Hey everyone! The party was A. MA. ZING! So much fun and so much energy! Had a hell of a good time, though, I'm half asleep right now, lol! Ahh, now on with Chapter 5! Ready? (Credit goes to Matsumoto-sensei!)

~An Angel's Smile~

Ichigo's POV

I turned to the clock and it read 4:30AM. I sighed. When I finally got the chance to get some sleep, I didn't take it. Because I couldn't get what happened last night out of my head. Asuka-chan... I've only known you for a few days but whenever I saw you, you'd always have a gentle smile and a positive attitude. It worries me to see you so helpless.

I took another look at the clock, 4:31AM. This is getting me no where. I sat up from bed, careful not to wake Vanilla up. I slid my hand against my face and that made me more awake. I wouldn't be surprised if Asuka-chan wasn't at work today, but she's nothing like that. And it's the second day of the shop so...

Carefully, I got out of bed and got dressed. I slipped on my denim shorts and yellow top I got from our trip to Italy during the Grand Pix. Before I walked out, I went to my desk and took out a piece of stationary.

Leaving early today, see you there! - Ichigo

I slowly made my way downstairs and walked out the door.

~xXx~

I should have brought a sweater or something. Who knew London could be this chilly so early in the morning? As I was on my way to the Garden, I tried to walk in the street lights as much as I can. At 4:50 in the morning, who knows what kind of sickos are lurking. I finally made it to the gate. Locked. Perfect. I let out a puff of air and looked up. I could always climb over, but that would be trespassing.

"Amano-san?"

On the other side of the gate and saw a familiar women who had short, silver-blonde hair and gray-blue eyes and she was wearing a dark suit.

"Sully-san?"

She had a mix of concern and surprise on her face. "What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"Oh? I- um, I thought that I could start cooking for the day..?" That was so bad. It was kinda true, I did wanna start, but now that she mentions it, it is too early to be doing that.

For a while she just looked at me then sighed. "Well, alright. Someone else is already here before you anyway so I guess it's okay." She walked up to the brick side of the gate and pushed the button, making a small opening enough for me to squeeze in.

"Thank you," I said before running down on Main Street. Someone is already here? Before me? Probably one of the other shop members.

But it wasn't. When I approached my shop, I noticed that the lights were on. Could it be...? I looked through the glass and glanced into the kitchen and saw a familiar purple head. Asuka-chan! Without hesitating, I opened the door. When I walked in she had her back turned to the oven and the sound of popping oil ringed in my ears. Asuka-chan had her headphones on, which is why she didn't hear me come in.

Yuca looked up from the counter. "Ichigo-san?"

I nodded and put a finger to my lips. Too late though.

"Did you say something Yuca?" Asuka-chan asked sliding the headphones off. She looked at Yuca then turned to me. "Ichigo-chan?"

I gave a little wave. "Morning Asuka-chan."

She gave me a weak smile and turned back to the oven. "What are you doing here so early?"

I shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I have a habit of waking up this early ever since I came to London. And I always make some type of sweets too." She drained whatever was in the cooking oil and placed them on a paper towel covered plate and turned off the oven. "Come here, I want you to try this."

I walked over to the counter and sat on the stool, facing a plate with a dipping bowl in the middle. In the bowl, it looked like caramel but on the plate was holding ping pong sized balls of fried rice dough.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's called carioca. I guess you can say its like mitarashi dango. The dipping is coconut-caramel though, instead of sweet soy sauce. My lola -my grandmother- made them for me once a few months after my mom died. It helped a lot after. And I usually make it when I've fallen hard." She brought the one's from the fryer and transferred them to the plate in front of me.

"Here," she said handing me a tooth pick.

I took it and stabbed one of the white balls then dipped it in the caramel. "Itadakimasu." Immediately, the warm, brown sugar sweetness filled my mouth. As i ate the carioca, you really couldn't taste anything at first but then you could feel the shredded coconut in your mouth. With the slightly bland carioca was balanced with the sweet coconut-caramel, making it utterly delicious. It really gave me a warm soothing feeling, like I was in the arms of a loved one.

"Wow, that's really good," I told her, going for a second one.

She finished chewing hers before she spoke. "Isn't it? I love to cook some Japanese sweets too, but my dad didn't really have a sweet tooth so I didn't really get to eat any. My mom was the cook of the house, she'd make both Japanese and Philippine meals but when it comes to desserts, it was all from her native heart."

I smiled, "What kind of Japanese sweets do you like?"

"I love daifuku and dango. I also love taiyaki as well. I had some before coming here but that was a while ago."

"Is that why you want to become a patissiere? To spread the culture of your mom's home country?"

She shrugged. "Not exactly. I mean, I love making Philippine sweets but that's mostly for fun. You see, my dad had a friend who owned a family bakery. He would usually drop me off there when he had work on the weekends. The chef there, the way he did his cakes and pastries, they were so beautiful. When he decorated the cakes, he did all these old-school designs, like victorian era patterns and such. I was fascinated. I guess that's what started it all."

I reached across the counter and touched her hand. "They would be proud of you."

She wiped a tear with her free hand before it fell. "I guess..."

After a while, I decided to ask, "Asuka-chan, what... What was that about last night? You know Johnny?"

She stiffened and nodded. "Yeah..."

"Can I ask what happened between you two?"

"Asuka..." Yuca said, uncertain what to do.

"I don't really like to talk about it and it's kinda of a long story. But since we made it this far then okay, I'll tell you."

Not letting go of her hand I said, "You can stop when ever you want to."

Asuka-chan took a deep breath and let it out. "I about 5 years after my mom died, my dad and I moved to North Jersey because of his work. I was a total outcast in my new neighborhood. But my next door neighbors, the McBeal's made us feel welcome. They had a son my age, a few months older, and they introduced us. I'm an only child but I always wanted an older brother, one who protected me, one who cared for me, one who was always there for me. And Johnny was that big brother. We would play together and sometimes do sleep overs with friends. He told me all kinds of stories, like how he would go to Japan to visit family. He wanted to be a patisserie like me and we would go to my dad's friend's bakery to practice. That's where we met Yuca and Maize.

"We went to half of our elementary years together," she continued. "We went to middle school together and we spent our freshmen and sophomore year together. Then this one time, I noticed that he starting acting weird, like he was hiding something. I asked his parents about it but they acted like they haven't noticed anything. One day, Johnny was absent. I didn't know why, maybe he was sick but I was worried. I planned to visit him after school, when I got called to the main office. My dad got into a car accident so I went to the hospital. He died later that night. I didn't go to school the next few days because I was mourning. I tried calling Johnny but he never answered. I was scared that something bad happened to him, I thought I was gonna loose my family for good. When I went back to school, I found out that Johnny transferred and I was heartbroken. What made me more upset, his family was still here but he wasn't. I went to go live with his parents for the next three years. I never talked about Johnny and they never talked about him, so that was the end of it.

"Henri Lucas came by the bakery we trained at and asked me to come with him to London a month earlier and I did. I thought this was gonna be a new beginning for me and boy, what a beginning it was. I was really glad to meet you and Makoto-kun. I thought that working with you guys, it can help me focus on the future. But I never knew that I would run into Johnny again in the most awkward way possible."

By the time she was finished, the sun was starting to come up. I didn't noticed that she walked over to the sink to put the plates away. I looked around for a clock, 5:45AM.

"Well," said Asuka-chan. "I better start cleaning up."

Without thinking I stood. "Wait Asuka-chan! Can I.. Can I make you something really quick?"

I knew that I wanted to help Asuka-chan. I never knew how much she really suffered. Everyday, she would have a smile on her face only to cover up her past. I never want to see her like that again. I wanna see her with that bright smile on her face when ever I look at her, a smile that is true and not fake. And I knew exactly what to make her.

~xXx~

"It's even better than I imagined," she said as I slid the plate toward her.

"You never did get to try my Sourire d l'Ange did you?" I asked, wiping my hands on my apron.

She shook her head grabbed her fork. "A lot of people bought it yesterday and I would try it myself if there were any extras but there weren't any. And you made this for me?"

I nodded.

"It's because I told you that story right? Out of pity?"

"Yes it was because you told me your story but not out of pity."

She looked at me questionably.

"I know that we only met a few days ago, but already, you became one of my best friends," I told her. "When you first told us you lost your parents at the Welcoming Party, I admired that you were able to say it with out hesitating. You're great at cooking and you're proud of who you are and where your from. You're really strong Asuka-chan, you're able to smile despite all difficult odds. But from now on, you don't have to act so strong anymore. You can let go when ever you want to... I noticed that you're the type of person that can make someone's day no matter what their situation is. Right now, I want to be you; I want to make you're day by making you this strawberry tart."

Her face turned red, her eyes shined with fresh tears and she looked down at her plate. With her fork, she cut a piece and ate it, Yuca and I watching her do so.

Eat it, I thought. Hopefully you'll realize...

She made a choking noise and started crying. Yuca flew up to her and slid the fork out of her mouth. When she did, Asuka-chan's hands flew up to her face to hide her sobbing.

"...You're not alone," I said out loud while I opened my arms. She stood and let me hug her. Her hands and forearms were blocking her tears from reaching my shirt but I honestly didn't mind. I reached down to stroke her hair. Asuka-chan was small for age, she was about 5'4 and I was about 5'5. It's like I'm comforting Natsume when she needed it.

I pulled away from her and gave her my handkerchief. She took it and laughed. "Ah, I bet I look like crap don't I?"

I laughed too. "You don't look that bad! But I recommend you wash up."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

While she went to the sink, Yuca flew up to me and whispered. "It's been a while since she cried like that." I looked at her and she winked. "Thank you Ichigo-san."

"Alright!" I heard Asuka-chan say really loudly. "Now that that's lifted off my chest! Let's get to work!"

"Okay! Are you gonna finish it?" I asked pointing to the tart.

"I'd love to sweetie but maybe later, during break! For now, we have some cooking to do!"

"One more thing Asuka-chan."

She looked at me. "Well, last night, Johnny called you Celeste and- "

"Oh," she said, cutting me off. "Celeste is my middle name. It was my mom's name too. When I was in America, I used it when I was in school since it was easier for the teachers and students to remember."

So that's it. "Oh, I was just asking!"

"No, it's alright. After all you've done..." She shook it off, like she didn't feel like saying it. Instead she looked at me and smiled. "Thank you, Ichigo-chan."

There it is, that smile. The smile of an angel who once fell and has now risen once again.

We all heard the front doors of the shop open followed by a loud voice. "AMANO!"

I didn't bother to turn around to see who it was. "I can't believe you just left like that! Why?!"

"Geez Makoto-kun, it's too early to be yellin," Asuka-chan mumbled. I giggled.

"Now, Kashino," said another voice. I gasped. "She's here and that's all that matters."

I turned and behind Kashino, I saw a familiar face. Even though it's not even been a week, I was really happy to see him again. "Hanabusa-kun!"

And there goes another chapter! X3 I'm on a roll with this story! I keep writing everyday! (God I really need a break- and so does my computer).

Anyway, there's one more thing I wanna share with you. Earlier in this chapter, Asuka-chan made something called Carioca. It's really good and I want you guys to try it! The recipe is on my profile so go check it out!

I hope you guys enjoyed! You're the best!

- Aoi