Chapter 75

Suspended in shock at the stinging on his cheek, Suijin could only gaze at the infuriated look his dad sported. Enkai, a man who seldom lets his emotions show outwardly, was a composed rock that hardly ever chipped.

. Such a man caused Suijin to be rendered speechless as he, for the first time as far as the boy could remember, yelled, “I DIDN’T GET RID OF THAT NOZZLE FOR YOU TO WHINE AND SPIRAL INTO A BOTTOMLESS HOLE.”

As his son sat dazed, Enkai closed his eyes, stifling a breath and clenching his fist, one that used to be so great, now weakened to the point where holding a glass of water was difficult.

Faint screams from patients in a different wing, the ticking of the clock, or the occasional whoosh of the wind—all of those sounds drowned out anything Suijin or Enkai could produce.

In that moment, a tense silence reminiscent of the hospital room enveloped all thoughts that the two could make.

After what felt like hours but was only 30 seconds, Enkai opened his eyes, and the calmness he typically radiated shone as he spoke. “Suijin.”

The still voice called the younger boy's attention, turning his eyes from downwards to his father figure, a sight he had been trying to avoid.

“I was once like you, someone who, even with his quirk, didn't believe in themselves. I was someone who didn't think they could do anything, someone who struggled to see the worthiness of myself. And I suffered with that for a long time—the scars of not believing in myself, of always comparing myself, of always putting myself down—they still stick with me to this day.”

Suijin stifled a gasp as he, for the first time, felt naked in front of eyes that bore through his soul.

“It wasn’t until I met your mother, a persistent woman who simply wouldn’t take no for an answer and made sure that I saw differently, that my perspectives changed.”

Suijin inwardly nodded; it did seem like his mother.

She was akin to a golden retriever that had boundless energy, filling any voids present with her presence alone.

Enkai took a short breath, typical, yet that small action called for Suijin to pay deep attention to his next words.

“Your uncle's name was Ren. He was my twin younger brother.”

‘Why have I never heard of him?’

The boy looked deeper, seeing the melancholic expression his father sported.

“He was amazing—someone who could excel at anything he put his mind to. He was the main reason why I felt so inferior when I was younger. Yet, apparently, I was the main reason that he...”

Enkai took another breath before continuing,

“As I said, he was someone who succeeded at everything, and in our primary school, he was the life of everyone—the favored child, the picture kid. But back when we were younger, where I lived, getting your quirk checked wasn’t something typically done until 6, as a kind of 'rite of passage’ to go to primary school.”

‘How…old is—’

“It was at that event that we confirmed that we had the same quirk as most of the people in our family. Spray Bottle, thus everyone continued with the thought that he’d continue on the same as usual. But when I turned 9 and awoke my nozzle, things changed. From what I knew, he felt inferior because he couldn’t awaken his.”

“For the next couple of years, he said that he always put himself in the most stressful, intensive situations so that his nozzle would break under all of that pressure, yet...Eventually, when he was 18, he went too far. He drank a whole bunch of liquids and did the calculations. He jumped off of a building, saying that if he used his quirk and used the right amount of pressure he’d be fine.”

Gasp

“I—We don’t think that he planned on making it, since he already had his affairs and letters to everyone in order….”

Enkai took a moment, shutting his eyes, remembering the loud sobs emanating from his funeral and the defeated look his parents sent his way whenever they looked at him, for he looked too much like his town.

“Following that, I moved away from all of that, choosing to rebuild my life anew in the city with my new hero license.” Letting his son process the story, Enkai said,

“I say that to say that he, who could achieve anything he put his mind to, let the simple fact of not being able to use his quirk eat him up inside. I don't want the same for you. You’re a bright young boy, offering up so much more to the world than a mere nozzle.”

Ignoring Suijin's varying expressions, feeling slighted after calling what he desired for his entire life a mere nozzleEnkai continued,

“I didn’t give up this quirk to quit. I didn’t stop saving people, either. This nozzle that I gave you is an investment. I believe in that theory of quirks getting stronger, generation after generation. And I’m investing in you, Suijin, to surpass me. I’m investing that you’ll surpass the number of people I don’t save during your recovery period by leaps and bounds.”

Tears pricked at the sides of Suijin's eyes as the weight of his father's words hit him in full, as did the fact that someone trusted him—not his quirk but him.

“If you don’t feel worthy of that quirk, then make yourself so. Make sure that you live up to that name; surpass what I achieved.”

Enkai called for the doctor, letting the beep and the footsteps that pushed him out of the room be the only sounds heard before he left the contemplating Suijin with some last words.

“The Suijin that played in that sports festival died, along with that nozzle. The Suijin who has that nozzle is one born anew. If you're not worthy, then write your story where you are.”

Suijin watched as the sunlight blinded his father's figure in his eyes, and relying on his other senses, the boy couldn’t help but overlap the figure in front of him with the large blond figure.

And his famous saying rang in his mind as the boy involuntarily hunched over his stomach, pressing his moist eyes onto his blanket, stifling a silent cry of acknowledgment.

[‘Go Beyond.’]