It'll be okay.
Tae-san will be back.
Her work's just running a little late.
I know that, but...
Stop crying.
I'm not...
I-I'm not crying...
You liar. You're crying.
I'm not crying!
All right. Then...
you're not crying.
Don't lose, Aoba.
When you're lonely or sad, don't lose.
Kou... jaku?
We have to get stronger and protect Tae-san and my mom, right?
Yeah...
Good.
Don't lose, Koujaku.
Yeah!
You were planning to go by yourself?
Well, I was in a hurry and didn't want to trouble anyone.
Don't be like that.
You know how close we are. You can involve me in anything.
Thanks.
Yeah! Let's go.
Yeah.
What is that?
Welcome!
To Japan's largest, finest amusement facility for love, dreams, and healing...
Platinum Jail!
Only the chosen can enter here. It's heaven on earth!
Do you have an invitation?
Here.
You got one, too?
Well, then! Please enjoy to your hearts' content!
Talk about suspicious as hell.
Y-Yeah.
Now, go on! Have a wonderful time!
So this is Platinum Jail...
I'd heard the rumors, but it really is flashy.
Hey, let's gather some information fir—
We're now receiving a satellite feed from Opal Tower.
Please watch this message from Toue Konzern.
To everyone visiting Platinum Jail...
Thanks in part to my wish to make you all truly happy,
Toue?
Platinum Jail is having its tenth anniversary.
We will be holding a special event in celebration,
and a special ceremony has been prepared.
Please behold a glimpse of that today.
Yahoo!
Aoba!
Is this the experiment Grams was talking about?
Hey, Koujaku...
Don't look, Koujaku!
R-Right.
Let's go!
Takahashi, were you able to collect the data?
Yes, sir.
I think that's enough for our test.
What shall we do about the data analysis?
I'll leave it to you.
Yes, sir.
Are you all right, Koujaku?
Damn it! I still feel out of it... Toue, you bastard...
Hey!
Koujaku!
What's with him?
Koujaku?
Where'd he go?
What is this place?
Aoba!
Aoba! Don't push yourself.
It's causing temporary interference in your peripheral nervous system.
You say that, but...
Are you okay, Aoba?
Aoba!
Are you all right?
Come on, now, stay with me.
Are you awake,
Aoba-kun?
Who are you?
You should rest a bit longer. You were hit by the light drug.
Light drug?
Oh, by the way...
How's Mizuki-kun doing?
Oh? Were you two not that close?
Why...
...do I know about him?
I'm a tattoo artist, just like him.
Aren't they beautiful? They're all my originals.
I happened to see you when I went to the Old Residential District.
I knew the moment I saw you...
You're different from other people, aren't you?
You're hiding something inside.
Once I'm done carving my flower onto your back,
I wonder how it will bloom as it sucks up your life force.
That's what I want to see.
Skin is not as smooth as you'd think...
So every touch of the needle creates a new, unexpected flower.
I just plant the seed.
What makes it bloom is the skin.
Skin that's filled with that person's passions...
That's why, when I apply the ink,
I thrust the needle in with all of my soul.
I take the uneven skin,
and create even greater unevenness.
Aoba!
Koujaku!
Well, well...
Ryuho, you bastard!
I'm sorry, but who are you again?
It's pretty apparent you know him, though.
Don't say you've forgotten me!
Because of you, I...
I was just messing with you.
Of course I wouldn't forget you, Koujaku...
My greatest, incomplete masterpiece!
Shut up! Shut your mouth!
I... You're...
Is he a precious friend to you?
Aoba-kun...
How much do you know about Koujaku?
Stop!
I'm pretty sure he hasn't told you...
what he did to his mother when he was younger...
Stop!
The tattoos...
They're growing, I see. A little more and they'll be done.
Tattoos are a person's karma, as well as their seal.
Once it's carved in, you'll carry it for the rest of your life.
The angrier you get, the more that tattoo will devour your heart.
Shut up!
Cut me. After all, you are a...
mother-killing...
Don't say it!
It's finally complete.
Between your rationality and my tenacity...
I am the winner...
Koujaku?
Stop, Koujaku!
Koujaku!
That's the only way...
to stop him.
Stop him?
Find out...
with Scrap.
Scrap...
This time, I'm going to save him...
Koujaku... I'm going inside you.
Damn it!
Koujaku?!
What is this memory? What happened to Koujaku...?
Koujaku's mom?
...jaku...
Koujaku!
Damn it... Koujaku!
Damn it, it hurts...
Damn it, damn it...
Koujaku! Wake up!
He is my work of art.
Koujaku doesn't belong to you. Release him now!
He is a work of art that I nurtured!
Wake up!
Koujaku!
By the time I woke up, it was all too late.
Aoba, I'm sure you didn't know this, but my family...
Thank you for traveling so far.
We have been waiting for you.
My dad's wife couldn't have kids.
He called me and my mom, his mistress, back from the island.
Something about needing an heir.
Stuff that had nothing to do with us...
The tattoo means you're head of the family.
It was forced upon me by Ryuho, under my dad's orders.
When I thought of my mom... I couldn't fight it.
I just had to endure it.
It happened the day they said they were going to finish the tattoo.
The pain from the needle was worse than ever.
I couldn't bear the pain anymore, and passed out before he finished.
And when I woke up next...
I was surrounded by a sea of blood.
My mom was in there, as well.
It's all my fault.
Koujaku...
When I regained my senses, I tried to take my own life, but I couldn't.
I remembered the way you smiled when you were little...
And I just couldn't help crying...
I was in so much pain... I was so sad...
I truly wanted to die, but I wanted to live just as much.
I didn't know what to do anymore...
So I ended back up on Midorijima where you were.
I thought things might be okay if I saw you again.
But it was no use.
No matter how much I wish for peace...
When let my guard down, I remember...
That day when everything was covered in blood...
Cutting down Ryuho won't change anything...
So...
Don't.
That might be okay with you,
but what about everyone you're leaving behind?
What about Benishigure?
What about me?
Then what the hell am I supposed to do?
You'll have to live with those tattoos for the rest of your life.
But we... I know just who you are.
No matter what sins and fate you bear,
the man I know called Koujaku won't change at all.
Aoba...
No matter how many times you might lose yourself,
I'll say it as many times as it takes...
I'll say just who the real Koujaku is.
And that no matter what, I'll always believe in him.
So don't lose, Koujaku.
Don't lose to your tattoos and your past.
Koujaku... I'm going to destroy you.
I'm going to destroy the Koujaku that's bound to your past.
Damn it!
Aoba, can you stand?
Kou... jaku...
Koujaku...
We're getting out of here... together!
My experiment was a success...
Please tell Toue that.
Experiment, huh...
This is the lodging facility.
Are you all right?
I... was asleep?
Just go back to sleep.
You're the one who should be sleeping.
I'm sorry I got you involved.
That goes for both of us, doesn't it?
What?
Nothing...
I guess we're a lot alike.
Like how we're completely useless when it's something about ourselves.
You could be right.
You were so small back then...
And now you've completely grown up.
Of course I did... But you haven't changed at all.
That's rude. So you're saying I haven't grown up at all?
That's not what I meant.
To me, you were the hero who was always there to save me.
Hero?
Yeah.
Yeah, nothing's changed.
Ren?
Acknowledge and accept it.
Oh, so you were here.
You're too nice.
So he doesn't have his memories...
No matter what you do, it doesn't hurt.
Destroy it.
Can I stop now?
You shame the clan.
Don't be stupid.
If we turn back now, we'll fail.