#yeah i am gonna go ahead and incorporate that into my believe system

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

Daybreak Academy: Chapter 12

Debate Session Disaster

Summary: In which Pyra’s debate with Brain is cut short. Word Count: 1,592 First | Previous | Next ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

This was the first time she was actually attending one of the monthly house activities. She knew what they were, she just never felt inclined to attend them. Had it not been for Pyra, Anora would not have gone to the debate.

“I'm up against this guy named Brain.” Pyra idly said to Anora. “No pressure, am I right?”

Anora gave her friend a small tilt of her head. Pyra had been told ahead of time what the topic she was going to debate once, and she had even made some very good notes on the subject. But now as the moment was coming, it was easy to tell that Pyra was nervous. Anora carefully put her hand on Pyra's shoulder and gave a bright smile. It was this bit of small encouragement that made Pyra smile right back.

“You're right,” Pyra agreed. “I've got this.”

“And for our next debate,” the announcer called from over the speaker system, “On the subject of school uniforms, we are proud to announce Mister Brain and Miss Pyra!”

“Here we go.” mumbled Pyra to herself. Anora once more put a firm hand on her friend's shoulder. They both knew she had it in her, it was just a matter of getting up there to start.

“In favor of this topic, please give a round of applause to Mister Brain!”

The crowd gave a lukewarm applause as a boy walked up on the platform. He looked pretty well dressed for the occasion; wearing a black, unbuttoned coat with rolled sleeves, a pair of relaxed dress pants in grey, and black cowboy boots that reached to roughly mid-calf. To complete the look, he wore a black fedora, adorned with a red and white feather. When he reached the podium, he pulled up a fedora a bit so the crowd could see his light grey eyes in earnest.

“And for the opposition, please give a round of applause to Miss Pyra!”

As with Brain, the audience gave a modest applause as Pyra started to walk over to her podium. Anora watched as her friend was less certain as she took her place. Behind her back, Anora crossed her fingers and wished Pyra the best of luck.

“Brain, you may begin your debate when you are ready.”

Brain gave the vice captain a nod before taking a small breath in. He looked up at everyone with the glimmer of determination shining in his eyes. When he began to talk, not even butter could have melted in his mouth.

“It is a great honor to be chosen for this debate.” he greeted the audience with a smile. “It is certainly a topic that I had not considered before, but do find it rather beneficial to our current student body. As many of you are aware, there is a severe lack of unity at Daybreak Academy. And, while uniforms can not change that over night, I do believe that it could be a step in the right direction.”

As Brain continued his argument, Anora could almost feel herself zone out. It wasn't much of the argument itself, it was more of the tone of Brain's voice. His voice was exact, and each word was said with a purpose. Brain spoke in a tone so certain that it was almost bizarre to think it came from someone in Pyra's grade.

“You drive an interesting argument Brain,” Pyra started to counter, surprising Anora out of her trance. “But I fail to see how allowing making the students wear uniforms allow us to work better together. As you said, it would not happen over night, but taking away our individuality through enforcing uniforms will not reduce in-school bullying. Our unique individuality was the reason why we were placed in our houses, after all. Without our individual sense of style, what school would Daybreak Academy be? To quote the storyteller A. A. Milne; 'The things that make me different are the things that make me.' If we enforce student uniforms to reduce bullying, then what of our creativity?”

“I agree with you, the creativity and individualism that Daybreak Academy exhibits is bar none. Moreover, it is not impossible for students to incorporate their unique style in the uniforms; hair accessories, nail polish, even a pair of socks. However, in this time of increased bullying, we need to find some middle ground on a grand scale- which can easily include the introduction of-”

The sound of a fearful scream brought everyone to stop dead in their tracks. After someone shouted “They have a gun!” and the sounds of popping that definitely did sound like gunfire, that was when pure pandemonium broke out in the auditorium. If no one had ducked, then several were making a mad dash to the exit. Anora didn't react at first. There was just something so… surreal about what was going on. From where she was, she could see students fall into the panicked crowd and no doubt stepped on. It was only when Pyra yanked Anora down to the ground that she gained some sense of reality again.

“Come on,” Pyra said to her, for the first time Anora had known her, her voice was low and dangerous, “There's an exit close to us.”

Anora only gave a nod. Her ears were ringing- or maybe it was still the sound of the gunshots going off? How many rounds were in that gun anyway? Regardless, Pyra led the two of them to an emergency exit; the alarm above the door almost immediately went off in reaction.

“Get back here Unicornis scum!” someone hollered at the girls. Immediately, they turned around and saw an older boy now standing at the exit entrance. He had a matchbox in his hands, which Anora found was odd and made Pyra immediately on edge.

“Where did you get that?!” she demanded. The boy immediately pocketed the matchbox and sneered at her.

“What are you gonna do about it?” he challenged. “You're only Unicornis, you wouldn't have a spine if it got you in trouble with your headmaster.”

And with that, the boy started to charge at the girls with intent to harm. Pyra was ready to fight them, but someone jumped in the way. Pyra's would-be attacker growled at the interventionist as the two started to wrestle each other.

“Go!” the new person demanded. Without being told twice, Pyra and Anora turned on their heels and ran for safety. They didn't stop running until they knew they were in a safe place.

Pyra took several gasps for air before rasping, “I think… that was Brain. I couldn't tell... But it really looked like him… Huh?”

Anora gave a quick nod as she also tried to catch her breath.

“Poor Brain...” Pyra then mumbled. Again, Anora nodded.

For a long time, the two remained in that spot as they tried to regain their breath. It was hard to ground herself after such an odd whirlwind. Anora tried to replay what had happened over and over again, still not quite understanding what had happened. Both of the girls jumped when they heard someone shout;

“Are you two okay?”

The girls turned around to see a worse for wear Brain coming up to them. His hat was gone, his clothes were torn in several places, and a thin streak of blood was coming from his -possibly broken- nose.

“Brain!” Pyra was the first to remark. “Your nose!”

For a moment, the boy gave her a funny look before placing two fingers under his nose. When he pulled back his fingers, there was a bright red substance dripping off of them. He shrugged it off.

“It's just a little nose bleed. A little ice will help with that no problem.”

“But…!”

“Are you two okay?” Brain once more asked, cutting Pyra off.

Pyra and Anora looked at each other before looking back at him. Nervously, Prya responded with, “Y-yeah. I think we are.”

“Good.” the boy sighed. “I don't know what bug crawled up that guy's butt, but it sure made him mad. I thought that kind of anger could only be channeled during finals. Eh...”

“Do you know if anyone else got hurt?” Pyra then asked.

At this, Brain hung his head. “I don't.” he admitted. “But the entrance was an absolute mess. I wouldn't be surprised if people were stepped on by accident.”

“Yikes.”

“You girls did the smart thing, choosing the back exit.” Brain then said to them, folding his arms in thought. “Unfortunately, that's where bug-up-my-pants was also planning their escape.”

“Where are they now?” Anora felt inclined to ask.

Brain looked at Anora as if it were the first time he had seen her. He raised a neat eyebrow before telling her, “I assume the headmaster's office. Or the nurse; I didn't exactly hold back in our fight.”

“Thank you,” Pyra then said to Brain. “You didn't have to step in like that.”

Brain looked at her as if he had not been expecting a compliment. He gave a small half smile before he held his hand out to her.

“Let's finish our debate another time.” he suggested. “I feel like you had some good notes prepared- it would be a shame for them to go to waste.”

It was Pyra's turn to look up at him in surprise. She looked over to Anora (who didn't have much of a reaction) before looking back to Brain. As she took his hand to shake it, she said to him, still quite surprised by everything, “I'd like that.”