Chapter 2

"Who's the new guy?"

"Maybe it's the new transfer student I heard about?"

"What? Another transfer?"

"Yeah, apparently this one's a third year."

"Hm, he's kinda cute."

Yu found himself blocking out the rumours he could heard spouting from the mouths of the other students at the gate when he proceeded to park his scooter and secure it properly, something he didn't have to do in Inaba, the small community there wasn't the sort that a theft like that would happen so he only really had to make sure it was parked and had he had the keys on him.

Tokyo on the other hand was a completely different beast and he knew it, so he wasn't going to take any chances and was going to properly secure it to the best of his ability.

Given that that included a little Rakukaja and tetrakarn and it was actually probably the only thing that would survive if a nuclear bomb was suddenly dropped on the city.

Well, not really, but it probably would if he had used something like makarakarn instead.

That was something that made it clear to him that defeating Izanami had done something to him, that he was finding it not just possible, but effortless to cast Persona abilities in the real world, something he thought he wouldn't be capable of doing after slaying the goddess, let alone cast them without even summoning them.

But he was somehow managing to do just that, as if the fog that made calling the incarnations of his mind forth easier was still there… and he was pretty sure he had at least a hundred times more raw power to use for his spells given how little they cost for him to use right now.

For example, tetrakarn, an ability that used to cost him about a tenth of his power was now costing him so little it didn't even register in the grand scheme of things.

Honestly, it slightly worried him.

But he hadn't told the rest of the investigation team about it because despite how worrying it seemed to him, he didn't want to give them a reason to worry as well when he had literally left Inaba that very same day.

Honestly the only clue he believed he had about what had happened to him was a flash of pink and what he guessed was motherly love, but he had no idea what either of those actually meant towards his current situation.

But his instincts were telling him that they were related, the same instincts that made him feel that something was off when Kubo Mitsuo admitted to being the murderer, that told him to seek the truth when Namatame was in hospital, that directed him to suspect Adachi and finally… that led him to Izanami.

He hadn't realised it until after he left, just how much his instincts had helped him, from attempting to put his hand into the TV, to co-operating with Teddie, to interacting with his peers and allowing him to overcome a Goddess.

There was no doubt in his mind now that his instincts were probably his greatest strength and those instincts told him that the flash of pink and motherly affection was important.

"Good morning," he stated to the receptionist as he finally walked into the entrance of the school, "my name is Yu Narukami, I'm supposed to be transferring here today."

The receptionist took one look at him and gave him an affronted look, "I believe it was sent out in the brochure that dyed hair is not acceptable dress code."

Yu wasn't surprised at that greeting, he knew it very well from having read the pamphlet that dyed hair wasn't allowed in the school.

It was one of the reasons he had decided to bring his medical certificate.

"Please have a read of this before making your judgement on my hair colour," he requested of her in a polite tone of voice, indicating that he was being sincere instead of simply pompous.

The receptionist took the certificate in what he could only describe as a professional manner before having a quick read over it before her eyes widened.

"Oh, my apologies Narukami-san, I meant no offense by my accusation," she stated apologetically as she handed his certificate back, earning a soft smile off the red haired teen.

"It's not a problem, you certainly are not the first to mistake my condition for dye," he stated with a smile. Honestly he didn't have a problem with the truth of the matter, that he inherited genes for the red hair color on his mother's side, though he supposed Uncle Dojima was lucky and managed to avoid that gene.

He always did think his mothers hair was probably some of the most beautiful he had ever seen though, which is why he didn't mind being naturally redhead among Japanese. natural black hairs.

"Well Narukami-san, according to the class roster you are in class three two," she started, earning a smile off the teen.

"Let me guess, third floor, third door on the right?" he asked with a wry smile, earning a couple of blinks of surprise off the woman.

"Yes, how did you know?" her question was clearly based around her belief that he would need at least some form of guidance, possibly because new students would expect it to be different but then again, he wasn't most transfer students.

"I've been transferred to five different schools in the past six years because of my parents jobs, and most have the same basic layout," he admitted with a smile, earning a look of understanding on the woman's features.

Clearly she understood exactly what he meant.

"Well then, you'd better get on your way, homeroom starts in five minutes and the teacher will need to introduce you to the rest of the class," the smile on her face was clearly not happy, but it was also clearly genuine. He could tell that she felt genuinely sorry for him but it clearly wasn't pity, if he had to guess, he would say she didn't like the fact that someone as young as him had already been forced to move so many times.

Then again, he had hated this latest move more than all the others combined.