Saruhiko Fushimi

"Can you blame me? In the end, I wasn't like you and the others. Leaving was inevitable."

- Saruhiko Fushimi, speaking about his betrayal.

is former member of HOMRA, Scepter 4, and J-ranked clansmen Jungle. He is a childhood friend of Misaki Yata, having known him since their middle school days together.

Appearance
Saruhiko is a slim, young man with messy black hair and blue eyes, framed by rectangular black glasses.

He usually wears his Scepter 4 uniform, consisting of a white shirt, a gray waistcoat and a long blue coat that he leaves open and whose sleeves are rolled up below the elbow, showing purplish red wrist bands. He also wears dark blue trousers and knee-high black boots. He carries a saber on his left hip.

On the upper left side of his chest he has the Homra insignia, partially hidden by a self-inflicted burn.

Personality
Fushimi often displays himself as a cool-headed, though lazy and bored individual. He is described as being rather depressing, showing dislike of many things with little interest in activities that he does enjoy, or even his own future. Furthermore, Fushimi has shown that he is a pessimist, believing that "heroes" do not exist; rather, he believes that surviving in the world would only come from an individual's own power.

He is quite intelligent, being able to solve complex mathematical problems within moments, simply by knowing the equation. He appears to enjoy playing video games and shows a prominent distaste for vegetables or other compliments to his food's side dishes.

Fushimi can often be far more twisted then he leads others to believe. He can be cruel, bloodthirsty, and occasionally sadistic. During battle, Fushimi often sports a wide grin and a tendency to laugh giddily about dangerous events. He also displays more evident signs of arrogance and superiority towards his opponents. Fushimi often boasts about his strength and speaks to his opponents in a mocking tone. Nevertheless, Fushimi retains a somewhat carefree attitude during battle.

Fushimi dislikes most of his work's duties and a handful of the people that he is forced to work with, preferring not to spend time socializing with coworkers. As such, he also prefers not to participate in most of his Clan's special events or social activities that are not strictly work-related. However, he will cooperate if necessary with little actual argument, save for perhaps a few muttered complaints. At the same time, he will often disregard his associates and act on his own. While focused on an objective, Fushimi is willing to use some fairly ruthless methods to make his work go more quickly and smoothly, such as drugging an innocent civilian to use her biological computer access. He will even attack former allies without hesitation in order to accomplish his goals.

Although he displays a pessimistic character, lacking enthusiasm for most things, he still, deep in his heart respects his previous King, Mikoto Suoh, as he says his name with honorifics, which he seldom uses with others. However, it is noted in Side: RED and one of the short stories that he is also considerably afraid and intimidated by Mikoto. This fear was clearly evident when Mikoto broke out of the Scepter 4 Jail. Fushimi raised his saber but couldn't use it against his former king and was instead shaking at the thought of facing Mikoto head on.

Even with different clans and different paths in life, he still hasn't really given up on his best friend Yata Misaki. The break in their relationship rose from Yata switching the main focus of his attention from Fushimi to the Red King when they joined HOMRA. As Yata grew closer to the other HOMRA members, he and Fushimi drifted apart, leading Fushimi to feel jealous and resentful of HOMRA's place in Yata's life. Referred to In the Radio Drama 'Izumo's Room' he indicated that if he had been in Yata's place he would have followed his best friend to Scepter 4. Much of his taunting of Yata in the series is a childish attempt to regain Yata's attention. He cannot tolerate fading into the background of Yata's life and would rather have the negative attention given an enemy than none at all.

History
Fushimi once attended the same middle school as Misaki Yata, whom he befriended and often hung out with after school. One day, both were lounging out on he streets beside a lamppost, where Fushimi drank from a bottle of soda. He watched silently as Yata took a drink from his soda and then threw it towards a group of rough-looking men. Worried, Fushimi then watched in surprise as one of them took a drink from the bottle of soda and then threw it back at them, only for it to melt despite the bottle being made of glass. The two teenagers then listened as they were offered to join the other group and hang out with them after school.

Sometime after, they both started hanging out with the group of men and eventually became their Clansmen. However, Fushimi eventually came to conclude that they were only wasting their time acting like punks and gangsters, despite having such special power. He decided to go join Scepter 4 and was admitted into the organization, despite the current King knowing of his past with HOMRA. Fushimi would tell Yata the news while in a dark alley where he also explained his reasons for doing so. To prove his point, he even burned and scratched out his insignia, which Yata referred to as "their pride". He then tells Yata to watch what he will become.

After Fushimi was then accepted by Munakata, to join Scepter 4, he was given an accolade in front of many members of Scepter 4. Once the ceremonial act was finished, Fushimi takes the sword to accept the Blue Aura; apparently, Fushimi had expected to lose his Red Aura but, much to his surprise, he discovers it is possible for one to wield two Auras.

Plot
Before HOMRA and Scepter 4 could begin their fight, due to the fact that both Kings are about to face off, the Sword of Damocles appears over the sky, which Fushimi comments about.

Back at the Scepter 4 headquarters, Fushimi conducts research on the video depicting Tatara Totsuka's murder. He, Himori Akiyama and Yūjirō Benzai manage to hack into the video so that they can uncover more specific details about it. In addition, they try to identify Totsuka's murderer among their list of criminals but are unsuccessful. During their time there, Fushimi receives a call telling him to go to a specific place, which he agrees to do.

It turns out that he is supposed to head to a warehouse near the harbor, supposedly the hideout of the gun dealer whose merchandise was used by Totsuka's murderer. Fushimi finds four of his former Red Clansmen there. He notes how one of them is not present, disappointing him. Nonetheless, he takes out the four men in an instant before calling Seri about his report, and to clean up after his mess.

Afterwards, he heads to a mall where Misaki Yata had been involved with some gangsters, though he'd already left by the time that Fushimi arrives. Fushimi feels disappointed again and rubs his scratched HOMRA insignia. He then returns to headquarters where he continues work, this time with several more of his Clansmen. Seri accuses him of slacking off during the time she's there but he disagrees. While working, he thinks about Totsuka and nearly tears up.

Later, Seri is given authorization to lead an investigation team to Ashinaka High School. Fushimi tells Seri, Himori Akiyama and Yūjirō Benzai to have a fun trip. Shortly after, however, he is told that he will be coming as well. Fushimi is slightly appalled though he decides not to complain further to the Lieutenant. Instead, he asks of what the team shall do if they find Yashiro Isana and what to do if he resists. Fushimi is told that Scepter 4 will take him into custody, regardless of the student's attempts.

Fushimi and his team soon arrive at Ashinaka High School. Once there, they head to the principal's office so Seri can discuss their investigation with him. For most of the meeting, Fushimi simply stares out the window in utter boredom, until he eventually decides to take his leave in silence.

Fushimi decides to stroll around the school's campus. He takes a path that leads him outside in the courtyards and makes a turn around a stone statue, completely unaware that Misaki Yata and Rikio Kamamoto were on the other side walking opposite of his direction. Fushimi does look back to see if anyone was behind him but does not notice the two.

He eventually finds his way to the student council's office. Fushimi knocks on the door and sneaks behind Sakura Asama, drugging her with a piece of cloth that renders her unconscious. He goes inside and places her on a movable chair, which he eventually pushes away from him. Fushimi uses the school's computer and connects it to his cell phone, hacking into the database and revealing personal information of all the students. He quickly looks through the list.

When he finishes up, Fushimi hears a ruckus outside and checks through the window blinds. He sees Yata and Kamamoto asking students about whether they've seen Yashiro Isana. Fushimi grins sinisterly at the sight of his former Clansmen.

He then heads outside to greet Yata, albeit in a mocking manner. Fushimi engages in a brief conversation with the skateboarding Clansmen, asking him a variety of questions, albeit with a sarcastic undertone. He further taunts Yata by addressing him with his first name, Misaki, intentionally aggravating him so that they can fight. When Yata resists his temptation, Fushimi begins to insult Mikoto Suoh, causing his rival to finally give in. Thus, the two engage in combat.

Fushimi manages to maintain his ground in the battle, resisting any punch or kick launched by Yata. Near the climax of the event, he pulls out throwing knives and thrusts them upon Yata, stabbing part of his arm just below the shoulder. Fushimi also throws two knives at Kamamoto when he attempts to intervene in the battle. Fushimi prepares himself when Yata is about to fight with more intensity, when suddenly Seri interrupts the battle, greatly disappointing Fushimi. As per her request, he puts away his weapons. Afterwards, once Yata and Kamamoto had left them, Seri asks about what Fushimi learned from hacking into the school's database. He reveals that he did not find anyone at the school who resembles Tatara Totsuka's murderer.

The night as rain falls, Fushimi and his fellow Clansmen surround a soccer stadium in Shizume City, intending to corner Yashiro Isana. Like most of their members, Fushimi remains on standstill inside a movable base just outside the massive building. Using a sensory monitor that displays what is occurring inside the stadium, particularly after Seri and Kuroh Yatogami begin their battle, Fushimi bemoans at how their enemies are seemingly on an advantage; impatient, he goes to Munakata about the situation. Much later, there is an incident from within the stadium that unexpectedly creates a large, light-based structure in the sky reminiscent of the Sword of Damocles, surprising Fushimi.

Shortly after, their Clan's target escapes with his two accomplices. Thus, Fushimi subsequently leads several of his Clansmen in a pursuit for the three individuals, but to due to inclement weather, they are forced to return back to headquarters with utmost failure.

The following afternoon, Fushimi receives a report that accordingly states how Kuroh Yatogami recently attacked a member of Fushimi's pursuit squad. The victim is left with minor injuries though his PDA has been stolen. Furthermore, a note is left behind with 1400 written upon it. Fushimi relays such information to Captain Munakata and Lieutenant Awashima in the former's office. Once his superiors have analyzed and concluded the reasons behind such an event, Fushimi is offered to remain on standby with them. Fushimi refuses after seeing a dumpling plate with a massive topping of red bean paste, which was also his Lieutenant's lunch. Therefore, he is assigned to alert his fellow Clansmen of emergency deployment, which he immediately tasks himself in doing.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Fushimi is given the call to head out and continue his pursuit from the previous night. He gathers several Clansmen from headquarters and immediately departs with them. His group heads out to a local freeway, where Gotō and Hidaka explain about Kuroh's and Neko's abilities. Fushimi is annoyed that they are seemingly unaware of their actual mission, though he does not state it out blatantly. Rather, he elaborates on how powerless Yashiro Isana is said to be, before turning his attention to a nearby pickup truck. Fushimi and his Clansmen surround the pickup truck and investigate the cargo behind. Fushimi discovers the stolen PDA within the crates but sees that there is no one else in the vehicle. Nonetheless, he easily sees through the trick and grows even more annoyed at Yashiro's attempt to trick him.

Fushimi later joins the rest of Scepter 4 to a local airport so that they can contact the Silver King, Adolf K. Weismann. During an explanation on why Munakata would go to such lengths for a goal, especially since it was brought to attention following Yashiro's own request, Fushimi questions whether the rumors circling Weismann are actually part of an old urban legend. To his annoyance, he is forced to continue listening to Munakata's lecture. Fushimi listens to Munakata as he reveals how, since the death of Tatara Totsuka, there have been many suspicious activity regarding Weismann. Hearing such news triggers a nerve in Fushimi.

Eventually, the Clan reaches the airport. Fushimi gathers a group of his Clansmen before boarding a helicopter and subsequently taking off with eight others. While aboard and armed with an artillery gun, Fushimi reminds his Clansmen that they shall wait three minutes for Munakata to give his final warning. Should Weismann's blimp Himmelreich fail to comply with their requests by then, they shall take action and commandeer the aircraft. As the helicopters surround the blimp, Fushimi notices how one of them is acting out on its own, aggravating him, especially when the person driving it begins moving at an astonishing speed towards the Himmelreich's engines. Suddenly, Weismann detonates his own blimp and the helicopter crashes into the engines, creating an explosion. Thus, Fushimi's mission is unable to continue further.

The next morning, while at headquarters Fushimi overhears Akiyama informing their Captain of how the Gold King has already arrived at the Himmelreich's crash site. The news surprises Fushimi.

Hours later, Mikoto manages to free himself of his shackles and break out from his prison cell. Fushimi immediately heads outside with the rest of his Clan, where he reminds the others not to attack Mikoto even if he does. He then sees that Seri has already gathered a few other Clansmen to prepare for battle, amusing him. However, when Fushimi realizes that Mikoto is about to launch an attack at their forces, he immediately rushes to the area's exit and throws his knives to the ground. His Blue Aura flares up from the knives and creates a small barrier that manages to take form before Mikoto's attack can strike them. The barrier is unable to handle such an attack and is quickly destroyed, resulting in the destruction of the Scepter 4 headquarters and injury of several of their members, including Seri and himself. He attempts to draw his saber against his former King but gives up in the end.

Shortly after, Fushimi stops his Clansmen from attacking the members of HOMRA, despite them being in open range. He and Kusanagi meet eye-to-eye though neither speak a word to one another.

Eventually, Scepter 4 heads out to Ashinaka High School and surround the perimeters, awaiting further orders from Munakata. A bored Fushimi snaps at Dōmyōji and Fuse when they question what is happening on the island while HOMRA is in charge. Later, however, he asks the two whether it is time to attack, only to be told that they cannot unless Seri Awashima states otherwise. The following morning, he stands alongside the rest of Scepter 4 looking out to the island while waiting on their Captain for commands. An impatient Fushimi suggests using other methods to reach the high school, only to be refuted by Seri; annoyed, he groans at their constant idleness. Moments later, a series of explosions are seen from the island, drawing the attention of the Clansmen. Afterwards, they are told by Munakata to start heading out.

Scepter 4 makes their way to the campus where they are met by members of HOMRA, who rebuke Seri's warning to them and cheer on for the inevitable fighting, which even Fushimi is excited about. He readily draws his saber to Seri's command and subsequently fights against the members of HOMRA alongside his Clansmen. The fighting is momentarily halted by a sudden explosion deeper within the campus, followed by an attack on Munakata from the HOMRA member whom he was protecting from the collateral damage, though they continue fighting shortly after.

Fushimi later comes to Seri's defense when Yata attacks her while she is momentarily distracted. Having overheard Yata's words about fighting the Lieutenant, Fushimi reminds him that they still have unfinished business for themselves to attend to. The two then resume their battle, though it is again halted by the sudden appearance of a beam of silver light; awed by the spectacle, they stop and look out in wonder towards it.

As Kuroh comes onto the battlefield, telling both of the clans to halt their attack, Fushimi fights back yelling that he doesn't take orders from him and Yata grudgingly agrees with him and the two begin to fight Kuroh together. After Kuroh beats the two of the clansmen, Fushimi looks at Yata who is screaming out in pain and pulls down his shirt where his HOMRA mark is burning bright. After Fushimi makes a comment about it and how his king was going to die, Yata angrily tries to rile him up, but he's too tired to even care. Kamamoto comes to pick the two up and Fushimi only quietly complained as he was carried on Kamamoto's shoulder, who claimed he was helping him because his king was kind and he wouldn't turn his back on Fushimi who "ran away", Fushimi denied this claiming that he "left willingly".

Fushimi is later seen standing on the bridge where it connects to the school island and watches as the red clansmen gather to mourn for their king. Although he is in some pain when the others start chanting for MIkoto, he is somewhat mesmerized when he watches his mark glow and send a red spark to the sky.

K Missing Kings
After Anna is kidnapped, Fushimi gets a call from Yata, although he decides to play around with him instead of answering his questions head-on, stating somewhat irritably that he wasn't his informant and asked who the caller was. He suggests that if Yata wanted to duke it out with him, he should just switch clans. After Yata practically begs Fushimi for information on Anna's whereabouts, desperately calling his friend, claiming he was all he had left now that Totsuka, HOMRA and Mikoto where gone; hr even asks if he would send him any information because he holds no grudges towards Anna. Fushimi thinks quietly to himself before rudely hanging up on Yata. Surprisingly, he sends Yata a map of the city and circles where Anna was being held, even though he sends no message along with it. Fushimi is reading his report to Munakata, and he becomes somewhat irritated when his king wanted to refer a specific green clansmen as a "ninja", although he managed to ignore it. He asks his king what their next step was, and he replies that they would wait.

After Anna is crowned as the new red king, Douhan Hirasaka tries to run away by passing through a wall, but is haltered by Fushimi, who throws knives at her before she could pass through. He tells her that the same trick won't work on him twice as he draws his saber, a blood thirsty grin is on his face. When Anna walks out of the Gold Kings tower, Fushimi salutes her with his saber, but when Yata comes towards him to give him an awkward thanks, Fushimi ignores it, angering Yata.

K Return of the Kings
Fushimi participates in the showdown between the Tea Table (or Coffee Table) Alliance and the Green clan, in Episode 8. After Fushimi realizes that the green clan took the Dresden Slates, he exchanges harsh words with Munakata in an argument. Fushimi threatens to resign from Scepter 4, and Munakata invites him to do so, adding "You're used to being a traitor anyway." Fushimi departs, leaving his saber and uniform coat behind. Later that night he determines that if he is going to be labeled a traitor, he might as well become one and joins. In less than a month, Saruhiko was able to become a J-ranked member with the last mission involved interfering with Seri and Izumo's goal, where they wanted to obtain the list of people that were cooperating with Jungle, by destroying the PDA that had the list.

Later on, he opens the gate leading to JUNGLE's secret base, seeming to work as a double agent.

Powers & Abilities
Red &amp; Blue Aura: Fushimi possesses both Blue and Red Aura. After joining Jungle, he now possesses Green Aura.

Swordsmanship: Fushimi possesses a good skill in swordsmanship.

Knife-throwing: Fushimi also seems to be able to throw his knives quite accurately. Programming/ Computers:  Fushimi is shown to be very skillful when he is confronted with something technological. He was a top player in an app game called JCube and almost managed to hack into the < > app, but failed. At Ashinaka he was able to get information on the students quiet quickly when it would have taken much longer for someone else in his clan.
 * Force Field: Fushimi is able to create a force field by transmitting his Blue Aura into his throwing knifes and throw them across in front of him where the Aura in each knife will merge together forming a force field barrier. This barrier is strong enough to briefly withstand Mikoto's Aura blast. (unnamed)

Equipment

 * Befitting a member of Scepter 4, Fushimi possesses a saber, which he uses for combat. (formerly)

Throwing Knife: Even when he was young Fushimi carries at least six throwing knives, which he hides under his sleeves and pockets. He throws them with great precision enough to hit his target and be able to flip them around his fingers with great ease. The reason Munakata wanted Fushimi to be part of his clan was because he was a "hidden weapon user".

Trivia

 * If Fushimi had to name a hobby, it would be programming.
 * In a character popularity poll, he ranked first.
 * Fushimi is allergic to animals, he'll sneeze whenever he's near one.
 * Fushimi tends to hate any type of vegetables, i.e. Bamboo shoots in the sweet and sour pork, Green pepper of the stuffed green pepper etc. as revealed in some K radio drama.
 * Fushimi is very good at cards, as shown in a drama cd where he performed a card trick for Munakata and managed to baffle him. Also in the K Gakuen drama cd [Summer] when Shiro suggests they play poker Yata refused, saying when he played poker with Fushimi he was sure Fushimi had cheated.
 * He seems to have no trouble handling bugs in SIDE: Blue, he simply plucks a spider from its web before setting it free by tossing it out a window. He also seems to have a good knowledge on insects, since he was able to identify a spider Awashima was afraid of as harmless and one that he stabbed as poisonous. In Lost Small World, he also corrected Yata's little brother Minoru that the beetle he had caught was not a Hercules beetle just by looking at it. This could have stemmed from when he was a child and did a research project on ants (in Lost Small World).
 * Kusanagi expected Fushimi to be his replacement once he retired from HOMRA, to be the calm mind for Yata and Kamamoto, but he was sincerely upset when Fushimi joined the blues instead.