Before a Calm Sea is Round 1215 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details[]
- Title Page Character(s): Kumi Mashiba, Ippo Makunouchi
Summary[]
Ippo tells Kumi that he is going back to boxing to be a second. Kumi is sad, but she expected him to say it after she heard that Kamogawa was in the hospital. She wished they had more time together, but she expect Ippo will be too busy to go out soon. Ippo disagrees with her, thinking they will still have time to go out. But Kumi knows that between working on the fishing boat, helping out with manga, and now being a second, Ippo will be even busier than when he was a boxer. She also noticed that Ippo seem to be happy about it, while she is the only one that feels lonely. Ippo doesn't think that is true, but after thinking it over, he realise it is true. He didn't expect to be needed like this. He didn't think that boxing could still be a part of his life, or being of useful to anyone like that. Ippo is happy to return the ring, in any form. Kumi might not agree with Ippo choice to be a second, but she does believe in him. She knows Ippo is going to try doing his best at being a second. Kumi knew it because she knows Ippo loves boxing too much to stop. She has faith that what Ippo is looking at now is something different from his past adventures, and she believes he won't be using his fists in the ring ever again. Ippo starts practising being a second by putting a chair on his desk, over and over again. In order to help him practice setting up the stool in a real match. He knows boxers want to sit down as quickly as possible once the round is over, so he needs to get timing right for it. Ippo knows that the space between the mat and bottom rope is small, to where he needs to slide the stool in from the side, then spin it back upright to put it right next to the corner post. Ippo realises to be quick and precise with it is pretty hard to do. He continues to practice with the chair into the night. The next day, Ippo meets Kimura, Aoki, and Itagaki who are doing road work. They are glad to see him, and to hear they he will be in Kimura's corner for his upcoming match. Kimura is in poor condition because of weight control, and Ippo asks him how he is doing since he is lagging so far behind. Kimura can barely talk to because his tongue is dry, so he doesn't want to talk. Ippo decide to run ahead to talk with Aoki and Itagaki, who are a big distance ahead of Kimura. After he catches up with them, he decides to run back to Kimura again.