Upon seeing Yuuga, Bakugou drops the hoody from his mouth as his eyebrows fly up. Although he generally looks pretty much the same as Yuuga had remembered him, he isn't sure if he ever saw Bakugou with that expression, surprise and wonder, with a sparkle in his eyes. Was he excited to see an old classmate?

"He looks kinda wholesome like that!" Mei exclaims, fanning herself. "From what I've seen, he looks like a gremlin all the darn time!"

"I'm. Right here."

"He looks more like when he was little," Shinsou ponders, "When he didn't fucking scowl every minute of the day."

Bakugou scowls.

"He looks like his mom!" Sero exclaims suddenly, as if he just figured the answer to all his troubles out, hitting his fist into his open palm, "I thought I saw that face…"

"We talked about this, Soy Boy, I look like my mom, because I'm her son." Bakugou grumbles, "Are you failing Biology? You see, the DNA of the parents—"

"Okay, okay Bakuboom-boom. We understand you're salty you have a shitty job again, but we're trying to enjoy the show."

"Stop fucking interrupting then."

"Hey hold on a moment," Bakugou calls, standing up and shooting a straight hand to point at the pro hero accusingly, jacket falling from his proximity, "You're That Shining Fucker: Cannot Stop Twinkling!" Yuuga's smile brightens and he slowly exits his pose and crosses his arms confidentially. Bakugou wavers when the other doesn't respond immediately, blushing lightly as his arms retracts subtly. "R-right…?"

Yuuga nods before crouching to pick up his snacks. "Actually, It's Can't Stop Twinkling, not Cannot."

"That's the part you decide to correct." Hagakure snickers. Yugga shrugs, steadfast.

"I didn't think you would recognize me, Bakugou." He says as he places his items on the countertop.

Bakugou raises his eyebrows again before lowering his chin and looking at his slightly tilted nametag, 'Bakugou', before fixing it, looking back up with a frown. "Well, uhm. You're kind of popular. You graduated from U.A., right.?" he asks a little nervously, which is amusing.

Immediately Yuuga feels a stab of guilt in his chest. He may have been the rowdy student of the early time at 1-A, but he's not a hero anymore. It would be natural for someone who for some reason either failed to or lost interest in being hero to be anxious when seeing one of their old classmates. "That's right," he laughs, "I guess you do have a point,"

"Aww, now I feel bad for finding it amusing too!" Uraraka says. "But he's so expressive here!"

Midoriya nods silently. If only his old 'friends' would have found him amusing instead of annoying, his life would have been considerably a lot better.

It was at that moment that the shop's automatic doors opened right to Yuuga's right and a teenager walked in, passing by both the adults. The moment he strolls in, Bakugou's previously slightly shy look morphs into a glower, watching as the boy glances anxiously at the cashier and shoves his hands into his pockets before hurrying inside and away from the prying eyes.

"Is this your tactic for becoming rich quick?" Sero teases.

Bakugou simply sighs tiredly. He might be pretty upset that he isn't seeing himself kicking butt as the number one hero, but he can get over that. But every time one of these assholes decides to remind him of his failures he kind of wants to blow something up. Or go to bed or something. He's a little strange, yeah, and easy to make fun of. What are they expecting him to say?

"Yeah. That's my fucking tactic."

Sero frowns at the dry response and bites his lips, "Oh, okay. S-sorry…"

Good riddance.

Yuuga raises an eyebrow before looking back at Bakugou who was now back to sitting. Okay then.

He looks down and notices that Bakugou already finished quickly scanning all the items and he gives him his total. Yuuga awkwardly hands him his card to be scanned, afraid that the other was trying to end their conversation as soon as possible and send him away.

"And sign this." Bakugou places an open notebook on the counter with a pen, inching it towards Yuuga. His mind holts for a second, thinking they changed the way people payed but he swiftly realizes that the page is filled with pro heroes' signatures.

"I didn't know you collected signatures!" Mina exclaims.

"I don't…"

"Maybe it's an adult thing." Jirou says, twirling her ear jack and leaning heavily against Yaomomo, "They like to collect stuff."

Tokoyami scratches under his eye, "Not just adults…"

Yuuga giggles flatteringly before neatly placing his beautiful signature next to the others. "Of course. Anything for a fan!" He wasn't aware that Bakugou was keeping tabs on his old classmates. Or even wanted their signatures now that they're pro. He's a hell lot different than what Yuuga remembers of him.

"You know…" Bakugou starts, apparently not wanting this conversation to end either – not that Yuuga would let that happen so easily anyway, "I had this… friend. That for the longest time couldn't be a hero, like you." He drums his fingers on the counter before going to make a hand movement but accidentally flinging the pen off the counter and he curses aloud before crouching to pick it up and continuing,

Midoryia pouts when he realizes that Bakugou is most likely talking about him. It seems that no matter how much time apart, they still have some sort of connection to one another. It makes a lot of sense. He'll never be able to forget about the blond, even if they never saw each other again. And that's probably a good thing…?

"So he was obsessed with Quirks and heroes and all that crap." Bakugou sits upright again, face significantly redder as he places the pen back in its holder, "And I thought that was stupid and hella weird… But then something happened and I can't be a hero like I wanted." He pauses, closing his notebook and pursing his lips. "And now I kind of get it, y'know?"

"Don't you collect, like, disks, or something?" Yaomomo asks Jirou suddenly, looking at her from the corner of her eye.

Jirou hums, "Oh, records?" She blushes, "I guess you're right."

"I collect pro hero's signatures," Midoriya admits, "But I wouldn't call it a collection…" Of course Bakugou would have a big, organized collection, unlike the freckled teen's random scrapped papers mounted to his old bedroom's wall. One time he had no choice but to accept a signature on the sole of his shoe. What? He couldn't just not get a signature! That shoe still rests on his shelf to this day.

"I collect socks!" Hagakure says, proudly showing her Present Mic themed pair to the room, wiggling her toes.

"Awesome taste, Hagakure!" Yamada calls, pointing at her with both hands and a grin.

"Stamps," Ojirou murmurs.

"Interesting teaspoons," Satou says with a small smile.

"Glasses." Iida ads, adjusting his current ones.

"Fancy mirrors," Aoyama says with an elegantly raised hand.

"Foreign coins – kero."

"Hair combs," Kayama sighs fondly.

"Oh," Jirou stammers, rubbing the back of her hair, "Guess it's not just an adult thing, sorry."

Yuuga smiles sadly, "Ah, I understand. You're talking about Deku, Oui?"

Bakugou blinks at him, looking somewhat strangely surprised. "Uh, how did you know?"

"He told us… about his Quirk, after you left."

Uraraka gives Midoriya the large bag of chips that was apparently being passed around at the front rows as he anxiously wonders how much of his Quirk he told his classmates.

"No – but how did you know I was talking about – wait, what do you mean left?" Bakugou asks with a frown.

Now it's Yuuga's time to blink. "Class? 1-A? After you were taken by the League of Villains?"

Bakugou furrows his brow with even more confusion than Yuuga has most likely ever seen the other wear. "U.A. High… 1-A, with Deku… Were you in my class, Sparkles…?"

"Oh my god." Kirishima slaps a hardened palm to his hardened forehead, making a very resounding whacking noise that perfectly summarizes everyone's current state.

"What are you on about?!" Bakugou barks, face going red unwantedly.

"Really, dude? That's just mean."

"It's okay," Aoyama croaks.

"All you extras are so forgettable."

"I get maybe forgetting a name," Mina says, "But looks? You've gotta remember what heroes were in your class, right?"

Bakugou snarls, "It's been years, literally nothing personal."

"But in that first universe you haven't really seen Midorya for a few years and you remembered him," Tsu points.

"Well maybe trauma from getting kidnapped blocks that kind of shit out, hah?" Bakugou spits with finality and everyone who was going to comment about the situation – including Aizawa who was about to demand silence – shuts their mouth right up, mind blanking.

"Bakugou…" Kaminari murmurs sadly.

The other blond looks at him with nonchalant confusion, raising an eyebrow, "What?"

He opens his mouth and closes it awkwardly, averting his gaze before finding it again and forces a smile, "Just. Don't forget us when we graduate, yeah?"

"Yeah dude," Sero agrees, "Don't think you're getting rid of us this easy."

Bakugou rolls his eyes, "Whatever. Just don't get in my way."

Mina chuckles, "Wouldn't dream 'bout it."

Aizawa sighs. He hopes these kids are going to therapy.

Yuuga exhales tiredly, pursing his lips while still doing his best to maintain his smile, "Yes, mon amie. Aoyama Yuuga…"

"Blasty Belly…" Bakugou mumbles in recognition.

Yuuga chuckles, fixing his hair, "That's correct! You know…" he says earnestly, then, "We were all worried, after you disappeared without a word, especially your friends, yes? Midoriya and Kirishima and Kaminari and all the others." He doesn't mention the extent of hurt their classmates had experienced.

"You really better not ghost us dude," Sero says, sending a glare to Bakugou, who promptly ignores him without even a change in facial expression, "I'd be super pissed."

Again, Bakugou is too tired to say anything. Honestly, why would he contact them if he left the school? That would be hella embarrassing and pathetic, talking to them after he left U.A.. The thought of it alone makes him cringe.

Midoriya squints. This is the second universe Bakugou had ghosted him. Third, if you count Emotion Vision.

Bakugou winces, "Yeah… no. Sorry about that." He sucks a breath through gritted teeth in a way Yuuga is sure that no one would believe him if he recalled this experience, before Bakugou whips his head with a glower to the kid from earlier that brought to the counter a big bag of candy, making both Yuuga and the boy flinch.

Shinsou pokes his own forehead, "I'm getting whiplash, I think."

"He seems so nonchalant." Yaomomo muses. "Well, until…"

"Is it a hero thing? Or you just hate kids?" Shouji asks. Bakugou ignores all of them. Seriously, these people either tease him or coddle him. Like, no in-between.

The boy nervously pays in a suffocating silent transition and goes on his way to the door warily before Bakugou calls him out, "Hey!"

The boy turns around, looking seconds from booking it even though he hasn't done anything wrong from what Yuuga had seen. "W-what?"

"You shouldn't be out so late alone," he grunts, "That's how people get attacked, you know."

Aizawa unconsciously raises a hand to place over his heart. His problem children… No he isn't feeling pride, thank you very much.

"You might take the Bakugou from hero-ing, but you can't take the hero out of Bakugou!" Mina calls, pointing two pointer fingers at the screen proudly.

Sero frowns. "'Heroin'?"

Bakugou feels his eyelids droop, dear god these idiots are dumb.

The boy blushes and nods frantically before quickly shuffling out, before Yuuga can say anything, Bakugou leans back in his chair and sighs again as if none of that just happened. "After I got kidnapped and stuff, my parents pulled me out of school," he goes out to explain,

Yuuga has no idea why Bakugou is telling him all of this, maybe because Yuuga is a person who could understand what he's talking about but isn't too close to him personally, so it's easier to rant to him about it? Or maybe Bakugou had been hanging out with people that like talking, had learned a few things and now that he isn't so nervous about Yuuga being a hero because they used to know each other, is suddenly chatty. Doesn't really matter, clearly Bakugou is eager to talk about this, and who is he to stop him.

So Aoyama can handle talkers? Midoriya wonders. To be fair, Aoyama talks about himself a lot too. Which is… exactly the thing Midoriya looks for in a friend! They're already on pretty friendly terms, but maybe if he can convince the other to eat lunches with him and the others…

"And, you know, I was like super fucking pissed about it because I guess I thought that because I already went through distressing shit, then even more traumatic stuff won't really change anything that much?" Bakugou laughs, honest and leagues less bitter than the topic deserves, and Yuuga finds himself raising his eyebrows, his grin becoming somewhat entertained,

"Yeah, not how that crap works. So now I'm looking back at my parents' decision and am like," He shrugs, "Yeah, I mean, fucking fair."

"I like this one," Hagakure says.

Aizawa sighs. He's going to have to ask Bakugou if he needs more counseling, just to be sure, though he pretty much has that interaction splayed on how it'll go in his mind already.

"It's almost as if it's fun when someone talks to you without yelling," Sero mutters, side-eyeing the universes' subject.

"Maybe you should stop agitating him?" Kirishima suggests with only half amusement.

Sero flushes lightly, "Ah, I guess you have a point."

"So anyway," Bakugou continues on, no sign him stopping. He props his legs on the counter and Yuuga props his own elbows on it as well, sparkling with interest, "My parents let me attend a different hero school of course, some dinky, unworthy, wannabe, crappy little place and kept telling me to text and call my friends but me – the angsty little emo shit that I was – thought that would be hella embarrassing and pathetic, talking to them after I left U.A.. The thought of it alone made me cringe."

Bakugou glowers, heat creeping onto his face. Goddamn it. He's his own weakness – because of course nothing else could ever get to him. Shut up.

"Are we cringy, Kacchan?" Midoriya asks flatly, unimpressed.

"Fuck off, Deku, you can't tell me you'd be reluctant to call your group of losers if you suddenly got pulled out!"

Midoriya frowns, abruptly feeling guilty.

"Are you serious!?" Iida squawks. "You too?!"

"I'll kill you."

"You really wouldn't call us, Deku?!"

"Iida! Uraraka, of course I would! – Wait what did you say, Todoroki?"

"Said I'd be disappointed."

"Okay, okay! …I thought I wasn't the only one who felt this way." Midoriya sighs, rubbing his head.

"We'll track you down."

"Deku, you really can't worry us like that…"

"Ura- Todoroki, what?!"

"He just said what Uraraka said." Shinsou supplies. Todoroki nods.

Midoriya squints. "I'll try, sorry."

"So I was a bitter boy and the new school couldn't handle me, I guess, and you know. I was pretty much the villain kid that attracted villains like like a magnet so it's not like people want me," He coughs into his fist, face blooming, "So I got fucking expelled and then from the next hero school and the next until they didn't fucking take me in in the first place and at this point my parents are also getting pissed about all these lousy schools without patience that wouldn't take me in so they just homeschooled me." He sighs,

"And we moved already at that point… It was a hard time for me, I mean. It all only ended a few months ago but all of that was eating me up, and my ego was long gone somewhere in the middle of the ocean and I just had to learn to shut my fucking ass up and learned that no one liked me without the promise of me being, like, a famous pro.

"Which didn't help me with the whole U.A. thing – I actually have no idea why I'm telling you all of this, to be frank." he finishes in a tone that is a little chipper – again – for the topic of discussion.

"It always feels better to tell someone about your troubles," Yamada explains, "If they don't mind listening. Sometimes that's all you need." He looks at Bakugou with an expectant grin.

"I have nothing to tell you." he deadpans.

Yamada leans towards Aizawa, whispering quite loudly, "He'll grow up eventually, too."

"I don't mind." Yuuga tells him, "You know, I heard that U.A. is going to create a program for adults who already graduated that still want to enter the pro hero scene. It's supposedly going to open for applications some time next summer."

Aizawa perks up. That's actually not that bad of an idea. He's not sure if any of the staff have that kind of time but they could always hire more people. Well, Nezu could.

Bakugou smirks, placing his hands crisscrossed behind his head, "I know." he admits, "I heard about the moment the first article came out of it, got my adrenalin through the roof. I almost forgot about my dream entirely and now I can't wait to put my name in. I know I'm going to go through it in a breeze, it's only a few months long program – and I'll probably finish early because I already have experience. Not to mention that it's U.A. so they won't kick me out before I have the chance to try out.

"I can't wait to show all – well, actually." He pouts, nodding his head to the side as if in thought, "I guess I can wait," He lowers his hands as he gestures with them. Yuuga thinks that if he took all the times he heard Bakugou talk before this day and made a compilation of them, it would be shorter than this conversation. He must really be excited about having a second chance. At U.A. specifically, at least.

Before anyone had the gall to comment on a – wow, a wholesome Bakugou moment, the blond himself raises his hand to silence the already quiet room, "Yeah, yeah, I'm cool and determined and great and awesome. No need to call me out, just shut up."

Tokoyami looks at him with what can only be a grin on his beak, "No one was going to say anything, Bakugou."

"I know you were," he grits, "I've watched enough universes to learn you lots like to compliment any moment I show weakness in these dumb episodes – and this is only the fourth one."

Kirishima scowls. "Weakness?"

Bakugou drags a hand over his face. God no. What has he done. "I don't know what you're talking about, Shitty Hair, I didn't say that."

"Are you gaslighting him?!" Mina inquires incredulously.

"Don't use that stupid fucking term, Pinky!"

"But—"

"But no. Now quiet."

Mina sighs heavily, exchanging a glance with Kirishima and shaking her head.

"I got this part time job as a cook? It's pretty fucking alright, and I don't need to interact with guests, so. The wait wouldn't be so bad, I guess."

Yuuga smiles brightly and straightens up, "That sounds great, mon amie. I'm glad to hear that."

Bakugou shrugs, cheeks going slightly pink again, "It's whatever. Congrats on going pro… or something."

Yugga chuckles, "Merci, Bakugou." He pauses, "You know, I could give you the numbers of the rest of our old classmates. Oh how they would be so delighted to talk to you again! You've certainly grown, Bakugou!"

"Uh…" Bakugou's face falls a smidge and he lowers his legs, sitting upright. "I don't know, uhm." he mumbles, "Would they even want to talk to me?"

"I had fun catching up."

"Yeah, but. I didn't really give a shit about you back then, you know? No offence,"

"None taken." Yuuga takes another break to think, "I'm sure some of your closer friends would get upset, but if you needed space then they can't really blame you for trying to figure things out, right? And it's only been three years. It might be difficult, Bakugou, but it's never late to try again, whether it is being a hero or a friend. Even the sun needs its time off to rest so it can shine bright in the day!"

Aoyama coos, "That sounds like something Tokoyami would say, is it not?"

"Your analogies are on point, Aoyama."

"Actually," Midoriya interjects unwarranted, because of course he does, "The sun goes down every night, meaning that Kacchan would cut himself off from his friends often without fail, which is not very healthy in a relationship."

"But I sleep during the night and don't talk to my friends then? Kero," Tsu says in a questionable tone.

"Not in Antarctica," Iida says, "Maybe he takes long breaks?"

"It's called boundaries, Deku." Bakugou groans.

"Sun shiny good, Yuuga use sun for analogy." Aoyama explains in layman's terms.

"Have you seen his hair?" Jirou asks.

Midoriya places both his palms flatly against each other, vertically over his mouth. "You do all raise valid points." And then he fucking writes in his notebook.

"No one told me you gave helpful advice?"

"No one ever really talked to me back then."

Bakugou snaps his fingers, "Right. Well, I… I think I wanna talk to them… maybe after I become pro? Like…" He takes a calming breath, thinking of how to express his thoughts. Bakugou wasn't ever really an expressing person. "I feel like I would fail them if I came empty handed. I journeyed out for a quest and I'll come back when I find it, you know? Don't want to make them wait all for nothing."

"Well, I'd say the sooner the better, but you're smart Bakugou, I'll let you do your own thing."

"Uhm, thanks, I guess. Lazer Belly."

"Just Aoyama is fine."

"Nah."

"Okay." Yuuga huffs, "Well, having their numbers in your phone wouldn't hurt, right? Then you could text them when you're ready?"

Bakugou yawns, "Sure." That reminds him, he should probably get going so he can catch his train.

"The sooner the better!" Kirishima shouts at Bakugou, "Don't come up with that 'not good enough' bull in situations like this!"

Bakugou groans dramatically. This is honestly becoming just a lectures at this point. "Ugh, fine." Maybe it's because he doesn't really try to converse with his classmates…

"No, but you – wha- oh? Oh, uh. Good!"

And with that, they part ways.