#ryuuhouweek

Like Ryuuhou was working with Toue, but Toue kept him in the dark as to what his real aims were. Ryuuhou didn’t really know why Toue hired him at first, but money is money, so Ryuuhou stayed with him. When Koujaku and his mother came to the mainland, Ryuuhou was in the same area working as a tattoo artist under Toue. He’d tattooed other members of Koujaku’s father’s yakuza syndicate before, so he knew the man relatively well. He ended up meeting Koujaku, and ended up becoming the child’s only friend. When the abuse of his mother got too much for him to bear, he would seek refuge in Ryuuhou’s shop. Ryuuhou could see how bad his situation was, but there wasn’t much he could do. So instead, he simply allowed the child to come to him for comfort and even spoiled him with candy and small toys to make him feel better. For Koujaku, Ryuuhou was almost like a father. Koujaku even wished Ryuuhou was his father, and told him so once. Ryuuhou had smiled and said he wished that could be true.

Then, Koujaku’s father asked Ryuuhou to tattoo Koujaku. Ryuuhou didn’t want to, having become so close to the boy. But he knew that if he refused, Koujaku’s father would just get a different tattoo artist, one who would likely be meaner than Ryuuhou. Toue saw his conflict, and decided to use it to his advantage. He wanted to test out the mind-control ink he’d developed, so he told Ryuuhou that the tattoo ink was supposed to increase strength in the person being tattooed, mental and physical both, so that Ryuuhou would be tricked into thinking that the ink would help Koujaku. Ryuuhou had no reason not to believe him, so he took the ink and used it to tattoo Koujaku. Ryuuhou told Koujaku about the ink’s properties, and apologized for having to tattoo him against his will. While he was tattooing, he was as gentle as he could possibly be. But it still hurt, since tebori is pretty painful anyway. And even though deep down Koujaku knew Ryuuhou couldn’t have refused, he still felt upset that he would do this to him. And of course, the tattoo ink’s true power began to sink in, and Koujaku became angrier and angrier as the session went on. Ryuuhou was alarmed by this, but he couldn’t stop until the tattoo was done, lest Koujaku be forced to come back to have it finished. Better to get it over with in one session, he thought.

Unfortunately, the session ends the same way it does in canon: Koujaku loses himself and goes on a murderous rampage. Ryuuhou, horrified by what’s happening and that regretful that he caused it, flees. When Koujaku comes out of it, he’s convinced that Ryuuhou intentionally lied to him about the ink, and therefore never actually cared about Koujaku at all. It proceeds like canon: Koujaku almost kills himself, doesn’t, becomes a hairdresser, goes back to Midorijima, and reconnects with Aoba, all the while harboring hatred for the beast inside him and anger for the man who he believes betrayed him. Just like in canon, he vows to get revenge.

When Aoba and Koujaku go into Platinum Jail, things also go according to canon, and when Aoba tries to go into a nightclub after Koujaku, Ryuuhou helps him get in and gives him the membership card, also like in canon. When Aoba meets him a second time, Ryuuhou talks to him briefly, again showing kindness. Instead of warning Aoba about how his good nature could get him in trouble with someone he trusts like he says in canon, Ryuuhou sadly tells him that there’s a lot more to the past than he knows, and then leaves. Aoba goes back to Glitter, confused, and the assault by Koujaku happens. Aoba leaves Glitter afterwards, and goes back to that club. He meets with Ryuuhou again, who expresses concern for Aoba, seeing how unhappy he looks. He invites Aoba into his private room in the club for some tea, and Aoba accepts.

This is where everything completely diverges from canon again. Ryuuhou gives Aoba tea (without any knockout drugs), and the two have a conversation. Aoba doesn’t want to admit his unhappiness at first, but at Ryuuhou’s insistence, he admits that he’s having some problems with a friend, being that he’s not sure how well he knows him after all. Ryuuhou gets a little quiet at this, and it’s clear to Aoba now that he’s hiding something as well. But unlike Aoba, Ryuuhou won’t admit what it is, claiming that it’s not his place to discuss it. He does admit, rather sadly, that there was someone he wronged once, long ago, and he knows that person must have a different image of him know than they did before. Despite not knowing the full situation, Aoba feels bad for Ryuuhou, and advises him to find the person and clear the air. Ryuuhou points out that this would be good advice for Aoba’s problem as well. Before they can talk any further, Koujaku bursts in.

Obviously, Koujaku immediately assumes the worst, and Aoba frantically tries to reassure him that they were just talking and having tea, all the while being confused as to how Koujaku knows Ryuuhou and why he’s so angry (we all know Aoba’s a little bit slow, so it wouldn’t be that surprising for him not to immediately put two and two together). Ryuuhou has changed as well. He was composed and calm before, even while talking about what saddens him, but now his expression is that of anguish now that he sees how much Koujaku hates him. They passionately argue, and Koujaku reveals the tattoos on his face. As the argument goes on, Aoba realizes that the person Ryuuhou claimed to have wronged in the past was indeed Koujaku, and that Koujaku is still angry over this wrongdoing. They each allude to some bigger event that came about as a result of this wrongdoing (the massacre), but Aoba has no idea what. Ryuuhou maintains that he hadn’t meant to hurt Koujaku the way he did, but Koujaku doesn’t believe him. So Ryuuhou explains what he’d been doing ever since what happened on the mainland.

He tells Koujaku how Toue tricked him into thinking the tattoo ink would help him, and how upset and wrought with guilt he was (and still is) over it. Ryuuhou wanted to quit working with Toue, but instead he thought of a better solution. He made it clear that he wouldn’t tattoo anyone for Toue again, so Toue gave him more of a publicity role, in which Ryuuhou would use his fame to endorse Toue Inc. Ryuuhou reluctantly accepted, and moved to Platinum Jail when Toue did and made his tattooing business there. All the while, he looked for opportunities to get revenge on Toue and take him down from the inside, but no opportunities ever came. But now that Koujaku’s here, they could finally stop Toue and get revenge on him–together.

All those years, Koujaku had secretly wanted so badly to believe that Ryuuhou hadn’t meant to hurt him. He’d wanted to believe that Ryuuhou wasn’t like his father. He’d wanted to badly to be able to trust someone for once. And now, hearing Ryuuhou’s impassioned speech, sounding as genuine as he ever did, Koujaku realizes that those wants he’d tried to push aside weren’t just wishful thinking, they’d been true all along. Koujaku’s anger melts, and he’s able to forgive Ryuuhou right then and there. The two tearfully embrace, apologizing to each other for everything, while Aoba smiles as he looks on. Ryuuhou promises Koujaku that he’ll atone for his mistakes by being the father-figure Koujaku always wanted him to be. It’s not completely hunky-dory for long though, since Koujaku’s now transferred his hatred to Toue, and wants to see him fall even more than he did before. Ryuuhou joins Koujaku and Aoba, and the route progresses like normal from there (except, you know, Ryuuhou’s there), up until they finally get into Oval Tower.

So, I know in the actual route it’s implied that Ryuuhou’s tattooing had some sort of influence on the Benishigure members that caused them to attack Aoba and Koujaku, but in this AU, it goes differently. Ryuuhou tells the group about the way Oval Tower works and what they’ll be up against, including the Alphas. He was able to produce some earplugs in case they attacked, but he wouldn’t have had enough for everyone. Only himself, Koujaku, and Aoba were able to get earplugs, and Benishigure just has to hope the Alphas won’t show up. Of course they do, and Benishigure is quickly incapacitated, leaving Ryuuhou, Koujaku, and Aoba to fight the Alphas themselves. Koujaku’s pretty pissed about what’s happened to his teammates, so he’s just ever-so-slightly animalistic in the way he’s fighting. Aoba notices this, but has no idea what it means. Ryuuhou notices too, and gets a little worried, but continues fighting the Alphas.

Suddenly, Ryuuhou is mortally wounded by one of the Alpas. Both Alphas gloat over their victory as Aoba and Koujaku stand in shock, watching Ryuuhou die but not being able to do anything about it. Ryuuhou weakly murmurs, “I lied to you again, didn’t I? I’m sorry I can’t keep my promise, Koujaku…” after which he dies, a sad smile on his face. This is what sends Koujaku over the edge, and causes the tattoos to activate fully and change him into a beast. He mercilessly destroys the two Alphas as Aoba looks on in horror, still shocked from Ryuuhou’s death. After this, Aoba scraps him, and is able to bring him out of his beast form and help him heal from the past. The route is more or less the same as canon from this point on, with the sadness of Ryuuhou’s death hanging over the remaining events.

In the Re:Connect, Aoba and Koujaku think of Ryuuhou as Koujaku lets Aoba see and touch his tattoos. They remember him fondly but sadly, with Koujaku expressing guilt about hating him for all those years and for not being able to prevent his death. Aoba reminds him that he can’t blame himself for not being able to perceive the future. The past is the past, he says, and all that can be done is to accept one’s mistakes and move on. When telling Koujaku this, Aoba suddenly thinks of the temple visit the two of them made after the events at Oval Tower to pray for Ryuuhuou. He thinks that he never knew much about Ryuuhou, and admits to himself that he wishes he could’ve known him better. But he quickly overcomes that thought, taking his own advice. Koujaku also agrees with Aoba’s advice, and the rest of the Re:Connect is normal to canon.