Izuku watches Tōya for a moment, taking in the shift in his behavior and analyzing it before his mouth curls with a fond smile. His soulmate is sulking, all because he can't murder Kacchan for his past transgressions. It's, in a word, adorable even though he should be concerned about the fact that Tōya wants to murder his friend.
No. Not his friend—they were never truly friends no matter how much Izuku wanted them to be. Kacchan…Bakugō is his abuser. His bully. And Izuku shouldn't-he shouldn't protect him from the consequences of his words and actions anymore. Still, that doesn't mean that he should be killed for them.
"And if he says or does anything towards me again?"
Tōya stiffens minutely at the question, the air around him immediately heating up by a few degrees before he returns his gaze to Izuku's. "I won't hesitate to turn him into ashes if he hurts you again," he grits out, his anger evident with the way his irises glow and how flickers of the bright blue flames of his Quirk start to appear in his hair and along his shoulders.
Izuku understands the fierce protective rage his soulmate is experiencing because he wants to pulverize Todoroki Enji into non-existence for all he has put Tōya through, but it will not fix anything. It will not magically undo the harm done to his soulmate. Neither will making Enji suffer for the rest of his life, but that, at least, will be far more impactful than simply killing him. It is also what Enji deserves. And… "What if I want him to suffer instead?"
Tōya blinks, a bit in surprise, and then his flames go out while his mouth curves into a devilish grin. One that makes Izuku's insides flip in a pleasant sort of way. "If that is what you want, Izuku."
"It is," Izuku says firmly, not needing to think about his response at all. If it makes him a horrible person, wanting the two people who have hurt them the most to suffer, then it is something he can live with. He isn't going to regret it at all, not when their actions could have gotten them killed. "And I'm going to make sure that your father suffers too."
Tōya blinks once as his declaration sinks in, and then he gives Izuku an approving look. "Aren't you supposed to help people, little hero?" His tone is light, bordering on the verge of teasing, so the question isn't meant to be serious.
"I am helping," Izuku answers quite seriously, even though he can't keep himself from grinning. "I'm helping my soulmate," he clarifies, and Tōya laughs at that, the sound low and throaty.
"I am really glad that you're my soulmate, Izuku," the man murmurs after a moment, and the look that he gives Izuku is so full of affection and warmth that it makes Izuku's insides flip again. It's still pleasant but with a bit of something else—something that Izuku isn't able to pinpoint at the moment.
Water splashes over his feet, distracting him from immediately responding, and Izuku diverts his attention to his bucket. It is overflowing, as is Tōya's if he takes a second to glance at the bucket his soulmate is using, and he quickly turns off the faucet so that more water isn't wasted. Deciding that now is a good a time as any to finish washing up, he grips the edges of the bucket with care so that he won't spill too much water as he lifts it. "I'm glad that you're my soulmate too," he says softly, without looking back at Tōya, and then dumps the water over his head to rinse away any remaining suds.
There is little point in lingering when he's clean, so Izuku packs the soap, shampoo, and used wash clothes into the bucket before he sneaks a glance at Tōya. His soulmate is busy washing his hair; the lather tinted a dark gray as he works on removing the dye. "Do you need help with that?" Izuku finds himself asking, the thought of going to get dried and dressed vanishing from his mind for the moment.
"Not necessarily, but if you want to help me get the dye out, I'm not going to say no," is all Izuku needs to hear, and within seconds he is standing behind Tōya, fingers working the lather further into his hair.
He smiles as his soulmate relaxes at his touch, head tipping back just a little bit while he makes a soft, appreciative noise in the back of his throat. "I'll take care of your hair for you," he murmurs, more to himself than anything.
A comfortable silence settles over them, broken only when Izuku needs to rinse the lather out of Tōya's hair and resuming when he begins the process of working shampoo through the slowly lightening locks all over again until it is finally a snowy white four rinses later. He takes a moment to admire his efforts, uncaring of how long it had taken—thirty minutes—and that Detective Tsukauchi is still waiting for them before he finally steps away from his soulmate.
"All done." And they are, what with Tōya having taken the time Izuku was washing his hair to tend to his body, meaning that it's time for them—namely Tōya—to have that interview with Tsukauchi.
They don't waste any time getting dried off and dressed, and Izuku totally doesn't go gaga over Tōya using his Quirk to speed the process up. He really wants to ask his soulmate a million and one questions about his Quirk the more he gets to see it in use, and though he isn't distracted like before when they had been flying, now isn't the time for him to geek out. He can ask his questions later. Hopefully, there will be a later, and he doesn't get distracted again.
That particular idea is partially crushed when they return to Detective Tsukauchi and find that he has gained some company in the form of Aizawa-sensei and All Might in his rail-thin form.