Me and John were stood outside B Class, which had a mixture of students from both factions inside.

"You ready?"

"Mans born ready, papapap!"

"Stay safe you two."

Yukina gave us her blessing before we rocked up inside B Class unannounced.

The first to notice our presence though wasn't Machida, but rather Amanda, one of Ichinose's right hands.

"Good morning, Takanori-san, John-san."

Upon seeing Amanda, John wolf whistled.

"Babes, girl you look leng! She got a fat bunda styll, sheesh! Everyting from da looks to da fashion is on point, skyat!"

Amanda tilted her head at John, clearly unable to understand what he was saying.

"Taka, bruv, mans gonna move mad in a sec, swear down!"

I've never seen John so excited over seeing a girl before. I knew he was a bit perverted like Mitsuba, but this was the first time he's been so open about his attraction towards someone.

"...I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Of course babes, anyting for you mans. Babes looking leng! Finer dan a peng ting! Bunda blessed from da big man! Dat fashion sense got a sweet one too, sheeeeesh!"

She was just wearing the standard uniform... out of pity for Amanda, I decided to translate for her.

"He's basically calling you beautiful."

"Oh."

She had no reaction whatsoever... I knew Amanda was a cold person, but I didn't realise she was this candid.

"What mans like Taka said, but multiply da ting by a stack, bare Ps, ya done kno!"

John pushed his chest out, raising his shoulders to make his puffer jacket look more hunky. Amanda nodded, if only to get John to pipe down.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Mans was here to shank a donny up, but now mans feeling like chatting you up bruv."

"We're here to talk to Machida-san."

"Machida-san, huh?"

Amanda looked over to Machida, who was reading a book. For once, he wasn't surrounded by his cronies.

"I wouldn't recommend it."

"Trust da mandem babe, mans don't wanna talk wid no wasteman either, mans'd rather spin his jaw, but mans gotta be civil and dat or else mans gonna get sent wid da popo, ya get me?"

Amanda raised an eyebrow at John's nonsensical blend of Japanese and English. Despite how violently he was talking about fighting Machida, I think he was just acting hard to try and impress her.

"We think he might be responsible for troubling one of our classmates."

"I see why you suspect him. It does sound like something he'd do. When did this trouble begin exactly?"

"Today."

"Hm. In that case, I don't think Machida-san's the one behind it."

"Really? Why not?"

"For some reason, he's spent the entire morning reading that book. There's no way he could cause any trouble since he's been cooped up in here."

"But what about before he entered class? Couldn't he have done something then?"

"Nope. Takara-san was on the same train as him. From what she could see, the first thing he did was head straight to class."

"That is strange... it doesn't sound like him at all."

"Sounds like mans doing last minute revision or summing."

"That's a regular novel, not a revision guide or a textbook."

"Same shite, different toilet innit."

"What about the rest of his faction? Where have they been?"

"I don't know. Machida-san's the only one who came to class."

"Maybe it's them then..."

"It could be, but I doubt they'd act without orders from Machida-san."

"I guess. In any case, can we still talk to him?"

"If you're so adamant, then sure. I still don't recommend it because of his peculiar mood today."

"The fact he's acting so weirdly just makes me want to talk to him more."

"I see. Good luck then."

"Thanks, Amanda-san."

"You're welcome."

"Let's go, John-san."

"Hang on bruv, mans wanna stick around and chat wid dis sweet one, innit? You mans can handle shanking up dat wasteman, you mans are already part Bri'ish, done kno! Here, mans can even use mans trusted shank like shak shak!"

John handed me his plastic spoon before chasing after Amanda to go talk with her some more. I think I just caught John lacking...

"I wonder if he can really stab someone with this..."

I pondered, looking at the spoon. Then, I put it away in my pocket before going to see Machida.

"Yo, Machida-san."

Machida looked up from his book and stared at me with impassive eyes. Did something bad happen to him? He's usually got a more fierce look to him. He was surprisingly tame today...

"...Takanori-san."

He closed his novel and threw it on his desk casually. He sighed, putting his hands into his pockets.

"What the hell do you want?"

It was somehow reassuring hearing him speak so abrasively at me.

"No one's seen Nora-san in class today. Did you do something to him?"

Machida snorted.

"Of course you'd suspect me. Ever think that girly boy might just be sick?"

"He came to school today. Katsumi-san saw him leave his house this morning."

"Then he's probably just bunking. I've got nothing to do with this."

Machida leaned back, closing his eyes.

"You sure are acting casual about this..."

"Aren't you the one acting too casual? You strolled into B Class with a vague idea of what happened and accused me of doing something I didn't even do. Instead of wasting time talking to me, how about you go find that bitch boy if you care so much?"

"We're already looking for him. I just came by to see if you knew anything about it."

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. In the first place, it'd be stupid for me to attack your class in this special exam. Our main threats are A Class and D Class, and your class, as useless as it is, is only one who can stop either of them. I'm not supporting you because I hate you scum, but I'm not interfering either because you guys need all the weapons at your disposal against those two."

Even Machida was capable of putting his prejudice  aside if it meant giving us a better chance at hindering A and D Class.

"Unfortunately, that trap is one of your only weapons in this special exam. Without him, you guys are screwed. Dead in the water."

"If you didn't want to interfere, then why did you trash our classroom?"

"That was before the special exam was announced, dumbass. Besides, I was just sending a message to Nora, telling him not to cross my path again."

"I don't remember him doing anything to you though."

"He beat out everyone in B Class in terms of academics. A bottom feeder like him shouldn't be usurping us, the elites of B Class. He's defective trash, so he should stay defective. I won't stand for a broken toy like him to get the better of us."

You're not exactly elite if you're in B Class though... if anything, you're a just secondhand version of A Class.

"You have a weird way of looking at things..."

"Blame yourselves for being trash. Now get out of here, I want to read my novel in peace."

It seems he really knew nothing about Nora's absence from class this morning. While I would like to know why he was acting so weird, it'd ultimately be a fruitless endeavour since he didn't want to talk with me anymore.

"...sure thing."

I turned around and sighed, leaving B Class. John stayed behind though, continuing to talk to Amanda. Somehow, I think she was beginning to understand him...