Masaru

Masaru (マサル) is Takemichi Hanagaki's cousin and a third year student in Shibuya Middle School. He claimed to be the leader of the delinquents in Shibuya Middle School, only to have his lie and identity as the gang's gofer exposed.

Appearance
Masaru is a teenager of average height with brown hair and freckles. His eyes usually are half open with a nervous expression. He is also seen slouching slightly.

Personality
In front of Takemichi and his friends, Masaru pretends to be a strong fighter and the leader of his middle school, indicating that he likes to boast. However, he is only the third years' gofer, and while with them, is extremely servile and timid.

Fighting Prowess
Masaru is evidently not very competent as a fighter as he is merely Kiyomasa and his friends' servant. Even though he is far from being the strongest delinquent, Masaru still knows how to defend himself and has a qualified fighting level but is not very impressive.

History
As kids, Masaru would sometimes take Takemichi's bike, while Takemichi cries and chasing Masaru to get his bike back.

Masaru being a year older than Takemichi and wanting to show off, had told Takemichi that he is the leader of Shibuya Middle School.

Toman Arc
Takemichi and his friends arrive at Shibuya Middle School, looking for a fight with the second years. However as they are on a school trip, they end up finding the third year, Masataka Kiyomizu and his gang. Kazushi states that they know Masaru, thinking he is the leader of the school and that will get them out of trouble, but that only causes one of the delinquents to laugh. He yells at Masaru to go buy them drinks. Masaru wonders about money, but the delinquent states that each punch to his face will cost 100 yen. Masaru quickly states he will pay and leaves to buy them drinks. As he is buying the drinks, Masataka's gang beats up Takemichi and his friends and makes them slaves of the Tokyo Manji Gang.

Etymology

 * Masaru's name is spelled in katakana, which has no meaning.
 * However, using different kanji to spell his name can mean:
 * “rich, wealthy, excellent” (優)
 * "win, victory" (勝)
 * "intelligence, clever" (賢)

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Masaru