It Takes Time

4

Aizawa didn't like admitting to it, but he had been worried about Y/N all weekend. He had heard some parts of her conversation with her husband and him being angry was an understatement. He had right out threatened and insulted her. There was no question that her husband was abusive and controlling. The only thing that wasn't clear was the extent of his abuse. Was he just insulting her? Was he controlling? Was he beating her? Was Y/N's life in any danger? And did she want to get out? Was she ready for that?

Aizawa had tried not to think about that too much, after all, it wasn't really his business what the new secretary was doing with her life. But didn't he have a responsibility as a hero? If he knew that something like that was going on, wasn't it his responsibility to make sure Y/N was okay? He wasn't sure.

His head was telling him to leave it alone unless Y/N was asking for help. That he was only going to invite trouble otherwise. He was going to put her in even more danger. As long as she didn't say anything, it wasn't his place to play hero. But his heart was already gone – he didn't like the way her husband had been speaking to her, he didn't like that she seemed to be so scared of him. Because she shouldn't be. She shouldn't be feeling like she had to put up with this for whatever reason. It wasn't right.

But what if he was getting it all wrong? Aizawa didn't think that he was getting it wrong if he was honest. He had seen enough cases of domestic abuse at all kinds of different stages, and he was almost certain that he recognised the signs. Still, even as a hero, there was nothing he could do, unless Y/N asked for his help. Or unless he somehow witnessed said abuse, and that was unlikely to happen.

Aizawa had tried to find all kinds of excuses to head into the office to see whether Y/N was there already and how she was doing, but he didn't want to make it too obvious that he was worried about her. He barely managed to conceal his worry from Nemuri and Hizashi on the weekend. Of course, those two knew him better than anyone else, and they knew how to read him better than anyone else.

But if they figured it out, the rumour would spread quickly throughout U.A. and that was the last thing Aizawa needed right now. Plus, Nemuri and Hizashi would tease him mercilessly about it, too, and they were annoying enough without him giving them extra ammunition. Just before lunch, he finally managed to get some documents together that he could bring down to Y/N. He quickly made his way through the labyrinth that was U.A. until he stood in front of the office door. He took a deep breath and knocked.

"Yes?" came the answer from inside. Mariko's voice. What if Y/N wasn't even here today? What if she was sick? What if something had happened to her? Or what if it was just her day off? Aizawa hated how much all these questions were bothering him. He opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind him.

Mariko was standing there, dealing with some paperwork. She looked up at him through her glasses, obviously waiting for him to say why he was here. But Aizawa had forgotten everything for the moment. He had spotted Y/N sitting at a PC and working on something. She had her back turned to him and wasn't looking at him right now. But at least she was alive and she was well enough to be at work.

"Well, Aizawa, I don't have all day. What are you doing here?" Mariko finally said and Aizawa remembered the documents in his hands. He held them up to Mariko and she looked through them quickly, when the phone in the other room started ringing. Mariko rolled her eyes and turned around to Y/N.

"Y/N, could you take care of these things for me while I get the phone?" she asked. Aizawa could see Y/N nodding slightly.

"Sure thing." she answered and with that Mariko was out of the room, answering the phone. Y/N clicked something on her screen, before turning around and stopping in her tracks when she saw Aizawa standing there. At first, Aizawa was surprised to see that her face seemed to look just fine. No trace of her being beaten, no trace of bruises or anything like that. Had he really misjudged the situation that much?