It Takes Time

3

Y/N had been nervous about going out with her workmates. She knew that Haruto was expecting her back home on time, and that he wasn't going to be happy if she stayed out for a while longer. But he had been in a somewhat good mood recently, so Y/N figured she might as well try it. Maybe he'd be fine.

And she wasn't going to stay long – that's what she had told herself at first, anyway. But the thing was that she quickly forgot about time and about having to go home and about Haruto. It was easy to forget about everything else in the world in this dingy little bar, especially with Kayama and Yamada around. The two of them were incredibly entertaining and they even managed to make Aizawa smile from time to time.

Y/N was surprised to see him smile at all – he had always looked tired and grumpy, whenever she had come across him. Apparently, he was also one of the strictest teachers at U.A. and he had some questionable teaching methods. Y/N had heard some of the students complaining about him from time to time. Whatever he was doing, it didn't make him very popular. In fact, it seemed to completely polarise the students. Some of them hated him with a passion, others defended his every move.

At some point during the afternoon, he left to go outside for a smoke (another surprise – Y/N had no idea that he smoked). Hizashi was saying that he didn't smoke regularly, just sometimes when he was in a weird mood and when he was drinking. The mention of a weird mood made Y/N remember that she had said she only wanted to stay for one drink, and that Haruto was at home waiting for her.

She had completely lost track of time and she was on her third dink now. The panic came back quickly, but Y/N knew that she couldn't really let on about that. She slowly checked her phone and almost had a heart attack when she saw all the missed calls from Haruto. This wasn't good – he had been angrily texting her, too. And it was already 4 in the afternoon! She had meant to be home by one or two.

"Uhm... sorry, I might head outside for a little bit, I've got to make a call." Y/N said quietly with a forced smile. Nemuri nodded at her and smiled, moving aside to let her through. Y/N took her bag and had her phone in her hands. She really didn't want to call Haruto back, but she knew that she had to.

She didn't want to imagine how angry he would get if she didn't call back. It seemed like he was angry already. Y/N tried to calm herself down and tried to think of an excuse for why she had been out for so long. Maybe she should just be honest and tell him that she had completely forgotten about the time. She wasn't sure whether he was going to like that excuse or not. But if she told him anything else, he would probably get even angrier. And he would find out that she was lying. Y/N didn't know how he always found these things out, but she couldn't keep anything secret from him and it scared her a little.

When she was in the little room between the main bar and the exit, she took a deep breath, trying not to panic. She really wanted to cry. She wanted to throw away her phone and never go back home again. But where would she go? She had nowhere else to go. Her parents lived far away, and she had kind of fallen out with them. She didn't have any friends left. And she didn't have any money.

All the money she earned was going towards rent and food and bills and indulging whatever whims Haruto had at the moment. Y/N had tried keeping some money for herself, but Haruto had found her little stash and the consequences weren't pretty. After that time, Y/N had never tried hiding any money ever again.

With a sigh she dialled Haruto's number and held the phone to her ear. She could hear the beeping tone and with every beep she got more nervous. She felt like she could barely breathe. While she was waiting for Haruto to pick up his phone, she opened the door. She felt like she needed some fresh air, and she didn't want anyone to hear what she was saying to her husband. She had completely forgotten about Aizawa who had gone outside for a smoke, but she stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw him.