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 for all the new followers! I hope I do not disappoint! And thank you for all the old followers who continue to stick with me even through my really late updates, LOVE YOU GUYS :D

P.S. Crappy title is crappy :/

Ch. 6: Something More Important

The conversation with Alex in the gym that morning stuck with Kagami all day.

"Wait so Kise agreed to help tutor us?"

"But what do you mean it'll cost us?" Aomine had asked, looking slightly afraid of the professor's answer.

"Well you boys can ask him yourselves this afternoon, all I know is I haven't seen him this excited in a while."

Not wanting to think about it too much, Kagami finished drying his hands and exited the school restroom to find Aomine waiting for him.

"I wonder what pretty boy has in store for us today."

After receiving no reply, Aomine glanced at the red heard from the corner of his eye. That's right, I never did get to talk to him this morning.

"Look Kagami_"

"Hey Aominicchi, Kagamicchi!"

Again!?

They both turned to see Kise lightly jogging in their direction with his green haired attendant close behind. The look on the bespectacled males face was that of pure annoyance. Aomine smirked.

"I'm glad I was able to catch you guys before class."

"Yeah us too. There's something we want to talk to you about." Kagami started.

"Hm what about Kagamicchi?" The blonde gave him his full attention.

"Alex came to the gym this morning and told us that you had agreed to, um… tutor us_"

"But she said there was some sort of catch." Aomine finished.

"Well I felt bad when my aunt said you two weren't doing very well in her class and being the current subject of your classes' studies, I wanted to offer my assistance. That's what friends do!" Kise responded with a warm smile that caused both their stomachs to flutter.

Kagami coughed. "Thanks that's really nice of you, but please let us do something in return."

"Oh don't worry." Kise cooly replied. "That's what I had intended."

~ ~XxXxX~ ~

Shit! He'll be here in 15 minutes!

Kagami finished tidying up his already clean apartment and decided to lay on his bed in order to ease his current anxiety.

When he thought about it, it wasn't a bad deal.

In order to have Kise help him pass his aunt's art class, Kagmi had to give the blonde cooking lessons. Sure sounded easy, but the thought of him and Kise alone in his apartment made him slightly nervous. He knew there was something different about the way he felt whenever the model was around, and when he wasn't around he was still always present in Kagami's thoughts.

He sighed. What is wrong with me?

Just as he was finally beginning to relax the doorbell rang.

Kagami jolted off the bed and sprang towards the door, stopping to adjust his shirt and take a deep breath before he turned the handle.

"Kagamicchi!"

Kagami could feel the blonde's warm, gold sunshine filling every inch of his apartment with his dazzling smile, and he couldn't help the heat that also enveloped his face.

Before he was able to offer a greeting in return, he noticed a flash of green in the open doorway.

"Akashi-san would prefer Kise-san to remain in the vicinity of your apartment only, and that he have his phone available at all times." Midorima stated sternly. "I will be back around evening to take him home. He is in your care Kagami-san." He gave a slight bow before adjusting his glasses and heading towards the elevator.

"Bye Midorimacchi, see you later!"

Kise closed Kagami's door and remained still near the entrance.

Kagami then noticed the blonde had brought a handful of shopping bags with him and pulled himself out of his sunny haze.

"Oh um can I help you with those?"

"I'm fine Kagamicchi, but thank you. So shall we get started?"

"Yeah sorry, uh you can place the bags here and then we'll begin with washing our hands. Hygiene is a very important factor when it comes to cooking."

The blonde readily placed the bags on the counter and followed Kagami towards the apartment's average sized kitchen. He copied the red head's movements and pulled up the sleeves on his jade green v-neck so as not to get them wet, and proceeded to the sink to clean up.

"I didn't know what you wanted to make today so I just brought a whole bunch of ingredients." He smiled. "I hope that's ok?"

"Yeah that's fine, you didn't have to, but thanks. And since it's your lesson I figured we could try and make one of your favorite dishes."

The blonde's entire face lit up and Kagami was speechless.

"I'm so excited!"

~ ~XxXxXx~ ~

They eventually decided on one of Kise's simpler dishes of pasta and chicken parmesan, and set to work. Kagami first showed Kise how to boil water and add a little vegetable oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together and then rinsing off the chicken in the sink for bacteria.

The blonde was not too thrilled with the chicken's slippery texture and the red head found the reaction cute. He tried to hold back his chuckles so as to not offend his friend, but when Kise accidently let a piece slip through his hands and onto the floor, they both burst into fits of giggles.

Watching the blonde intently, Kagami was curious about something.

"If you like cooking so much, how come you never learned how to cook before?"

"My parents were never home often. They're both work-a-holics so we'd always order in, or sometimes we would have a cook prepare meals for us." He continued to cover the chicken breast in flour and then douse it in bread crumbs as he spoke. "I would watch them sometimes, but my parents wanted me to concentrate on my studies so they told me not to bother with such stuff. They figured if I was successful enough I could always hire someone to do the cooking for me, but I never agreed with that. Cooking seems so fun and interesting; it would be terrible not to try it!"

Kagami processed this new information and was a little taken back by the model's disheartened story, but Kise's determination and perseverance made his chest swell with pride.

"Well things are always better when you learn them yourself, so I'll make sure there's no slacking in my kitchen."

Kise mocked a solider position and gave the red head a salute. "Yes sir!" Another onslaught of laughs ensued.

The rest of the process consisted of a flour fight and eye injuries from bread crumbs, yet the final result was deemed acceptable by the master himself.

The blonde urged the power forward to sit down so he could be properly served.

"It's okay Kise I can get my own plate."

"No I want to bring it to you, so you can enjoy the full benefits of being a good teacher."

The red head was grateful his back was towards the blonde so his blush would go unnoticed.

Kise quickly arrived back to the table with two full plates of noodles and chicken and placed the larger of the two in front of Kagami. He took his seat across from the red head and by the looks of it, Kagami felt as if they were almost on a date.

They each began to dig in to their food, but not after the model had taken a picture of his, of course. Then again, Kagami figured it made sense considering how excited the blonde was to learn how to cook in the first place.

"Mmm this is really good Kagamicchi!"

Kagami was surprised it actually was! Although he had directed and supervised the blonde the entire time, the majority of the work was done by him alone.

"Yeah it is! You're a quick leaner."

"Well I had a good teacher."

A calm quiet overcame them and they finished their meals in silence until Kagami thought of something.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, how were you able to come over today? I for sure thought your scary manager guy would have you locked away for the weekend."

Kise paused a while before answering, taking his time to gather his thoughts. Kagami didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, but the long stretch made him uneasy.

"At first Akashicchi was against the idea of me coming over to your place, but Alexcchi told him it was school related and told him how important it was to help my friends maintain their studies. He finally agreed, but I still don't think he was too happy about it."

He chuckled, but there was no mirth to be heard.

Feeling guilty for bringing up such a sore subject, Kagami got up from his seat and grabbed both his and Kise's plates from the table and walked them over to the sink. The red head's movement caused Kise to break from his dark thoughts, and once again a smile adorned his flawless face.

"Ok," Kagami began, changing the subject. "I helped you, now it's your turn to help me."

Kise laughed, this time it was genuine.

"Just so you know I'm a tough teacher."

~ ~XxXxXx~ ~

"…so this is what you call tough?"

"Think of how much more difficult it is to concentrate when the person your drawing will be the person who judges you."

"Well when you put it that way…"

"Ready? GO!"

The blonde scurried into the corner of Kagami's living room couch and began to get comfortable.

To be honest, Kagami was a tad nervous.

With no one else to occupy Kise's attention, it was just the two of them; face to face; in his apartment; at night; alone.

He gulped.

The blonde had tried to make things easy for him and simply sat cuddled up in the corner of his large sofa, still attired in his flour stained apron and pink handkerchief. Without thinking, he had crossed both arms and rested them atop the arm of the couch and casually rested his head. He was humming a soft tune which both hypnotized Kagami and motivated him at the same time, and just as soon as he was devoted to his pencil and sketchpad, he noticed the model slightly nodding off to his own music.

With the blonde asleep, Kagami felt less pressure and was able to analyze him without feeling guilty of staring. Once again it was evident how attractive Kise truly was, even after a day's worth of cooking he was still…

"Beautiful." Kagami breathed and was thankful the blonde only twitched at the noise, but did not wake up.

Kise's light breathing served to guide Kagami's pencil smoothly across his paper, allowing each line and mark to come together in a harmonious tune. He could feel all the tension he had built up leave his body and something new, something much more airy, took its place, and this new feeling was indescribable. It was like he was walking on air, or basking in the warm glow of spring sunshine.

He thought back to his first impression of the model and his impression of him now. So much has changed. Yes, he still found the blonde painfully attractive, but there was more to it. Looking at his dirtied apron and tied back bangs, Kagami felt an abundance of emotion in this one peaceful moment and he began to realize something more important.

He never wanted this feeling to go away.

The soothing atmosphere lasted the rest of the night and Kagami did not once take his eyes off the blonde, fearing his new found peace would disappear if he did.

Just as he was finishing up, he noticed a pair of golden eyes staring back. Shit he's awake! And he clumsily dropped his gaze and his pencil.

Kise shot up in his spot and began to stretch his arms above his head, while suppressing a mild yawn.

He then rubbed his eyes sleepily and shyly stole a peek at his flustered friend.

"Um, how long have I been asleep?"

"About an hour or so." Kagami answered as casually as he could.

Upon peeking at the red head, Kise caught a glimpse of his sketchpad.

"Oh did you finish your drawing! Can I see? Pleassseeee…"

"Sure if you want."

The red head placed the sketchpad on the coffee table between them and turned his position in the other direction. Kise scooted to the edge of the couch and reached over to pick it up.

Lightly drawn was the model himself, snuggled up in his friend's couch, looking so serene and tranquil in his dirty apron and feminine handkerchief. Except instead of the dim streetlight peeking through the curtains that was currently behind them, his friend had crafted a bright ray of sunshine cascading down upon the blonde's sleeping form, radiating a soft and glistening glow.

"Beautiful." He said more to himself than to the red head across from him.

At the similar word choice Kagami finally turned to face Kise and their eyes met. Kagami felt a surge of electricity erupt in his veins when a loud knock resonated from the door.

"That must be Midorimacchi." Kise remarked quietly and began to remove his apron and grab his coat off the edge of a chair.

Kagami rose as well, his legs feeling a bit shaky, and headed towards the door.

He was greeted by the green haired guard with an irritated scowl.

"Kise-san it is time to leave."

"Ah Midorimacchi! Did you miss me?"

"No Kise-san, now come Akashi-san is waiting."

Kise jutted out his bottom lip in a fake pout. "No need to be mean Midorimacchi! I'm coming, I'm coming."

He continued to pout as he adjusted his coat and then turned to Kagami.

"Thank you for today Kagamicchi, I had so much fun! I hope we can do this again sometime soon." The power forward found himself in another embrace with the blonde, except this time his brain did not malfunction, and he was able to properly reciprocate. His muscular arms wrapped around the models slim waist and pulled his body closer.

"Thank you." He whispered in the blonde's ear, causing his face to heat up from not only the intimacy of the action, but also the close proximity of the other's warmth.

Kise released his hold on the red head and returned his sentiments with a genuine smile, before heading towards his green guard and waving from the doorway.

"See you later Kagamicchi." The door was closed and the blonde was gone.

All the sun and warmth was absent from Kagami's apartment and life was cold once again.

A/N: So here is Kagami's payment! (Not bad if you ask me ;p)

Aomine's debt shall be next…

Please review and tell me what you lovely readers think :D

Till next time!