Chapter 59: My Way Now

Recap:

A quick scan of the crowd saw him and the other spray-bottled man, Enkai, with his dad shaking his head.

'Not yet,' he seemed to say.

Suijin turned back to the stadium, watching a partially charred Mina lay on the ground and All Might holding Bakugo's hand in the sky with a serious expression.

"I declare Young Bakugo the winner."

Though he said that, he didn't have a smile on his face and picked up Mina before carrying her down the hall.

Suijin almost ran over the railing separating the crowd from the battleground when he saw the two disappear into the hallway, likely on their way to the nurse's room.

"SUIJIN SHIMIZU VS THE SON OF THE NO.2 SHOTO TODOROKI!!!!"

He looked at Bakugo, who returned to his normal scowl and similarly walked down the hall and into a room.

A fire was lit in Suijin, one he didn't know why but could tell would consume him unless he fulfilled his desire.

With malice and hate, he spoke in his mind, ''ll beat Todoroki and get to Bakugo."

He swore he would.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Suijin sat with his hands interlocked, his elbows resting on the table, and the base of his trigger resting on his knuckles.

The boy sat in the dark, with the only light coming from the crack under the door shining blue, reminding him of the outside world.

His mind was cluttered with thoughts, particularly around one girl.

Was she okay?

How bad were her injuries?

Did she need surgery?

He wanted nothing more than to rush into the hospital room and check, but a specific message from Recovery Girl saying that he couldn't enter forced him back into the waiting room.

With the field needing to be fixed once again and the No. 1 leaving to help Mina, the match was postponed for about 20 minutes.

Normally, that's time to listen, socialize, and get your mind off of what's clogging it, but for him, it's only more time to worry.

Knock-Knock

Without waiting for confirmation, the door was opened, and the intruder was none other than Shoto Todoroki, his upcoming opponent.

Normally, he would be more level-headed, but with the current state of things, Suijin's words followed a more curt pattern:

"What."

Obviously, the iceman beside him raised an eyebrow, but besides that, he didn't acknowledge anything.

"Give up."

'T-This Bastard!'

Taking silence as reluctance, he explained his thought process.

"You're not weak; you wouldn't be here if you were. But do you really want to embarrass yourself on stage like Sero? Your quirk isn't suited for this kind of battle, like that purple-haired guy. You're more of a support, hit-and-run kind of hero."

Having to restrain himself, Suijin spat out, "You're saying I'd lose."

A quick response came from the other boy: "Undoubtedly."

He then put his hands up in a peace-like position and said,

"Look, fifth or sixth place is a respectable position for someone like y–"

"SHORTLY, WE'LL BE BACK FOR THE LAST OF THE QUARTER FINALS!!"

Taking the chance, Suijin stepped towards the boy before walking to his side, shoulder-checking him with a rough bump on his way out.

"I'll see you on the stage."

Left in the room alone, Todoroki couldn't help but internally sigh.

'I tried a page from your book, Midoriya; unfortunately, as I expected, kindness doesn't work. Do I really have no choice but to follow that man's wishes!'

He balled his hands into fists before releasing the tension.

'Regardless, I'm still not going to give him the satisfaction he wants; I'll win without his power!'

"SUIJIN SHIMIZU, SON OF A PRO, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE RAMBUNCTIOUS GROUP VSSS—-"

Suijin moved his gaze and attention from President Mic to the crowd, scanning and finding his parents.

Admittedly, it wasn't too hard, as the noise those two made, with the addition of the Mezo's, had them stand out from the rest of the crowd.

While three of them were cheering as loudly as possible, his father calmly stood up in his seat.

Looking at him, Suijin's eyes widened as he looked at his hand movements.

Putting his hands at the level of his midsection, he repeatedly raised and lowered his palms, the message being clear to Suijin, who used to watch sports with him.

[Calm]

The boy nodded his head, putting thoughts of Mina's injury to the side. He rationalized with himself, thinking,

'I'd be doubting Recovery Girl's ability if I kept worrying.'

Coincidentally, as he finished his thoughts, it was time for their battle to begin.

"START!"

Taking a moment before starting his attack, Todoroki asked Suijin one last time,

"Still not giving up?"

"Never."

With a look of exasperation, the boy stuck out his right hand and said, "Then I'll make this quick."

Saying so, a huge block of ice manifested from Todoroki's hand and was rapidly heading towards Suijin.

With confidence, Suijin tossed himself to the side, and not being perturbed while colliding with the ground, he kept his head upright and simultaneously aimed at his target.

Pew 

Pew 

Pew 

A few probationary shots were sent, which were swiftly met with another ice wall.

Tsk

Nobody knew if it was Suijin or Todoroki expressing their dissatisfaction.

Using foresight to know that continuing this farce wouldn't get him anywhere, Todoroki put his right palm to the ground.

Ice crept from his skin outward, threatening to devour the entire ground. And when the ice started to get to Suijin, the boy started sending shots around him, breaking it and creating a cement-safe haven for him.

Unfortunately for him, the boy's ice was versatile, and thus, while temporarily leaving Suijin's little area, it focused on covering the rest of the cement.

Temporarily, meaning that after it captured the rest of the stadium as its creator willed it, it started attacking Suijin's area.

'How useful!'

Suijin kept trying to completely stop the ice's advances with the many shots he sent, but ultimately nothing was happening.

Surprisingly, Todoroki stopped momentarily, staring at him with bewilderment.

'W-What–'

"Do you really want to fight a battle of attrition with me?"

The boy's eyes widened, and mysteriously, as if directed by an outside force, for no apparent reason, his eyes were drawn towards his father's seat, connecting with the older Shimizu who was observing him.

'When facing the weak, you must be cautious, and when facing the strong? Everything about you must exclude the demeanor of hesitation, yet you must also be decisive.'

His old words, along with the fact that his enemy had to 'wake' him up, filled Suijin with shame.

'Snap into it. Play to your strengths, not weaknesses.'

The boy looked up with clarity, and seeing that, Todoroki continued the barrage, this time more fervently.

But Suijin wasn't interested in playing the same game, so jumping up, he let Todoroki have that one area, completing his dominance over the floor of the stadium.

Instead, he tilted his head down, opting to send himself into the sky.

With a SHING, the boy was sent flying, soaring well above what Todoroki could build in a few seconds.

Pressing his advantage, Suijin sent dozens of shots into the air, most impeded by a block of ice built above Todoroki.

But the boy still smiled as his plan was commencing—three shots to break the ice, all sharp ones heading towards a concentrated area.

Then there were three more to attack through.

And it seemed to work. Not expecting anything to get through, the overconfident boy let out a grunt as he felt that the skin on his chest would soon bruise up.

Immediately after, he reinforced the ice walls, making them multiple inches thick—so thick that if he didn't deliberately build a thin point on the opposite side of where Suijin's shooting from, he'd be forced to use that.

Alas, his descent was inevitable, and with less water than planned due to his blunder earlier, Suijin had to preemptively fall down, cushioning his fall.

The boy was peeved at not being able to press his advantage towards Todoroki, but he felt that this was for the best as he had a long battle ahead of him.

"WHAT A MATCH IT'S BEEN SO FAR, ONE OF THE CLOSEST SO FAR, WITH TODOROKI TAKING THE LEAD SEEMINGLY TRAPPING HIS OPPONENT ON AN ISLAND WAITING TO BE CONSUMED, BUT PULLING OUT ONE OF HIS FAMOUS TRICKS, SHIMIZU ESCAPES AND PRESSES HIS ADVANTAGE, PUTTING THE ICE-BOY ON THE BACK FOOT!!!!!"