Chapter 3

## "Resolve"

**"Resolve"** is the third chapter of the first volume and the third chapter overall of the *Tokyo卍Revengers* manga series, written and illustrated by Ken Wakui.

## Summary

As he faces off against Kiyomasa, Takemichi understands that he needs to be freed from being a slave in order to have a chance at meeting the top brass of Toman.

Kiyomasa warns Takemichi to not regret his decision and immediately follows up with an uppercut to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. In his mind, Takemichi understands instinctively that this is a battle he has no chance of winning. He compares his strength and Kiyomasa's to that of a K-car and a bulldozer.

Kiyomasa's lackeys start jeering and mocking Takemichi. Kiyomasa unleashes a brutal barrage of attacks, ranging from a knee to the stomach to a kick to the chin. The crowd goes completely wild.

Seeing that Takemichi is dazed and wobbly from his attacks, Kiyomasa then launches a forceful sidekick to his face. Takemichi stumbles a few steps back as his friends beg for him to stop. He surprises everyone by murmuring "Not yet..."

Kiyomasa spits out his cigarette, showing that he is about to get serious. The crowd starts chanting for him to finish Takemichi. He throws a powerful left hook to Takemichi's face, then knees him with his right. He jams a right into his face, followed by another left hook. As Takemichi is one-sidedly getting battered, the other students remark on his tenacity and unusual courage for standing up to a foe much stronger than he is. On the other hand, Takemichi's friends cannot take it any longer. They desperately plead for Takemichi to stop; the crowd of students are speechless, yet he continues to murmur "Not yet..."

Takemichi monologues, saying that he must change himself for the better and stop running away from adversity. Akkun yells at him to stop, but Takemichi roars that he won't ever give up, jarring the crowd and even Kiyomasa. Takemichi threatens Kiyomasa by saying that the only way he'll admit defeat is if he dies.

Kiyomasa snaps. He shouts for his bat, sneering at Takemichi and saying he will kill him. Some of the audience frowns upon this dishonorable act.

Suddenly, an authoritative voice interrupts the duel. An unusually tall teenager with blond hair shaved on the sides and tied in a braid and a dragon tattoo on the left side of his head appears. Behind him is a boy of average height and flowing blond hair, eating dorayaki. Takemichi's friends immediately recognize the tall teenager to be Ken "Draken" Ryuguji, vice president of Toman, but remark how the boy behind is acting out of line, when suddenly everyone bows, revealing the boy to be Toman's president, Manjiro "Mikey" Sano.

A lackey of Kiyomasa's tries to kiss up to Mikey but gets completely ignored. Draken remarks that Mikey only talks to those he acknowledges. Mikey walks towards the center of the ring where the fight was taking place. Kiyomasa gives a shallow bow, causing Draken to mercilessly deliver a kick to his gut to put him back in his place, noting that Kiyomasa sees himself as too important.

As for Mikey, he goes up directly to Takemichi's face, causing him to fall flat on his behind. Mikey asks for Takemichi's name, to which he answers. However, Mikey calls him "Takemitchy" instead. Mikey then says Takemichi will be his "pal" from now on.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

1. Takemichi Hanagaki
2. Masataka Kiyomizu
3. Takuya Yamamoto
4. Atsushi Sendo
5. Makoto Suzuki
6. Kazushi Yamagishi
7. Naoto Tachibana (flashback)
8. Hinata Tachibana (flashback)
9. Ken Ryuguji
10. Manjiro Sano

## References

 "Tokyo Revengers, Volume 1". *Kodansha USA*. Retrieved on November 3, 2022.