Chapter 472

Agony and Loneliness
Chapter Info
Next	Chapter 473
Chapter	472
Previous	Chapter 471
Volume	52
Japanese Title	屈折と孤独と
Romanized Title	Kussetsu to Kodoku to
Pages	19
Arc	Dragon Slayer Arc
Episode	Not Adapted into the Anime
Issue	Weekly Shōnen Magazine #13, 2000 (cover date): March 8, 2000
Release (JP)	February 23, 2000

Agony and Loneliness is Round 472 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.

Details

• Locations Introduced: Coffee Lennon
• Title Page Character(s): Ryūhei Sawamura, Takeshi Sendō

Summary

Sawamura and Sendō begins their street fight with Sendō doing a kick at Sawamura's head as a way for his shoe to fly. With Sawamura focused on the shoe, Sendō throws a punch at him. Sawamura reacts too late on his counter because of the shoe, and instead Sawamura and Sendō grazes each other, causing blood to draw from their mouth. Before they could continue, Kawabe gets in between them, wanting them to stop by begging Sendō to stop. Sendō has one of his members grab his shoe and him and his group leaves. Kawabe follows Sendō and takes him to Coffee Lennon to talk to him about Sawamura. Kawabe reveals to Sendō that Sawamura is sad and lonely, explaining how he stabbed his abusive step-father to protect his mother. He adds that while Sawamura and his mother were going to continue by themselves, one night while eating dinner, the young Sawamura made a comment about how meat is soft on the inside and tender on the outside. She then abandoned Sawamura, who believed her for three years when she said that she was going out to look for a job. Kawabe asks Sendō if he can be Sawamura's friend, since he heard from Sendō's teacher that Sendō is a leader of delinquents, and Sawamura may acknowledge someone that is equal or greater than he is. Sendō declines and points out that he doesn't seem that lonely since he has Kawabe. Kawabe claims that his acts of kindness towards Sawamura is a way of atonement, since when an incident involving doves with their heads decapitated happened at his school, everyone thought it was Sawamura's doing, but Kawabe knew it wasn't him, but never came out and said it. Sendō states that him being friends with Sawamura won't happen, and that people like him and Sawamura won't accept that someone else is better than them, so the only person he would accept it from is through something other than brawling, someone different from him to smack sense into him. Back in the present, Sawamura wants to fight Sendō, however, Sendō points out that he is a professional boxer, so he doesn't get into fights outside the ring. Sawamura tells Sendō that he will be his first challenger when he becomes champion in order to finish the fight they started back then. Sendō realises that Sawamura is still alone and wonders if Ippo will be able to stop the madness of the Owari Dragon.