"So... how long have you known him?"
Kubo looked over from where he was sitting. He had fully bandaged up Izuku and laid him down to rest on the bed so he could recuperate. His eyes met the man with the black and white mask who was gesturing with his hands like they would fill up the silence.
The silence was more due to awkwardness from the weird shuffling that the group of villains did as they waited near the door and hallway of the bedroom door, hovering like flies.
"Why're you asking?" Kubo asked.
"I'm just curious. Did you meet through Giran? I love that guy!" The man who called himself Twice responded back to him. "You know, since Giran is the one who introduced us to him in the first place."
Kubo shrugged, "You could say that. Giran has been around since the beginning."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" The leader questioned, tilting his head up from where it was leaning against his drywall.
Kubo pursed his lips, "Exactly what I said. I'I'm not the type to spill every detail of anyone's life story. I'm not going to spill a life story."
"And you wouldn't need to," a voice rang out from the hallway. The villains that were crowded around the door moved to the side to make room for the reptilian. Spinner cocked his head towards the hallway, "You have enough pictures on the walls that I can get an idea."
Kubo cursed himself under his breath, he should have taken them down before the villains came running up to the upstairs bedroom. The pictures weren't anything special except the few times that Izuku was really having fun back when he was younger.
A few pictures of Izuku helping him work on cars, pictures of viewing races with complimentary junk food, and a big photo of the two of them.
"Hah," The burned man breathed out, walking past the door frame as he observed the picture frames on the hallway. "It looks like a happy little family of two from the looks of it."
"Aww, look how cute he was when he was younger," Toga's voice traveled from the hallway.
Dabi poked his head into the room, "Do you know how he learned how to drive? Because I might have a bone to pick with his teachers."
"Midori learned how to drive from some of my customers that are racers," Kubo explained, he turned his attention back to the boy on the bed. It was so long ago that he and Giran had found him and brought him to this same bed. "They come in a few times into my shop so I could work on their cars before a big race. I taught him a few basics when he hit double digits, but he got most of his knowledge from them by just watching them drive."
"He learned how to do it," Dabi paused, his mouth stretched open in bewilderment. "ALL of...THAT. From what? Just watching from the sidelines."
"Some of them let him drive in the passenger seat," Kubo shrugged. "Although I only let him if I knew them well enough. But other than that, he learned from visuals just like he does with his analysis."
"He's a smart one," Kurogiri commented, his low voice echoing through the room.
"Don't I know it," Kubo said, reaching down and patting Izuku's hair as he continued to sleep away.
"KUBO! KUBO! KUBO!?"
"What is it now?" Kubo sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he recognized the whiny voice coming from downstairs. He could see the eyes of the villain growing more curious. He looked down at his boy before walking past them. "Can't they see I put the closed sign up?
Kubo turned back inside the hallway and ordered, "Stay here while I take care of this."
But as he walked down the stairs, he could still feel the gazes of the people behind him. He had no doubt that they would be crawling downstairs sooner than he thought.
"KUBO! Thank GOD you're here!" The racer rushed forward, throwing aside their helmet shielding nothing but their eyes. They charged forward with a desperate gleam in their eyes. "You need to get Midori! He has to be Riya for me!"
"Riya?"
'Of course,' Kubo thought to himself, turning around to see the league of villains leaking out from his stairwell, no doubt having heard the conversation at least until that point.
"I told you to stay up there!" Kubo shouted.
"Staying up there is boring since you won't let me have any blood!" The teenage girl, replied back loudly.
He argued back, "Because he is recovering from a bullet wound?!"
"He said I could have it!" Toga frowned pointedly. "I have spoken consent!"
"I am the witness to said conversation!" Twice yelled out, raising his head like a grade school student asking a question.
"Who has a bullet wound? Riya?" The racer's eyes widened. "Oh no..."
Kubo questioned, turning his attention back to the racer, "What did you do that you needed so badly?"
The racer pouted, kicking the edges of their boots into the gravel. "I might have...accidentallychallengedoneofthebiggerracersandnowineedRiyatohelpmewinbecauseibetmywholecarandireallylikemycar—"
"Slow down," Kubo ordered, pinching the space between his brows in irritation.
"I accidentally made a bet with one of the bigger racers to a challenge race, so if I lost he would take my car. But I suck at the kind of stuff they are good at, so I needed Riya to help me win so I wouldn't lose my car," The racer explained more slowly. They frowned. "I can't lose my car, man. I worked so hard on her. And I even put a new coat of dip on her!"
"Midori is currently down with an injury that would make it a bit difficult to reach in full condition," Kubo explained, backing away from the desperation reeling off the man. "Would love to help you, but we can't."
"Look, the race is this weekend," The racer replied back, stepping forward each time Kubo stepped back. "If I can find a person with a healing quirk to take care of it, can you promise he will help me?"
"Why should I agree to that?"
"Please, please, please. Pretty please with cherry on top!" The racer pleaded, clasping his hands together like they were praying. "You know me, Kubo, I wouldn't be coming to you like this if it wasn't an emergency. I just need this favor!"
"No, you come to me with a whole lot of 'emergencies'," Kubo emphasized his point with finger quotes. He pretended not to hear a snort from behind him. When he saw the racer's lip begin to tremble, he folded in on himself.
They weren't that bad of a person, but they always had something wrong that Kubo needed to fix. Sludge covering the engine? Slime covered marbles inside the gas tank? Anything that was hard to deal with, they brought to him to fix even if they sucked most of his time to fix.
"Look, just can you ask him at least? If he says no, I won't push the subject," The racer leaned back on their heels. "But if he agrees, I can get my friend to heal him up real fast," I know bullet wounds have to suck."
Kubo breathed in slowly, "When Midori wakes up, I'll ask him. But don't get your hopes up."
*
As soon as the racer was gone, Kubo avoided the questions of the villains around him as he continued to wait by Midori's bedside.
And when he had finally awoken with a wince, Kubo showered him with pain medication to help with the ache of the wound.
When he had fully settled, Twice had shouted what had happened and told Midori all about what happened. Kubo sighed to himself while laying down the details of the deal.
"Sure, I'll do it."
"Are..." Kubo blinked as Izuku tried to move around in the bed only to flinch. "Are you sure?"
"As long as I can get this bullet wound to stop hurting like a dick, then I'll do it. Plus," He stared down at Izuku who had a tight grin on their face as he waited for the pain medication to kick in. "It's been a while since I've actually raced. It will be exciting to get back on the track."
"Hey, Midori," Kubo could feel his eyebrow twitch at the sound of the teenage girl. "...now that you're awake..."
"Oh, Kubo when you reapply the bandages, take some blood from the area," Midori said, Kubo heard the teenage girl whisper-shout into the air in excitement. "I should uphold her deal before the healer comes to fix it up."
Kubo blinked back in shock, "...Alright."