(Yami POV)
The night was quiet. Too quiet.
Yami lay on her bed, a book half-open in her lap. The words blurred. She hadn't turned a page in ten minutes.
Because the hum was back.Always back.
The seed inside her didn't pulse constantly—it breathed. Like it knew when she was alone. When her guard lowered.
She pressed a hand against her chest.Her heart beat steady.But there was another rhythm layered beneath it.
His.
She frowned. "…If you're always watching, then listen closely."
Inside the Hivemind, a ripple.
"I hear you."
The voice slid into her mind, calm. Patient. Always patient.
She narrowed her eyes. "Then let's test something."
She sat up, golden strands of hair twitching as if alive, like antennae catching every vibration of the bond.
Instead of pushing him away this time, she pulled.
Not physically. Not mentally. Something in between. She reached for the thread that tied her to him and tugged.
The reaction was immediate.
A surge of warmth rushed through her veins. Her breath hitched.For a moment she felt him—not just as a voice, but as presence. Weight. Heat.
"Yami…"
His tone wavered, not the calm she expected. More like surprise.
She smirked. "So you can feel it too."
She tugged again—harder this time. Her chest tightened, not in pain, but in heat. A rush that made her cheeks flush.
And somewhere in the link, she heard Lala's startled gasp."Y-Yami-chan?! What are you—ah—doing?!"
Haruna's voice followed, softer, breathless. "…The bond… it's reacting again…"
Yami ignored them. Her golden eyes narrowed as she whispered:"Tell me, Scourge. If I push you away, you stay. If I pull you closer… do you break?"
The hum deepened. His voice cracked with something between warning and desire.
"Careful… if you keep tugging, you won't like what comes next."
Her smirk sharpened. "Then prove it."
She pulled with everything—her will, her mind, her heart.The bond flared, a violent shiver running through her body. Her hair spread like wings, every strand quivering with light.
For a split second she thought she'd won—forced him to show weakness.
But instead, his presence crashed into her harder than ever.Not chains. Not control.Overwhelming closeness.
She gasped, dropping her book as her body trembled. Her knees pressed together, her breath unsteady.
"Damn it…" she hissed, half to herself.
Scourge's voice was low, strained but unbroken.
"You can test me all you want. You can hate me, fight me, even try to tear me out. But if you reach for me like this…"
"…I'll always answer."
Her heart thundered. Her fists clenched tight around the sheets.
She wanted to deny it. To spit in his face. To cut the bond clean.But the warmth lingering in her body betrayed her.
She whispered to the empty room, to herself as much as to him:
"This… isn't control. It's worse. It's temptation."
And though she forced her breathing calm, she knew the truth:
For the first time, she wasn't just resisting.She was curious.