The Growing Rift: Oikawa And Kageyama

Part 7

"Hey, Kageyama! You want to go inside now?" Hinata called. Kageyama stood up. "Yeah. I want to practice with some of the other players."

"Me too!" Hinata fell in beside him. "I really want Oikawa to throw me a toss."

Kageyama stumbled a little at Oikawa's name. Hinata looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Kageyama straightened and resumed walking. Hinata looked at him doubtfully. "Are things still... weird with Seijoh?"

Kageyama glanced at him, surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I can tell," Hinata replied. "You've been avoiding Oikawa ever since we got here."

They reached the pavement and Kageyama swung the door open. "Well, yeah, but that's-"

"Hey, Tobio-chan."

Hinata and Kageyama turned around: Oikawa was standing right behind them. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Kageyama hesitated, then glanced at Hinata. "You go on ahead. I'll be there soon."

"...sure." Hinata glanced at Oikawa warily before walking inside and closing the door behind him. Kageyama asked, "What's up?"

Oikawa took his hands out of his pockets. "Let's go somewhere else first."

They walked for a minute silently before stopping at the very edge of the school grounds. Kageyama forced himself to meet Oikawa's gaze. "Yeah?"

Oikawa took a deep breath. "I wanted to know what you want."

Kageyama took a step back, startled. "What I-"

"I'm sure Hinata or somebody has already mentioned this to you, but even though we... talked, I guess, you're still not completely fine around me, are you?" Oikawa's eyes were suddenly intent and focused. Kageyama looked down. "I... yeah. People have."

Oikawa didn't say anything as Kageyama said, "It's just... I know you're trying. And you really want to fix everything. I know.

 "But it's not you!" he suddenly raised his voice. "My third year was even worse than my first year in middle school with you. I get that I was a terrible team player in middle school, but still. They hated me. How am I supposed to forget everything that happened in middle school?! 

"No matter how much I want to forget it, I can't. I just can't and I don't know why! Every single time I think about talking to you, I think of the time you almost hit me! That's the moment when I realized exactly how much you hated me!!" Kageyama was practically screaming now. It was like a dam had broken inside of him and he was exploding with everything he had tried to keep in.

Oikawa wasn't surprised. He had thought Yaku and Suga has read the situation wrong; but then, he was more involved in it than they were. Kageyama wasn't upset with him as much as he was with the other first-years.

Kageyama drew back: he had let out much more than he had intended. "I- I'm sorry."

Oikawa shook his head. "No, it's fine. I understand."

Kageyama started to say something, but Oikawa held out his hand to stop him. "I'm the one who ruined your middle school years, not any of the others. When you saw my reaction when you asked for my help, you were too scared to ever depend on anyone else ever again... until you met Hinata. That's why everyone in your third year didn't get along with you."

"Stop blaming yourself!" Kageyama snapped. "I don't want to blame you!"

"Then what is it you want to do?" Oikawa stepped forward. "You can't just ignore it like... like we ignored our problem for three years! You have to move on."

Kageyama clenched his fists. "I- I know."

"Good." Oikawa managed a smile and held out his hand. "So, we're good?"

Kageyama looked at Oikawa's hand and hesitantly reached out and shook it. "Yeah."

Oikawa's eyes suddenly flooded with relief: Kageyama was startled to see it. "Are you-"

"I'm fine!" Oikawa turned away, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Kageyama blinked. "Are you... crying?"

Oikawa retorted, "Shut up, it's just allergies or something!" He straightened and glanced at Kageyama. "Well? Come on!"

He gestured for Kageyama to follow him and started walking towards the gym. Kageyama didn't move. "...why?"

Oikawa turned back and looked at him as if it was obvious."Don't you remember? I still need to teach you how to serve."

Yup. I finished. I know. It's amazing I even let anyone read this in the first place.