Suijin looked from the side of the bed, seeing the solemn man walking in and shutting the door with a thud.

He watched as he sat down a basket full of letters on his recently cleared table beside his bed and then took a seat in a chair next to him.

Suijin froze, shocked at the man's appearance, prompting the older Shimizu to take the lead in the conversation.

"Letters and fan mail were delivered from the school to me for you. Apparently, after your heroic performance, many were inspired by you and wrote letters of encouragement."

'Not much encouragement can do when there's nothing to encourage.'

And just as his mind had somehow focused on something other than his lack of a Nozzle, his dad's words brought back the same feeling, and along with it, shame filled the boy's body.

He couldn't look his father in the eyes properly, choosing to rest his gaze on his midsection, noting the casual clothes he came in.

Suijin analyzed the blue jeans and maroon checkered flannel his father walked in here with, not wanting to face his face, not wanting to face himself.

Shame welled up inside of himself as his mind chose not to bring up all of his shameless boasting and all of his words of how he would be the best.

He remembered every instance where he assured everyone, but mostly his father, that he'd become a great hero.

'How great a hero I am, bedridden with a career ruined before it even truly began.'

He felt like an invisible pressure was forcing him to bow his head towards this man, towards his inspiration for the past 16 years.

Unlike before, he couldn't just brush off his shame, putting it off to the side with an "I'll get it done later."

No, this time he had to face it; he had to face his words that spanned over the course of months.

The boy wanted nothing more than to hide himself in a hole where he didn't have to be Suijin Shimizu, a pitiful loser who couldn't even adhere to his own words and cowered away in the face of adversity.

'Pathetic.'

That's what he was and felt like in that moment; he was a pathetic loser, so much so that he didn't want to grace his dad's eyes with the face of such a thing.

"Hey Dad, watch me; this is how I'll defeat the villains in the future. I'll hit them with this before making sure they get hit here. I'll make sure that you, mom, Shoji and his family, and Everyone in the Whole world is safe. Believe it!"

Memories of the ecstatic kid and his bright smile, the iconic thumbs up and dreams bigger than he'd ever thought before came up, and as they did, Suijin's tear ducts threatened again as he remembered.

He hadn't just let his dad and everyone else down; he let himself down.

In his wallowing, Suijin let one sentence float about in the silence of the two men,

"...It's over, huh?"

He expected and received no response to his words, just a subtle change in his father's breathing pattern and a hiccup before it returned to the same as before.

'The same as admittance.'

He felt like the gravity of the situation was too much to hold, like the pressure that he felt would dissipate in such a realization instead intensified.

His head was pushed to the pillow as he turned away, conveying his desire to be alone in this moment.

He heard the thud of his father's boots hitting the frail hospital floors and the sound of the door clicking with the frame's lock.

With no one to look at, the boy placed a hand over his eyes, laying on his back as he said in a low voice,

"...what a fitting end… the g-great suijin shimizu trying to go against fate…."

The boy took a pause as he recollected his voice, not wanting to hear the shakiness or breakage cementing his own lowliness.

"...But succumbing to it all. Quirk gone along with any chances of achieving dreams. Aspirations previously thought impossible return to such. Useless, the useless Suijin who can't do anything."

His arm quivered, mimicking his body as in a final, defeated, and tired tone, he asked himself, "I expected as much....so why, w-why does it hurt so much?"

Seemingly asking the question to no one, the boy let the room return to silence, save for his labored breathing as the darkness of uncertainty in his future surrounded his heart.

Outside of the door, Enkai pushed off of it, letting his leg that was resting on the wood be returned to the tile floor.

He exhaled as he walked forward; a determined glint previously not full was captured in his vision as the hero walked with purpose and intent.

He rounded the corner, seeing his questioning and nervous wife, along with the solemn doctor, both possessing the same inquiring tone.

Yet his momentary pause and their ability to read gazes told them all they needed to know.

Whereas his wife, Erena, couldn't hold back a silent sob that plagued her, turning herself to the supportive Aiya, who held an understanding gaze and stood there for her.

The doctor, however, looked at Enkai with an inquiring tone, though he already knew the answer all too well. "Are you sure? Are you 100% positive?"

Enkai stood there, pondering over this life-changing decision, yet despite the time he took, there wasn't much for him to think about.

He remembered his broken son, quivering and shaking as the grief he was all familiar with struck him.

He thought back to how similar Suijin was, how the boy was so similar to his brothers, similar to them before they...

The thought caused the man to resolve himself once again; he was sure, and nothing, nobody would persuade him otherwise.

So with a final gaze, he was led down the hallway, away from his grieving wife and shattered son, and away to a different future.

That day, a hero Died.