The question had left her mouth faster than she had time to process. Oikawa felt annoyance swirl deep in the pits of his stomach. Did she really feel the need to ask that question? "I love volleyball." He hissed; the question offended him more than he thought it would.
Of course he likes volleyball, what kind of stupid question was that? Yana smiled coldly; her eyes hard. "Oh? Is that so? Because from here, it sounds like you are doing this for Kageyama. Kageyama this, Kageyama that. Apart from just now, I haven't heard you say anything akin to 'I like volleyball' or 'I'm doing this because it's fun.' It seems more like you want to beat Kageyama rather than actually win the tournament. Why are you so fixated on him!? Is it not enough to play your best for you and your team?"
"I need to stay one step ahead of him" Oikawa, irritated, scrunched up his face. He distinctly remembered telling Yana about what had happened in his shared past, so why didn't she get it?
"Practicing till you pass out won't assist you in any way whatsoever!" Yana crossed her arms over her chest. Everyone else could see just how bad his obsessive practice was and everyone was beginning to get concerned for him. "You have beaten him already; move on from your one-sided rivalry."
"You don't know anything." Oikawa growled.
Yana scowled at him. "I may not know everything, but I know enough to tell you that if you continue with what you are doing, your petty rivalry will consume you till you won't even enjoy the sport anymore." Throughout their argument both Yana's and Oikawa's voices steadily grew louder and broke above the silence.
"We have to win. We need to win against Karasuno, against Shiratorizawa, against everyone. I want this team to make it to nationals. This is our last year! Our last chance!" Oikawa was the first to raise his voice in frustration. "You wouldn't understand. You went to nationals, you won first place, you have the title as the 'Number Three Top Libero in the Nation', you always win!" Oikawa felt repulsed as some of his ugly jealousy leaked out, but he couldn't stop. "And the best part? You yourself said you didn't even think of winning as a big deal because you didn't need to work hard for that victory!" He glared at her with cruel dull eyes and a sneer plastered on his face.
"I wouldn't understand? Excuse me?" Yana scoffed in disbelief her face switched to one of anger and hurt, "I am worried about you! Everyone is! This has nothing to do with winning or losing." Her voice was hoarse as her volume increased.
"You are just so arrogant. You don't know what it's like to play in a team who had to work for their victories." He let out a hollow laugh. "You aren't even on the team! You don't even step on court!" No sooner than he thought it, he allowed his words to spill out unchecked. Shit.
It became a war of words and who could hurt the other more was the winner.
This argument from seemingly nowhere had spun out of control like a tornado. "You call me arrogant, but at least I'm successful. I have accomplishments to back up my arrogance! What about you? You don't have anything." Yana had freed all the stops. What the hell am I saying? "Go ahead and call me that. Call me whatever you want. I'll wear it with pride!" Yana had to admit those last words really stung. He isn't wrong though. You never do actually step in court to play. Are you really part of the team at that point? The darker voice in her head chirped. Yana's eyes narrowed; she could feel her eyes glisten, but she held back the tears. Yana picked up her bag, this wasn't time to stick around. "Since I'm not on the team I'll be leaving." She snarled. "I think we are done here."
Despite it being a departure Oikawa could feel the tension and hear the intensity in her tone. There was a great deal of emotion behind those words. Oikawa slicked his hair back and crouched down. as he tried to process what just happened.
-------
Hajime had gone to look for Yana after he realized that she had taken a bit too long. Sure, she said not to wait up for him, but it's not like he could just leave his cousin. When he found her he had only caught the tail end of the argument but that was all he needed to hear. As soon as Yana left the gym he swiftly ran to Oikawa.
"Shittykawa! What the hell was that?!" Hajime grabbed Oikawa's shirt and shook his still form.
"Iwa-chan?" Oikawa was a little stunned from everything that had just happened. "I messed up. I really really messed up..."
"Yeah! You think?!" Hajime let go of Oikawa. The only other time he had seen an outburst like this was in middle school. "Do you want this to be a repeat of last time with Kageyama!?
"W-what did I just do..." Oikawa went through the argument again. It started from something as innocent as concern and ended with him telling her that she wasn't part of the team. "I-I need to apologize."
"Then what are you still doing here!?"
Oikawa cursed internally as he scrambled to his feet and out of the gym. Yana couldn't have gone too far. At least that is what he hoped.
Hajime watched as Oikawa disappeared out of the gym leaving all his stuff behind. "Why do I have to meddle this much?" He groaned and finished tidying up the gym before he picked up Oikawa's bag and locked the door behind him.
-------
Yana held her hand out and felt the clouds start to rain. "Really?" Yana rummaged in her bag in hopes of finding her umbrella, unfortunately she was disappointed. Fuck. Yana bit her bottom lip in a futile attempt to hold back her tears. She had resolved herself not to cry, she didn't want to cry. She let out a shaky breath trying to keep it together, Yana was supposed to be used to this. It was normal for her to be rejected by a team; she spent all her time at Shōsha being unwanted by the club. Maybe it's really my fault they don't accept me. I'm not good enough for them. I couldn't contribute enough.
The rain started to fall harder before it became a downpour. The water had begun to fill the gutters and drains creating large puddles. The sounds of the rain and splashing was deafening as Yana began to run home, she only had a quarter way left before she would arrive. Yana was looking forward to a nice long warm bath.
Amidst all the sound, a single voice managed to pierce through it all. "Yana!"
Yana knew that voice, it was Oikawa. She should have stopped to listen, she should have stopped running, but instead Yana pushed herself to run faster. She didn't want to hear what he had to say right now.
"Yana! Please wait!" Oikawa's voice was desperate and hoarse as he chased after her.
Yana was considerably slower than Oikawa since she was carrying her bag, so it was no surprise that Oikawa managed to catch up.
"Let me talk to you! Please Yana!" Oikawa reached out and managed to catch her wrist in attempts to stop her.
A shudder ran through her body. "Don't touch me Tooru!" Yana spun around to face him and used the momentum to yank her wrist out of Oikawa's grip. "What the hell do you want from me!?" Yana's face contorted to something between hurt and anger, but her eyes held an unspoken sadness. In that moment she thanked the clouds for the cold heavy rain that obscured her warm tears. "If you're here to just rub it in my face then I'm not interested."
"No...I'm not." He cast his gaze to the ground. Oikawa opened and closed his mouth a few times before he found the words he was looking for. "I'm so sorry. I was just stressed and, and I know you were just worried abo-"
"I don't want to hear it." Yana's voice held an air of finality indicating she didn't want any more part of it. Yana's voice sounded more pained than anything. There was no more heat in her voice, not even a flicker. Yana ran her fingers through her soaked hair and slicked part of it back. "I thought it'd be different. I thought you'd be different." venom laced her last words. "But you are all the same."
"Yana, please...that's not wh-" Oikawa's voice quivered trying to convey his remorse. There was a long silence where the pair just listened to the sound of the rain as the water soaked through their clothes.
"Even though I'm not part of the team I'll still attend practice if that's what you are concerned about. I'll quit before the big tournament, since I'm not of any real use." Yana's argument had a dull exhaustion to it, like she had been over the same bitterness many times before. If the first part of the argument was a raging fire, then the last part was a frigid snowstorm.
"And about our relationship..."
The rain drowned out their voices and hid their tears.