroko's weak presence had rendered him unnoticeable all his life. He'd become used to it, even to the point of utilizing it for his misdirection. Kuroko was a shadow and willingly accepted that fact. But on rare occasions, he did get tired of being unnoticed and ignored. Kuroko recalled the many times he scared people simply by opening his mouth, and many problems that could have been avoided if only he had a stronger presence. It's nice, Kuroko thought before he drifted off to sleep, to get attention once in awhile…


End of Chapter

Leila – the name of the brand Kise and Kuroko modeled, not mentioned in this chapter but will be mentioned later on

Zunon Boy – taken from KnB's wiki: a fashion/lifestyle magazine that frequently showcases Ryota Kise's modeling work and basketball career

Iris Models – name of Kise's modeling agency

To explain why Kise's in a tournament and not Kuroko: Seirin and Kaijou are in different prefectures (Tokyo and Kanagawa respectively). So let's pretend Kise's tournament is only open to schools in his prefecture.