Since things had come to this, although she was incredibly embarrassed, she could only lower her head and ask, "How did you find out?"
"I didn't find out; you were just too obvious just now. You practically stuck yourself to me to take a sniff."
After speaking, Shiraishi Shin grabbed his clothes and sniffed himself. That didn't make sense. Although he ran in the morning, it was only a warm-up, and the sun wasn't out yet, so the weather was cool, and he shouldn't have sweated much.
Could it be that he sweated during his fight with the Arch Orphnoch this morning?
That's not right either. Although the Arch Orphnoch counted as a character, he was just a minor one. Fighting him didn't require any sweating at all.
Looking at Chitoge Kirisaki's awkward and shameful expression, Shiraishi Shin finally realized. It wasn't that he had an unpleasant body odor; it was his male hormones attracting a sheltered young lady like her.
And since he had suddenly pointed it out, it was no wonder Chitoge Kirisaki was so shy and embarrassed.
Ah, what a mess this turned into.
Shiraishi Shin thought his emotional intelligence was decent, but he unexpectedly had a moment of idiocy, making the other party feel awkward.
After thinking it through, he used his high emotional intelligence to break the deadlock, saying, "Wait, do I smell like sweat? I exercised this morning and worked up a bit of a sweat, so you must have thought I had some strange odor, but you weren't sure. So you wanted to sniff first and confirm before telling me, just to save me embarrassment?"
"Ah?"
Just when Chitoge Kirisaki didn't know how to respond, Shiraishi Shin's words provided her with an out. She quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, I smelled something strange. So it really was sweat! Hehe, hahaha, that's... that's exactly it."
After explaining, Chitoge Kirisaki finally let out a heavy sigh of relief. Fortunately, Shiraishi Shin didn't know what exactly she was sniffing for, or she would have been truly mortified socially.
Shiraishi Shin said noncommittally, "Then I definitely need to take a good shower when I get home today."
Chitoge Kirisaki recovered her energy from her previous sickly appearance, crossing her arms and adding, "Mhm, then don't let anyone get too close to you today, or don't blame me for not warning you if they smell the strange odor."
Shiraishi Shin chuckled slightly, "Alright, thank you for the warning, Kirisaki-san."
"Mhm, you're welcome. Just make sure you know."
Chitoge Kirisaki waved her hand with an air of seniority, acting quite seriously. Then, the two looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.
"What's with that? They're whispering and laughing so happily, and even though they did something intimate like touching her thigh, he still won't talk to me more. It's infuriating."
Alya was constantly paying attention to Shiraishi Shin. Seeing him whispering and laughing so happily with Chitoge Kirisaki made her feel uncomfortable, so she could only vent her frustration on her pen until she accidentally snapped it in half.
In the afternoon, the sky was gloomy, feeling like it could rain at any moment, and the next class was Physical Education.
Shiraishi Shin and the other boys changed into their sports clothes in the exclusive locker room.
"Shin, your muscles really make me envious."
Tabata Hidenori turned his head to look at the shirtless Shiraishi Shin, reaching out to poke the biceps on his arm—they were rock solid—along with his six-pack abs and slightly full and robust chest muscles. Tsk tsk, let alone women, even men would drool looking at them.
Another classmate also said enviously, "Class Monitor, if women saw a physique like yours, I can't imagine if you'd be walking in with weak knees the next day."
"Slap! Slap!"
Shiraishi Shin patted his hard chest muscles, full of confidence, and said, "Are you kidding? My physique and fighting strength aren't just for show. Handling six women in one night is easy stuff. Do you really think this body of lean muscle is just for looking at?"
"Hahaha, as expected of the Class Monitor."
"Class Monitor, how did you train? Teach us."
"Yeah, yeah! With this body, if anyone dares to call us skinny dogs again, we'll show them this physique and make them roll away on the ground!"
A group of boys, centering around Shiraishi Shin, walked out of the locker room and headed to the school gymnasium.
"The weather isn't great today, so we will set up two volleyball courts here in the gymnasium. The boys and girls will separate and have volleyball matches!"
The bronze-skinned Physical Education teacher addressed the Class 1 students gathered in the gymnasium about the volleyball match.
"Yes."
The students responded one after another. Then, Shiraishi Shin, acting as the Class Monitor, led a few boys to the sports warehouse inside the gymnasium and brought out the volleyball equipment. There wasn't much: just two nets, a few stands, and two volleyballs.
Originally, a formal volleyball match was 6v6, making twelve players in total, but due to the size of the class, the PE teacher changed it to 5v5, totaling ten players per match.
The boys' and girls' volleyball courts started simultaneously, and those who weren't playing stood by and watched.
And Shiraishi Shin was one of the people who was not playing.
"Mahiru, Alya, good luck to both of you."
Shiraishi Shin shouted toward the girls' court, ignoring everyone else, because Shiina Mahiru and Alya were both on the court and were currently opposing each other.
When the other students heard what Shiraishi Shin shouted, they either looked at him furtively, enviously, or jealously.
After all, as boys, being able to befriend two beauties who were standouts among the girls in terms of looks and demeanor made them truly envious and jealous.
The two girls on the court both turned their heads to look at him. Shiina Mahiru nodded and offered a gentle smile, while Alya seemed to be sulking slightly but still nodded at Shiraishi Shin.
With the sound of a whistle, the volleyball match officially began.
From the very beginning, Shiina Mahiru and Alya displayed athletic talent and stamina far surpassing the other girls. They were exceptionally valiant and spirited on the court, their long hair tied into high ponytails, their eyes sharp and focused, making the other students exclaim how cool they were.
The wonderful confrontation, where neither side backed down, turned the entire match into a battle of attrition.
The volleyball duel between Shiina Mahiru and Alya lasted for almost half the class period. Even Shiraishi Shin's match had finished, but theirs hadn't. Finally, seeing that both girls were starting to run out of stamina, the PE teacher called a stop to their match.
"Shiina-san looks so gentle and considerate, I didn't expect her to have such a competitive personality."
"I know, it's just a friendly match between classmates, why did those two lock horns?"
"Maybe it's about saving face? They're both beauties, and neither wants to lose and look bad, so they're taking it so seriously."
"That makes sense."
"Do you think they might be trying so hard because of the Class Monitor?"
"I think so too."
While everyone was gossiping, Shiraishi Shin had already walked up to the two girls. He took out two bottles of Pocari Sweat and handed them over. He had bought them from the vending machine on campus during their match.
Shiraishi Shin looked at the two girls, who were sweating profusely and whose bangs were plastered wetly to their foreheads. He glanced around and said, "I mean, you two, was it really necessary to go all out like that? You're classmates, and this isn't even a real competition, just for fun. Was it necessary to be so unyielding?"