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It makes him incredibly angry to know his friend gets bullied, but it makes Izuku even angrier to know there is nothing he can do about it. He’s known Tenko since he was four and Tenko was six, and he helped Izuku through a lot of stuff. And he always tries to return the favour, but in terms of the bullying… what can he do? After all, he and Tenko are first and third years respectively, and they only meet on the walk to and from school and at lunchtime. So when they’re in different classes on opposite sides of the school… anything could be happening to poor Tenko.One day, Izuku stands outside the gates of UA high school, and waits for Tenko. Walking home together is something they have always done, and Izuku always looks forwards to chatting to his best friend on the way home. But sometimes Tenko comes out with red marks on his neck (from scratching himself when stressed; sometime he ends up bleeding) or dirty clothes and bruised skin, and Izuku knows what has happened. And when they walk home, Tenko just bites his cracked lips and frowns, too stressed to speak, whilst Izuku stares at him and wishes he could be better at reassuring people.But still, when he sees Tenko on this day… all he can do is stare. His friend walks with a jerky, unnatural gait, gloved hands held up by the sides of his head like he wants to clamp them over his ears. His tie is undone and he seems to be missing his school bag, and the flush that patterns his cheeks is unnerving on someone as pale as Tenko. Is he sick? Is he overloading?No, he’s never seen this sort of behaviour before.“Tenko!” Izuku says, darting over to his friend.Tenko’s head turns towards him, wobbling on unsteady feet. Izuku hates eye contact, but when he glances at Tenko’s eyes, he finds them unfocused and with huge, dilated pupils. What the…?“Hey, Tenko?”“Izzzzzzuku?” Tenko mumbles, reaching out and slapping a hand against Izuku’s shoulder.Izuku bites back a wince, but doesn’t mention it, pretty sure Tenko did that by accident.“Are you okay?”Tenko blinks slowly. “I… w-why’s s-sky s-swirling?”Izuku looks up at the sky, the slightly cloudy but certainly not swirling blue sky, and frowns. Is Tenko… hallucinating or something?“Tenko, the sky isn’t swirling,” he says. “What’s the matter?”Tenko stumbles backwards, groaning. His breaths are jagged and irregular, and Izuku wonders if he might have a panic attack.“Can I check your pulse quickly?” Izuku says.He half expects to get ignored, but Tenko nods (but ends up screwing up his eyes for a few seconds like doing that made his head spin). So Izuku carefully takes his friend’s gloved hand, pulls up his sleeve and presses his fingertips to the inside of his wrist. Tenko’s skin burns beneath his fingers, and his pulse races, pounding against Izuku’s fingertips. So Tenko is not only running a fever, but his pulse rate is through the roof?“Look, let’s just go somewhere for you to sit down, okay?” he says, still holding Tenko’s hand.Tenko nods again, and mumbles something like, “Hurts.”So with incredible amount of caution, terrified he might make his friend worse, Izuku starts to lead him past the other students in the direction Izuku walks from school. Tenko’s feet drag as he stumbles, but he follows after Izuku, groaning and making mumbling noises.Ever since Tenko left the school, other students have been staring at him. Some stare at Tenko like he is dangerous, whilst others laugh in a way that makes Izuku want to punch the lot of them. Tenko’s acting weird, but he isn’t dangerous, and there is nothing funny about this in the slightest.“I-Izukun,” Tenko mumbles, using an old nickname Izuku hasn’t heard since they were kids. “I-Is my sk-skin falling off?”“What? No, of course it’s not.”“F-Feels like it’s… peeling off. I-Izuku, wh-what’s… my brain… fuck…”“Tenko, just try to stay calm, okay. Just… look, I’m here, okay.”Tenko stares at him with his hugely dilated eyes, totally disorientated and kind of looking like he might collapse at any moment, and it suddenly hits him. Not that long ago, someone came into school to teach them about drugs, and that included a description of the sort of effects LSD has on the brain. And he stares at his friend, and Izuku doesn’t know what’s going on anymore.Is Tenko high on acid? But why would Tenko take LSD? After the assembly about drugs, he told Izuku the thought of going on something hallucinogenic was terrifying, and he’d always be too freaked to try it. So… no, that doesn’t make sense.“Sit down, Tenko,” Izuku says, stopping at a grassy verge by the sidewalk. “I’m gonna call my mom so she can come and pick us up, okay?”Tenko’s knees buckle and he slides to the ground, hunching up on the grass and hugging his knees to his chest. Izuku pulls out his cell phone and dials Mom’s number, sitting down beside his friend. Tenko rocks himself back and forth, screwing his eyes up.“Hello?” Mom says, finally picking up.“Mom, can you come and get me and Tenko?” he says. “He’s… he’s really sick or something. I don’t think he can walk home. Please, Mom.”“Oh, darling, of course,” Mom says. “I’m sure he’ll be all right, Izuku. But if not… I can drive us to the hospital.”“Thanks, Mom,” he says, hanging up.Beside him, Tenko rocks faster, groaning. He opens his eyes and looks at his hands, and his bleary eyes widen.“Shit!” he mumbles. “M-My hands… my g-gloves are… on fire!”He holds his hands as far away from his torso as possible, trembling.“Tenko, they’re not on fire,” Izuku says. To prove his point, he takes Tenko’s gloved hands in his own. “See, I’m not on fire. I think your brain’s tricking you. Just close your eyes again, and it’ll all be okay soon.”Of course, there is no way for Izuku to know this, but bullshitting seems to make them both feel a bit better. And as they wait for Mom, he doesn’t let go of Tenko’s hot, trembling hands.---When the Midoriya family’s car pulls up at the side of the road, Izuku jumps to his feet. Mom gets out of the car and dashes over.“Izuku!” she cries. “What’s happened?”“Just look at him,” Izuku says, pointing to Tenko.Mom moves and crouches down beside Tenko. He doesn’t open his eyes, doesn’t look at her, and keeps mumbling like he’s trapped inside his own head.“Oh dear,” Mom says. “Did you see what happened?”“No, I just saw him leave the school looking really spaced out. His pupils are dilated and I think he’s hallucinating,” Izuku says, wringing his hands together as he fights back panic. “Mom, I think he’s on LSD, but Tenko wouldn’t take that kind of drug.”“Look, it’s okay, darling,” she says. “Tenko, it’s Mrs Midoriya. Can you get up?”Tenko nods slightly, and stumbles to his feet. Izuku takes his arm, helping him stay upright.“Right, let’s get into the car,” Izuku says, hating seeing his best friend in this state. “It’ll be okay.”But, to be honest, Izuku isn’t so sure.---Izuku and Mom took Tenko to the hospital yesterday, but the nurses told them to leave. And he just wants to check up on his friend; Tenko has to be okay. He just has to.It isn’t until they get a phone call from Kurogiri, Tenko’s guardian, that the truth comes out. Tenko had LSD in his system and was having a very bad trip. And everyone involved is certain that someone spiked Tenko’s food with it.The bastards. Who would do that?But at least Tenko is going to be okay. Izuku doesn’t know what he would do without Shimura Tenko.