The Merry Killers is the latest fanfic by the Sage of Toads, and takes place in the same universe as The Key to a Successful Interview and Beautiful Destroyer Sailor Moon.
As is usual for a Sage of Toads fanfic, the fic is a deconstruction of Love Hina.
The twist?
The Urashima clan are assassins who work for the Emperor himself! And apparently, more than one of the Hinata-Sou girls are the same!
Read it here
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This fanfic contains examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Every girl at the Hinata Sou from Haruka to Shinobu is a skilled assassin. Even Kitsune, who specializes in organizing and managing their hits, manages to hold her own against Golgo. While Keitaro isn't an assassin or even really a fighter, he's still Nigh-Invulnerable, even shrugging off Jumping on a Grenade and being annoyed at most upon being hit by a sniper round.
- Batman Gambit: Knowing Kitsune is more dangerous than she looks, Golgo 13 realizes the only way he can kill her is to induce a major case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder before doing so. He didn't count on an UNKILLABLE Keitaro protecting Kitsune, though.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Shinobu is the same sweet little girl she is in canon, but also has a split personality (named Red) with a higher kill count than the other Hinata Sou assassins combined. It's especially obvious when Red mentions liking Keitaro as a reason for Motoko to stop trying to kill him. After hearing this, Kitsune suggests Motoko just give up lest Red blow off her hands.
- Book Smart: The total opposite from the three-year Rōnin Keitaro, Naru ranked first on Japan's national mock exam.
- Boom, Headshot!:
- Naru does a fist-based version with her infamous "Naru Punch," in which an assassin's head gets turned into a cloud of red mist and short-cut hair. Keitaro is the only one who it can't hurt.
- As a Cold Sniper, Kitsune has done a few.
- Briefcase Full of Money: Ten Million US Dollars, and first-class plane tickets to the destination of the his choice lets Haruka buy out Golgo 13's contract on Kitsune. He accepts, seeing he's also surrounded. Haruka also throws in getting him "patched up" before the flight as well.
- Child Soldier: Mitsune's family are trained to kill at a very young age.
- The Fixer: Haruka has arranged for transportation, and gear and weapons Su cannot create. She also arranges the jobs the girls take.
- Genius Bruiser: Naru is incredibly Book Smart and is strong enough to punch a man's head into a bloody mess.
- Immortality Hurts: Keitaro may not be killable (so far), but he can still feel pain.
- Mugging the Monster: The yakuza that targeted Kitsune learn the hard way that she belongs to the Urashima Clan and the Urashima belong to the Emperor of Japan.
- Punctuated Pounding: Done with periods and not exclamation marks, but as Kitsune neutralizes one gunman after another with her sniper rifle, "This is the best gun in the world. I hit. Every. Mark."
- Relationship Upgrade: Naru and Keitarou hook up at the of chapter 3 and have sex.
- Shout-Out: As per the course in Sage of Toads fics. Examples include Deadpool himself being given half a billion dollars, put on an island with Keitaro, and told to go nuts with the money to try and kill Keitaro...It all failed.
- Chapter 6 had Kitsune say "Hellsing ARMS, I am your loyal customer for life." When Shinobu asks where Haruka could have gotten what's hinted to be the "General Lee" on Molmol, Su just goes, "Oh, everyone in Molmol loves the Dukes!"
- Haruka Tenoh shows up in Chapter 8, facing Motoko in a friendly spar. This is also an Early-Bird Cameo - as of the time of its writing, Sailor Uranus hadn't yet shown up in BDSM yet.
- Chapter 9 features the abandoned Jindai High.
- Chapter 10 has a gun-woman hinted to be Nodoka Saotome armed with a Kalashnikov rifle taking out Yakuza at one of their warehouses. Before she was a Saotome, Nodoka was born a Urashima.
- Split Personality: As result of Shinobu's harsh training, she has a second personality called "Red" who embodies her murderous side. Wearing red clothing, no matter how small, causes this personality to come out. She also uses a small mirror lined with red tape to communicate with red.
- Superpowered Evil Side: "Red" for Shinobu.
- Keitaro seems to have one as well.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: The legendary Naru/Keitaro relationship passes this stage VERY early.
- To explain, they actually get together in the third chapter, after Naru's identity as the "Promise Girl" was revealed along with Keitaro inheriting the Hinata-sou. Naru sees it as fate having them reunite after all those years and decides to sleep with Keitaro shortly after.
- Your Head A-Splode: What could someone of Naru's strength do if she punched someone other than Keitaro? Her punch turns his head into a fine mist.
