Daichi: Notable early differences in plot involve, well... still have a few days before Minako gets out of the hospital, let's make them count.

Verity: We don't own this stuff.

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'Satoko, that dog has a Persona.'

'I noticed.'

'I don't think you did. Let me reiterate- a dog has a Persona.'

"I know, Anubis," She muttered out loud. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

'You can speak to most animals, can't you?'

"Doesn't necessarily include Shiba Inu." Well, she knew it did. She didn't know quite how far her lingual gift went, but canines were definitely well within her range. A pressure in the back of her head. "Fine, I'll talk with him." The pressure lightened.

Fortunately, the dog hadn't gone far, and she could simply track his Persona with her aura senses. Animals had fainter auras than humans, but Personas were difficult to overlook unless something was suppressing them.

She found him at the shrine, sitting on the steps. She didn't really know how to start a conversation with him, so she just sat down next to him. "It's a nice day out, huh?" That was a good way to start a conversation, right? It was strange. She could manage to make an emotional connection with anyone, but had no idea how to speak to a dog.

"I guess." Animals spoke in a different way from humans. It was not really normal language, in that the structure seemed random at first glance and sounds could have several hundred meanings depending entirely on context, but Satoko understood it clearly. It was similar to the way others of her kind spoke, to the point where if she spoke like them, animals would most likely understand.

"You guess? What is there to guess about? It's either a nice day or it isn't." She shrugged. Inside her head, Anubis started the countdown.

"Wait, did you just understand me?" She nodded.

"I can speak to animals, it's a thing I do. I can also detect natural energy, manipulate it, and summon an ancient god of death. Not that it does much. Anyway, my name's Satoko."

21122121

After spending some time with the dog, who she'd learned was called Koromaru, she gave a hurried goodbye as she ran back through town. It was getting late, and Mitsuru wanted her to be at the dorm by dark, never mind that she'd be back out after midnight anyway. She hadn't brought up the subject of Personas, but she didn't really know how to bring that up in a normal conversation.

Anubis had gone quiet in the back of her mind again, which she counted as a plus. Aura guardian or not, she had her own things to do, and having a god of any kind making snide commentary would not be helping. She pulled a photograph out of the pocket of her green jacket. A smaller version of her other form was sitting with a small golden fox. Both creatures were wearing scarves like the one around her neck.

"I can do this, Keira," she told the picture. "I know I can."

211212

It turned out that she wasn't going out that night, after all. She lay down in her bed, the unnatural auras of the Dark Hour having jolted her awake. She probably would never get used to it. It just wasn't right.

Getting back to sleep was difficult. She wondered just what her old classmates would say about this. At least one of them would probably laugh at her. She could try to call, but maybe it would be better, for the time being, if they just forgot about her. She was on the hunt for clues, but could never find any. It had been a simple hunch that led her to Iwatodai in her search, and it didn't seem to be paying off. Not that she could back out now.

The deal had been four years, give or take a few months, and travelling between as necessary. Maybe the ability to go back and forth at will could happen, but not now. She had to fulfill her end of the bargain first. She was a fighter, and the fought of a hard battle made her heart race. But this was one thing she couldn't risk.

She didn't want to risk destroying what was left of her best friend.

121221

The next day, after school, Mitsuru called her on her new cell phone. "How did you get this number? I literally just bought this thing before school!"

"That doesn't matter. Arisato is awake."

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She was surprised to hear that Minako was the one they were waiting for, but at least she now knew who the aura similar to Souji's belonged to. Unlike Souji, however, Minako had stability, in a sense. It swirled about, but still wasn't as out of control as Souji's was. There was something else that unsettled her, but Satoko just shrugged it off. She couldn't go around actings suspicious of all the auras she sensed.

When Ikutsuki had asked Minako if she'd believe in a secret hour, Minako just nodded. "I've lived with it for ten years. Orpheus and Thanatos can back me up on that." Actually, her mixed aura had several offshoots, but the extra structure definitely came from her awakening to the power of Persona.

Satoko wondered why Mitsuru's mouth was gaping like that. Maybe it was because Minako dropped the names of two Personas instead of just one. But that could only be a good thing, right?

"By the way, please don't ask me to use Thanatos again. Summoning him is really tiring." Or that. Would explain just why she had been unconscious for almost two weeks.

Minako had immediately accepted the offer to join SEES, just as Satoko had. She hadn't really spoken, preferring to let the teenagers and the one adult deal with the situation. It couldn't really affect her.

Maybe not caring was a bad idea, but she knew better than to get too invested in something that cannot last. It just wasn't worth it.

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Daichi: Satoko may act really happy, but she still has deeply buried issues. She'll eventually face them... like, three years down the road eventually.