It Takes Time

26

Aizawa had been trying to move up a little closer to the house, but he was quite limited in doing that without raising suspicion. He would have to wait until Haruto went on one of his grocery trips and wouldn't be at home to get a closer look. And even then, he couldn't stay around for a long time, because he'd never know when he'd come back. The day after he had seen the woman in the house, he went up to the windows to look through them and see whether he might notice something. But there was nothing. No one else had left the house, but he also couldn't see anyone inside. It took another two days until something had happened. But what happened would change absolutely everything.

He had waited for Haruto to disappear to do his shopping. Aizawa reckoned that he would have a little more time during this grocery trip, because technically Haruto was meant to head to the supermarket that was far away. Which meant Aizawa could get closer to the house and get a closer look inside.

He didn't really hope to find anything more than usual, but he was surprised when he got closer, and he saw the curtain on the ground floor moving a little bit. He knew that could possibly just have been a draft, but he went up the window anyway and decided to try his luck and knock at the window.

At first, nothing happened, but then he saw movement again. He wasn't sure whether he was imagining things or whether there really was something, but he thought he saw part of a hand. It looked a little as if whoever was inside the house wasn't sure whether they should take a look. And then, for a split second, he could see half of a face. It was hard to recognize, because the room was completely dark, but to Aizawa it looked like Y/N's face. So, he had been right. She was in there. But was she there against her will?

Aizawa knocked at the window again, trying to get her to look at him, maybe talk to him if that was at all possible. After he had knocked again, the curtain moved to the side slightly and Y/N peeked through the window. She looked pale and had a terrified expression on her face. She looked over both her shoulders before trying to open the window, but it was pointless. The window seemed to be locked.

Aizawa could see several bruises on her face and her shoulders, some of them older than others. When she saw that she wasn't going to be successful in opening the window, Y/N buried her face in her hands. She seemed desperate. Aizawa wished he could just smash in the glass, so he could talk to her, but knocking at the window had been risky enough, since he might be leaving traces. When Y/N raised her head again, tears were streaming down her face. She was more than likely not there voluntarily. It seemed like Haruto had locked her inside the house. Where had she been before now? Had he locked her in the basement, so no one would be able to see her? Was all the food he bought for her?

Aizawa tried to make a gesture, as if he was going to call her, to see whether she had access to her phone. She seemed a little confused at first, before shaking her head. He then took out his own phone. He could ask her yes or no questions, maybe, hold the phone up to the window, and she could shake her head yes or no. It seemed to be the most practical way to talk to her. But what was he even going to ask her?

Are you okay?

He held the phone with the typed-out message up to the window and Y/N leaned in close, so she could read it. She then quickly shook her head no. Okay, she wasn't alright. So, she did need help. The question was if she needed his help. Or if she wanted help at all. There were so many things he wanted to ask her.

Can you leave?

A shake of the head. So, she couldn't leave. He couldn't really ask why, but he could hazard a bit of a guess.

Are you locked in?

A nod. Alright, just as he had suspected. This was bad. He wondered whether he could kick in the door. He'd have to take a closer look at it... Maybe he'd have to get some help from his friends, too. They were good at getting into places they weren't supposed to be in. But that was a story for another day.