Dormitory
Chapter 6: Dormitory
Gintoki lay stretched out on the bed, his body sinking into the thick velvet blankets. He stared blankly through the dormitory window at the faint shadow of a giant squid gliding through the distant water. The dim light filtering through the glass cast eerie, elongated shapes across the stone walls of the Slytherin dormitory. Shadows filled the room, with only the flickering candlelight faintly illuminating the rich emerald tapestries that hung in the corners, adorned with the ancient serpent crest.
The air smelled of damp stone and aged leather, carrying a slight chill that seemed to seep into the very bones of the place. Beneath the vaulted ceilings, the low hum of whispers filled the space, soft voices of his dormmates moving about as they unpacked their things. Gintoki had already forgotten their names – the faces still too new to register – and he didn't particularly care to make the effort to remember just yet.
He could feel their eyes on him, though. One of them was casting a glance full of disdain towards his direction, another appeared utterly indifferent, and yet another seemed to be observing him with an odd mixture of curiosity and caution.
Gintoki felt a wave of déjà vu wash over him. He'd been in this exact situation before, back when he was a snot-nosed kid, meeting Katsura and Takasugi for the first time. Surrounded by people who had already formed their opinions of him without exchanging a word. The familiarity of it was almost unnerving. He couldn't bring himself to care enough to figure out who was who—not now, anyway.
Ugh… so troublesome. His gaze shifted towards the boy with curly, blonde hair who had spoken to him briefly at the Great Hall before going back to the water. What was his name…? I think someone called him Ros.. something. Ros… Ro… Yoosh! I think I'll call him Rosu-kun [rosu = loin in English]. Damn this weird world and everything being English… Why didn't I wake up somewhere where everyone spoke in Japanese instead…?
With a long sigh, Gintoki swung his legs off the bed and stood up, reaching down for his bag resting at the foot of his bed. His fingers fumbled through it until he pulled out a carton of strawberry milk, a small comfort in the midst of this situation. Without a second thought, he tore off the wrapper and stabbed a straw into the carton, lifting it to his lips. The sound of the straw slurping up the milk was loud and obnoxious, breaking the tension that had settled over the room.
The others, who had been quietly going about their business, froze for a moment, and Gintoki took another exaggerated, overly loud sip. His eyes fluttered shut in exaggerated bliss, completely unaware of the discomfort he'd just caused.
He finally pulled the carton away, taking in a deep, satisfied breath. "Ahh, nothing like strawberry milk before bed."
A few moments of awkward silence passed before Gintoki, still blissfully oblivious to their reactions, leaned back against his bed, his arms behind his head. He noticed their eyes flickering toward him, some grimacing, others clearly trying to hide their surprise.
"Hmm? Is something wrong?" he asked nonchalantly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
The boy who had been eyeing him with distaste tugged at his sleeve, clearly uncomfortable. He clearly wanted to say something. But, he was stopped by another boy who shook his head at him. Gintoki didn't care. The awkwardness wasn't his problem.
None of them responded. They simply got back to unpacking, pretending they hadn't witnessed the most bizarre, unnecessary display of confidence they'd probably ever seen.
Gintoki's gaze wandered back out the window. There was something soothing about the distance between him and the world, the cold stone walls of the dormitory keeping everything at arm's length. He didn't need to make an effort to fit in here – not if he didn't want to.
But still, there was something oddly magnetic about the new world he'd woken up in a few years ago and in a body when he was a small brat. Magic? Weird creatures? Hogwarts? It all felt so… surreal. And yet, here he was, surrounded by people who were no more than background noise, all trying to carve their own place in this strange, rigidly structured society. It made him wonder if he'd eventually get back home.
Kagura… Shinpachi…
His hand tightened slightly around the carton. A wry yet determined smile adorned his face.
Wait for me… I'll definitely make it back…
After all, he was finally here. The key back to his world was in Hogwarts.