(Yami POV)
It began as a pulse.Faint, rhythmic, buried somewhere deep — like a second heartbeat that didn't belong to her.
Yami sat beneath the sakura tree outside the school, pretending to read. The pages of her book fluttered in the morning breeze, but she wasn't reading anymore.
The pulse grew stronger.
"...again."
She froze.That voice — not external, not imagined — within.
Her golden eyes narrowed. "Who... are you?"
A pause. Then warmth. Not invasive — familiar.
"You already know me."
Her pupils constricted. Memories flickered — fleeting sensations from that night, when Scourge's essence brushed her skin like a whisper. She had felt something, but ignored it. Suppressed it.
Now it was waking.
Her breath hitched. "The symbiote..."
"Seed. You accepted me once — even if unconsciously."
"Accepted?" Her tone sharpened. "I was infiltrated."
"Planted," the voice corrected softly. "But not forced."
For a moment, silence.Then the pulse synchronized with her heart, and a web of faint, bioluminescent lines appeared beneath her skin — crawling up her wrist, glowing golden-black.
Yami pressed her palm against the light. "This… is your doing."
"No. Ours."
She stood abruptly, the book dropping to the grass. The glow pulsed harder — spreading across her body in waves of heat and awareness. It didn't hurt. It resonated.
Images flooded her mind — fragments not her own:Lala's laughter. Haruna's soft sighs. Mikado's curiosity.Scourge's gaze — alive, deliberate, burning.
Her breath trembled. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because you need to see where I am. What I am."
"And because you're next."
Her hand twitched. "Next… for what?"
"Connection."
The word struck deeper than it should have.
The glow reached her neck now — faint trails like constellations beneath her skin. Her shadow elongated behind her, splitting momentarily into two forms — hers, and another, more fluid, more alive.
"You don't need to fight me, Yami."
"I wasn't planning to," she said quietly. "But I don't trust you."
"You don't have to. Just feel me."
The light dimmed, leaving only warmth — steady, constant, pulsing in sync with her breath.
Yami sank to her knees, one hand pressed to her chest. She felt it then — the unmistakable connection forming, linking her mind to something vast, something ancient, something Scourge.
Her thoughts blurred. Her walls began to lower.But before she could resist —
[Host Synchronization: 43%][Seed Awakening: COMPLETE]
A single whisper echoed through her consciousness, softer than her own heartbeat:
"Welcome back, Darkness."
And for the first time, Yami felt something dangerously close to comfort.