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cegantheayugipi · 1 year

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The Last Padisarah Pudding, Your Last Straw (Alhaitham x Reader)

An Alhaitham x Reader Enemies to Lovers One-shot

Word count: 4.9k

Summary: You and Alhaitham have been rivals ever since your first year at the Akademiya. But when things go wrong during a mission given to you by the Sages, you start to realize it's more than just a rivalry...

part 2 is out now!

Finally, you’d be able to beat him. For the very first time, you would be able to break your stalemate – you had the upper hand in your personal competition.

For years, you and Alhaitham were pitted against each other by the Akademiya. The two of you were separately tasked with the retrieval of forbidden knowledge, the sages knowingly exploiting the deep rivalry that was first founded during your student years at the Akademiya. They, of course, were always right. Their choice of disciple for this mission was carefully curated from several different options, knowing the rivalry between you and Alhaitham would produce results faster than anything else.

~7 years Ago~

“Sage Salazar’s tests are notorious for the abysmal pass rate, don’t worry.” One of your classmates consoled another, their words mixing in with several disappointed and distressed conversations.

“What am I going to do, I’ll be expelled if I fail one more time!” Another upset student lamented.

“You can always switch to another Darshan, it’s only our first year so there’s still time.” Someone behind you murmured to a fellow classmate. “I’ve heard that Amurta has better professors.”

You sat back in your chair, smug. Of course, you were the best student in the class. You looked down at the tome before you. As a part of the test, you had to fill the entire book with thorough analysis on the professor’s chosen topic. You flipped the front cover open, admiring what was written in large red letters on the front page.

‘99’.

You were so close to perfection, you could nearly taste it. One more point and you’d have a perfect score. All your sleepless nights in the library were well worth the feeling of euphoria that overcame you today. You were such a rising star that you were certain you’d become a Sage in the future.

“I take it you did well?” A voice came from beside you. It was your classmate, and you recognzied him during some of the lengthy lectures when you would spot him in the back of the class, feet propped up on a bench, his nose in a book. There was no way he could pass Salazar’s rigorous exams if he couldn’t even pay attention in class. You smirked, turning towards your classmate – you recalled his name was Alhaitham.

“Yeah,” You nodded, giving him a nod as a smug expression began to grow across your face. "I got a 99.”

“That’s good,” Alhaitham nodded. “It means at least I’ll see you next year in the top class.”

“Oh, really?” You questioned, surprised that he even managed to pass, let alone gain a score that would allow him to join the top class. “What did you get?”

“100.”

You gawked. “W-woah, that’s great!” You sputtered, unsure how to react to someone who managed to get a perfect score on the most difficult test in a class he didn’t even pay attention to. “We basically got the same score, well done!”

“No,” Alhaitham responded bluntly, his curt tone taking you aback. “You got a 99 because that was all you could get. I got 100 because that was all there was to get.

“You…” your brows pinched together as your sentence trailed off. You were in complete shock that he could say something so rude when you had worked so hard for what you had.

Crossing your arms over your chest, you turned in your seat away from him. You didn’t know what hurt more – his tone, or the truth to what he was saying – but you knew for a fact you immediately despised him.

~~~

Ever since your first encounter with your overly-rational classmate, you were stern rivals – if anyone so much as mentioned the name ‘Alhaitham’ in your presence, you would bristle with anger and resentment. Somehow, the silver-haired student knew exactly what to do in order to push your buttons.

You stood in line at the busy food stall inside the Akademiya. You had just spent several hours in the library studying, and were absolutely famished. You always ordered the same thing from this place, and enjoyed your mid-afternoon snack that kept you going through hours of pushing your brain to its limits.

“What do you mean, there’s no more Padisarah Pudding?” You questioned, your brows furrowed and eyes wide in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, we just sold our last one a couple of minutes ago.” The attendant behind the counter responded apologetically, “Is there anything else you might like?”

“N-no, i’ll just have some tea, thanks.”

The attendant handed you the cup of tea, and you mumbled your thanks as you turned away dejectedly. You supposed you could go down to the city for some of your favorite snack, but that would take up precious time you could be studying instead.

Resigning yourself to sit and drink your tea, you walked over to the dining area only to spot Alhaitham at one of the tables – and in front of him sat not one, but two Padisarah Puddings.

“Why, you!” Brimming with anger, you narrowed your eyes at the silver-haired classmate.

“Hm?” Alhaitham mumbled, not even bothering to look up from the book he was reading.

“Why do you have two puddings?”

“I was feeling particularly hungry today.”

Your eye twitched from his sheer audacity. Both of you were well aware that this was your snack of choice, and Alhaitham bought two merely to get on your nerves. Knowing his intention, you decided to bite back with your own remarks.

“Oh, I forgot how much you need to fuel those ridiculous man muscles.” You scoffed, “But make sure you count your macros correctly, because I have a feeling the extra Padisarah Pudding might throw them off a little.”

Out of the corner of your eye you spotted Alhaitham’s eyebrow twitching. He finally looked up from his book, narrowing his eyes at you.

“Perhaps you should watch yours too.” Alhaitham spoke poignantly. “They shouldn’t be an everyday snack, after all. Perhaps that’s why your fitness scores are the worst out of all your grades?”

Despite wanting to wrap your hands around his neck and throttle him right then and there, you turned around and began to calmly walk away – it was the best you could do to still seem like the better person. It took all your restraint in order to not snap and say something stupid and hateful. You made it all the way back to the library, to your seat at your desk, and immediately slammed your forehead into your open book.

“Damn you Alhaitham!” You groaned, wishing you could live your life peacefully without him.

~1 year ago~

There was nothing you hated more than the day you finally graduated from the Akademiya. Students from all six Darshans were gathered in the main hall, dressed in formal robes. You, as the Salutorian of your graduating class, were offered the chance to give a small speech. Of course, you were delighted to – if only Alhaitham weren’t the Valedictorian.

He followed up your speech with one that would haunt your dreams for years.

“Firstly, I would like to thank the Akademiya for allowing me to learn and thrive here.” He spoke, his overly courteous tone obviously fake to you, forcing you to roll your eyes. “It has been a delightful six years of study, where I’ve been able to research subjects I could only dream of beforehand. My success in my studies aren’t solely down to my own effort... I would like to thank Y/N Y/L/N for always being there to encourage me and motivate me to do better.”

You gawked at the classmate you hated – both of you hated each other. As Alhaitham continued his speech, you could hear whispers among the other students from where you sat in the crowd.

‘I do see them together quite often’

‘Are they in a relationship?’

‘That’s so sweet,’

‘I thought they were always fighting?’

‘Sounds like couples fights’

Your body began to shake with anger, and your face turned bright red as you stared daggers into your most dreaded rival. The whispers among the people surrounding you only fueled your hatred for the silver-haired student even more. Alhaitham met your gaze as he continued his speech, his expression completely unreadable while you glared at him in return.

“Hey, Y/N, I thought you hated Alhaitham?” A classmate sitting next to you leaned over and whispered into your ear.

“I hate him more than anything.” You muttered, despite the ferocious blush that stained your face. “I wish I could murder him right now.”

~Current Day~

Alhaitham thought this would simply be another boring mission given to him by the sages. Although the prospect of being able to use the knowledge capsule he retrieved for the Akedemiya, he would much rather be deep in the pages of another book while enjoying the seabreeze by Port Ormos. As scribe for Haravatat, he was often given boring missions that he could complete quickly, spending the rest of his allocated time relaxing and reading.

That was, until he spotted you walking around talking to locals. If this were any other occasion, he would probably approach you with something embarassing and humiliating in order to entertain himself, but this time you were dressed in student’s robes.

He immediately knew something was off – you, an Alchemist for the Akedemiya, who had graduated years ago, were walking around pretending to be a student on break. It was often that students would come to Port Ormos around this time of year to relax and unwind, and you were most certainly using this fact as some sort of ruse or disguise.

He decided to get up and move to a different location to read his book, picking one that was within earshot of you but out of your sight, trying to figure out just what you were up to.

“Dori, you say?”

“Most certainly. If you give her the right price and earn her trust, she’ll deliver anything.”

“Even information on a certain Knowledge Capsule?”

“Yes.”

Immediately, Alhaitham stiffened, realizing you were also here for a knowledge capsule, undoubtedly also sent by the Akademiya. He smirked, realizing this was yet another chance to beat you.

~~~

You had finally found the location where Dori, a merchant dealing in knowledge capsules, would meet prospective customers – a quiet courtyard outside a sleepy tavern at the edge of the city. You were there just before sunset, at your agreed meeting time, but there was no sign of the financially-motivated merchant.

You checked the small timepiece before tucking it back into your pocket, anxious to find leads and produce results for the Sages. The air was also beginning to get chilly; you were eager to get back indoors and eat a hot meal.

However, the last thing you expected was to hear a voice that haunted your studies at the Akademiya and your early years of your professional career.

“You won’t be able to find leads on the auspicious knowledge capsule this easily,” Your stomach twisted into a knot at the words you heard.

Of course, it was Alhaitham you came face-to-face with once you turned around. Your lips pulled into a terse frown, your eyebrow twitching with anger as the pieces fell together.

“You’re the reason why Dori is a no-show.” You growled, pointing a finger accusatively at your rival.

“She seems to not be very fond of me,” Alhaitham deadpanned, giving a nonchalant shrug. “I propose you find a proxy, or simply think of a more creative way of finding it before me. Although, I doubt you will.”

“Watch it, asshole.” You spat, “One way or another, I will beat you.”

Your face burning hot with anger, you stormed away from the courtyard. You no longer felt the chill of the evening – the fury pumping in your veins was more than enough to keep you warm.

~~~

After years of agonizing rivalry, when you discovered the scribe Alhaitham was searching for the same forbidden knowledge capsule as you were, you thought you must have done something to anger the gods in a previous life. The mere concept of him retrieving the knowledge capsule before you made your blood boil – there was no way you would ever let that happen.

Once you discovered you both were vying for the same mysterious object, you immediately threw your effort into overtime. Thus, you worked endlessly, even resorting to underhanded methods to obtain such an item. You even contacted a certain suspicious doctor, one who had been expelled from the Akedemiya, and was associated with the shady Snezhnayan organization known as the Fatui – one who was once known as Zandik.

“It’s about time for me to return to my Alma Mater.” Il Dottore sneered, his tone sending chills down your spine. “I’ll supplement your search for this knowledge capsule, in return for aid in bartering for my ownership of it once you return it to the sages.”

Those words echoed in your head, and despite knowing the Doctor was far too dangerous and underhanded, you still took his advice and used the device he had given you. It was a knowledge compass, a small metallic clock whose hands oriented to point towards high concentrations of knowledge. According to the Doctor, it was one of his latest inventions, and he was willing to lend it out to you if he could have the knowledge capsule you found using it.

And thus you found yourself at Port Ormos, wandering the streets disguised as a young child. The cloak around you hid your adult features, and you walked with light steps to mimic children in the street and avoid the attention of townsfolk who passed by.

Staring down at the compass, you watched as the handle flickered from left to right. In the back of your head, you had uneasy thoughts that you’d pay for taking the easy way out later.

Suddenly, the handle snapped towards one direction, firmly focused on some sort of mysterious power. You came to a complete stop, realizing you were right before a small alley. You were about to enter it when you heard hushed voices prickle at the tips of your ears.

“One million mora. Take it or leave it.”

“No way, this isn’t even guaranteed to be the real thing. I would much rather go through a more reliable channel, like Dori.”

“It’s your loss, then. I can guarantee you, this is the real auspicious knowledge capsule. You have no clue how many people are trying to get their hands on it.”

At those words, you knew it was the right knowledge capsule. You tucked the compass away, shrugging your shoulders as you tried to put on your best childlike impression.

“Have you seen my mom?” You stepped into the alley and asked in a baby-like voice, your head facing the ground.

“What the hell?” One of the people in the alley exclaimed at your sudden appearance in front of them.

You flashed forwards, snatching the glowing capsule before scaling the wall and disappearing over the rooftops. You jumped across several houses before disappearing into a knoll in the giant tree trunk that towered over the city. You might have mediocre strength compared to most of the skilled Academics, but you could move fast for short periods of time.

The three men you had just stolen the knowledge capsule from were hot on your tail, but you quickly ditched the disguise and returned to your normal appearance. With the capsule carefully tucked away in your pocket, you walked nonchalantly through the port. The men rushed past you, racing through the streets in search of a small child – not a lazy student who looked like they wanted to kick back and relax after their final exams.

“Where the hell is that kid?!” You heard one of them shout. You did your best to hide your smirk, slowly making your way towards the city gates to head back to Dottore’s lab.

What you didn’t notice, however, was the glint of silver hair that poked out from behind a stack of crates – Alhaitham looked up from his book at your retreating figure, realizing you had finally gotten your hands on what he wanted.

He knew reporting your collaboration with the Fatui to the sages would only result in you reporting his shady actions in return, so instead of following the rules, he chose to shut the book he was in the middle of reading and see where exactly you were headed. After all, it seemed like you had made progress – and Alhaitham couldn’t stand to see you pulling ahead in the game.

He always loved to piss you off. He could tell by the look on your face when when you were cursing at him internally. He loved how satisfying it was to beat you; you were always someone who did everything in their power to be the best, and it felt so much better to beat you when compared to beating any other academic he had the displeasure of getitng to know.

Relishing the idea of spying on you to figure out how he can outsmart you once again, Alhaitham began to slowly walk towards your direction.

~~~

“Doctor, I’ve brought back the compass.” You bowed in front of the green-haired man, extending one arm as you held out the intricate device.

“Thank you,” Dottore reached out, his gloved fingers tracing along your forearm before reaching the palm of your hand where the compass rested.

You shivered at the way he unnecessarily touched you, wondering why he felt the need to do that.

“I presume you’ve already found the auspicious knowledge capsule,” Dottore smirked, although you couldn’t read his expression through the mask he wore.

“Y-yes, I’ve brought it to the sages already. We can-”

“Ah- ah- ah,” Dottore cut you off, shaking his head as he spoke. “I believe you still have it on yourself.”

Unbeknownst to either of you, Alhaitham was hidden away behind some of Dottore’s strange machinery that he had strewn aside from one of his projects he had abandoned. He listened in on your conversation, realizing exactly who you had made a deal with – and just how deep you had gotten yourself into trouble.

Your eyes widened with fear, realizing Dottore could see through your facade. He was correct – you had gone straight from Port Ormos to Dottore’s laboratory, with no intention of giving it back to the Sages just yet. This knowledge capsule seemed different – it glowed white instead of green. The contents of the capsule were kept vague, nobody seeming to have any idea as to what could be inside of it. You actually wanted to study the capsule more than anything, hoping that you could make some sort of incredible discovery that Alhaitham could never beat.

“I’m sorry,” You immediately shifted gears, understanding what kind of person you were talking to – if the rumors were anything to go by, he was one of the most terrifying people in the world – if he was still a person at all. You should have known that he would have incredible senses, and would be able to tell you still had the capsule on you.

“That’s okay,” Dottore stepped closer to you, his shadow completely swallowing you as he towered above your height. “After all, you’ve done everything I’ve asked for. How could I complain about a little lie?”

You began to cower with fear, realizing that nobody knew where you were right now. If Dottore ended up doing something to you, nobody would ever know. With a cold gloved hand, the Doctor reached out and cupped your cheek. With the other, he slid his hand down your side, his fingers slipping into your pocket to pull out the glowing capsule.

Your lips quivered as you watched Dottore marvel at the knowledge capsule you had essentially delivered to him on a silver platter.

“After all, you’ll be my first subject to test its contents on.”

Your heart dropped like a rock into your stomach at the realization that Dottore had no intention of letting you leave. You immediately tried to escape, but his hand on your cheek instantly slipped around your neck, lifting you off of the ground as you flailed. Your hands immediately went up to wrench at his unyielding grip. It was like a ring of metal was locked around your neck – his hand simply wouldn’t budge. Your feet swung beneath you, your toes pointing as you tried desperately to find any solid ground to stand on.

“I’ll feed you the knowledge bit by bit, and see how much you can tolerate before you go insane.”

Alhaitham peered around the side of the machinery that hid his presence, witnessing the Doctor engrossed with you as he vocalized how he wanted to experiment on you. His sickening words settled uncomfortably in Alhaitham’s stomach, making the Scribe feel anger and fear that he hadn’t ever felt before.

‘What?’ Your mind reeled at Dottore’s announcement, somehow able to make logical connections despite the stress of the situation. ‘Knowledge capsules should be easily digestible instant knowledge! Could it be, that it’s this highly prioritized by the Sages for a reason, and it’s because humans can’t tolerate it?’

Let’s start with… two percent.” Dottore sneered, and you couldn’t say anything in protest as he cut off your airway.

You writhed more and more desperately as he raised the capsule towards your face, its colorless luminance enveloping your entire vision.

This just might be it. Your rivalry with Alhaitham might have finally gone too far.

You began to close your eyes, your body falling still as you gave up on trying to escape.

Alhaitham couldn’t stand it anymore, he couldn’t bear to watch you get hurt; Dottore was going to drive you mad with his experiments, or worse – kill you. He moved with breakneck speed as he slashed the inhuman Doctor’s arm clean off, rescuing you from certain doom.

A loud crash resounded through the laboratory as you found yourself flying across the room, landing in the arms of someone strong and warm. The white light was gone, and you blinked as your eyes adjusted to see Alhaitham hovering above you.

“WHAT!” The doctor exclaimed, and you realized his voice was now suddenly far away. You glanced in the direction of the voice to see Dottore standing on the other side of the room, missing one arm. Sparks were coming out of the stump that his arm once was, a telling sign that his body was actually part robot. Dottore’s other arm was frozen in the air, still holding onto the glowing capsule, and it seemed like he had some sort of process malfunction.

Alhaitham had carried you across the room to set you down. You felt his warm hands around your neck, and watched as his arms flexed and his shoulders strained. Suddenly you heard a snap and you could breathe again, the metallic fingers of Dottore’s robotic arm finally broken away from your throat. You gasped for air, sitting up on your own as you were finally free from the Doctor’s clutches.

“When will you realize I’m just better?” He smirked, helping you up.

“Shut up,” you rolled your eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Not without the capsule.” Alhaitham spoke, running back towards Il Dottore. The robot seemed to still be malfunctioning as it didn’t react in any way to the scribe’s approach.

Alhaitham snatched the capsule from its hand, quickly returning to where you were still sitting recovering from nearly being strangled and illegal-knowledged to death.

You tried to scramble to your feet, but you stumbled. You were caught by an arm roughly hooking around your waist, lifting you off of the ground and racing out of the laboratory.

“Hey! Put me down!” You exclaimed, kicking in protest to the uncomfortable and embarrassing way you were being carried.

“Fine, fine.” Alhaitham relented, “I suppose we’ve fled far enough away now.”

He set you down on the ground gently, and you were finally able to find your balance and climb to your feet.

“That was incredibly dangerous.” Alhaitham warned. “Both of us aren’t afraid of underhanded methods of achieving our goals… but the Doctor is simply far too dangerous. You were incredibly lucky I happened to be nearby, otherwise you might have become a test subject for a mad scientist.”

“I did what I had to.” You crossed your arms as you turned away, scoffing.

“There were several far less dangerous methods you could have used… but thankfully we won’t be returning to the sages empty-handed, since I managed to get the knowledge capsule in the end.”

He withdrew the glowing capsule from his pocket, holding it in the air to examine it. It was at that point that you realized he had won yet again. Not only did he save you from certain doom at the hands of a mad scientist, but he also had possession of the capsule that you nearly died in order to obtain.

“Why, you!” Anger suddenly filled you to the brim once again – but this time it overflowed freely. You lunged towards your rival, hands wrapping around his throat as you tackled him to the ground.

Alhaitham was so taken aback by your sudden violence that you had actually caught him off-guard. His balance faltered and you managed to knock him backwards. He fell onto the soft grass, but his reflexes were far better than yours as he quickly rolled so that you were now beneath him. You looked furious – but he always loved it when you looked that way.

“Damn you, bastard!” You writhed beneath him, unable to escape the cage he had made around you with his arms. Tears prickled at the corners of your eyes; this was the last straw. Time and time again, he had bested you while barely breaking a sweat, and you couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why does beating you feel better than anything else in the world?” Alhaitham smirked as he stared down at you, his face hovering mere inches above yours.

You wriggled your arm free, about to land a punch on his smug face, when you felt something soft pressing harshly down on your lips. It was warm, soft – you suddenly realized Alhaitham was kissing you.

Despite how much he pressed your buttons and made you curse his existence, something drew you to kiss back – and it ignited a fire in your stomach. Instead of throwing a punch at Alhaitham, your free arm began to snake behind his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. He began to lower his body, pressing his chest flush with yours to the point where you could feel the heat radiating off of him.

You let out a soft groan as he slid one knee between your thighs, hooking your legs down and trapping you in the kiss. His fingers raked through your hair, and Alhaitham knew your hair always looked nice but he didn’t realize just how soft it was now that he could finally touch it.

Alhaitham pulled away, watching you pant as your face burned bright red. Your lips were slightly swollen from the kiss, drawing his gaze to them, and making him want to kiss you even more.

Your eyes raked down Alhaitham’s body as he hovered above you, and you burned with humiliation inside. You hated the way he made you feel – he always got on your nerves as if he knew exactly what to do and say in order to piss you off.

“Why is it always like this?” You sighed, gazing into his jade green eyes. Your silver-haired rival merely smirked.

“Even in the Akademiya, you were always too reckless.” Alhaitham responded. “Always too eager to be the best, as if you’d ever be able to beat me.”

“I hate you.” You mumbled, “The way you always beat me at everything so effortlessly, the look in your eyes when you put on that impudent smirk, how you know exactly what pisses me off the most. Why do you hate me so much?”

Alhaitham’s breath fell still at your accusations; he never realized the things he did made you think he hated you.

“I never hated you.” He responded bluntly, causing you to freeze beneath him.

“Y-you… what?” You stuttered, your blush deepening at the realization your hatred was one-sided. You were at a loss for words, and only managed to stare back up at Alhaitham.

“You’re redder than a tomato.” Alhaitham stated bluntly.

“Hey!” You quickly became angry again, embarrassed at how flustered he had easily made you – and how he had effortlessly kissed you, something that nobody before ever had the privilege of doing. You were always far too invested in your academic career to ever focus on romance or relationships. The kiss gave you a realization, awakening feelings for him that you had no clue ever even existed before this. However, the way Alhaitham immediately switched back to teasing you made you forget all of these feelings temporarily.

“First you stole my knowledge capsule, and now you’ve stolen my first kiss too! I can’t deal with this anymore!”

“You’re just trying to deny you liked it.”

Once again, he was completely right.

“Fuck you, Alhaitham!” You lunged forwards, wrapping your hands around his neck once again. This time, however, Alhaitham let you push him backwards into the grass. The faintest smile was on his lips as he fell, staring up at your face. Your anger somehow faded into laughter as you tackled him to the ground. You were still angry with him, of course, but for some reason he had become slightly more tolerable.

~~~

Read part 2 here.

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