Reputation? What's that? Satoshi may have heard some rumors, but he never paid them much mind. He was of the mind that everyone had something good about themselves, and focusing on that good was much better than only thinking about the bad.

The transfer student thing is pretty accurate, though. Satoshi only started at that school halfway through last year, so he still didn't know a lot about the school yet. He definitely didn't know about the crowds to avoid, though he probably would have paid those rumors no mind.

So instead of dropping things at that, Satoshi continued questioning Makoto, looking interested as he talked. "Makoto, hmm? Just Makoto?"