Title: Art Appeal

Story: Set in an AU where there's no GoM and Kagami and Aomine go to university in America. Both of them get stuck taking an art course where they meet someone interesting and learn about more than just art.

Disclaimer: *I DO NOT OWN KUROKO NO BASKET OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS* Although I wish I did :'(

*Thank you all for the follows, favs, and reviews!

*This chapter contains mostly AoKi, because of all the KagaKi last chap. Got to level the field ~

Chapter 4: Friends

Kise watched Kagami's retreating form as the limo slowly made its way down the road. He waited until his new friend was completely out of view and then sank into his lush leather seat with a small smile.

It was then he noticed a pair of sharp heterchromatic eyes glaring at him from the opposite side.

"Did you have fun on your little outing today Ryouta?"

Kise bolted upright, and quickly coughed before answering. "Uh, I'm sorry Akashicch I didn't mean_"

"You already lied to me once today Ryouta, there is no need to lie to me again." He turned and pressed the button next to his seat. "Shintaro."

The voice of the green haired body guard echoed throughout the vehicle.

"Yes, Akashi-san."

"Please clear your schedule for the next few days as you will be attending Kise to all of his classes for the rest of the week. That is all."

"Yes, Akashi-san. I will take care of that immediately."

Kise's look of disbelief went ignored by Akashi and the remainder of their drive was silent.

~ ~XxXxX~ ~

As the bell rang for their art class to begin, Kagami and Aomine were each already setting up their own easels and equipment, deciding to let their little feud be forgotten in the midst of their mutual excitement for today's assignment.

Alex entered the room with two gentlemen in tow, one being the attractive model and the other a familiar looking gentlemen with glasses and green hair. It was obvious to everyone that she was highly annoyed.

"Class we have another guest joining us." She gestured towards Kise's temporary 'keeper.'

"His name is Mr. Midorima, and he will be observing the progress of our…class today."

Everyone nodded in understanding and began to finish setting up their materials.

Aomine and Kagami gave Kise a quizzical look which the blonde refused to return, before walking towards the elevated platform.

Alex joined him in the front of the room and clapped her hands to get the class' attention.

"In correlation with yesterday's assignment, today we will be concentrating on the full upper region of the body from the head to the abdomen." She then turned to Kise as he began to remove his black blazer and his white v-neck.

Kagami and Aomine merely stared, not thinking about anything but the appealing model in front of them.

Is it just me, or is it kinda warm in here? Aomine thought, before squirming slightly in his seat as the blonde continued to undress in front of them. Being an athlete, Aomine could appreciate a well-toned body, and Kise's was no exception. His biceps were well sculpted, and his abs were smooth and nicely defined. He soon found the heat surrounding his entire body, starting from his face and heading…well, south. Thank goodness his decided to wear a slightly baggy shirt today and that this class did not require any sort of physical movement aside from his arms.

He doesn't even have boobs! Just calm down and think about something else…something like…Bakagami losing to you in basketball again! Yeah that's it! And with that image in mind, a smirk replaced his once uncomfortable features.

Kagami wasn't faring well with this turn of events either, instead deciding to control his new troublesome thoughts by lightly tapping his feet to an invisible tune and keeping his eyes on the ground.

When Alex gave them their time frame and descended from the platform, issuing the assignment to begin, Aomine was hesitant to look up, but was not disappointed by what he saw.

Kise stood elevated in front of the entire class, in nothing but his skinny jeans and gray ankle high boots. Both of his hands were situated behind his neck, arching his back and chest forward, while his face displayed that of steamy exhaustion, as if the blonde had just finished a rigorous exercise or a round of blissful sex.

If Aomine thought it was hot before, he was on fire now, not to mention his pants were even more uncomfortable than they had been about five or so minutes ago. He thanked all the gods he knew for his choice of t-shirt this morning.

Kagami could not even look at him. Sure he had seen shirtless guys plenty of times, but this time felt different and he could not explain why. Aside from a few glances required to effectively complete his assignment, his eyes rarely focused on the model.

While maintaining his stance, the model couldn't help but notice the odd expressions of his two friends. They must be upset that Midorimacchi's here and they probably never want to hang out with me again. The idea pained him and he tried to concentrate on anything other than the heavy feeling in his chest.

Alex quietly observed the actions of the three young men, and smiled to herself.

~ ~XxXxX~ ~

"Ok class, please don't forget to put your supplies away properly, and I'll see you all tomorrow." Alex smiled as everyone began to return their easels to the back of the room, and place their sketches on her desk.

Aomine found himself both relieved and disappointed when class was over and Kise began to redress himself as his hoard of adoring fans made their way to the platform. The sight pissed Aomine off and he cast a dark glare among the scene and watched with disgust as the girls all touched and flirted with him.

"Ladies please stand within a distance of 5 feet of Kise-san, and refrain from any form of physical contact." Midorima interjected. The group appeared slightly offended, but backed away regardless. For once Kise was relieved to have such a strict body guard, and thanked him with a brief nod before giving an apologetic smile to the cluster of girls, and heading towards his aunt's desk.

Aomine and Kagami were the last ones to finish putting away their supplies, neither of them speaking in the process. Both their minds were jumbled messes of odd thoughts and emotions.

As they were headed towards Alex's desk to turn in their assignments they noticed Kise looked even more forlorn than he had when class began. They had to talk to him, but how could they do that with his damn body guard around?

Alex seemed to sense the atmosphere and with a gleam in her eye, she set stride towards Midorima.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my nephew Mr. Midorima."

"It is my duty to the Akashi house hold, no thanks is needed."

"But you see how some of my students act around him? I was thinking, would you mind showing me a safe escape route for Ryouta in case of an emergency? I'm worried one day his fans may go too far, and I would hate to see him get hurt." She looked up at the man with pleading eyes.

Unable to reject his charge's family and a woman none-the-less, Midorima complied and led her towards the back of the room.

"I have already discovered several escape plans for Kise-san throughout the class period, and…"

As the two were trailing further away, Aomine turned to the blonde.

"What the hell is wrong? Why is that guy tailing you today? Did something happen?"

Kise looked up, alarmed at Aomine's questions and the concern lacing his voice.

"Wait so you guys aren't mad?"

Puzzled red eyes met blue and both stared to meet shocked gold.

"Why would we be mad at you?" Kagami asked.

"Well I thought you guys would think it was annoying Midorimacchi was with me and would find it troublesome to be friends with a model and…" The blonde trailed off.

"Are you an idiot?"

Kise stared.

"We're friends with you because we like you. It doesn't matter what you do, your pretty ass is stuck with us now, so get used to it, okay."

Kise's eyes lit up and a wide smile spread across his face.

"Oh Aominecchi, you're so sweet!"

Before Aomine could even blink, he felt a force overtake his entire body, and slowly realized he was compressed into a tight hug by the model himself.

Not used to the physical contact and feeling heated from the scent of the other male's intoxicating scent (cherry blossoms? he thought), Aomine casually shook Kise off and cast his gaze to the side in an attempt to hide his flush features.

"Yeah whatever" He mumbled and tucked his hands deep in his pockets.

Not at all slighted by his removal, Kise kept his gaze on the tanned male and his once bright smile became a sly smirk.

"So Aominecchi thinks I'm pretty, ne?"

Aomine's hands stayed put in his pockets and began to clench in upon themselves.

Great going baka, what a stupid choice of words!

Upon noticing the display of affection from the corner of his eye, Midorima abandoned his presentation to Alex, and made his way towards Kise's side.

"Hhmm" He coughed. "Kise-san it is time to go, you have a photo session in twenty minutes."

"Ok Midorimacchi, but would you mind getting me a drink from the vending machine down the hall please. I'm feeling very parched." And he rubbed down the length of his neck in order to convey his message.

The gesture made Aomine wonder what it would be like to glide his own hands along that long, smooth, flawless neck and he felt a shiver at the thought.

Displeased with the request, but not one to refuse, Midorima simply adjusted his glasses before nodding and heading out of the classroom towards the machine.

Kise turned back to Aomine and Kagami in a hushed whisper. "Ok so I want to give you guys the number to my personal cell. It's the one I only use for close family and friends, and it's also the one Akashicchi doesn't monitor."

Aomine whipped his phone out with such lightning speed it caught the blonde and red head off guard. Becoming quickly embarrassed by his impulsive reaction, he put on an air of indifference and waited for Kise to continue.

The model slightly flushed in return and tried to retain his thought process.

"Yeah…um, it's 555-833-1221."

Kagami was typing in the rest of the digits into his phone when the sound of footsteps began to head towards their direction.

"This way we can talk whenever we want!" The model smiled.

His smile was so wide and genuine, with his cat- like eyes bunched shut from the sheer amount of joy radiating from within, it made Aomine's heart…flutter? Wait what the hell!

"Kise-san, it is time to go." Midorima ascended to the blonde's side and handed him a can of green tea.

"Thank you Midorimacchi! Well I'll see you guys later!" And he tossed both boys a wink from over his shoulder as he walked away.

Aomine and Kagami immediately looked away from each other, afraid to display the red covering their cheeks. After regaining his composure Aomine grabbed his things and began walking towards the door as Kagami followed suit.

~ ~XxXxX~ ~

Their walk continued in silence, until Kagami asked out loud, "So what do you think of him?" The name did not need to be specified.

Aomine wasn't exacly sure how to answer. He liked the kid, that much was obvious, but there was still something different about these emotions that he couldn't quite place.

"I think he's pretty cool, and a really awesome basketball player. Not to mention the kid's a model so he could probably introduce us to hot chicks." The last part left a nasty taste in his mouth.

Kagami simply nodded his head in reply.

"What about you?"

Kagami also did not know how to answer, so he managed with the best answer he could.

"I think he's pretty cool too, but I'd like to get to know him more."

Shocked at Kagami's honesty, he felt ashamed he was unable to be sincere with his own emotions.

Felling overwhelmed, Aomine wanted to get away.

"Ya know I'm not really up to practicing today. I'll catch you later." And with that he set out in a light jog for the bus stop ignoring the burning pain within his chest.

A/N: I am SO sorry for the late update! I started school and a new job at the same time so I've been uber busy and struggling for any ounce of free time, so I sincerely apologize for that.

Sorry if this chapter was uneventful and a little short, but this is needed for the plot progression. I do have some ideas set for the future, but some parts are still a little murky, so yeah :p.

Please tell me what you guys think! I would love more feedback whether it be good or bad.

And as always, thank you all for reading :D