The next morning, Kaede woke up abnormally early (for a person who usually sleeps until 10, 7 is extremely early) and decided to get dressed. She pulled on her pale blue shirt and shorts, shoving her feet into her trainers. Her and Osamu had decided to meet up early and bake the cake, leaving time to find the ingredients and for the coach to be awake.

"Your up early," Kaede's dad grumbled as he sat reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee. Kaede headed to the cupboards to make herself some cereal before replying;

"I have plans today." Her dad looked up and raised his eyebrows.

"With the boy from yesterday?" Kaede nodded and sat down. She explained their plan to him and he responded with a 'hm' and the occasional 'I see'.

"Well," He began, as Kaede finished her explanation with eager, approval seeking eyes. "It's worth a try. If your serious about this-" Kaede nodded vigorously "Then go ahead. The worst that can happen is he says no. Or has an allergic reaction to the cake and ends up in hospital!" He laughed. Kaede gasped and hit him on the arm with his newspaper.

"But seriously, go for it!" He smiled, ruffling her hair as she headed out. She unlocked the door and called out goodbye.

"Bye!" Her mother called out, leaning over the banister her hair in rollers. "Don't forget that we're out shopping so no-one will be back until 12. And don't slam the door!"

"Okay, I have my keys. Bye!" Kaede shoved the keys in her pockets along with her purse and the recipe, and walked on until she found the place where Osamu and her had arranged to meet. She had just sat down when she noticed Osamu jogging towards her, clad in  jeans, a plain t-shirt and belt with trainers and a jacket thrown over the top.

"Sorry I made you wait! My alarm didn't go off!" He panted, sitting beside her. She shook her hand dismissively.

"I only just got here. Did you run all the way?" He nodded. They sat for a bit, before heading to gather the ingredients.

The doors slid open as they entered the store and Kaede quickly guided Osamu towards the baking ingredients. She pointed out all the ingredients and gathered them, placing them in the basket that Osamu had picked up near the door. He took over the gathering when the products needed were all on the top shelves. She stood back, her face concealed by her fringe as he placed the items in the basket.

"It pays to have a tall boyfriend, eh?" A young lady with two little children sat on the seat of a trolley grinned, nudging her arm as she glanced back, to who Kaede assumed was her husband or boyfriend and smiled affectionately.

"Actually he's not-"

"I got the ingredients, shall we go pay?" The lady smiled as Osamu's voice quietened as he noticed they were in a conversation. The man who was with the lady arrived in the same situation.

"Well, I guess you two have to go pay~ Have fun~" She smiled, waving.

"Who was that?" Osamu asked. Kaede shrugged, loading their shopping onto the till.

"Ah, baking a cake are we? Who's it for?" The cashier asked as she scanned the products.

"It's a welcoming gift. For a new neighbour." Osamu smiled, assisting with the packing. Kaede handed in her half of the money and Osamu paid his share and they grabbed the bags.

"That's nice, good luck with your cooking and thank you for shopping here," The two headed of, this time Osamu in the lead as they headed for his house.

They walked on, leaving the busy shopping centre and arriving at a quiet road of small houses. There weren't a lot of people walking about, just a few elderly women.

"Good Morning, Osamu," One of them said as they entered their house, struggling with a few shopping bags. Osamu followed in after.

"Good Morning, Mrs Houshou, would you like help with your bags?" She smiled brightly and nodded. Osamu took the bags and unlocked the door, holding it open for the lady as she entered. Before he followed, he turned to Kaede, chucking her his keys.

"I live next door, if you go on ahead and wait in the kitchen, I'll be two seconds." Kaede nodded and walked next door.

The hall was small, but well kept. The walls were cream and decorated with paintings, a few drawn by what looked like a young child. The door to the left was the living room and had a comfy looking brown sofa, red mat and a tv. There were various ornaments littered on shelves and a few magazines on a coffee table. Kaede walked on silently to the next door and entered the kitchen. It was small, but homely. Kaede looked around for a bit and then heard the click of the door as Osamu arrived.

"Hello, so shall we start cooking?" He smiled. Kaede nodded and they laid all the ingredients and equipment out in a line. Kaede read over the recipe before nodding and grabbing the bowl.

"We need to pre-heat the oven." Kaede instructed, whilst she greased the speckled grey tin which was to hold the cake mix. Osamu took over using the oven, seeing as he used it all the time and was less likely to accidentally blow it up because he actually knew how it worked.

"Okay, so next..." Kaede said, squinting slightly, "We need to mix the butter and sugar." Osamu nodded and he cut and measured the butter and the sugar.

"Mixing race?"  He suggested, deviously. Kaede grinned.

"Your on, time me!" She laughed, mixing the mixture at lightning speed before stopping.

"54 seconds." Osamu clicked the stop watch as Kaede stretched out her arms, switching roles.

"Go!" She called out, Osamu stirring the wooden spoon with his muscular arms, grinning as he saw Kaede's face fall. He had beaten her time, he could tell.

"What was my time?" He prompted, trying not to laugh at Kaede who was pulling angry faces at the timer.

"59 seconds..." She spat, venom dropping off her words in anger. Osamu took a sip of his drink and choked on it as he caught Kaede re set the timer and set it down on the counter, glaring towards it and then the window, as if she blamed the timer for her loss.

"Shall we beat the eggs now," He chuckled, cracking them on the side of the coral blue bowl, nearly making it flip over when he slipped, failing to keep his laughter in anymore.

"H-hey! Don't laugh at me!" Kaede responded, blushing. She covered her face and turned away from Osamu, who was in a fit of laughter. She frowned and dolloped a large amount of mix onto his nose. He went cross eyed for  bit, making her giggle before dipping his finger in the mix and doing the same to her, giving her whiskers as well. The two got into a heated cake mix fight before pausing, both out of breath from laughing.

"Kaede, Kaede, smile!" Osamu repeated, poking her in the shoulder and pulling her next to him, holding his phone up in front of them. They both pulled faces and grinned, Osamu tapping on his phone furiously before uploading the pictures, tagging them as "Cake Kitties~"

When they finally got the cake finished and in the oven, the pair washed up all the utensils (and their faces) and sat down to snack on some Pocky that had been sat on the side tempting them until they opened the pink packet.

"I see you've kept the kitchen tidy!" A soft, feminine voice revealed their identity as a brown haired, pretty woman who had tied it in a bun on the top of her head, wrapping her pink dressing gown around her and shuffling into the kitchen wearing fluffy blue slippers with pom-poms. She plucked a pocky stick from the packet and sipped her orange juice that she had just poured, joining the teens.

"Yes, did we wake you?" Osamu asked cautiously.

"No, no, you were very quiet. I thought you had gone out again!" She smiled. "How is the cake so far?" Osamu's mum asked Kaede.

"So far so good," Kaede  grinned. Ms Osamu's high pitched laugh, which sounded almost fairy like, echoed around the room and filled the silence.

"Do you have to work tonight, mum?"

"Oh~ Are you kicking me out in place of your girlfriend~?" She teased fondly.

"N-no! I just wondered who was cooking!" He denied, panicking as Kaede's face flushed a bright red, like the inside flesh of a watermelon.

"I am, yes." She clarified, before leaning her head back and yawning. When the timer rang out like a shrill cry, the two teens practically jumped to 'check the cake', hiding their blushing faces.

"What does it taste like?" Osamu asked hopefully, passing a circular blob of cake, which they had make on a separate tray, so they could taste it without ruining the main cake, to his mother.

"Okay..." She mumbled through a mouthful of food. "But it's a bit dry. Next time, add a bit more liquid in it."  Osamu and Kaede nodded and set to work on the second cake, whilst Ms Osamu slowly slipping out of the kitchen, cake in hand, planning to devour it whilst watching her favourite Korean drama; Boys Before Flowers.

When the second cake had finally been baked (which tasted considerably better), the pair set to decorating the top of the cake with a rich layer of butter cream and curled blue writing on the top which read: "Welcome to Bunkyo! Pleased to meet you!" They then decided to stick an assortment of basketball cake decorations and houses around the edge of the cake.

"There! It's done!" Osamu cheered proudly, hugging Kaede who smiled awkwardly and stared at the cake for a bit before realizing....

"We didn't fill the middle!"

"What?" Osamu fumed, glaring at the cake.

"We forgot the jam and cream in the middle." She repeated in detail. The two looked back from the cake, to each other multiple times before deciding (instead of leaving it or making a new one) to cut the middle awkwardly and whilst Kaede held the top, Osamu quickly filled the middle.

"Thank god." Kaede sighed as she placed the top back on the base, without ruining the icing artwork. Neither of them had noticed the instructions which had stated to cook the two halves separately and it was a good job too, as they were running out of time to go to deliver the cake.

"It looks beautiful! I'm sure he'd love it!" Ms Osamu gushed, gazing adoringly at the cake." Would you two like a lift there? To save you time."

"Yes please." They smiled and hopped into the blue car and drove off to the (hopefully) new coach's home.

When they arrived in front of the block of flats, witch loomed above them like a giant Totoro, they waved goodbye to Ms Osamu and rang the doorbell for the ex coach's flat.

"Hello?" A gruff voice answered.

"Hello, we're here to welcome you to the neighbourhood! We're students from Yukimura High!" Osamu introduced themselves politely.

"I don't need a welcoming committee." The voice spat.

"We baked you a cake!" Osamu pressed, still retaining a formal and polite tone.

"I don't need one."

"We slaved hours over a stove for you." He nagged.

"I didn't ask you to."

"Now listen here-" Kaede responded, taking charge of the conversation. "We only wanted to be nice and introduce you to a few  residents, ourselves, and make you feel welcome. The least you could do is accept the cake."

"Fine!" The voice growled. The door unlocked and they scooted inside, in case he decided to take his invitation back. They trekked up the many flights of stairs before pausing to regain their breath.

"Ow." Kaede whispered softly. leaning against a wall. Her knees had decided to play up again, much to her dismay.

"What's up?" Osamu asked, getting up from his seat on the steps and walking over to her.

"Nothing, my knees just hurt, that's all."

"I can carry you up the stairs if you want." Kaede looked up, expecting him to have a cocky grin plastered on his face, but was shocked to see a serious and concerned face staring down at her.

"That would be a bit dangerous, don't you think?" She responded.

"I guess," Osamu laughed nervously. "Should we take the lift?"

"The what?"

"The...lift. It was on the ground floor but you headed for the stairs at lightning speed so I didn't think to mention it..."

"Lift!" She exclaimed, pushing the buttons manically and smiled when it opened. "I don't have to walk anymore!" Osamu laughed inwardly at the sudden change of attitude and followed suit.

"I'm coming!" The man shouted angrily when Osamu and Kaede arrived at his home, waiting eagerly.

"Hello!" the two chorused sweetly when the door was practically ripped fro the hinges, revealing a tall man, probably in his early forties, wearing a grey crew neck jumper and black cotton trousers which hung just below his ankles. His body was quite toned, although not as toned as a professional basketball player. The two students suspected that he had 'lost' some of his muscular physique due to lack of play, but he was still quite in shape.  He had slightly greying, brown hair with a thin layer of stubble and a frown upon his face.

"Yes?" he demanded, leaning against the door frame as if to say 'I don't really care but I'm sort of curious'.

"Welcome to Bunkyo!" Osamu beamed, handing him the box which held the cake inside. The man hesitantly peeled the first flap of the box away, expecting the cake to explode in his face. When it didn't, his posture relaxed a bit and he opened the rest of the box and stared in shock at the cake.

"Don't you like it?" Osamu asked, sadly, thinking that he didn't.

"No! No! It's great...really great, but why did you do this?"

"Because we heard you just moved in and we wanted to introduce ourselves."

"Oh, right. So your both from Yukimura High?"

"Yes! I'm Osamu Ren, and this is Kaede Kidi."

"Oh. Ken Katsu."

"And we were wondering if you'd be our basketball coach." Kaede blurted out.

"Kaede!" Osamu looked shocked and turned to Kaede but turned back to the coach who was shutting the door already.

"I don't want anything to do with basketball anymore. I'm retired."

"Please, just hear us out!" Osamu whined.

"Try out for your school basketball team." He spat.

"We did! And they didn't let us join because they don't want to play with girls!"

"To bad, kid. Now move." he glared at Kaede who had stuck her foot in the door.

"Why don't you give us a chance. Come see us play. Make your judgement then!"

"Why should I help a bunch of annoying teenagers?"

"Because these annoying teenagers want to compete in the Japan High-school Basketball Competition to prove that we can play! Please..." There was a long pause. Painful seconds passed before Mr Katsu finally replied.

"Do you have a team?"

"Not yet."

"Form a team, and then we'll talk."

"Yes sir! You won't be disappointed!" Kaede saluted, earning a shake of the head from the older man.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get your foot out from my door."

A/N: Aww! Kaede is getting along with Osamu!! I think that Mr Ken is awesome! He's so cool and collected! Although, he has only just made his appearance, but that's how I'd like to portray him! Hopefully I'll do Sensei proud! Osamu's mum is awesome too! She is basically a teenager in a woman's body when she's at home but in the work place she's serious! I hope to add her in more throughout the story!! As always, I hope you enjoy the story, votes and comments are appreciated and if you fan, I will love you forever!