I still think it’s confusing. Sometimes it becomes legitimately ambiguous whether the reply was to the post right above or to the OP. Is there any reason a different icon shouldn’t be used to indicate a reply to the post directly above, like an up arrow or something simple like that?
For what it’s worth, I’m speaking as someone who uses a forum where suppress reply directly above is disabled. It is better than the default in some ways, worse in others. But I think a separate icon or indicator of some sort would be the best of both worlds.