Hifumi Izanami/Story

Overcoming Trauma

 * Since the childhood, Hifumi met Doppo Kannonzaka and befriended him, being his only friend throughout the years. At high school, they encountered Honobono Keitoin who became Hifumi's friend, however, a traumatic experience she put Hifumi through resulted in him deveoping a severe phobia of women. Desparate to overcome his phobia, Hifumi became a host at the age of 20 and started working at the Fragrance host club which implied interacting with women on the daily basis.


 * Through the extreme self-suggestion, Hifumi convinced himself that when he puts on his host jacket, he turned into a completely different person. This allowed Hifumi to become a host and eventually he became popular as the "Number 1 Host in all Shinjuku". He and Doppo rented an apartment together, while Doppo became a salaryman and started visiting Jakurai Jinguji for the consultations.

Matenro

 * Due to his work, Hifumi became a target of one of his customers who started stalking him and even once tried to kill Doppo. Hifumi managed to protect his friend and they decided that they need to do something about it but Hifumi insisted that they must try to find a way to help her. As the police was unable to locate the stalker, Hifumi and Doppo went to Jakurai, telling him about their situation. As both doctor and the former member of The Dirty Dawg, Jakurai had enough skills to cure her, so Hifumi asked him for help and Jakurai agreed.


 * With the help of Jakurai's contact, they found the stalker at the hotel in Shinjuku and Jakurai went to speak with her. However, as the situation became dire, Hifumi barged in to help Jakurai, turning the stalker's attention on himself. She was going to kill Hifumi and then herself, so they could "be together forever", however Jakurai used his Hypnosis Mic to heal the stalker's mind. She became conscious of what she did and attempted to commit suicide out of the guilt by jumping out of the window.


 * Hifumi rushed to catch her which resulted in both of them falling down, despite Jakurai's attempt to save them. Thankfully, they survived thanks to Doppo who saw it coming and put a rescue mattress under the window. After the woman was hospitalized, Jakurai approached Hifumi and Doppo and gave them Hypnosis Mics, asking them to show him their skills. They did what he asked, and Jakurai offered them to form a team together. Hifumi and Doppo accepted the offer, so together they formed Matenro to represent the Shinjuku Division.


 * Later, Hifumi invited Jakurai to the Fragrance to treat him to the drink as a thanks for helping him and although he was hesitant, Jakurai accpted it. Matenro went to the club where Hifumi treated Jakurai and Doppo to the most expensive champagne at the club, however, Jakurai's weak resistance to alcohol put them in the unfortunate situation. Afterwards, Hifumi and Jakurai became friends and Jakurai even invited Hifumi to fishing.

1st Division Rap Battle

 * In the wake of the Division Rap Battle, Matenro participated in the preliminaries and won, although not before Doppo got himself into trouble and Jakurai had to help him. On the way to Chuohku, Hifumi asked Jakurai about his times with The Dirty Dawg and friendship with Ramuda Amemura, although Jakurai refrained from going into details. Matenro arrived at Chuohku to participate in the battle where Jakurai reunited with his ex-teammates.


 * Hifumi also met Ichiro Yamada and went to talk with him, much to the annoyance of his younger brothers, so Doppo had to apologize for his behavior. Meanwhile, Jakurai clashed in the rap battle with Ramuda Amemura which was interrupted by Ichijiku Kadenokoji. Hifumi was terrified of being surrounded by the Party of Words members while he didn't have his jacket on, so Doppo went to comfort him while Jakurai spoke to Ichijiku.


 * Prior to the battle, Hifumi (in the host-mode), dragged Doppo to get some drinks with him, despite Doppo's protests. However, they were approached by a group of fans who started chasing them, so Doppo had to grab Hifumi and run away. They ran into Gentaro Yumeno and Dice Arisugawa who were in the similar situation and together, they managed to hide from fans in the alley. Doppo took Hifumi's jacket and told him to apologise to Gentaro and Dice for dragging them into it.


 * However, Hifumi noticed Gentaro's old-fashioned clothing and started mocking him, making Gentaro extremely uncomfortable and prompting Dice to jump in and defend his friend. Dice smacked Hifumi and told him off for dragging Gentaro around, so Hifumi understood his mistake and apologized. However, Dice then started putting Doppo down, as his constant apologies annoyed him and Hifumi then defended his friend, challenging Dice and Gentaro for a battle. The battle was interrupted by fans who found them, so they had to run once again, and afterwards Doppo thanked Hifumi for taking his side back then.


 * In the Division Rap Battle, Matenro clashed with Fling Posse, as Hifumi confronted Gentaro. He successfully used his rap ability to corner them, however, he and Doppo were eventually taken out. Jakurai managed to defeat Ramuda and Matenro advanced to the final round and clashed with MAD TRIGGER CREW, as Hifumi went against Rio Mason Busujima. Hifumi was taken out first, which made Doppo use his rap abilities to defeat Rio and Jyuto Iruma, while Jakurai defeated Samatoki Aohitsugi in the death match.


 * Matenro were proclaimed as the champions of the Division Rap Battle and received a prize money from Chuohku, as well as the superiority towards other divisions (within the Party's limits). They gathered to celebrate their victory, however, Doppo lost his share of prize money in the train, so Hifumi and Jakurai comforted him. While celebrating, Jakurai told Hifumi and Doppo about his times with The Dirty Dawg, saying that he hopes that Matenro can develop the bond just as strong as the one he had with TDD.

Helping Asunaro

 * Hifumi was called by Doppo who said that he was approached by a grade schooler named Asunaro Bojo who apparently wanted something from Jakurai. Hifumi went to meet them but Asunaro didn't like him at first because of his rudeness, however, Hifumi didn't recognize Asunaro as a girl and once he did, Asunaro started mocking him before Doppo stopped her. After Hifumi got his jacket, they went to Jakurai, so Asunaro could explain why she needed to meet them.


 * Asunaro told Matenro that her brother was kidnapped by a rap team and their family is being extorted to get him back. She asked Matenro to save him, as the kidnappers made it clear that if Asunaro goes to the police, they'll kill her brother. Matenro agreed to help her and Asunaro brought them to the container yard in Yokohama. When Matenro went to find the opponents, they encountered Buster Bros!!!, assuming they might be connected to the whole situation.


 * Hifumi encountered Saburo Yamada who was hostile towards Hifumi and refused to tell him anything. Hifumi liked Saburo's attitude and confronted him in the rap battle, as they settled, the last one standing is the one in the right. However, the battle was interrupted by Zansei Tobari and his men who deactivated their mics with the Hypnosis Canceller and ordered his men to capture Buster Bros!!! and Matenro. Zansei revealed that he kidnapped Kaede Bojo and forced his siblings, Asunaro and Aogiri, to lure Buster Bros!!! and Matenro into a trap.


 * The Tobari brothers were joined by Hitaki Tsumabira who hired them to bring down the division teams for her amusement. However, she was confronted by Ichijiku who punished Tsumabira for her insubordination. After she left, Matenro were freed by Asunaro and eventually all four teams joined their forces to take down Tobaris and their men. Matenro successfully rescued Kaede and the Bojo siblings reunited with their brother.

Clash with Bad Ass Temple

 * Matenro went on a fishing together at the local pond in Shinjuku and Hifumi once again asked Jakurai about him and Ramuda. Jakurai told them about his assistant Yotsutsuji Kannabi who was put in the coma and Jakurai was convinced that Ramuda was the one who did it with him, which was one of the reason TDD disbanded. Doppo suggested that they need to talk about it properly, although Jakurai settled that even if Ramuda had his reasons, he wouldn't be able to forgive him regardless.


 * Hifumi then told Jakurai about his past experince with Honobono and said that he wants to meet her once again to talk with her and find out why she did what she did to him. Jakurai praised Hifumi's strength to be able to face his past and agreed that he needs a proper talk with Ramuda. Doppo was surprised that Hifumi actually wanted to see her once again and asked Hifumi is he sure about that. Hifumi said that he needs to take a step forward in overcoming his trauma and for that he needs to know the reason behind Honobono's actions.


 * While they were talking, Hifumi was called by his colleague, saying that there are people who were causing the ruckus at the club, demanding Hifumi to see them. Joined by Doppo, Hifumi arrived at the club where they were confronted by Kuko Harai and Jyushi Aimono. Kuko told them that they came to fight Matenro, the champions of the Division Rap Battle. Hifumi also was surprised by Jyushi's second identity, although Doppo pointed out that he's not too dissimilar from him. Hifumi and Doppo confronted Kuko and Jyushi in the battle, however, they were soon interrupted by the police which made Jyushi grab Kuko and run away.

Ghost from the Past

 * Matenro got together before the preliminaries for the 2nd Division Rap Battle but Hifumi noticed that Jakurai is troubled by something. Jakurai asked Hifumi and Doppo, would they rescue one person dear to them but sacrifice the well-being of others in order to save them. Hifumi said that he would save people dear to him but added that Jakurai can save both, which gave Jakurai confidence and he thanked them for talking about it with him.


 * During his shift at the Fragrance, Hifumi discovered that the customer he went to serve was Honobono herself, to his utter horror. Hifumi tried his best to keep his composure, however Honobono used her position within the Party of Words to clear out the entire club, leaving her alone with Hifumi. She reminded Hifumi of what she put him through, which caused Hifumi to suffer a panic attack and even his jacket couldn't help him.


 * At that moment, Doppo broke into the club and confronted Honobono in the rap battle to save Hifumi, however, she was too strong for him. Hifumi then took his mic and joined the battle to help Doppo but even then, Honobono's verses took both of them out. Eventually, they were joined by Jakurai who used his rap to heal them and Hifumi and Doppo launched a group verse at Honobono. She was still able to fight but decided to retreat, saying that they'll continue later. Hifumi broke down that he was helpless against her but Jakurai commended him that instead of running away he faced his fears and motivated Hifumi and Doppo to their best at the Division Battle.