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To be at the top of the class felt, to Tenya Iida at least, better than your first blowjob. So it came as no surprise when that was ripped away from him, it felt like getting straight teeth. It hit his ego far harder than he’d ever expect it to, not that he was expecting this.
He’d welcomed the newcomer to 1A with a big smile and had even toured him around the school. He’d be damned if he did that again without scoping if they were competition first
Y/N immediately seemed to climb above him. Every test, physical training, homework. It was done before Iida, better than Iida, and met with more praise than Iida. Worse so, Iida seemed to be the only one with a vendetta. His new rival seemed perfectly unaware of what he was doing, continuing to befriend Iida, even asking for help with work as if he wasn’t better.
It was wholly embarrassing and immature to have a one-sided rivalry, but Iida couldn’t stop. Everything about it stung, and perhaps worse was the fact that Y/N was a Beta. Iida prided himself on being above the outdated “Alpha’s are better than both Beta and Omega”. However, if he thought about it logically and traditionally… Beta’s weren’t supposed to challenge Alpha’s.
It was late when Iida finally decided he’d had enough of it. Around 11pm, he’d made his way to the library. It was quiet, from what he could see, probably just one person inside, even the librarian was gone. A small sign was on her desk, ‘We’ll be back tomorrow at 8am!’
The one person there was Y/N, stuffed into a book with a coffee cup next to him and a wrapper of whatever he’d eaten earlier. He wasn’t even doing anything, and Iida felt a hot irritation in his stomach.
As he made his way over, he thought it best to grab a book he’d pretend he was reading. Less creepy.
He smiled tightly as he approached, “Hello, L/N! You’re up late.”
Y/N looked up from his book, a bright, genuine smile on his face, “Hi, Iida! I couldn't sleep. I don’t really understand the English assignment so I thought I might as well come here to study.”
Iida’s jaw tightened slightly. I don’t understand. He called bullshit on that. The Beta had just come here to make sure he came first. He set his book down on the table with a little more force than necessary and took a seat across from him.
“Indeed. Excellence requires discipline… I admire your dedication.” Iida said, voice rough. The skin on his arm was prickled up. Annoying. Y/N was supposed to be easy to surpass, not this.
Y/N smiled gently and leant back in his chair, looking down at his books. “Yeah, thanks. You always make it look so easy, I’d kill to keep up with you.” He took a sip of his coffee, the plastic cup almost empty.
Iida’s eyes lingered on the sharp line of Y/N’s jaw, then up to his face. “You’ve been keeping up just fine. Surpassing even,” The admission stung the back of his throat, “How do you do it?”
“Hm?”
“You’re a beta.”
Y/N blinked, then nodded slowly, looking up from his book, “Yeah? So?”
“Biologically… it should be easy for me to surpass you. In physical training, at the very least.”
He frowned at that and closed his book fully, “I guess. That’s sort of hurtful though, Iida. You don’t really think of me as just a beta, do you?”
Iida stared for a second then shook his head, “Of course not, L/N. We’re all much more than that. However, you understand why it is frustrating for me, don’t you?”
“No. Not really. I study hard, same as you. I wouldn’t be annoyed if an omega was better at me than anything, I think that’s a bigoted mindset.”
Iida’s hand flexed under the table. Y/N’s calm denial only made the heat under his skin worse. He was just sitting there, genuinely confused.
The library was dead quiet, just a faint hum of the lights and a ticking of a clock.
“Don’t you think?” Y/N murmured.
Iida’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“I think,” Iida said slowly, “that you’re being deliberately obtuse.”
Y/N’s eyebrows rose. “Obtuse? Iida, I study the same as you. If you think I’m trying to outdo you, respectfully, you’re wrong. I’m just trying to do well in a new school.”
Iida stayed silent for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek.
“Does it bother you that I do well?”
“Yes.”
The honesty seemed to startle both of them. Iida coughed and leant forward to lay his elbows on the table, while Y/N frowned sadly.
“I thought we were becoming friends,” Y/N murmured, “I don’t mean to make you feel less than, but you’re hurting my feelings. I’m more than a Beta, the same you’re more than an Alpha.”
Iida’s jaw clenched and he didn’t answer. Y/N waited for a while then sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Okay… I’ve been nothing but kind to you, and I’ve looked up to you. I can’t help that I’m better at you than some things. Would you treat me like this if I were an Alpha? Or an Omega?”
Iida’s hands flexed, and he rested his head into his clamped fists, “I would. It wouldn’t matter what you were. You’re being infuriating.”
“You’re being a prejudiced asshole.” Y/N snapped.
Iida moved first. He stood up quickly, his chair scraping and banging against the floor loudly. He grabbed Y/N roughly by the front of his shirt and yanked him forward into a bruising kiss. Y/N made a startled noise and brought his hands up to Iida’s shoulders. For a moment, he let it happen, and then pushed hard enough to separate them.
Y/N glared at him, then leant down to grab his backpack, shoving his book in, “Stop it, Iida. You’re unbelievable.”
Iida watched him for a moment then huffed. Before he could answer with a half-hearted apology, Y/N started talking again.
“Are you really that threatened by me? That you’d let instincts get ahead of you? You can’t dominate me just because I’m a Beta. Not like that.”
Iida took a step around the table, until they were early chest to chest, though Y/N was leaning back away from him.
“What?” Y/N muttered.
“You have no idea what you do to me,” Iida whispered, “You’re the most maddening person I’ve ever met, and yet I can’t stop thinking about you, all the time.”
“Stop it…”
“I’ve tried. You’ve made me question everything about myself, you make it hard to focus on anything.”
Y/N swallowed, looking away from Iida, as he cupped his jaw gently. “You’re an idiot. And, no. You’re an Alpha. That’s weird. Go find an Omega to be weird about…”
Iida didn’t answer that. He pushed Y/N’s face towards him and leant down again, gentler this time. Y/N didn’t pull away, but he did make a low frustrated sound in the back of his throat. He fisted his hands in Iida’s jacket, not sure if he was about to pull him closer or shove him back.
They moved backwards into a heated tangle toward the back shelves until Y/N’s back hit them. Despite himself, Iida's hands slid up to rest on the Beta’s hips under his shirt. Y/N’s hips subconsciously jolted forward, making them both whine.
Iida let Y/N pull away, catching his bottom lip as he did, only to latch onto his neck.
Y/N growled at him, “Don’t… do anything dumb, Tenya.”
Iida breathed harshly against Y/N’s neck, kissing the skin right over where a gland would’ve been if he was anything close to an Omega. “It won’t take anyway.”
“Then stop..”
Iida nearly whined but nodded, pulling his head back up to another, softer kiss before pulling away, “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings..”
“Yeah, whatever,” Y/N huffed, “Just figure out your shit..”
Iida nodded, sliding his hands away to go rigid by his side. “Yes. I suppose you’ll want to forget this and-”
“You wanna go on a date then..?”
Iida blinked. He waited for the other to laugh, but he was stone-faced and staring at him with no hint of mockery.
“Um, yes. That would be nice.”
Y/N nodded, pushing off of the shelf to move past Iida, whose eyes followed every step. He picked up his backpack and what remained of his coffee, nodding gently. “Goodnight, Tenya.”
Iida stared at him as he left, whispering a goodbye far too late. As soon as Y/N was out of sight, he let out a big breath of air he was holding, covering his mouth.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…”