Daichi: Satoko's school days will consist of spending time with her friends... her nights will be spent at Tartarus... and her years will be spent wondering if any of it was a good idea.

Verity: We only own Satoko.

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Satoko trailed behind Minako as the group, now plus a boy from Minako and Yukari's class named Junpei, walked in the direction of Gekkoukan High. She had no clue why they were heading there now instead of in the Dark Hour, but she wasn't going to say anything.

"So, Mitsuru-senpai, explain to us why we are moving in the direction of our institute of learning?" Minako inquired.

Mitsuru said nothing, just checked her watch. The clock struck twelve.

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Over the course of her life, or at least what she could remember, Satoko had seen many things. A giant tree that held the life force of a whole planet. A world full of other's negative thoughts. She had met several gods face to face, and beaten most of them in a fair fight, as well.

This was a new one, though. She was fairly certain that schools turning into towers wasn't normal for this world. Or any world, come to that.

She didn't have a problem with the tower itself, though. The biggest issue she had was the sheer number of Shadows she could sense within. Having aura powers may have made it impossible for anybody to sneak up on her, but it came at the cost of having to acknowledge some things she'd rather pretend did not exist. The people beside her could close their eyes and not see, but she had no such luxury.

Still, the Shadows were her enemy. They always had been. Before, she had only ever been able to defend herself from them. Now, it was her turn to go on the attack.

She relished the opportunity.

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Satoko loved to fight. It was not just in her nature, but something of her own. Which was why she had been recruited. She didn't just agree to being on the front lines, she needed it. And the power she was outputting might not be as effective as she had hoped, but occasionally Mitsuru would point out a weakness to Light or Darkness, and she could set Anubis on them.

Minako was excelling, as well. She had not just two Personas, but enough that she could probably form her own army of them. When asked just how many she had, she hadn't given a very good answer.

"Well, eighteen of them accompany me on all occasions, but several more exist in a way I can access them if need be." It seemed she had lost count.

Satoko wondered if, given that Personas were manifestations of someone's soul, this was a good or bad thing. It didn't really matter to her, but as Orpheus and Apsaras combined their powers, she realized that it probably should have.

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Minako Arisato couldn't have always been as powerful as she was now. Satoko knew this. After all, she herself hadn't always had the immense power she had now. It had taken practice, and experience, and several near misses. And her power was only a fraction of that which the teen in front of her held. She could tell.

In actuality, a simple human carrying this kind of power scared her. She had needed to work for her power, and it had taken a long time to get as far as she had. Not much caused her to back away.

The simplest way of putting it was that Satoko Taraki, as far as she could remember, was truly scared of another for the first time in her life.

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Still, despite how everyone seemed to be some form of crazy, the night passed with nobody getting seriously hurt or killed. It was decided that, for matters involving general safety, they wouldn't go in two nights in a row, which Satoko was perfectly fine with. She didn't need to tire herself out so that she couldn't focus on anything. She had a purpose for being there. And it was one that couldn't be handed off to somebody else.

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Despite having a large goal driving her forward, that didn't mean she couldn't make friends along the way. She was unsure of how long that it could last, but she figured she should enjoy herself while she had the opportunity.

Despite having arrived only recently, she was largely ignored. It was different from her previous school, but then again, the classes were larger and it was easier to slip through the cracks. She didn't really mind. She wasn't someone who asked for a large group of friends. She just needed one or two people who she ould really trust.

Souji was one of those people. He was still rather quiet, and Satoko was unsure if that would ever change, but he was a good friend. She hadn't told him, but she had suspicions that he was the same as Minako. The similarities in their auras were uncanny. And that was part of the reason she didn't tell him.

She had felt Minako's power the previous night, but from some of the things that she had said, she was using some of her weaker Personas. If that was the case, she didn't want to see what would bring out the stronger ones, or what they could do. And if Souji had the same power, than he could become just as strong.

Still, this was her life now. It might be dangerous, it might be frightening, and it most definitely could be frustrating, but she was okay with that. This was her choice, ad she would see it through to the end.

Because she had promised.

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Daichi: It will pick up again soon, definitely. It's just really slow at first.