Rejected Stones

Fault Lines

Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

45. Fault Lines

In complex systems malfunction and even total nonfunction may not be detectable for a long period.

-John Gall

Izuku woke up around the early afternoon, yawning and stretching. After completing a rather late toilet, he made sure to thoroughly dry his stump, then carefully attach his arm. It was difficult to get it properly resting on his shoulder and strapped in alone, but he could do it after the months of practice he'd had. Then he sent a quick text to Mei to let her know he was heading to the gym to work out. To his surprise, she answered back that she was already there and would wait for him.

At the gym, Izuku found Mei working out with Hagakure, who waved excitedly to him as he entered, her sweat stained top wiggling with enthusiasm as she continued to run on a treadmill. "Hey Izuku! Come on, Mei's just finishing up!"

Mei was jogging in place on a treadmill, a look of intense concentration on her face. Izuku walked over to glance at the readout, and was impressed to see it ticking up towards 5k. He climbed on to the treadmill next to Mei, starting his own exercise routine. He didn't get his full 10k in every day these days, but whenever he could he continued to follow The Hero workout program, as it was a comforting sense of routine.

When Mei's machine dinged in just a few minutes, she gasped for air and nearly collapsed, slumping down onto the treadmill and groaning softly. Izuku paused to check on her, but she just lay there with her eyes closed for a minute. "Exercise is hard," she whined.

"It gets easier!" Hagakure said happily, continuing to jog. "But now your secret's out!"

"It wasn't really a secret," Mei muttered, opening her eyes and frowning at Izuku. "I have been exercising sometimes. I decided that even if I am not going to be a hero like you, since I am in the hero course I should participate in the same group activities. It is a part of increasing my social skills."

"Well, I'm glad Toru talked you into it," Izuku said, smiling and offering Mei his left hand. She accepted it and he hauled her up, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. He was now a good two inches taller than Mei, and that gap continued to widen to her continued consternation, as they had to keep adjusting the Power Armor to fit Izuku's growth.

"Kyoka and Mina were the ones who convinced her," Hagakure commented, slightly out of breath from her own run now. "She's been coming for a few weeks with us girls!"

"Yes, it is very exhausting but I think it is getting easier. Maybe I should give myself robot legs, that might help," Mei stated, patting Izuku's right arm affectionately. "I am supposed to work on weights now. You can keep running Izuku, I know it is important to you."

Izuku got back on the treadmill as Mei moved over to lift some of the lighter weights, completing an exercise routine that Izuku recognized from watching Jiro and Ashido.

"Thanks for convincing her to exercise," Izuku told Hagakure quietly. "I never even thought of it."

"According to Kyoka and Mina they didn't need to do much more than mention that it was something the rest of us all did," Hagakure said, slowing her pace down as she finished her run. She sighed, stepping off the treadmill and doing a few cool down stretches. "Honestly I think she's still scared from getting kidnapped by The League of Villains. We all are, really. Can you imagine if that happened again?"

"I had nightmares about it every night for a month," Izuku said, shaking his head to try to dislodge the memory. "Still do sometimes."

"Yeah. Me too. And sometimes...sometimes I don't get out of that warehouse fast enough. Or I do...and none of you are still alive."