Because Blackmail!Oreki is my favorite Oreki.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

…

If anyone asked Eru why she stopped to listen, she wouldn't have known what to say. Except, perhaps… curiosity. But stop to listen she did. Well… stop to listen and peek around the wall to watch.

It was Oreki-san, as she had thought. And the person across from him was mildly familiar.

"Is that… Fujikawa-senpai?" she muttered to herself already knowing that it was. No one else in school was that tall. "What is he doing with Oreki-san?"

Maybe Fujikawa-senpai had agreed to lend them the manuscript after all. Wouldn't that be nice! She was confused though, considering the older student had been adamant about keeping the manuscript for himself.

She cocked her head in concentration as she focused on what they were saying.

…

"Listen… I'm not sure why you called me out here, but can we just get this over with?" Fujikawa grumbled crossing his arms in a way he hoped was intimidating. The first year remained unfazed, much to Fujikawa's chagrin.

"The book. I want it."

Fujikawa's brow furrowed. "Book?"

"Manuscript."

A scowl bloomed on Fujikawa's face. "Oh. I wondered why you looked so familiar. You're with that group who asked about it last week. Oreki, isn't it?"

He was rewarded with a short nod.

"Well, I told you then that I wouldn't give it to you, and the answer's the same now. Just let it go already."

Oreki heaved a put upon sigh and stuffed his hands into his pockets. His shoulders were hunched and his posture slouched, as if he had no energy for what he was about to do, but was resigned to doing it anyway.

"You want it for Kusanagi-senpai, right?"

Fujikawa froze. How did he know that? And where exactly was he planning to go with this line of questioning?

"That's none of your business!"

"No," Oreki conceded. "Neither are your test scores."

Fujikawa's took a step back reflexively. "What-"

"Or how you got them, really. But it's pretty strange how all of a sudden you're in the top 15 when your grades have been below average at best."

The implication was obvious, the threat less so. Or maybe it was Fujikawa's below average intelligence that was preventing him from understanding what Oreki was getting at.

"I don't know what you're trying to say but just leave me alone, all right?"

Another put upon sigh. "Your voice was too high."

"What?"
Oreki shook his head. "I've already spent too much energy on this. Just let me have the manuscript and I'll leave it alone."

Fujikawa gaped as everything clicked into place. "Wait! You're blackmailing me? You can't do that! You don't even have proof! You can't go to anyone with this! I don't-"

Oreki's expression was only slightly more irritated than indifferent, but it was enough to make Fujikawa shut up. And take another step back.

"I don't have proof. But I wouldn't need it to go to Kusanagi-senpai. She's smart, and she only dates guys with high grades, right?"

"Wait a minute! You can't- I haven't-"

"Just give me the manuscript. It's not like she even knows about it."

Fujikawa stared for a moment, looking for all the world like he wanted to say something else, perhaps to rail against the illegality of it all. He stopped himself.

"I don't have it with me."

"We can go get it now. I have to hurry and get to the clubroom anyway; yours is on the way."

"I… Fine. Let's go."

Oreki's shoulders slumped marginally, and the invisible tension he'd been carrying fell away. Or more likely drained- nothing so abrupt as a fall.

"Okay."

"And you won't mention this again?"

"No."

"Fine."

…

Chitanda's expression was curiously blank when Oreki presented the manuscript to her in the clubroom. He resisted the urge to shift in his seat when all she did was stare at it. He didn't know what to say, but he wasn't comfortable with the silence, which made him cringe. She was doing strange things to him again, but wasn't she always?

"I got it from Fujikawa-senpai today," he offered.

She looked at him – finally – though he wasn't sure if he were relieved or not. There was something odd in her gaze, like she was trying to dissect him. Why was she looking at him like that? She should be gushing over the manuscript instead of staring silently at him. He wondered if she were coming down with something.

"Oreki-san…"

That didn't sound like the start of an "I'm curious". And while he didn't want to be entrapped in her ridiculously focused gaze, a shred of normalcy would be appreciated. When had that become normal anyway? He missed when his life had been completely grey. Probably.

"What?"

She was hesitating, which was strange. Because it wasn't her usual hesitation, all thoughtfulness and deliberation. This hesitation was tinged with uncertainty and just a bit of foreboding. His sense of self-preservation was telling him to find a way to end this conversation before it began, to make an excuse to leave the room. But he couldn't. Because she was looking at him with that paralyzing gaze of hers and he was trapped in his seat as surely as if he were chained.

"Oreki-san," she began again. "What did Oreki-san have to do to get this?"

Why are you asking when you already know?

The thought was sudden, but it struck him as forcefully as any conclusion he had come to through deduction. Because he could tell instinctively that she knew, and everything he was forcing himself to observe and think through simply supported that conclusion. He took a moment to be surprised at himself – at how quickly his brain had processed everything he had been taking in subconsciously. Then the shock faded, overpowered by a mixture of dread and apprehension.

She knew.

He was glad that Ibara and Satoshi weren't in the room, though maybe Satoshi would have been useful, since he'd told him what he'd been planning to do. "Adult stuff", Satoshi had reminded him jokingly. Satoshi was good at joking away serious things; it would have been helpful here.

She knew.

How? It didn't matter – not really. The most logical conclusion was that she had seen what had transpired between himself and Fujikawa-senpai. But that was so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. She had watched him; that didn't matter. What mattered was that she had seen- had seen him.

She knew.

And why did that matter? Why did it matter that she'd seen him blackmail Fujikawa-senpai? Why was that so important? He knew the answer to that, as much as he wished he didn't. It mattered because he hadn't wanted her to know, had never wanted her to know. He'd been careful to make sure that she hadn't found out when he'd done it before - only twice before. Wasn't three supposed to be a lucky number? Was this lucky?

She knew.

And he didn't want her to know because he'd been afraid of this. Afraid of her reaction. Afraid that knowing this part of him would change how she looked at him. Because to him, it wasn't all that bad. Just putting people on the position to give him what he wanted. Not even what he wanted because he'd done it for her. So it wasn't a big deal to him, except in terms of how much energy he had to expend to get it done. But he'd known it'd be a big deal to her. And he hadn't wanted her to look at him and see someone she couldn't admire anymore. Someone she couldn't come to for help. Someone she couldn't innocently force all of her problems onto. Because he cared what she thought of him, and he didn't want her to see him as anything other than a good person, even when he knew he wasn't.

She knew.

"Oreki-san?"

Her voice was soft, not tentative, but not as forceful as usual. Not as comfortable. Guarded. Like she was talking to a stranger. Or maybe he was over-reacting.

"Does it matter?"

He knew it did.

She blinked obviously surprised by his response. He wondered what she'd been expecting. What she'd hoped for. Wondered if there were a different answer to each question.

"I… I think so."

Any energy reserves he'd had were long since emptied. He didn't have anything left for this conversation. And even if he did, would that change anything? The way she thought? What she was feeling right now?

"You already know the answer." He wasn't willing to draw this out.

Her shock was short lived. "Yes."

"What does that mean then?" Where does that leave us? But he'd never say that out loud, not when he was so afraid of the answer.

"I don't know." There can't really be an us anymore, can there?

He obviously hadn't needed to ask the question out loud. Not when he was this good at reading between the lines.

But maybe this was a good thing. For her to find out about him. They had been tiptoeing around each other for too long already; this was a safe way to resolve things. Or maybe he was a coward. The answer didn't matter. Not really. Not now.

"I already did it, so you should keep the manuscript. He won't be expecting it back anyway."

She nodded shortly.

He nodded back.

And that was the end of it. All of it.

…

Never fear. It's not the end by far.

Because blackmail brings people together. It's like cupid, only cooler.

T.N.T!