Yukichi Fukuzawa

Yukichi Fukuzawa (福沢 諭吉,) is the President of the Armed Detective Company.

Appearance
Fukuzawa is a tall man who always has a stern expression over his face. He has long silver hair, which end just above his shoulder. He has metallic blue eyes, which also appear to have wrinkles/slight eyebags under them.

He is always seen wearing a green yukata under a black mantle with golden borders with a zigzag pattern, and sandals with long white socks.

Personality
Fukuzawa is (as expected from the director of the Company) a serious man, capable of maintaining his calm expression at every time, even in front of an enemy. He is also a good leader.

It is revealed as well that he possesses a caring side, as seen when he orders all the personnel from the agency to focus on finding and rescuing Atsushi Nakajima. Therefore, he seems to care about his subordinates a lot, and he completely trusts in them.

However, his caring side does not minimize his undisputed authority over all Agency members : a frightened Edogawa Ranpo dropped the idea of finding a nice, interesting murder case to solve instead of saving Atsushi, after Miyazawa Kenji warned him against Fukuzawa's wrath if he did so.

He's never seen smiling, although it's heavily implied he has a soft spot for cute things. After Izumi Kyouka makes a cute face, he hires her on the spot. It's also been shown that he loves cats to the point where he keeps treats for them in the sleeves of his yukata.

Ability
His ability, All Men Are Equal (人上人不造), allows him to suppress the abilities of those in the Armed Detective Company. According to Dazai, it can “adjust the power of their abilities so that they may be controlled.”

He possesses enough strength and reflexes to take on a group of assassins. It is also mentioned that he is Kunikida Doppo's master and has never lost a match against him.

Background
Twelve years before the Agency was founded, Fukuzawa was a notable martial artist who was working as a bodyguard. When his client (a company president) was murdered, he met Ranpo Edogawa, who happened to be at the scene of the crime for a job interview. Ranpo easily pointed out who the murderer was, and thus Fukuzawa owed him a favor to help him find another job. Not wanting to get involved with Ranpo but also not wanting to leave him alone, Fukuzawa made up the lie that he was an ability user so Ranpo's view of the world would not collapse and wouldn't be scared of people not understanding him.

Later, when Ranpo tried to track down a criminal by himself and got kidnapped, and Fukuzawa realized how dangerous it was to leave Ranpo on his own and goes to save him. Fearing that Ranpo would become the target of corrupt organizations, he became determined to create a safe place for Ranpo to use his skill. Thus, the Armed Detective Agency was founded, with the intent of being an organization for ability users to protect the weak and fight for justice.

Armed Detective Agency vs. Port Mafia Arc
Fukuzawa's first appearance takes place after Atsushi took his "entrance exam" at the Agency. Because of the young man's ability to transform in a feral, giant tiger, the President wanted to test Atsushi's spirit. Fukuzawa eventually hires Atsushi and places him under Osamu Dazai's care.

After Atsushi's abduction by the Port Mafia and with several Agency members agreeing to leave the young man to his fate, Fukuzawa steps in at Naomi Tanizaki's initiative. Despite his organization entrusted at that time with the task to protect some government officials, Fukuzawa orders all Agency members to drop the mission until Atsushi's safe return, as, according to his words, nothing can be more important than saving a companion in danger. He is later seen along his subordinates, talking about potential leads in Atsushi's disappearance. After hitting a dead end, he asks for Ranpo and his deductive-reasoning skills in exchange for the President praising him. With Ranpo having found where Atsushi is, Fukuzawa gives Kunikida the key of the Agency's boat and asks him to bring Atsushi back at all costs.

With Kyouka and Atsushi out of danger, Fukuzawa summons Kyouka's presence at the Agency. The young girl requests her right to stay from Fukuzawa who, having a very soft spot for cute things including Kyouka's face, cannot refuse.

In the manga, when police officer Minoura suspects Kyouka to be the young girl who is on the police wanted list for being a murderer, Fukuzawa eventually claims Kyouka to be his granddaughter. Minoura believes him as both wears the same stern looks and are "cut from the same mold".

When members of an American organization called The Guild pay a visit to the Agency, the leader of the Guild, Francis Fitzgerald, offers Fukuzawa a great amount of money in exchange for the Ability Business Permit, a document granted by the government allowing the Agency to run ability-based business. Fukuzawa dryly refuses, telling Fitzgerald that neither the lives nor the permit of the Agency can be bought, as the permit embodies the hope of the government and Natsume's efforts to found the Agency.

The Guild Arc
Riled up because of the bloody encounter between several members of the Guild, the Agency and the Port Mafia, with the former being victorious, Fukuzawa goes for a walk, unaware of Ōgai Mori's assassination plot against him. While discussing the upcoming evacuation of the Agency with Kunikida by phone, the President is attacked by second-class assassins. It soon appears that Fukuzawa is more than able to deal with them, thus revealing his unchallenged efficiency in martial arts. He gives the beaten assassins a threatening message for whoever is behind the murder attempt, warning them against laying a single finger on his subordinates ; instead, he urges them to come at him and him alone.

Soon after, he is seen entering the new Agency hideout, warning his subordinates against the Guild and the Port Mafia since both organizations are seeking the demise of the Agency in a near future. Fukuzawa finds himself assigned to the defense team as protecting Akiko Yosano is the key for the survival of the Agency in the upcoming war.

After the large-scale Guild attack on Yokohama, Fukuzawa is seen giving treats to a cat during one of his walk; Atsushi appears, and the two engage in a long conversation. The President is asked by Atsushi to implement a temporary truce with the Port Mafia in order to overpower the Guild. As Dazai points the danger of such a meeting out to Fukuzawa, warning him about assassinations attempts against the President, the latter replies that it is preferable to seeing his subordinates injured or dead.

At the meeting with Mori and the Port Mafia, Fukuzawa explains that while he is opposed to side with an illegal organization and therefore rules out an alliance, he advocates for a détente because of Atsushi’s plea. Mori points up the mutual grudges against each organization’s members and, above all, the lack of guarantees in Fukuzawa’s demand, as both the Agency and the Port Mafia could break the agreement without fearing sanctions. Fukuzawa offers to settle the score, “right here, right now”. With great speed, the two leaders attacks each other, only to call it a draw as Fukuzawa puts his katana on Mori’s throat and Mori his scalpel on Fukuzawa’s. The President of the Agency eventually calls for a one-night truce in the name of their shared love for Yokohama and their status as protectors of the city against foreign ability users.

After the fall of the Moby Dick in Yokohama bay, Fukuzawa explains his ability to Atsushi who believes Kyouka to be dead because of the crash. All Men Are Equal only affects Fukuzawa's subordinates, inhibiting their powers so they can control them. Because she was willing to sacrifice herself in order to save Yokohama, Kyouka passed her own "entrance exam". She thus became a fully-fledged Agency member, fell under the range of Fukuzawa's ability and escaped moments before the crash thanks to her new control over Demon Snow.

He is later seen attending the welcoming party for Kyouka at the Agency.

Cannibalism Arc
During one of his evening walks, Fukuzawa notices a trail of blood leading to a dark back alley. Following the stains, he eventually gets attacked by the Masked Assassin who targets ability users. At first able to counter the attacks of the Assassin, the President gets shot by a sniper lying in ambush, barely grazing him but effectively poisoning him. Later revealed to be Nathaniel Hawthorne working for the Rats in the House of the Dead, the Assassin flies away, and Fukuzawa collapses on the ground.

He is later seen at the hospital under Akiko Yosano's care, but with the doctor's ability unable to cure him, Fukuzawa is still unconscious. With Ōgai Mori poisoned in the same way soon after, a strange sigil appears on Fukuzawa. At the same moment, Fyodor Dostoevsky explains to Dazai what is happening to the President : both him and Mori have been infected with Cannibalism, a lethal virus destroying the internal organs of the hosts after forty-eight hours. In order to nullify one host's affliction, the other has to die before the virus outbreak.

After examining the President, Yosano tells Tanizaki and Kunikida that Cannibalism is indeed draining Fukuzawa's life force. A distraught Ranpo holds a vigil at Fukuzawa's bedside. The situation quickly festers as both the Agency and the Port Mafia seek to kill the leader of the other organization to save theirs. All Agency members thus protect Fukuzawa's room against the enemy.

Thanks to Tanizaki's illusion ability and Kenji blasting through a wall, they are able to evacuate Fukuzawa from the hospital by ambulance. Tanizaki stays behind in order to frame the Port Mafia, Atsushi and Kunikida chase the alleged virus ability user, and the President is took to an unknown but hopefully safe location. Ranpo's stern but restless attitude shows Atsushi that Fukuzawa's situation is far more serious than previously thought.

When the President's eyes open again, he finds himself in Anne's Room, a dimension created by Lucy Maud Montgomery in order to protect him at Atsushi's request. As Lucy is taking care of a gravely ill Fukuzawa, he holds up a shaky hand and implores to not fight with the Port Mafia, and protect the balance and peace of Yokohama over his life.

The attempt to find the virus ability user failed, time is ticking, and Fukuzawa's orders to not attack the Port Mafia are discussed by the remaining members while the President is still looked after by Lucy.

Fukuzawa awakes once more, notices a sleeping Lucy and tries to sit up despite the pain. He is then horrified as he hears Atsushi announce Katai Tayama's death through a walkie-talkie given to Lucy by the Agency.

Fourteen hours before the virus outbreak, Fukuzawa finally manages to get up. Before he leaves Annie's Room, Lucy asks him to tell her what he plans to do, in exchange for her having taken care of him; to which he answers, "see an old friend". Soon after, Yosano is extremely concerned at the news that the President is gone. It is later implied during a conversation between Naomi and Kirako Haruno that Fukuzawa went on his own in order to protect the members of the Agency.

Without prior planning, Fukuzawa and Mori meet at an old mansion where they fought side by side for the first time twelve years ago. They agree that a duel to the death is the only way to end the bloody feud between the Agency and the Port Mafia. As Mori promises Fukuzawa that this place will be his final resting place, the latter readies to battle. With the leader of the Port Mafia summoning Elise and attacking, Fukuzawa calls his ability repulsive.

Twelve years ago, Natsume entrusted Fukuzawa with the task to protect Ōgai Mori, who was still an active doctor at that time. Fukuzawa is seen helding suspicions towards Mori as soon as he mets him. On the same night, he saves Mori from some local thugs looking for informations about the Port Mafia, although the doctor was only pretending to be captured. Fukuzawa effortlessly takes out twenty guards on his own. He and Mori then talk about Natsume's Tripartite Tactic.

Back to the present, Fukuzawa and Mori are still fighting each other, thinking about how they were invincible when working together years ago. Fukuzawa eventually manages to cut Elise into pieces, calling for the end of the Tripartite Tactic. It is later revealed to be a plan made up by Natsume to preserve Yokohama's balance: the daytime for the military police and the abilities secret services, the nighttime for the Port Mafia and the evening for the Armed Detective Agency.

Mori explains that his death would ignite an even bloodied war between the organizations, whereas Fukuzawa's death would bring the war to a peaceful end, before suddenly stabbing Fukuzawa in the throat with his scalpel. Mori then apologizes for his dirty play while Fukuzawa heavily bleeds on the floor. The apparition of Natsume Sōseki ultimately prevents Mori from dealing the final blow to the President of the Agency.

Thanks to Natsume's intel, the Agency and the Port Mafia are able to track down the position of the Rats in the House of the Dead hideout and the virus ability user, Alexander Pushkin. When the man eventually exits the hideout, members from the Agency and the Port Mafia are waiting for him. Fukuzawa, alongside Mori, beats Pushkin up, thus releasing him from the death sentence of the Cannibalism virus.

It is later implied that Fukuzawa made a complete recovery as a celebration is planned. Because they disobeyed Fukuzawa's orders to not fight with the Port Mafia, several members are given punishment by their President, such as helping a saleman at a shopping district (Ranpo) or being the target for target pratice (Tanizaki).

The Hunting Dogs Arc
One month after the Cannibalism events, a formally dressed Fukuzawa is shown receiving a Shikyuu award (i.e. a bow made of cherry birch, usually used for Shintô rituals) during an official ceremony hosted by Vice-minister of Justice Tonan. The government thus acknowledges the major contributions of the Agency for public safety.

Trivia

 * So far it has been shown Kunikida is the closest detective to him than any other. Fukuzawa's trust over him is great enough to leave him in charge of Osamu Dazai entrance exam and other tasks, take him as his disciple and always share a match of Go after work.
 * After Fukuzawa saved Ranpo from his abduction, he scolded the latter and somehow "tamed" the young detective.
 * Fukuzawa and Mori were affiliated with each other in the past before either of them became the leaders of their respective organizations. Both were under the tutelage of Natsume Soseki and were trained to maintain a balance of power that would protect Yokohama.