#rip shidou but im glad she made it out in this version asdfsdf

[good-beanswrites]

Haruka getting possessed and while he is he’s causing chaos and he throws Shidou like a rag doll

👀👀👀 Ohhh this got my brain spinning... (I went for ghost possession scene before hearing your angel/demon thoughts, but both have so much potential omg) Thank you for the ask pal!!

Shidou rolled over in his sheets, perfectly prepared to continue sleeping until the shadow staring at him from outside his cell jump started his pulse.

His hand instinctively shot to the side of the bed before he realized he wasn’t in his home, and this wasn’t an intruder. “Wh-what –” the hell? “What is the matter?” Thanks to years of practice his voice stayed entirely steady.

There was only silence in reply.

He placed a palm on his chest, taking a steady breath. He squinted at the shape of the silhouette against the bars. “Kusunoki-kun, is that you? Is everything alright?”

Her head shook. 

“...Okay. Can you tell me what’s wrong?” He got out of bed, looking around for his first aid kit.

“It’s Haruka-kun,” she said, her voice hushed. It was as if she were afraid to be heard, but they both knew the warden was asleep by now.

“Is he injured?” It was a good sign that Muu hadn’t seemed frantic, but middle of the night doctor calls were never good. 

“He… hasn’t been himself. The way he’s acting, the things he’s doing…” She paused, trying to choose her words. “Muu is scared…”

Grabbing his supplies, Shidou joined her in the doorway. He placed a hand on her shoulder, offering a warm smile. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s always frightening when someone you love is going through this. Depression and stress often cause people to act in strange ways. They seem like they’re entirely different people.”

Muu shook her head again, this time with more urgency.

“Shidou-san. Do you…” she looked like she was getting up her courage. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

“Ghosts?” He blinked. “If Sakurai-kun is saying it was something otherworldly that hurt him, he probably wants to spare you the pain of the truth. That he –”

“– That wasn’t Muu’s question!” She clasped her hands together, looking over her shoulder at the empty panopticon. “Do you believe they exist?”

Shidou frowned. He wasn’t the spiritual type. As any grieving man, he’d catch glimpses of his son around the prison now and then. It was a natural, neurological response to the guilt and distress they were under – even Kazui admitted to thinking he saw his wife around the dark corridors. 

Shidou opened his mouth to reply. 

A scream echoed into the dark. Yuno’s. 

Muu ran into Shidou’s cell as he tried to leave, pushing him back. “It’s not him!” She cried as Shidou tore himself away. “It’s not Haruka!”

He burst out, making it only a step or two before he froze.

Haruka stood a few feet away, an arm raised post-strike. Yuno scrambled away from him on the ground. She made it to her feet, running to Shidou. She had no visible injuries, but her eyes had never looked so panicked before.

“I just wanted to help. I saw him struggling and I just – and he –”

Muu’s arm reached out from the cell and pulled Yuno inside. Shidou let her go, turning his attention back to Haruka. The others were just coming to their doors to see what the screaming had been about. 

“Friends… All these friends…” Haruka’s breathing was heavy. Shidou cursed himself for letting Muu’s words cloud his judgment, but it truly did sound as if it wasn’t his own voice, as if he were playing a part. “All these friends and it still wasn’t enough? Greedy… You’re so greedy…”

Psychological breaks look different in everyone, Shidou reminded himself. Haruka was scared. That was why he hit Yuno. That was why he was speaking strangely now. He was doubting who was friend or foe and lashing out regardless. Shidou had seen this countless times. 

He didn’t know why he felt the need to rationalize things.

“Why…” The boy was hugging himself. “I was your friend… so why?”

Shidou stepped forward. Haruka’s head snapped up to look at him. “Stay back!”

“Sakurai-kun, it’s alright. I’m going to come a bit closer.” He placed the first aid kit on the ground, showing Haruka his empty hands. “I’m not going to harm you. It’s dark, so I would like to get a good look at you. I want to be sure –”

Haruka howled with laughter. It was unbearably bitter, and quickly dissolved into more heaving breaths of rage. “That’s what this has always been about! You want to look? LOOK!”

The floor beneath Shidou trembled. The lights in the panopticon flickered. The guard’s tower in the center, which had laid dormant along with Es, now rumbled to life. The huge spotlight moved on its own. It flashed through the room, the blinding beam landing on Haruka.

He certainly didn’t look like himself, either. His eyes were wild, and the light reflected oddly in them. His body was held with more confidence. More anger. His frown twitched, as if he wasn’t used to using those muscles in that way.

Shidou was having a harder time rationalizing things. 

“I just want to help you.”

“That’s all I ever wanted!” He shrieked. He balled his hands into fists. “All I ever wanted was to be there for him! And look what happened to me!”

 He screamed once, and the prison bell rang along with him. It shouldn’t have been ringing at this hour.

Then, a sudden calm settled over him. His arms dropped at his sides. The tower light flickered once, then shut off. The prison was plunged into complete darkness. The others, who’d been watching in stunned silence from a distance, gasped.

“It’s what will happen to you, too.”

It was the last thing Shidou heard before he felt something slam into him from the side. His feet left the ground. Haruka hadn’t laid a hand on him, nor would he have the strength to throw him like that, and yet he careened through the air until connecting with the guard’s tower.

His head throbbed. He couldn’t draw himself up. He groaned in pain. The prisoners called to him, and he heard running footsteps.

Shidou made a sound of protest as Haruka’s hands wrapped around his throat. 

Not-Haruka spoke again. “If I wasn’t good enough for him, no one is.” 

“You won’t look at him ever again.”