Harumuu

HaruMuu is the het ship between Haruka Sakurai and Muu Kusunoki from the MILGRAM fandom.

Canon
Haruka and Muu are fellow prisoners at MILGRAM and close friends. In Season 1, the two seem to get along as both of them were a bit quiet and timid in nature. They share many similarities such as victimizing themselves or insisting their innocences, and both of them acted out their murders in fits of rage. By Season 2 when they were both declared innocent, they became haughty and outspoken, as well as developing a co-dependent relationship. When asked, Haruka states that one of the prisoners he talks to the most is Muu. Muu frequently pays attention to Haruka. She also mentions that he is the one she gets along the most with.

In Season 2, it’s revealed that Haruka and Muu developed a co-dependent relationship, where Muu takes on the role of a leader or queen and gains satisfaction from Haruka’s obedience, while Haruka relies on her for attention, praise, and acknowledgment, seeing her as his “real” and “only” mother. Haruka addresses Muu by the honorific “-san” while Muu addresses him with “-kun”, showing the power dynamic between them.

Haruka is aware that Muu is using him for her own motives; when confronted about this by Es, he responds how he doesn’t care and that’s he’s grateful for the fact he’s worthy enough to be used by Muu. In Jackalope’s words, Haruka enjoys being dominated by Muu. Jackalope jokes that Haruka and Muu are in a romantic relationship, stating that they “do the lovey-dovey” and that Haruka got carried away. Yuno often comments on their relationship as well.

Notably, Haruka has a strong attachment to Muu, relying on her greatly as his only source of attention to the point where it’s borderline obsessive. He’s desperate to please her, only apologizing for his actions so that he can be an “good boy” for Muu. Haruka often appears insane while discussing his friendship with Muu, snapping in his voice drama. He threatens to kill Es if they don’t forgive Muu and declare her innocent, and he plans to kill himself if Muu is declared guilty, raving about how without Muu he wouldn’t have become his current self after the first trial. He sees Muu as the only reason to stay at MILGRAM and rejoices that he’s met his “actual mother all along.”

Muu states that her relationship with Haruka is highly beneficial, and that she “really feels their friendship.” Muu says that she enjoys their friendship since Haruka listens to whatever she says and always does as she commands, and in return she poses as a mother figure for him like picking out his clothes and giving him attention. As Muu is rather self-absorbed she enjoys Haruka’s submission, also mentioning how Haruka treats her very well.

Despite this, it’s believed that Muu is only using Haruka and exploiting his heavy emotional attachment to her as a means to an end and using his suicide plan to threaten Es. In Es’ words, Haruka desires a mother but Muu’s goal is unknown. It’s unclear whether Muu truly views Haruka as a friend, though despite her manipulation she seems to have a genuine liking for Haruka, calling him kind and appreciating him. Notably, Muu doesn’t view Haruka as important as he does for her—she finds herself self-important and feeds off of Haruka’s attachment. It’s implied she doesn’t think very highly of him when she states that everyone at MILGRAM has a screw loose.

Second Trials (Season 2)
In the introduction video for the second season, after Es wakes up, Jackalope starts explaining the timeline of events that had happened after the first round of verdicts. During Haruka's section, Jackalope explains that Haruka being voted "forgiven" unlocked his "desire to be dominated," which led to him forming a codependent relationship with Muu. Jackalope gives an annoyed expression explains that after Haruka’s ideas were affirmed, he got carried away and “does the lovey-dovey” with Muu. Whether this was a comedic joke from Jackalope or a romantic implication is unclear. In Muu's section, he mentions that Muu is able to be her real self as being voted "forgiven" helped her lose her fear and anxiety of being trapped in MILGRAM. Jackalope suggests multiple terms to use for their relationship ("supply and demand", "queen and slave") before moving onto the next prisoner.

In Haruka's voice drama, "Transformation of a Weakling", Haruka has a breakdown and attempts to attack Es but Es stops him, then they proceeds to hit him once and call him an idiot multiple times. Haruka then breaks down more in a delirious state and starts lamenting the way his mother neglected him and the fact she never gave him and attention. Then, Haruka says that Muu was his "real mother” all along, and further states that she's the only one who acknowledges the once "useless him”, stating how she gives him acknowledgment, attention, and praise, panting and laughing while doing so. He states that his current self after the first trial only exists because of Muu, and that as long as Muu is here there’s meaning for going to MILGRAM. After this, Haruka mentions that he’s happy that he met his “real mother”, and that he has to be a "good boy" for Muu’s sake.

Haruka also reveals that Muu is still scared of MILGRAM, and because of this, he asks Es to not scare her. As the conversation comes to a close, he then asks Es if he can say something. When permitted, Haruka threatens to kill Es if they do not forgive Muu for her murder of Rei. Es remarks that Haruka can’t kill them, so in response, Haruka responds that he’ll kill himself then, laughing and saying he’s not an idiot.

In Muu's voice drama, "Queen B", she reveals to Es that Haruka told her about his suicide plan if Es does not forgive her. Muu stated that she can feel the friendship between the two of them, knowing she feels at ease knowing that Haruka would do anything for her. When Es accuses her of exploiting Haruka, she claims that she doesn't understand what they're trying to say and continues explaining how beneficial their relationship is. Muu warns Es to forgive her, reminding them how Haruka is going to kill himself if Muu isn’t forgiven. Es shows shock that Muu knows of Haruka’s plan, and Muu happily states that Haruka told her so she could “rest easy.” She goes on to explain it made her happy and feel their friendship. Es incredulously asks Muu if she’s going to stop Haruka, and Muu retorts that if Haruka wants to do it, there’s nothing she can do about his decision. Es then questions Muu’s friendship with Haruka, and Muu explains how friendship is being beneficial for one another. After Es asks if she isn't going to stop him from conducting his suicide plan, Muu says that since it's something Haruka wants to do, and because friendships are all about letting your friends do the things they want, she isn't planning to do anything.

In the second round of interrogation questions, upon the prompt, “What do you want from the Warden?” Haruka writes, “Please forgive Muu-san.” When asked her opinion on Haruka, Muu writes, “We’re friends, he treats me very well.”

Quotes
"I’ve met my real mother, so I’m happy. I’m sorry for causing problems earlier. I need to be a good boy- for Muu-san’s sake as well."

- Haruka to Es in his 2nd Voice Drama "Yeah…? Yeah, right, everyone only has one mother. The mother who never looked at me wasn't my mother either. [] Haa… I'm sorry, Guard-san. For causing you trouble. My mother was Muu-san all along. Muu-san is my mother"

- Haruka to Es.

"I've... changed? Ah, my hairpins and clothes, they're all things Muu-san picked out for me. How is it? Muu-san is extremely nice, she always pays attention to me."

- Haruka in his Season 2 Interrogation

"It was really scary before, but now I feel at ease. And on top of that... Haruka-kun is really kind! He listens to whatever I say."

- Muu in her Season 2 Interrogation

"[...] As long as Muu-san is here, I feel like there's a meaning to me coming to MILGRAM."

- Haruka in the "Transformation of a Weakling" Voice Drama

Fanon
Harumuu is a somewhat popular ship in the fandom. It is currently the most popular heterosexual ship including Haruka or Muu. It is mostly rivaled by Muurei, the femslash between Kusunoki Muu and her victim Rei. On AO3, Harumuu currently has 20+ works. Harumuu was primarily shipped for their close relationship and because Muu was the closest person Haruka talks to and vice versa.

After Season 2, some dislike the ship as Muu was taking advantage of her relationship with Haruka and remaining apathetic to his suicide plan, while Haruka has an unhealthy attachment to Muu. Others prefer to ship Harumuu in AUs where they have a functioning romance outside of MILGRAM while others find the toxicity of their friendship an interesting factor to shipping them.

Often, many Haruka fans dislike his relationship with Muu and Muu herself, as she manipulates and takes advantage of Haruka to guilt-trip Es and gain her innocence in MILGRAM. Some Haruka fans, recognizing his intense attachment to Muu, even voted Muu as “forgiven/innocent” so that Haruka won’t commit suicide, though many fans explain this reasoning may backfire and only worsen the toxicity of Haruka and Muu’s relationship.

Fans theorize that Haruka’s idea of a “mother” refers to a person or woman he trusts and relies on, seeing as Haruka not only sees Muu as his mother but also Es. Notably, some fans have pointed out that in Haruka’s second trial song MV, his mother bares slight resemblance to Muu.

The MILGRAM fandom collectively views Haruka to have a one-sided attraction for Muu, though this is unconfirmed. Jokes and memes that the two dating or Haruka has a yandere-like obsession for Muu is common within the fandom and based on the Voice Dramas.

Fandom

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Trivia

 * Haruka’s second trial song, “All-Knowing And All-Agony” references Muu multiple times.
 * The official English lyrics translates a line as: “I promise to make my dreaMU come true” which is a pun on Muu’s name.
 * Both Haruka and Muu’s MVs make a play on honey, likely referencing one another.
 * As mentioned in Muu's second voice drama, Muu picks out Haruka's clothing and puts hairpins on his hair. The hairclips Haruka wears originally were Muu's as her hand-me-downs.
 * They have a height difference of 12 cm, with Haruka being 174 cm and Muu being 162 cm.
 * Jackalope and Yuno jokingly implied that their relationship was of a romantic one while Muu stated in her interrogation in the second trial that there's nobody she likes, assuming romantically.
 * Both Haruka and Muu were voted "not forgiven" during their second trials after receiving "forgiven" judgments during their first trials.