It's funny what can happen at a convenience store. You can find a brand of candy bar that you haven't seen in a decade, you can make a new friend in the form of a tired and overworked cashier in need of a raise, or you can meet a cute reptilian guy in the pastry aisle that's trying to shoplift.

Prior to the creation of the UA dorms, Millie Jones was living in a small flat in Kamino Ward. The rent didn't cost much, the landlord didn't mind Millie decorating the entire space with glittery pastels and Looney Tunes posters, and there was a Family Mart across the street that made the best late-night snacks in the universe! Well okay, maybe not the best, but when you're a transfer student that's training to become a Hero, there are only so many places that are open 24 hours and carry your favorite pastries and fast foods. Millie got most of her food from that Family Mart, and she enjoyed getting a few ice cream sandwiches and watching the people go by. She made friends with a few of the regular customers: the old man who enjoyed showing off pictures of his Pro Hero granddaughter, the exhausted single mother and her three kids who Millie loved to pieces (and offers to babysit them any time their mom needed a break), the insurance accountant who only drank black coffee and would rant about how reckless Heroes were going to turn his hair grey before he turned 30…

There was one person she met that stood out in her mind, though. She first saw him on a late Saturday night with a few sweet buns in each hand. He was dressed in a simple grey hoodie and some tattered jeans, but he definitely wasn't mundane-looking; his skin was scaly and a vibrant shade of green, and his shoulder-length hair was dark purple. Millie noted that it was the exact same shade as her favorite grape soda, and wondered if he dyed it or if he just naturally had cool purple hair. Either way, he was super cute. He had a mysterious air about him, and Millie swore she'd seen him before. Maybe he was an actor or something trying to keep a low profile?

The stranger stuffed a few of the buns into his hoodie's pockets, and turned to go to the front of the store. He glanced at the register; the cashier's nose was buried in a gossip magazine, and she hadn't even noticed that there were any other customers besides Millie. He tentatively took a few steps forward towards the front door, but stopped in his tracks when he heard a bubbly voice behind him.

"Hi~!"

He jumped at the sound and whipped around to face Millie, with a look on his face like he was expecting a fight. After realizing the person behind him wasn't a cop or Hero, and was in fact a high school girl dressed like a discounted Rainbow Brite doll, he relaxed a bit.

"Uh…hi?" He shifted uncomfortably. This was so awkward. All he wanted to do was get out of this stupid store with a few buns so he could have something to eat this week. This wasn't his first time grabbing a few snacks and leaving without the cashier noticing, but he was usually at the store by himself. And now he wasn't.

Millie twirled a finger around one of her pigtails. "I know this is super random and out of nowhere, but I wanted to say you look really cool! I've never met someone with purple hair colored like that. It really brings out the green in your uh, scales."

The stranger was taken aback. Had she really not noticed he was planning on stealing? And wait…did she just call him…cool-looking? He blushed. "Th-thanks," he replied. Squeaking out a single word counts as a reply, right? He didn't know how to respond; plenty of people had commented about his appearance before, but never in a nice way.

Millie giggled at his shy response and looked down at his hoodie pockets, which were bursting with different pastries. "Ohmygosh, they restocked their dorayaki shelf!?" She turned towards the cashier, who was still buried in her magazine. "Yuki, what the heck? I thought you guys weren't getting more until later this week!" Yuki shrugged, and Millie faced the stranger again after letting out a small huff. "I love the dorayaki here," she gushed. "I could it eat every day, but they only put out 20 of 'em on the shelf each week and that's not nearly enough for me. So the manager said the next time he ordered some more, he'd get an extra box and just sell it to me in bulk from now on." She pouted. "But I guess Yuki forgot to save my box or something and just put all of them on the shelves…"

She looked at the shelf with the remaining dorayaki, and then at the stranger with his full pockets. "Hey, how many of those do you have? Ten or so?"

The stranger glanced at his pocket pastries. "Yeah," he replied. "But there's plenty on the shelf if you want some."

Millie started stuffing her purse with the forty leftover packages. The stranger noticed that despite how small it looked on the outside, the dorayaki fit inside easily; there weren't even any sticking out of the top. She looked back at the stranger with a bright smile.

"My name's Millie, by the way." She held out her arm for a handshake. "I live across the street, so I'm always in here."

The stranger just looked at her outstretched hand for a few seconds. He tentatively shook her hand, and noted how soft it was. Though when you have scales, everything feels softer by comparison. "I'm Iguchi," he replied. "Shuichi Iguchi." He gave a small, nervous smile. This was the longest interaction he'd ever had with a girl that didn't end with him made fun of at school the next day. "And, uh, your hair's cool too! Very…bouncy." He immediately felt his cheeks turn pink. Bouncy? What kind of compliment is 'Your hair is bouncy?'

Millie laughed. "Yeah, I get that a lot," she replied. "Hey, do you wanna eat some of these with me outside?" She patted her purse. "Snacks are better when you have someone to eat them with."

Shuichi stiffened. He had no money to pay for these buns and one potential witness to him shoplifting. Was she trying to trick him into confessing he was going to steal them? He thought for a second. No…nobody would go through this much just to get someone on the hook for stealing a few pastries from a convenience store. Still, he had to find a way to pay for these.

He decided he'd try to bluff his way out. He started to reach for his "wallet", and acted surprised when he didn't feel anything. "Hmm…well I guess I would," he replied in a super natural, 'I'm totally not acting' voice, "But I can't find my wallet! Maybe I dropped it outside. I'll go check!" He took a few steps towards the front door, ready to break out into a run the second he was outside. Iguchi, you criminal genius.

Millie let out another giggle. "No, no," she replied, "You don't have to pay! The manager let me buy the bulk box of dorayaki in advance, so the ones on the shelf are already paid for." She walked up to him and held open the door. "I was gonna let you have the ones you wanted, and we could eat together! And, like, get to know each other and stuff."

Iguchi paused for a second. He was actually going to get out of this with a bunch of free buns and not deal with the awkward fallout of getting caught? He followed Millie outside. This girl was a bit weird, but you can't say no to free snacks, right? "Yeah, okay," he eagerly replied. They started walking towards a small seating area meant for customers who wanted to enjoy their food outside. He watched her fish out one of her sweets from her purse and take a gigantic bite. "Just out of curiosity, are you usually this nice to people you've just met?"

She shrugged and leaned against a small chair while she ate her dorayaki. "Yeah, pretty much," she replied with a mouth of crumbs. She waited a bit to talk again after her mouth wasn't stuffed with food, and smirked. "But I'm always this nice to people who I think are cute."