Hifumi Izanami/Story

## Drama Tracks/Manga (main storyline)

### Early life, Overcoming Trauma

Since childhood, Hifumi met Doppo Kannonzaka and befriended him, being his only friend. At high school, they encountered Honobono Keitoin, who became Hifumi's friend. However, a traumatic experience she put Hifumi through resulted in him developing a severe phobia of women. He would frequently have nightmares of that event and was unable to even look at women, as it would trigger a traumatic memory and render him helpless, always seeing Honobono’s smile. Although the details of what she did are extremely vague and unconfirmed, it is highly implied that Honobono sexually assaulted Hifumi. It it also probable that the assault may have been a long-term abuse, evidenced by many dialogue from the past where Honobono told Hifumi she was the only one on his side and etcetera.
Doppo offered Hifumi a job at his workplace, but Hifumi struggled with interacting with women colleagues, which caused problems with their boss Yamadori, who would abuse and ridicule him. Hifumi would stand up for Doppo, and Doppo would immediately stepp in to explain to everyone that Hifumi had a traumatic encounter which gave him a phobia of women, but he quickly became the laughingstock as their boss used this against Hifumi.
At a night of celebration, Yamadori suggests the company to go to a hostess bar. Hifumi doesn’t want to go, but Yamadori forces him, leading to Doppo trying to help but with Hifumi gently scolding Doppo and says this is an opportunity to work on his phobia. At the bar, Doppo glances at Hifumi multiple times to make sure he’s okay, but the situation escalates after Yamadori points at Hifumi, alerting the entire club that Hifumi is scared of women. Everyone begins to laugh at Hifumi, unbelieving as a hostess starts to tease Hifumi and get close. Hifumi immediately keels over and starts to tremble, and everyone realizes the extent of his phobia. Yamadori points at him and tells him to man up, but with one look at his surroundings, Hifumi recalls Honobono’s smile and dashes out the club. He bends over to a sink and drenches his face in water. Everyone begins to ridicule and speak ill of Hifumi’s departure, leading to Doppo’s pure anger as he punches Yamadori in the face. Doppo screams with all his might explaining how Hifumi is trying to overcome his fear, while Yamadori is making fun of him, shocking the bystanders as Doppo continues to scream in fury. Doppo announces he’d never work under Yamadori before screaming that he’s quitting. Hifumi, witnessing Doppo standing up for him, stares in mute amazement as Doppo storms off and says they’re leaving. Hifumi gives an apology to Doppo as they walk into the busy streets, and Hifumi regrets how his current self is hurting Doppo too.
With a burst of a realization, Hifumi decides that he must find a way to work around his trauma for the sake of Doppo, and the betterment of them both. He begins his job as a host in a host club called *Fragrance*. Using Doppo's idea about transforming into another person, he creates his own host-persona, by telling himself that whenever he puts his suit on he’ll be a new man and surpass his struggles.
Through extreme self-suggestion, Hifumi convinced himself that he could become a more confident and outgoing version of himself when he's in his suit jacket. That allowed Hifumi to become a host and became known as the "#1 Host in all of Shinjuku". He and Doppo rented an apartment together, while Doppo became a salaryman and began visiting Jakurai Jinguji for consultations.
### Matenro

Due to his work, Hifumi became a target of one of his customers, who started stalking him and trying to kill Doppo. Hifumi managed to protect his friend. They decided they must do something about this situation, but Hifumi insisted they find a way to help her. The police couldn't locate the stalker, so Hifumi and Doppo went to Jakurai, telling him about their situation. As both doctor and a 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, they found her at a hotel, and he went to speak with her. However, as the situation slowly became dire, Hifumi barged in to help Jakurai, turning the stalker's attention to him. 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 had done to Hifumi; she, filled with guilt and regret, attempted suicide by jumping out of the window.
Hifumi rushed to catch her, resulting in both of them falling. Thankfully, they survived as Doppo saw this coming and put a rescue mattress under the window. After the stalker got sent to the hospital, Jakurai approached Hifumi and Doppo and handed them Hypnosis Mics, asking them to show their skills to him. They did what he asked, and Jakurai, impressed, offered to form a team together. Hifumi and Doppo accepted the offer and founded Matenro, representing the Shinjuku Division.
Later, Hifumi invited Jakurai to the Fragrance to treat him to the drink as thanks for helping him, and although he was hesitant, Jakurai accepted it. Matenro went to the club, and Hifumi treated Jakurai and Doppo to the most expensive champagne at his club. However, Jakurai's weak resistance to alcohol put them in an unfortunate situation. Afterwards, Hifumi and Jakurai became friends, and Jakurai even invited Hifumi to fish.
### 1st Division Rap Battle

In the wake of the Division Rap Battle, Matenro participated in the preliminaries and won, although not before Doppo got into trouble, and Jakurai had to help him. On the way to Chuohku, Hifumi asked Jakurai about his times with The Dirty Dawg and his 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 got 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.
Before the battle, Hifumi (in host mode) dragged Doppo to get drinks with him, despite Doppo's protests. However, they got approached by a group of fans who started chasing them due to Hifumi's flirtatious behavior, so Doppo had to grab Hifumi and run away. They ran into Gentaro Yumeno and Dice Arisugawa, who were in a similar situation, and together they managed to hide from fans in the alley. Doppo took Hifumi's jacket and told him to apologize to Gentaro and Dice for dragging them into it.
However, Hifumi noticed Gentaro's old-fashioned clothing and started mocking him, which made Gentaro extremely uncomfortable, prompting Dice to jump in and defend him. 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, which prompted Hifumi to defend his friend, challenging Dice and Gentaro to a battle. The battle was interrupted by fans who found them, so they had to run again. Afterward, Doppo thanked Hifumi for taking his side back then.
In the Division Rap Battle, Matenro clashed with Fling Posse, and Hifumi went against Gentaro. He successfully used his rap ability to corner them, but in the end he and Doppo eventually got 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 was proclaimed the champion of the Division Rap Battle and received prize money from Chuohku, as well as superiority towards other divisions (within the Party's limits). They gathered to celebrate their victory, but Doppo lost his share of the prize money on 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 Matenro can develop a bond just as strong as the one he had with TDD.
### Helping Asunaro

Hifumi got called by Doppo, who said he got approached by a grade-schooler named Asunaro Bojo that wanted something from Jakurai. Hifumi went to meet them, but Asunaro didn't like him at first because of his rudeness. 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 explained to Matenro that her brother got kidnapped by a rap team, and their family is getting extorted to get him back. She asked Matenro if they could save him, as the kidnappers made it clear that if Asunaro went to the police, her brother would get killed. 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 were connected to this 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 a rap battle. 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.
Hitaki Tsumabira joined the Tobari brothers, who she hired to bring down the division teams for amusement. However, she got confronted by Ichijiku and got punished for her insubordination. After she left, Matenro got freed by Asunaro, and eventually, all four teams joined their forces to take the brothers and their men down. Matenro successfully rescued Kaede, and the Bojo siblings reunited with their brother.
### Clash with Bad Ass Temple

Matenro went on 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 got put into a coma, and Jakurai's convinced that Ramuda was the one who did it, which was one of the reasons TDD disbanded. Doppo suggested that they should talk about it properly, although Jakurai settled that even if Ramuda had his reasons, he wouldn't be able to forgive him no matter what.
Hifumi then told Jakurai about his experience with Honobono and said he wanted to meet her to talk, and find out why she did what she did to him. Jakurai praised Hifumi's strength to confront his past and decided that a honest talk with Ramuda is needed. Doppo was surprised that Hifumi wanted to see her again and questioned Hifumi if he was 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 got called by his colleague, saying that there's people causing the ruckus at the club, demanding Hifumi must see them. Hifumi arrived at Fragrance, joined by Doppo, and got confronted by Kuko Harai and Jyushi Aimono. Kuko told them that they came to fight Matenro, as they were the champions of the Division Rap Battle. Hifumi was also surprised by Jyushi's second identity, and Doppo pointed out that he's not too different from him. Hifumi and Doppo confronted Kuko and Jyushi in the battle, but they were soon interrupted by the police, and Jyushi grabbed Kuko and ran away.
### Ghost from the Past

Matenro got together before the preliminaries of the 2nd Division Rap Battle, but Hifumi noticed that Jakurai's troubled by something. Jakurai asked Hifumi and Doppo if they would rescue one person dear to them but sacrifice the well-being of others to save them. Hifumi said he would help people dear to him but added that Jakurai's able to rescue both well-being and a special someone, 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 to keep his composure, but 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 an anxiety attack, and even his jacket couldn't help him.
At that moment, Doppo broke into the club and confronted Honobono in a rap battle to save Hifumi, but she was too strong for him. Hifumi then took his mic and joined Doppo but even then, Honobono's verses took them out. Eventually, Jakurai joined them, and Hifumi and Doppo launched a group verse at Honobono. She retreated, even though she still had energy left to continue, and stated they'll continue later. Hifumi broke down that he was helpless against her, but Jakurai commended him that instead of running from his fears, he faced them head-on, which motivated Hifumi and Doppo to do their best at the Division Battle.
### Mixed Up

In Mixed Up, the divisions have been shuffled for a competition. Hifumi is in a division with Ramuda and Rio. They decide to go to a flea market and set up a stall to sell various things, including Rio's homemade canned goods. After noticing their stall wasn't attracting a crowd, Ramuda decides to give Hifumi and Rio some clothes he designed to hopefully make them more visible through the crowd. Hifumi wears a three piece suit with manga speech bubble print, allowing him to interact with women while wearing it. Thanks to their new outfits, they're able to sell out of everything, except one of Rio's food items. Hifumi and Ramuda get curious about it, and ask what it is. Rio replies that it is fermented salted herring, and Hifumi immediately understands that he's talking about surströmming, although he isn't able to warn Ramuda not to open it on time. Hifumi and Ramuda are taken aback from the strong smell, while Rio eats it happily.
While they're waiting for the competition to start, Hifumi comments that he would like to go up against Doppo in the finals. Rio reprimands him, telling him to focus on winning the first battle first, and Hifumi replies that he's confident their team won't lose. While they're waiting around, Ramuda proposes to give Rio a makeover, which Hifumi happily agrees to.
After the terrorists take over the TV station, Hifumi and his teammates go looking for them in the Master Control Room. Hifumi is tired after climbing so many stairs and comments that he would lose all his energy before even fighting the terrorists. They find them and get in a fight, which the team easily wins. When everything is settled, Hifumi reunites with Jakurai and Doppo and they leave together.

## Anime

In Rhyme Anima Season 1, Hifumi is introduced as a charming host. His bubbly and energetic personality is revealed when his jacket is taken off. Hifumi is present in the episodes As Soon as Man is Born, He Begins to Die, Two Heads Are Better Than One, The Darkest Hour is Just Before the Dawn, Today Is a Good Day to Die, No Pain, No Gain, You Can't Make Omelet Without Breaking Eggs and Tomorrow Is Another Day.