Someone was carrying him.

He could feel it, distantly, like his mind was far away from his body. He heard distant snatches of conversation as he drifted in the void, things like "help" and "heavy" and "why", all floating over him with the cool ebb and flow of water.

He felt at peace. The world was muffled from him and he could relax for the first time in a while.

Izuku succumbed under the waves.

And woke in an unfamiliar bed.

He blinked lazily up at the unfinished ceiling, the rough wood and open cross-beams strange and new to him. The bed was lumpy: western style, like his bed at home, but it felt like it wasn't actually supported by a mattress box or a bed frame. It smelled like coffee and dust. He probably should be panicking, but…

Unfortunately, he was a bit too exhausted for that.

What had happened? He had finished his hours on the beach today, went out for his afternoon jog/sparring class with Akira and then… nothing. Had he passed out? He didn't think that would happen! And on Sunday, the day he had the most to do? Horrible.

"Izuku!" He turned his head to see that Akira, his friend Ryuji, and a brown-haired girl (whose skin held a metallic sheen—her quirk?), had all been waiting just out of sight in the… attic (?) they were in. Izuku tried to sit up, only for a wave of dizziness to force him back to the bed. He clutched his head—it felt like his brain was too big for his skull. "Hey, hey, lay back down!"

His head didn't agree with the shout and Izuku winced. "What… happened?" he managed.

The girl frowned. "We were hoping you could tell us that," she said. "We found you unconscious in the alley near the gym in Shibuya. Did someone attack you…?"

"Ah? No, I wasn't attacked…" Izuku tried to focus. "I… I was going to the gym… I'm supposed to meet another one of Akira's friends today…"

"That would be me." The girl nodded. "I'm Makoto Nijima."

"Izuku Midoriya," he returned. "I don't… I was tired, but I don't remember falling asleep. I'm sorry… Was I mugged?"

"We found your wallet and phone on your person," Kitagawa said. "It appears that you merely passed out. Well, not merely, but you were not assaulted."

Izuku grimaced; that wasn't entirely true. Kaachan might have lightened up after the Slime Villain incident, but Izuku was still accosted at least once a day. Akira saw his grimace. "That's good…"

"No, it's not. You're overworked to the point of passing out on the street, Izuku." He tried to protest, but Akira continued, "Don't bother getting up. I've already called a doctor to give you a once over and Boss agreed to drive you home after closing shop."

"Y-You don't have to do that!" He couldn't afford to see a doctor when he was just tired—

"It's fine; the doctor owes me a favor."

"I owe you a few favors, actually," a stranger said, and his jaw dropped as a goth woman in a doctor's coat climbed the attic stairs. Her dress, while cute, was dangerously short, and paired with her strappy, platform stilettos, Izuku had no idea how she managed to climb the stairs. It was her quirk that caught his attention though. It was a spider mutation—eight compound eyes filled the upper half of her face, and four addition spider arms were folded around her stomach. When she smiled, he saw fangs longer than Akira's. "So, my little guineapig, what seems to be the problem?"

Nijima made a face. "Guineapig…?"

Izuku supported the question and then some.

Akira coughed, his cheeks a light red. "It's not me. We found Izuku passed out on the street. It's probably exhaustion, but I want to make sure he's okay."

"Alright then, I'll begin the examination."

"D-Don't I get any say in this?" Izuku tried.

"No."

"Absolutely not."

Izuku behaved for the medical examination, not that he had much of a choice otherwise; he didn't think he had the strength to run away. The doctor—who he learned was named Takemi-sensei, not from the woman herself, but from Akira talking to her—poked and prodded him, took his temperature, and asked him a few questions. Finally, she stepped away.

"You were right about the exhaustion. You've definitely been overworking yourself, kid. But you're also mildly dehydrated. You need to start bringing a water bottle with you when you work out, maybe even sports drinks to replace the electrolytes you lose through your sweat."

"But I already drink a lot of water," Izuku protested.

"Then you need to drink more. If you're working out under the hot sun, you're obviously going to need more water than usual. I recommend you take a few days for rest, to recover from your exhaustion."

"I can't!" he immediately protested. He couldn't get behind on All Might's workout plan, he'd sacrificed too much only to fall behind because he was tired. "I'll… I'll stop doing my extracurricular activities, but I can't take full days to stop."

"Izuku…" Akira was concerned. Good going, Deku, you made one of your only friends worried about you! "Is there something else going on? Something you're not telling us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is someone forcing you to work out all the time? Are they threatening you, hurting you?"

They thought… Izuku shook his head despite the pain, denial on his lips. "Absolutely not! My trainer would never hurt me! I just don't want to let them down."

"And is anyone else hurting you?"

Izuku cringed. He had forgotten that when he and Akira started their deal, he had been chased by Kaachan. "I… things at school are different. The students there don't really like me… but it's fine! I can handle it."

Takemi-sensei nodded. "Well, if there's nothing else, then I'd say your good to go home. I talked to Sakura downstairs and he's determined to give you a ride home, so don't bother sneaking off. And if you're not going to listen to my advice to rest, at least take tomorrow off school and rest then. I'll write you a doctor's note."

That… actually sounded like a good idea. "Thank you, Takemi-sensei. Could you email an addition copy to my school tomorrow? Some of the administration has a habit of… loosing documentation." Specifically, his documentation, at least when it came to doctor's notes and field trip permission slips.

"Sure, kid, which school?"

"Aldera Middle School, please."

She made a note on her phone. "Done. Alright, I've got to get back to my clinic. Akira, you're coming in on Wednesday, right?"

Akira… flushed? Only his skin turned dark grey. Was his blood black? "That's right." He said quietly.

Takemi-sensei left and Izuku found himself under the intense stares of three teenagers and a cat. Fortunately, Takemi leaving was when Sojiro decided he would take Izuku home. Sojiro's stare didn't feel any different—there was so much disappointment—but at least he wasn't interrogated.

In the future, when Izuku had to face actual interrogation, Izuku had to explain that he had only heard what happened next through other people, so forgive him, but there's really no other way to explain.