Knock.

"Come in."

Suijin looked up, turning to face the door as he prepared to greet yet another visitor, even though he had only 30 minutes of respite since the massive group of his classmates had left, saying they had to prepare for tomorrow's class.

Inwardly cursing, he put on his normal look while observing the purple mop of hair that just walked in.

Combined with the usual lazy demeanor, there was no way he could tell who his visitor was, so Suijin was just as surprised when that very same person handed him a bag titled, "Gift for Suijin."

"Hitoshi Shinso is giving me something," Suijin thought.

To him, this was more incredulous than Bakugo giving him a gift, since at least Bakugo was "forced" by his classmates.

But Shinso, who wasn't even in the same class and had only interacted with him a handful of times, took the time out of his day to bring him a gift?

Apparently noticing his surprise in the midst of it, Suijin heard Shinso say, "If you don't want the gift, throw it away, but at least take it; my arms are starting to hurt."

Quickly taking the gift and suspiciously looking through it, he ignored the chuckle that arose because of him and the whispering words of how he was "cat-like" or whatever.

Instead, he himself let out a gasp when he saw… a phone number?

Immediately suspicious, he looked up at the boy, who was now sitting in a chair beside his bed.

With his eyes narrowed, Suijin said, "Thank you for your feelings, but I don't swing that way—"

"—This has nothing to do with that!" A quick response came from the startled Shinso.

Sighing and rubbing his head while muttering the word "troublesome," the lethargic boy looked up with annoyance apparent in his eyes.

"This is the number of a girl at UA, Mei Hatsume."

Suijin knew of the girl, a prodigy in the support department. With the way she was showing off her "babies" at the festival, he obviously caught sight of her.

But… for some reason, he couldn't help but continue. "I get it, so you're setting me up with her."

He even put on a grateful look in his eye that caused the purple-haired boy to sigh, ignoring his words.

"She's great at making hero tools, and I figured that she could help you make a design concept I put on the other paper in the bag."

Seeing that he apparently hadn’t cleared the bag, Suijin reached back in before finding another piece of paper.

Unfolding it, he saw what looked to be a weapons stand, but this one was molded to support an oddly shaped head—his oddly shaped head.

"I noticed in the second round that your aim over long distance was impressive, and I figured that if you could stabilize your head, you'd be able to hit even better shots."

As Suijin marveled at the foreign idea, Shinso continued,

"Of course, I haven't figured out all the kinds yet, like the recoil, how it's planted, and the like, but it's a start. I figured whenever you get out of here, you can hand her the paper, and I'm sure she'll start spewing out all sorts of ideas I didn't come up with."

Suijin half-listened and half-stared at the paper as if it were a holy messiah; to him, it was the key to getting stronger in the future.

He knew that after the festival, there would be internships where his classmates would be getting even stronger, and Suijin knew that he was feeling pressure.

But with this, that pressure was alleviated as he found a way to get better and to improve himself even when he wasn't doing anything.

He looked at Shinso with a grateful look, and perhaps not liking the brightness Suijin's eyes shined with, the boy hurriedly said, "Tch, that's not all I came here for."

Suijin calmed down his reverence, thinking, 'Of course, give and take, so what would he want, money, an apology, a rematch?'

As he brainstormed the possible ideas, he was completely caught off guard when Shinso said, "It's about the rumors floating around UA."

'Rumors?' Seeing the confused expression on Suijin's face, Shinso took on an annoyed look and rubbed the back of his head.

"So they didn't tell you. Well, that makes sense after all."

Now more interested than ever, Suijin paid attention as Shinso started to explain.

"After the festival ended, I was called up by some of the staff, who said that they liked my performance and alluded to the possibility of me moving to Class 1A. Somehow, the students of the school learned of this as well."

Suijin nodded, following so far, That was Shinso's goal, after all.

"So… with you being out and a vacant spot in the class being present, rumors of me replacing you and the like began to spread."

"Oh," he understood.

It was a reasonable conclusion made from the little evidence they had. Suijin couldn't… Suijin couldn't return to the school for the time being, and Shinso's being promoted.

So, with the limited number of seats in the class, where would he fit in?

"In my spot," Suijin let the noise fall, not filling in his words to liven the atmosphere, but instead choosing to bask in the silence, lost in his thoughts.

"I thought that your classmates told you, but apparently not. Though I guess this is the best situation, so I can clear up any misunderstandings."

'Misunderstandings? What's there to misunderstand? You're replacing me—'

"Suijin Shimizu." Looking at the surprisingly serious Shinso in the eye, Suijin kept his gaze up, held by the conviction he sensed in the other boy.

"I will not take your spot."

'Eh?'

"If I'm offered a spot in 1A at your expense, I will refuse it."

"What? You would… refuse?"

Confusion laced the scattered boy's mind at Shinso's words. Who would refuse a chance to be in the very best class at UA?

Especially Shinso, someone who, from what he knew, had been pining for that position?

Seeing his confusion, Shinso explained, "I'm not in the business of taking what's not mine. You earned your spot, and taking it from you when you're already down? That's not my thing."

Then, relaxing into his chair, Shinso added, "Besides, I'd love to have the chance to see the face that arrogant b*stard will have when I take his seat and spot in the class right out from under him."

He went on about how he would teach who Suijin assumed was Bakugo a lesson and how he'd have him do the most humiliating acts, slowly, so that the memory was very vivid when he stopped the effects of his quirk.

And as Suijin listened to the ramblings of Shinso, he realized that the person in front of him was different from what he thought.

'This isn’t Shinso from Class 1B aiming to defeat everyone at any cost. This is Shinso, a student of Class 1B who has his own morals, ambitions, and principles.'

Suijin took a second to suck in a deep breath while closing his eyes before looking back at Shinso.

"Thank you." He received a nod in response, and that's how the topic shifted from the serious conversation about his spot being taken to the sports festival.

"So, why’d you run?"

"It was a STRATEGIC STRATAGEY—"

.

.

Knock.

Knock.

"Oh my god, I’m going to kill—seriously, it’s 5:43, can I get a break?"

Resolving himself to not open the door, Suijin turned over, planning on ignoring the knocking before he heard the levers in the door turning.

"Right, I forgot that it was left unlocked."

Changing his plans, Suijin turned to the intruder, intending on turning them away no matter what.

But that went out the window the second he saw that familiar face, that similar facial structure, and that familiar sense.

The door closed with a shut as the duo stared at each other before Suijin broke the atmosphere.

“Hey Dad.”