A/N: I'm really happy to present the first chapter of Shinji's link! It's been a lot of fun writing this story, and I'm looking forward to delving into Shinji's character. As I've decided the in-story deadline for his link will be October, the next ten or so chapters will take place during the month of September.

MOON: RANK I

"Sorry dude… I don't really want to talk about it…"

Junpei gives you a tired shrug before closing the door to his room.

You quietly sigh as you give Junpei's door one last look. As you make your way downstairs, you notice Koromaru sleeping soundly in the small gathering space on your floor. At the staircase, Aigis intercepts you halfway down. She asks, "How is Junpei-san?"

"As you'd expect," you answer, shoving your hands into your pockets. He's brooding, but what else is a guy supposed to feel after the girl he was crushing on kidnapped him?

"..." Aigis falls silent, as if struggling to find the words to say. When she finally speaks, she sounds hesitant. "... I do not understand Junpei-san's affection for the enemy. It is very strange. If someone were to hurt you, Minato-san, I would never forgive him or her." Her light blue eyes find yours. "However, I want to support him. He is my friend, and if he wishes to pursue a relationship with that girl… then I have no right to stop him."

Aigis' declaration takes you by surprise. Everyone else seemed pretty pissed off at Chidori. Still, here's Aigis, trying her hardest to understand Junpei's feelings. Sometimes, you forget that she isn't actually human.

You greatly appreciate her effort and nod approvingly.

"Ah…" A gentle smile fills her face. "I am glad you feel the same way." She begins climbing up the stairs. "Please rest well, Minato-san. You did an excellent job leading the team during tonight's full moon operation." You tell her good work and good night, and Aigis gives you another smile before taking the next staircase to the girls' floor.

In the lobby, your eyes find only a slouching Shinjiro is looking through the refrigerator. You hear your newest teammate mumbling to himself. "... hell do they even eat? Akihiko did say they order take out a lot…"

Maintaining a good distance, you ask, "Looking for something, Shinjiro-senpai?"

"Huh?" Shinjiro turns and looks at you. "Oh, it's you. Nah, not really," he answers as he shuts the door. "You looking for Mitsuru and Akihiko? They took that Strega girl to the hospital." As he tells you this, he slowly makes his way over to one of the couches. With a heavy sigh, he takes a seat.

You think for a second. Everyone else is probably resting now. With nothing better to do, you walk over and sit in one of the armchairs.

With his beanie, it's a little hard to tell, but it looks like Shinjiro raised his eyebrows. "What? You need something from me?"

You shrug and reply you're bored. You almost expect it, so the pounding in your chest indicating the formation of a new social link doesn't surprise you.

"Well, I'm not the person you should be talking to," he throws back rather roughly. Then his expression softens ever so slightly."...just go find Koromaru. That dog never runs out of energy. He'll keep you busy." Surprisingly, you can sense a bit of warmth as he talks about your canine companion.

You tell him that you would, if Koromaru wasn't fast asleep on the second floor. You don't want to wake him.

Shinjiro seems pleased with your concern for the dog. "Well, can't be helped. Guy must be exhausted after the fight." He scratches the back of his head. "Aside from Iori getting kidnapped, tonight's battle went well. You didn't half-ass your position as leader." He sounds impressed… you think.

At any rate, you accept Shinjiro's rather strange compliment with a nod.

"Akihiko wasn't screwing around when he told me how much he trusted your leadership abilities. The idiot was going on and on about how you really pull the team together, how SEES might've been different if you had joined when it first formed-" The look on Shinjiro's face when he stops mid sentence tells you even he's surprised by how much he said. You slowly take all his words in, pleasantly surprised by how much Akihiko talks about you.

Shinjiro clears his throat and crosses his arms before continuing. "Anyway, I can't say how much you might've changed if had you joined when it was just me, Akihiko, and Mitsuru, but you're doing some good now."

Now that sounds more like a genuine compliment. Giving him a half-smile, you say that you'll be counting on him as well as the days go by.

"Yeah." He grimaces, as if remembering something unpleasant. "Let's get rid of this damn Dark Hour."

Your eyes meet briefly meet his once more before he looks away, his mind most likely focusing on something else.

As silence quickly fills the room, the pounding in your chest erupts, bursting through your whole body. Your vision fizzes in and out as you hear the words you've become so accustomed to throughout the year,

Thou art I… and I am thou…

Thou hast established a new bond…

Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Moon Arcana…

Once the words fade, you find yourself surprised by how harsh this new link was. None of your other social links hit you quite this hard.

As you recover from the temporary numbness, you wonder how this newly-formed social link will play out. It won't be easy to get Shinji to open up; even now, he's faced away from you, flipping through one of the magazines left on the center table.

After finding your list of possible talking points has dried up, you reach for the remote and turn on the TV, lowering the volume to a much softer level. You eventually realize that it's calming, not having either party feel pressured to make conversation.

An hour passes, consisting of you watching some anime and Shinjiro silently reading. Upon finishing an episode, you get up, stretch, and bid Shinjiro a good night. He offers you a grunt, and you head up to your room.