A/N: I really hope you guys like this one! I really love the friendship between Junpei and Minako, and I hope I managed to portray it properly in this fic! Also, if you see any grammatical errors, feel free to tell me and I'll fix them!


She sat in the innermost corner of his bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets, reading a book while he played video games, sitting on the other side of the bed. At times her gaze would leave the book and it would wander over to the TV screen, and she'd make a comment on the gameplay, or the plot, or something like that. He, in return, would sometimes lean over and take a look at the page she was on, asking how she could keep track of all the characters, or ask if she'd reached the part where the characters fight yet, and she'd inform him of that the book didn't feature that big of a cast, and that there were no fighting in this particular book, and he'd scoff and then laugh before returning to his game.

But, most of the time, they sat in silence.

It was a comfortable silence, the kind of silence that surely make other people uncomfortable, but for the two of them, it was a nice, enjoyable silence. Sure, Yukari would pop by every so often, take a look into the room and loudly exclaim "Geez, you guys are so weird!", but otherwise, the room was mostly quiet.

The door was open, in order to keep everyone in the dorm from thinking that their relationship was anything else than platonic. He insisted on it. She couldn't care less what the others thought, but he didn't want to "ruin her reputation", what ever that meant, by having the door closed.

She could hear a faint echo of the Neo Featherman intro coming up from the lounge, and smiled a little. As much as Ken tried to act like an adult, he sure was a kid at heart. She could also hear Akihiko practicing using his punching bag, and how Yukari and Fuuka gossiped in the common area outside their rooms.

She liked this time of day, when everyone relaxed, and did their thing. She liked it when the dorm was quiet. It made it feel like a normal dorm. It made her feel like a normal teenager. As much as she loved her personas and S.E.E.S, sometimes she just wished that she were normal. But then again, she'd never been normal.

She shook her head slightly, as if to erase the thoughts, before she looked up at Junpei. He seemed to really enjoy himself. She looked over at the TV briefly, before returning her gaze to Junpei again.

He noticed her look, and turned his head to look at her.

They stared at each other in silence for a while.

Then he spoke up, as he turned his head back to the TV. "What's on your mind, Minako?"

She smiled, looking down at her book again. "Nothing really."

He snorted low. "Bullshit. I know that look. You only look at me like that when you're thinking about something you want to discuss. Last time you looked at me like that you were contemplating whether or not there was an afterlife."

"That was a nice discussion though." She looked up at him under her lashes, and saw how he rolled his eyes. This caused her to smile a bit bigger. "But I see you don't quite agree with that statement."

"I didn't even understand half of what you were saying about it, so no, I don't 'quite agree with that statement'."

She giggled a little. "You did have some interesting theories on the matter though, Junpei. Even if you don't agree."

"Yeah, okay, moving on. Tell me what's on your mind." He shot her a glare.

"Hmm." She looked down at her book once again, before closing it, sitting straight. "Do you ever wish you were just a normal teenager?"

He shook his head. "Hell no. Dude, I was a normal teenager until Akihiko-senpai found me at that convenience store during the dark hour, and lemme tell you, I didn't enjoy it one goddamn bit."

"Hmm. I suppose that's true." She bit her lower lip a little, before speaking again. "But, I've never really been 'normal', like that. I mean, I've moved around a lot, since my parents are dead, and I've always made a point in not getting too close to others, because if I did, I'd only get hurt when I had to leave again. I never really had a friend until I met you, you know."

He looked at her in silence for a bit, before pausing the game. He then stood up and went to the door, closing it, and then he returned to the bed, sitting down facing her. "For reals?"

She nodded a little. "Yes. I mean, I had shallow friends. People that I only hung out with around school, talking about shallow things, but I don't remember their names anymore. They were never important enough to remember. But, I don't think I'll ever forget about you, or our friendship. It's... It's special."

"I don't think any of us here in the dorm will ever be able to forget about you either, Minako. You are what's special around here." He scratched the back of his head, avoiding to look at her. "I mean... Not only because of your persona abilities. It's more like... You kinda keep us all grounded? Like this shit we're doing, the dark hour and shadows and personas and shit, it's pretty crazy when you think about it. But, every time I hang out with you I just kinda... I can relax, you know? I know you've got my back, and even if it doesn't seem like much, I've got yours as well." He pushed down his cap so it covered his face, but she could see a faint blush on his cheeks. "Shit I don't even know what I'm trying to say. Just ignore me, I'm just rambling like an idiot right now."

"Well, you are an idiot, Stupei, so it's only fitting that you ramble like one."

"Hey! I resent that!"

She giggled a little, before looking at him, smiling big. "But, thank you, Junpei. It means a lot to hear you say that."

"It's true." He mumbled, still looking a bit flustered, turning back to his game, unpausing it. She giggled, opening her book again. They sat in silence once again. After a while he spoke up again. "You know, I think I would've been your friend even if we weren't in S.E.E.S. I mean, the first time I met you, I just felt like, a connection, or something between us. So even if you'd insisted on keeping your distance, I would've kept trying. I dunno, maybe it's something like soulmates, except in a platonic way? Like the universe chose me to be your best friend or something like that. Shit that sounds stupid."

She contemplated what he said for a while, biting the inside of her cheeks. He had a point. She'd also felt that connection the first time they met. She looked up at him and smiled. "Well, Junpei, I think the universe made an excellent choice when picking my best friend."