Yu Narukami could do little more than open his eyes upon hearing his alarm clock go off.
He had failed to get a decent night's sleep because of one simple fact… he was starting at yet another new school this year.
Jounan academy was apparently one of the top schools in Tokyo and had required an entrance exam to gain admittance… he had apparently gained a perfect score on it so it was only natural that he would be accepted.
What caused him to lose sleep however was simple.
The previous year of his life.
He had met so many great friends, had learned the love of a younger sister (technically she was his cousin but that was a moot point), had helped save others and had gained the power to fight with beings beyond human ability.
He was pretty sure this new year was probably going to be much less enjoyable than his last one.
Especially given how the climax of his time in Inaba was killing a deity… it also didn't help that he just knew doing so had changed him in some fundamental way he couldn't quite pin down.
Finally getting himself out of his reminiscence he let his hand gently tap the alarm clock beside his bed, he had never been the sort to strike out at it when he woke up so that was perfectly natural.
So it was with bleary eyes that he proceeded to rise from his bed and prepare himself for the day, starting off with a quick shower before heading downstairs to where most parents would greet their children, the kitchen.
It was no surprise to Yu that no one was there to greet him. Even though he lived with his parents, they both tended to work long hours and rarely spent any time with him outside of their days off.
It reminded him of the time when both Uncle Dojima and Nanako-chan were in hospital… he never got used to it after that happened.
Letting out a sigh he quietly made himself some breakfast, it wasn't good to start the day on an empty stomach after all and he was a pretty good cook if everyone's reactions to his bento's was anything to go by.
He at least had the simple satisfaction of knowing that he would NEVER be capable of the 'curry' Yukiko and Chie had made during the camping trip (or as Yosuke liked to call it, 'mystery food X').
That thought brought a sad smile to his face. It hadn't even been a week and he already missed his friends in Inaba so much that it hurt. All of his first true bonds had been made there, until then he was always just 'the quiet transfer student' that nobody paid any real attention to, but there he was someone important in the lives of those he met.
He hoped that this school would be similar but he knew from experience that city schools like this weren't nearly as kind to transfers as Yasogami High.
Idly looking at the clock he noted that he still had forty minutes till school started, if he walked it would probably take between one and two hours and if he took the train he would probably take half an hour, including his time to get to the station, wait for the train and get to school from the station at the other end.
Thankfully he would do any of them, it was one of the reasons he was so happy when Uncle Dojima had sent his old scooter over via a specialized courier.
With it the journey would probably only take ten minutes, fifteen if he hit bad traffic, but he would still give himself twenty just to be safe.
He didn't like being late for school at the best of times, let alone on his first day.
That still gave him plenty of time to finish getting ready, even if all he had to do was finish his breakfast and pick up his bag of school supplies.
A couple of slices of toast and a couple of sunny side up eggs were more than enough to give him the energy he needed for the morning, then he'd have his bento during lunch and maybe he might make some acquaintances… he doubted he would really be prepared to use the term 'friend' as loosely as he used to after last year.
Not now that he knew what true friendship was.
To him that word was now meant that the person was truly important to him and he was truly important to them, that they were someone that wasn't going to do something like forget about him and he wouldn't forget about them.
In a good way of course.
He knew some people he wouldn't forget, not because they were his friends but because they were monsters, Adachi was the prime example of that, someone who committed two murders before orchestrating the attempted murders of six others… for amusement.
That had been what really got him angry, the bastard hadn't done it for some misguided, higher purpose or sense of righteousness like Namatame who thought he was saving the victims by putting them somewhere the killer couldn't reach them, for that Yu could understand the disgraced politician… but to put others in danger for amusement just made him so angry it took every bit of his willpower to not kill the man there and then.
But he didn't kill him, doing that would've made him little more than a murderer, something he refused to become.
Sure he knew that there would probably be plenty of people out there that would agree with that 'type of justice' but he didn't think it was right to think like that, not after seeing how hard his Uncle had worked to try and bring the murders and kidnappings to a close.
Even if the police couldn't catch the culprit because he was hiding in another reality, it didn't change the fact that they tried their hardest to try and figure out the impossible case and were more than prepared to put the effort in to make sure the culprit was brought to justice.
Because he believed in the law.
Sure he didn't believe in all law enforcers, the situation with Adachi had shown him that even among the police there were monsters that felt no such thing as compassion or remorse… but he believed in the law and those that truly wished to uphold it.
And outside of their little stints into the TV world and owning deadly weapons that they used to fight shadows… the investigation team had all been law abiding citizens, though technically Naoto's gun was legally owned by her despite her age and she was legally allowed to chase criminals due to her occupation so she wasn't breaking any laws at all when they went into the TV world.
Sure he'd have preferred it if they hadn't needed to break any laws at all but between breaking the law and letting someone die he would choose to break the law and face the consequences once everything was settled.
Though admittedly, the laws didn't account for the supernatural so he did feel that there was a bit more leeway than normal given the circumstances… something Naoto seemed to agree with.
Shaking his head he let his eyes wander back to the clock and noting that he didn't have long to go before he planned on leaving, he decided that it was probably best if he arrived early anyway.
Sometimes it sucked being a transfer student.