**Author's Note** Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm really glad people are taking the time to read these scribblings of mine and then give feedback. I'm really not sure why both of these involve Junpei. I'm a huge fan of his, so it's not completely out of the blue. It really wasn't planned, though. Seriously.
Junpei really wondered about Minako sometimes. She slept through nearly every class and still managed to make decent grades. The little time she spent in the dorm was filled with talking or baking or music of some form. He was positive she never studied, or if she did, she did it with a secrecy that ninjas would envy.
He did all this himself (minus the music and baking) and.. well look where he was! His grades were so low they almost fell off the chart and through the floor at times.
Finally, during one of their ramen marathons (he was winning, he noted with pride), he popped the question.
"Mina-tan? How do you manage to slack off so much and not completely fail? Seriously, you gotta tell me. Did you get some kinda vision? Did some spirit visit you and tell you the secret of slacking?"
She thought of Pharos for a moment, but figured bringing up her nightly prison-boy visitor would probably freak him out.
Minako grinned, "I'm just that good?"
Junpei smirked, "I'm not fooled. Come on, dish!"
Minako swirled her noodles with her chopsticks for a minute, then took a bite, slowly savoring both the flavor and his growing impatience. Then she spoke up.
"Minidisc recorder."
He blinked, "What, really? Geeze, I should have thought of that. Wait, when do you listen to them?"
She gave him a look, "When do you think? When we're fighting in Tartarus. Sometimes when I'm sleeping, too. They say that works."
Junpei returned the look, "Wait… what? When we're fighting in Tartarus… you're listening to lectures? Really?"
She nods, "Yep. Well, just during routine explorations. I keep it quiet enough that I can hear everything fine. The math ones really help me fight better, though. That really good move I did last night? That was thanks to long division."
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Minako looks down at the deck of tarot cards in her hands and sighs. She shuffles through them, noting the faint markings on the back, which appear to show ranks of some sort.
The whole system was odd, really. She would be talking to someone when all of a sudden she'd hear shattering glass and a deep mysterious voice (that somehow sounded like a soft version of that guy that always does movie trailers). Then a new tarot card would appear in her pocket. Well, either a new one would appear or the one she already had would gain a new mark on the back.
She wondered how many marks she'd need to finish a card, if that was even possible. Sheesh, she was thinking about them as if they were bingo cards and filling up a line would get her a basket or a candle.
Then she thought of the first time she'd really noticed that happen and grinned. She'd been talking to Junpei after class when she'd heard the glass shatter, and she'd whipped her head around, trying to figure out what punk kid had broke a window. Then the deep voice had intoned and she'd frozen like a statue. Everyone in the room had stared at her, thinking that either she'd lost her mind or was about to have a seizure.
When she'd noticed them all looking at her, she'd shuffled her feet and rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"Uhhh, I thought I heard something. Go back to.. whatever you were doing. Right now."
This earned her a few more looks.
She scowled slightly, "You're gonna get behind on your.. stuff-doing!" She made a shooing gesture.
A few more. Then it was collectively decided that the new girl warranted a good gossip session, so people began to filter out of the room, softly chattering to each other.
She turned back to Junpei, who was also giving her an appraising look. She shrugged, "Ehhhh, sorry, nerves. I'm usually a lot saner than this."
He'd shrugged too, "Nah, it's cool. It's your first week."
At least they'd all forgotten about it, or been polite enough not to bring it up. As she reflected further, she considered that at least she really only had to be a good friend to them. That it wasn't required that she actually get deeply involved with anyone. Wow, would that have made things complicated.
Elsewhere, a blue-haired teenager ripped his hair out as yet another feminine social link reversed for the third time.
(A/N: Yes, this happened all the time my first playthrough. Chihiro and Yuko stayed pissed off at me. Minato was not a happy camper.)