The first thing that Izuku registers as he comes back into consciousness is that his arms don't hurt anymore but they're stiff and heavy. He opens his eyes and stares up at the ceiling as he lets his vision focus, and he tries to remember where he's at. The last he recalls is being in the forest, eerie blue flames spreading through the trees and staring into a pair of piercing turquoise eyes.
There's something about them and their owner that makes his heart swell and skip a beat, and he tries to prod the memory free. It takes a moment before he fully remembers what had happened in the forest and Izuku inhales sharply with the realization that he had met his soulmate, and that his soulmate had said that he'd be bringing him to a hospital.
"Nng…" A soft noise comes from his right and Izuku turns his head, curious, to find his soulmate slumped over and asleep with his head resting on his arms right on the edge of the bed. His features scrunch up for a few seconds, almost like he's going to wake up, before they smooth out and he continues to sleep.
Izuku considers calling out to him so he can wake him up but he hesitates and instead just stares at him. His hair is slightly unkempt, and there's the barest hint of white at the roots, which has Izuku blinking a little before he tries to imagine it without what is apparently dye. It's rather easy to picture his soulmate with completely white hair, and the difference is a stark one, and it has Izuku wondering why he dyes his hair. To hide? If so, then who is he hiding from?
A frown steals across Izuku's face as his mind races, and then he remembers something else from the forest. His soulmate had called Shōto masterpiece, and only one other person had referred to Shōto by that vile moniker, and that had been Endeavor. Then there's the outright hatred his soulmate had displayed towards Shōto, and then there's his Quirk.
His soulmate has a fire Quirk, a powerful one at that, and it almost reminds Izuku of… No. No way. He's-
"Noisy," his soulmate mutters, face scrunching up again before he cracks open his eyes—the same turquoise eyes that Endeavor has—and he blearily stares at Izuku. The haze of sleep quickly recedes from his eyes with the realization that Izuku is awake, and he sits up as relief floods his expression. "You're awake!"
Izuku blinks a couple of times, momentarily forgetting the possible connection he's made between his soulmate and Endeavor, and then he slowly nods. It's doubly hard to think about anything with the way that his soulmate's face lights up, his expression so full of warmth and tenderness and adoration, and it's all for Izuku. "H-hi," he manages to stammer out, his face starting to heat up as he blushes, but he doesn't look away. He can't convince himself to look away.
His soulmate smiles, and he leans forward a bit, his hands coming to rest on the edge of the bed where they curl into the fabric instead of reaching for Izuku's hand like he so clearly wants to. "Hello," he responds, his voice low and slightly rough. "How are you feeling? No pain?"
Izuku glances at his arm and takes in the stark white cast that covers it entirely before his gaze returns to his soulmate. "It doesn't hurt anymore," he answers softly and his soulmate's smile widens.
"Good! That's great! I'm glad." His soulmate fidgets with the bit of blanket in his grasp, his fingers curling and uncurling in the material, before he seems to realize what he's doing and lets go of the blanket. "You were in and out for two days with a fever," he says quietly as he looks away from Izuku, his gaze instead focusing on his hands while he balls them into fists. "I felt so helpless just sitting here watching over you but you're fine and that's all that matters now."
Izuku finds himself frowning as he listens to his soulmate speak, and his heart gives a little twist, a pang, for having worried him. He manages to sit up, which is admittedly difficult to do with both of his arms in casts, and that draws his soulmate's attention back to him. "I'm sorry that I worried you, uh…?"
His soulmate opens and then shuts his mouth with an audible click, and he stares at Izuku for a long moment before he sighs and leans back in the chair, his head tipping backward. "Before I tell you who I am, I need you to promise me that you'll keep my identity between us, okay?"
Izuku blinks and then recalls what he had worked out just before his soulmate had woken up, and can't help but blurt out, "Are you related to Todoroki-kun?" Normally, he is able to slap a hand over his mouth but due to current circumstances he obviously can't, and his soulmate's head whips up so he can stare at Izuku, partly in surprise and partly in awe.
"How did you figure it out?" So Izuku is right and not imagining what he's put together about his soulmate, who is staring at him imploringly.
"W-well, your roots are starting to show and half of Todoroki-kun's hair is white too, and you have a very powerful fire Quirk, and your eye color is the same as Endeavor's," Izuku answers carefully, and he notes the way that his soulmate's expression darkens with the mention of Endeavor. "And you also called Todoroki-kun masterpiece, which only Endeavor has done…"
"That's because Shōto is Enji's masterpiece and he made sure that I knew that before he cast me aside in favor of Shōto," his soulmate grits out, the temperature around him starting to spike, and he trembles with rage. "After he had spent years drilling it into my head that I had to surpass All Might."