White Scars

A new dawn's malice

The new day greeted me as my eyelids fluttered open, blinded by the brightening dawn sky. Slightly shuffling the covers off of my body, I raised my back from the comfy mattress and surveyed my surroundings. It was early. My roommates were all still asleep. Not even the intruding gaze of last night remained, probably satisfied with the show I gave yesterday. Hikari was sound asleep by my side, my left arm still entrapped by the soft creature. With no reason to move yet, I simply watched him as he dozed peacefully.

A few minutes passed by serenely. The only noticeable difference was the variant cadence of the resting breaths in the room. A symphony of circadian rhythm, unfortunately one of the performers was out of tune. A deafening silence spread through the room. His façade purposely broken by a slight murmur and rubbing of the eyes. Slowly he looked around the room, his eyes eventually resting on me. Acting as if it was the first time, he asked "Koji, what time is it?" His voice a bit deeper due to just awaking.

"Not sure. Probably around 6:00. Judging by the window." I had noticed there were no visible clocks or alarms in the room. Which I found to be quite odd. We haven't any modern implements like phones on the school premises. How were we supposed to remain punctual without them?

"Oh. Have you been awake long?" You already know for the last few minutes, I mused internally.

"No. I just awoke myself." He gave little recognition to my reply as he gave a very long stretch and yawn in response.

"Hmm. It's a bit early to wake these guys... Think we can get breakfast now?" I wasn't against eating so early, but I was under the impression it might be a bit rude to leave the other two given we had only just become acquainted. I relished the opportunity to get to know them a bit better. I heard having a meal together was a good way to do so. After all, eating is one of the most vulnerable things one could do in front of another. It is an unguarded gesture, even subconsciously.

It's very possible I was thinking too deeply about it. Yesterday made it quite apparent that both Anthony and Terry knew each other before attending this school. They had called each other by their first name, that by itself isn't strange, in fact that's the norm for English custom especially when considering close acquaintances. The strange turn came when they referred to both me and Michael Corner by our surnames. I had initially thought that they referred to my own (although by the nickname 'Koji') to make me feel comfortable. To plant a reminiscent feeling of home. But that made little sense when considering they did the same for Michael as well. Previously I hadn't thought that etiquette like this would be prevalent in informal settings between common youths, something told me another thing was at play. They had insisted on calling me by a moniker based on my family name, despite giving them an alternative that I was used to. I can only assume that, that distinction was important enough to consider. 

Did they just not judge us as close enough to start calling by first names? It was possible. Was it an early warning not to try and get close to them? I doubt it. Anthony's friendliness and approachability was all-encroaching, it didn't feel like an act. Terry's nervousness and closed off behaviour could be interpreted as a step in that direction. However, as he opened up slightly last night and joined the conversation, I can assume that to be a dead-end as well. Taking Ron and Harry's behaviour wouldn't help much in that regard either. Ron, I had known for a month already and shared a home with, it would be strange enough for him to call me by anything less than my given name. Harry on the other hand wasn't at all familiar with magical customs.

Magical customs. That was probably it. Michael didn't show much reaction when called by his family name. If I make supplementary conclusions from that, then the fact they were all from magical families and had an idea of magical society before getting their acceptance letter. That would mean lineage and bloodline were regarded heavily in this place... That conversation before the sorting ceremony would certainly indicate that as well... It was a bit early to say without a doubt. It was also possible that it was a by-product of attending Hogwarts, by all accounts a highly acclaimed academy if the Weasley's words held any water.