Fanfic / Soldier Wars

Eli Ayase, Umi Sonoda and Maki Nishikino call themselves Soldiers: assassins targeting people who do far more harm than good with the power given to them by society. The job has never been pretty, but under the cover of an environmental organization, it has been kept safely under wraps for years. At the point of the story's beginning, Maki is married to professional idol Nico Yazawa, Eli has Nozomi Tojo, assistant to the Minami Group head, as her girlfriend, and Umi's marriage to the Minami Group's heiress Kotori Minami is scheduled to take place in a month, but a gala with her company business partners is just around the corner.

And it's at this gala where Umi encounters her ex-girlfriend Anju Yuuki, who suspects Umi of involvement in the string of deaths in her family that just happened to begin at the same time they got together. Escalating situations force Umi to run from the police, and soon after, Eli discovers that the Soldiers' work may have been furthering the plans of an enemy all along - plans set in secret by Nozomi herself.

Set in a universe where these girls are neither in high school nor idols (save Nico), Soldier Wars is a 6-chapter fanfiction written by jstonedd, putting focus on the trio behind Love Live!'s Soldier Game single in a setting where they're Anti-heroes in suits. It's available for reading at ff.net, AO3 and jstonedd's own tumblr.

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Three, two, one, zero:

• Author Appeal: The Soldiers' preference for suits is likely an extension of jstonedd's own fondness for them.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: The Soldiers all wear suits and have their own styles in doing so. Special mention goes to Umi who spends a good chunk of the story in the formal tux she wore to the gala, albeit not by choice. The suits are justified as most of their targets are high-class citizens and to the public, they're in an environmental organization, but wearing suits is also trait that they inherited from their foster father Pai, who trained them.
• Batman Gambit: Nozomi's plan to stop Kasei hinges on the Soldiers finding a way to stop the plan she first introduced to them.
• Berserk Button: Near the end of the story, Kasei insults Nico and threatens to turn her into another one of his puppets in the future, right in front of Maki, who immediately charges at him.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • When it seems like Umi and Eli are on their way to prison with little chance of escape given their exhaustion, the driver of the police van turns out to be Honoka in disguise, who instead brings them to a suite in a five-star hotel for some rest.
  • Umi and Eli wind up trapped on the top of a building with a bomb set to detonate in seconds when Maki, who just escaped police arrest, drops in and saves them with a helicopter belonging to Nico.
• Clear My Name: In addition to saving the country from spiraling into chaos, Umi needs to clear herself of the accusations she has of being responsible for the murder of Anju's father before she can safely return to Kotori.
• The Cracker: While not a Soldier herself, Hanayo works with them as one of their six IT experts, likely their leader, and she's just as good at her job as the Soldiers are at theirs.
• Deadpan Snarker: Maki carries this trait over from her canon self.
• Idiosyncratic Chapter Naming: The last syllables of each chapter name all rhyme with and (except for chapter 3) have the same syllable count as "Soldier Game". The first chapter, titled "Intro", doesn't follow these rules, but alludes to the song by referencing a translation of the first lyric line: "Three, two, one, zero, here is my intro."
• Heel–Face Turn: Umi talks Anju into backing down and right afterward, and Kotori gives her a reason to help their side.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: The plot takes its toll on Eli and Umi, who accept their complete loss with some of Eli's vodka.
  Maki: *watching Eli pour vodka into a glass* Don't tell me you're going to drink that.
  Eli: Of course not. *hands the glass to Umi* That was for Umi. *begins drinking from the bottle*
• Kirk Summation: Two of them, and both unconventional examples given this trope's heroic nature:
  • The first is from Umi to Anju, and considering what Umi does, it paints the villain in this case as a better person than Umi, and unlike many cases, it actually works.

    Umi: You are not like your father, Anju. And you are not like me. You can't kill someone without killing your own soul.

    Anju: Sh-Shut up! you think I won't do it?

    Umi: I know you can't. If you could, I would be long dead. Even back there at the gala, I could feel you hesitating, waiting for something. You were waiting for me to stop you, the way you are now waiting for someone to stop you.

  • The second is from Nozomi to Kasei, who both had their time in the antagonist's seat, and it's given as the heroes' side is on the verge of winning.

    Nozomi: You spent so much time looking down on others, you never saw the people above you, controlling you. I was never your puppet. You were mine.

• The Man Behind the Man: Played With. Nozomi, who seemed to be pulling strings all around the country, was actually one of Kasei's pawns. Except all the manipulating that Nozomi was doing was actually against Kasei in an intentionally roundabout way.
• Not Quite Dead: Kasei, whose unwitting double took the two bullets meant for him, and Maki, who was shot in the chest and saved by a bulletproof vest that Nico forced her to wear.
• One Bullet Left: Played with. Before the final confrontation with Kasei, Umi spends all but one of the bullets of her gun on a camera with a prerecorded message that lured them into a trap, so when they get to Kasei, her gun only has that single round. So when Kasei asks for a gun, Umi gives him hers, which he uses on Maki. When he threatens to shoot Eli if Nozomi kills him, Umi willingly 'takes the bullet'.
• One-Hit Polykill: At one point, Umi shoots three people in the brain with a single bullet.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Downplayed. Eli suffers a bullet wound to the shoulder to start off chapter 2. It does take effort to keep herself from passing out long enough to get to Nozomi, it's kept ambiguous what exactly Nozomi did to treat her, and her shoulder wound is mentioned often being detrimental to her condition, but it doesn't stop her from getting into fights and shooting people.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Umi describes their work as this.

• Red Baron: "General Tojo".
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Anju's bodyguard Erene noticed how upset Anju is when she sees her ex Umi, especially when Umi is with her fiance Kotori. Erena had figured out that it has something to do with the death of Anju's father and had committed a grave act. However, Erena's reasoning is that Umi is actually a Gold Digger that left Anju in her grief. The truth was that Umi was part of the team that killed Anju's father, a Corrupt Corporate Executive... and that Anju had found out the truth after digging for it and now wants to kill Umi to avenge him.
• Sadistic Choice: Kasei offers one to Nozomi: if she kills him, he shoots Eli. Fortunately, the gun's empty.
• Tarot Motifs: Eli and the upright Justice card. Nozomi draws it for her the first time they meet in a park, and again the second time. The card itself is also a recurring plot-significant item.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Due to the nature of their jobs and their history, the Soldiers and Nozomi are are much older mentally and emotionally than physically. Eli and Umi even say as much of each other in-story.
• You Killed My Father: Anju only succeeded ownership of her father's company at such a young age because of his death, which she suspects Umi of being partially responsible for. She uses this as leverage against Umi.
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: See Kirk Summation.