The Love of Three hearts | Volume 1 | Chapter 7 — The Creature of Hina Soup Wakes Up
Souta slowly opened his eyes…
Not fully.
Not halfway.
Just… 1%.
Exactly one pixel of eye opened.
Probably one single cell moved in his entire body.
Souta: "Yo."
And he IMMEDIATELY fell asleep again.
Like a phone with 1% battery that tried to turn on.
---
Hana's Moment of Worship
Hana walked toward him gently…
Like she was approaching a sleeping prince…
Or a nuclear bomb.
Her face completely red.
Her eyes sparkling like she was about to marry him.
She covered him with a blanket
—and then offered him a cookie.
To a fully unconscious man.
Hana: "Take it… You need energy to rest and evolve.
I heard new species eat a lot during evolution."
Yes.
She has concluded 100% that Souta is not human.
This is official.
Takumi stares at her like she's gone insane.
Takumi: "Did she just say she thinks he's a new creature—?"
SMACK!
Kaede punched him.
Again.
Takumi became a sticker on the side of the couch next to Souta like decoration.
Himari: "OH!! LOOK AT HIM!! SOUTA IS STILL SOOO CUTE!!!"
Takumi: "This is personal hell."
His soul left his body.
Hana continues munching cookies, blushing at the air.
Blushing at nothing.
She is in her own romantic anime arc.
---
The Lesson Announcement
Kaede: "Okay! Today I'm ready to listen to lessons!"
Takumi's dead eyes spark back to life.
Hope.
A reason to live again—
Then…
---
PING PONG!!
The doorbell rings.
Kaede SLAMS the door open with enough force to kill a building.
The delivery boy flies backward, crashes against a pole and sticks to it like a poster.
Delivery Boy: "Ma'am… delivery… A parcel from Haruya Hina…"
---
Takumi's Panic Mode
Takumi appears like FLASH, teleporting.
Takumi: "HINA SENT SOMETHING!? IS SHE IN THE BOX!? DID SHE RUN AWAY!? IS SHE TRAPPED INSIDE!??"
He grabs the box like it's a bomb.
Delivery Boy: "Sir… no… it's very light so she is definitely not inside… please just give me a stamp…"
Himari excitedly runs up and SLAMS the stamp.
The paper tears in half.
Himari: "SORRY!! The paper is weak! Not my fault!"
Delivery Boy: "…I regret this job."
Kaede punches him.
He gets launched into his delivery van.
The van drives away like it's escaping a horror movie.
---
Meanwhile Inside…
Hana is alone with Souta.
Still feeding him cookies.
Still blushing.
She gently puts a cookie near his lips.
Hana: "Eh… you're not eating?"
She pouts.
Then she pushes the cookie into his mouth.
Souta gulps.
Unconsciously.
His eyes open for 1 second.
Then shut instantly.
The cookie disappears like it got teleported.
---
THE BOX
Everyone gathers around the mysterious box.
Himari excited.
Kaede ready to punch.
Takumi suspicious like it's a time bomb.
Hana blushing.
Himari: "Let's open it!!"
Hana: "Eh? Wh-what is it…?"
Still blushing. Why? Nobody knows.
Kaede: "If something jumps out I'm punching YOU, Takumi."
Takumi: "WHY ME!?!?"
Kaede: "Did you just talk back?"
Takumi: "NO! I'M SORRY!"
He opens the box…
---
Purple Smoke Explodes Out
Takumi's eyes widen.
Takumi: "I KNOW THIS!! THIS IS— HINA SOUP."
Himari: "OOOOH!? I wanna see it!!"
Kaede: "Tch. Make it fast."
Hana: "Can I eat it too…?"
(She will. Obviously.)
They open the bowl.
---
THE HINA SOUP (HELL EDITION)
Inside the bowl:
Purple soup
Green soup swirling like toxic waste
A half alive fish
Lemon & onion doing Titanic "I'll never let you go" pose
A dragonfly that took a wrong turn
A living symbiote trying to escape
Something blinking
Something bubbling
Something whispering "help"
The soup is MOVING LIKE IT HAS A SOUL.
Takumi: "OH THAT THING IS ALIVE!?"
Himari: "THIS IS A MASTERPIECE!
…Wait… what's this tiny thing swimming?!"
Takumi: "I can't do this anymore…"
He spiritually collapses.
Hana: "I… I don't want to eat this…"
Kaede: "EW!! THROW IT ON TAKUMI!"
---
AND THEN—
Souta's hand suddenly moves.
Everyone freezes.
His hand reaches…
Not toward a drink
Not toward a pillow
Not toward Takumi
But toward the bowl of Hina Soup.
He grabs it.
He pours THE ENTIRE THING INTO HIS MOUTH.
The room goes silent.
Souta opens his eyes
Stares at the ceiling
Like he saw God
Then closes his eyes again
His body goes cold
The world trembles
A new entity is born.
Hana grabs his hand.
It's ice cold.
Takumi: "Rest in peace…"
Souta lets out a slow snore.
A dying snore.
One leg dangling off the couch
Like he is 99% gone.