The Pink Box and the Candy, Dania's Crash Course in Love

Sigelica held her riot shield high, her menacing demeanor and voice still echoing in the small dormitory.

Linnai leaned halfway out of bed, grabbed a handful of potato chips, stuffed them into her mouth, and chewed them loudly, interrupting her with her mumbled words.

"Alright, alright, Sister Xixi, it's not too late to hang it up tomorrow. Let's finish today's court hearing first."

She slapped the bed, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

Sigelica: (╬ಠ益ಠ)

"Is this what you call a court hearing?"

"Otherwise what?" Linnai retorted confidently, "Have you ever seen a court allow a defendant to bring such a huge bear to the jury?"

Her gaze returned to Dania, her eyes like those of a shark smelling blood.

Linnai:( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

"Yaya, continue. The next night, the bottle was gone, and he hugged you. And then? Did anything... well, how should I put it, a higher level of physical contact happen?"

Dania hugged the big brown bear, resting her head on its soft belly, and thought back earnestly.

"A higher level of physical contact..." She tilted her head, as if searching her mind for an unfamiliar term, "Xiao Yu's heart is beating fast, and he smells wonderfully of soap, the same brand as my little yellow duck pajamas."

"Get to the point!" Linnai snapped, slapping the bed in frustration.

"Oh." Dania thought for a moment, "The next evening, I found a small box on my bedside table."

"A box?" Linnai's gossip radar instantly went into overdrive.

"Hmm, it's pink, square, and has a strawberry drawn on it."

Dania gestured to indicate the size, her eyes gleaming with the kind of light that only appears when someone sees something delicious.

Dania: (•ิ_•ิ)?

"I thought it was a complimentary strawberry-filled candy from the hotel. I was planning to split it with Xiao Yu."

Aimis had just opened a can of soda when she heard this, her hand trembled, and soda foam sprayed all over her face. She wiped her face while saying this with a pained expression.

Aimis:(⁄ ⁄>⁄ ´⁄<⁄ ⁄)

"I'm not curious about the taste of that candy at all, not at all."

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt her cheeks burning, wishing she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Sigelica lowered her riot shield and looked at Dania with suspicion. Something about the word "candy" sounded off.

Just then, Chisaki, who had been silent all along, pushed up her glasses. A series of codes flashed across the screen below the crack in her tablet, finally settling on a product details page.

Chisaki: [¬º-°]¬

"Database matching complete."

She raised her head and, in the tone of someone giving an analytical report, calmly announced.

Item Name: XX001, Strawberry Flavored Limited Edition. Product Category: Adult Products, Family Planning Devices. Purpose: Prevention...

"Stop!" Sigelica shouted angrily, interrupting them abruptly.

The dormitory fell silent instantly, a deathly stillness.

The air seemed to solidify, heavy and awkward.

Linnai forgot to chew the potato chips in her mouth and just stared blankly at Dania.

Dania blinked her purple eyes, still not quite understanding.

"What are family planning tools? New tableware?"

Aimis finally couldn't hold back any longer, letting out a short, mournful cry, and then, with an expression that said, "I really hate this topic," she stammered, "I really hate this topic."

"So... did you... open that 'candy' later?"

"No." Dania's face showed obvious regret. "I was too sleepy at the time. I was just about to tell Xiao Yu that we should try it together when he woke up."

She sighed and rubbed against the teddy bear.

"When he saw me holding the box, his face turned pale instantly. He then grabbed it from me in a panic, saying that the candy was expired and would give him diarrhea. He then ran to the bathroom, and I heard the trash can make a sound."

"Pfft--" Linnai finally couldn't hold it in anymore, spitting out a mouthful of potato chip crumbs and laughing so hard she curled up into a shrimp ball on the bed.

"Hahahaha, it's expired! He said it's expired!"

Sigelica's face flushed red and then paled. She finally understood what Zhou Yu meant by "leaving some basic moral boundaries." This guy, it turned out, was still up to no good, but Yaya's innocence killed him on the spot!

Dania looked at the three people who were laughing so hard they were almost passing out, and she was even more confused.

"Is it funny? Eating expired food can really make you sick."

Linnai finally stopped laughing, got out of bed, moved closer to Dania, put her arm around her shoulder, and in a mysterious manner as if imparting a divine secret, whispered in her ear in the simplest terms the true purpose and usage of the little pink box.

Dania's expression shifted from innocent confusion to gradual understanding, and then to a moment of blankness.

Then, a blush like the sunset spread visibly up her white neck, quickly burning across her entire face, even turning her ears pink.

My face was so hot it felt like it was about to steam.

Dania:(⁄⁄⁄´Д`⁄⁄⁄)

"Ah..."

She let out a barely audible wail, abruptly released Linnai, and buried her face in the arms of the half-human-sized brown bear, covering it tightly with its paws, kicking her legs wildly on the bed, wishing she could bury herself in cotton.

She remembered.

She was holding up the box when she earnestly said to Zhou Yu, "These strawberries look bigger and sweeter than the ones in the cafeteria. Do you want to eat some first?"

It's over.

I'm too ashamed to face anyone.

May the Earth be destroyed soon.

Linnai looked at Dania, who was pretending to be dead in the bear's arms, and laughed until tears streamed down her face.

Linnai:୧( ˵ ° ~ ° ˵ )୨

"My goodness, so cute! Who would have thought that our ruthless 'Cradle' weapon would one day be so embarrassed over a box of condoms?"

Aimis covered her face, her shoulders trembling, but she kept insisting.

"I hate these 'pure and innocent' scenes the most; they're not sweet at all."

On Chisaki's tablet, Dania's heart rate and body temperature changes were being recorded in real time, and she was muttering to herself.

"The peak heart rate has exceeded 180, skin temperature has increased by 3.7 degrees Celsius, and stress-induced physical isolation behavior has occurred... The impact of love on the nervous system of carbon-based organisms is truly a subject beyond logic."

Only Sigelica, watching the small mound rising and falling under the covers, felt a mix of emotions she couldn't quite describe.

She walked to the bedside and gently patted the furry bear's head.

"Okay, stop hiding. He has no idea what you're thinking."

As soon as she finished speaking, her personal terminal vibrated.

Sigelica took it out and saw a new message pop up on the screen; the sender was Lu Hesi.

It's windy tonight, get some rest when you get back.

There were no extra greetings, just a simple reminder.

Sigelica stared at the words, and her ears inexplicably burned again.

She quickly locked the screen, stuffed the device back into her pocket, and when she looked up again, she found Linnai staring at her with a completely new, more intense gaze.