Finally done! This took a while to write! Even now, I don't think it's perfect. Tell me what you think, okay?
Frozen Fortune Chapter 2
Naoto woke up bright and early the next day, and quickly checked her clock. 7 o'clock, so she had plenty of time before work. She showered and dressed. She used gauze to bind her chest down before buttoning up her dress shirt as was her normal routine. "You know, you do look pretty as a girl."
Naoto knew she heard that voice somewhere before, but she looked around the room. "Who's there!?"
"I am thou..." Naoto looked up. "Thou art I..." She sighed as she managed to place the voice.
"Sukuna-Hikona, it's rude to intrude on my inner thoughts."
She almost felt him pouting. "I can finally talk to you, and this is how you react?"
Naoto turned to her computer as she fixed her tie. "I figured that would happen since I can summon you in the real world."
"Touche." Her Persona replied before going silent, letting Naoto check her emails. She had one from Yukiko, with Chie had co-signed, one from Kanji, two from Yosuke, (One was from Teddie), and six from Rise. She swiftly replied to them, most just asking her whether she had a safe trip, how she was, that sort of thing.
Once her replies had been sent, she went to go get breakfast. With Naoto's cooking skills, it was cereal and orange juice. She knew she'd have to expand as she continued on her own, but she was self-sufficient. She slipped on her jacket and cap as she headed out to her job. that was why she was here in Tokyo after all.
At the hospital, she met up with Dr. Mizuno. Today was her first day, so she was going to simply observe as the blue-haired doctor worked with children. It was mundane, but had to be done. Naoto would much rather look at cadavers and learn forensic science, but that would come later. She set herself in a corner of the examination room and lowered her cap over her eyes, hiding them from view as she listened and took notes.
Throughout the day, Sukuna-Hikona was active in her mind. The deity of medicine was diagnosing the patients faster than Dr. Mizuno, even without as much information. He could tell through subtle cues like how the children spoke, unless it required further examination, which Naoto did watch. Page after page of the proper procedure, along with her Persona's corrections was added to her notes, and by the end of the day, she felt she had a good grasp on the subject. As she got ready to leave, Dr. Mizuno spoke to her. "Perhaps, you could try examining the children soon."
Naoto smiled at her. "It'd be my pleasure. See you tomorrow."
Naoto began to walk around and explore the area. It was summer break and she had nothing to do. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out she had with her. She had wrapped some of Yukiko's cookies, which tasted rather good once dusted with icing sugar, and also reached for her knit doll from Kanji.
As her hand slid into her pocket, she grabbed nothing but air. She frantically searched her pockets and even took off her jacket to shake it upside-down, but nothing came out except the cookies she brought with her. She began to panic: Where did she lose it? She thought back to the events of the day before. the only time when it could've fallen out was when she fainted after summoning her Persona.
He replied in her head. "Yeah, it had to be then. After that blue-haired lady escaped." With that in mind, Naoto knew either the blonde or the pinkette had her knit doll. She ducked into an alley and summoned her Persona. "Go look for them. if you find them, return to me." With that, he flew off as Naoto continued her search on foot.
Meanwhile, at the Hikawa Shrine...
"Why can't we just enjoy ourselves!?
The girl who wailed was none other than the blonde-haired Serena Tsukino. From her laid-back and slightly ditzy attitude, one would never think that this girl was the local heroine, Sailor Moon.
"Serena, you know we have summer homework." This was the bluenette Ami Mizuno, who was the Soldier of Ice, Sailor Mercury. This was met with a chuckle from the other blonde with them, who had a red ribbon in her hair, Minako Aino. She was the Soldier of Love, Sailor Venus.
"Ami, you already finished all yours, didn't you?" The blue-haired girl blushed. "Then you go out and have some fun."
Ami waved dismissively, "I don't mind helping you all."
From where she was sitting, Rini, or Sailor Mini-Moon decided to change the subject, mostly to alleviate her boredom. "You'll never guess who we met last night!" She said excitedly.
Ami and Mina, along with the two other girls, Rei Hino and Lita Kino (Sailors Mars and Jupiter respectively) all looked up. "Who was it?" Rei asked, curious.
Serena smiled. "The Detective Prince!" This got the other girls, especially Mina, excited.
"Oh my god! How'd you meet him? Do you have his address or phone number? Do you think you could get me to meet him? What d-" She was stopped as Rei clamped her hand over her mouth so Serena could get a word in.
"Well, last night, we met a new enemy and they attacked him. Something about searching people's dreams. Anyway, a mirror came out of his chest when they attacked him," This was a lot like the Death Busters, who would steal people's Pure Hearts, "but some creature came out. of his and began fighting at his command."
Rini picked up the story, "Anyway, he passed out from the strain, so we helped him when he woke up. He seems really nice, if a bit cold, and he's really short."
It finally clicked in Ami's mind that this was the young man she met yesterday, but she decided to keep that to herself. After all, she didn't want to steal Serena's thunder.
Serena began speaking again, to Mina more than the others. "I have to return this," She said, holding the knit doll up "To him, so if you want to meet him, you can feel free to help me find him."
Mina took the doll in her hand. "It's so adorable! I'd love to help you find him Serena!" The two girls got up and left, their studies forgotten. Rei sighed and said, "We should go and make sure they don't do something stupid."
As the other four girls left, they didn't notice a winged blue creature watching them. Because of the spiritual wards around the shrine, he had been unable to enter, so he had waited. He saw what he was looking for, and reverted into a tarot card, before disappearing back into the sea of his master's soul.
Naoto was walking around aimlessly. She had retraced her steps and questioned some of the people she had seen, but no one was any help at all. She sat down a bench, resigned to the fact that she would never find her doll, until she felt her Persona return to her telling her about the girls who had it. Knowing they were looking for her, she decided to wait, pulling out a detective novel to read. After about half an hour of reading, she heard the sounds of multiple feet approaching, and closed her book to see the six girls.
They all stopped to catch their breath, as Naoto tipped her hat. "Serena-san, Rini-san, Ami-san."
A faint blush rose to their cheeks as the handsome detective addressed them. Serena quickly found her voice. "Oh, you dropped this last night." She held out the doll of her, which Naoto took and carefully replaced in her coat pocket.
"Thank you. I've been looking everywhere for it. It's a gift from a very special friend." When she said this, the girls she didn't know looked like she had just punched them in the stomach. "Are your friends alright?"
Serena smiled. "Right! I forgot to introduce you! Naoto-kun, this is Rei-chan, Mina-chan, and Lita-chan." Naoto tipped her head in a nod of acknowledgement and each of the girls returned it with a short bow.
"Are you free from the hospital today?" Ami asked her.
"As a matter of fact, I am. And once school starts, I'm only going a few times a week." Naoto told her. With this, Rei saw a way to enter the conversation.
"Oh? Where are you going to school?"
Naoto saw no harm in these questions. People develop interest in minor celebrities. "I'll be attending Juuban High School as a second year student for a short time." This was a surprise to the girls. This short boy was their upperclassman. "As for yourselves?"
Mina took this chance to answer. "Rei attends a different school, but we're all first-years. Naoto-senpai." She added. She then had a flash of inspiration, getting her back onto her original plan of winning over the Detective Prince. "Why don't you hang out with us?"
Naoto was taken somewhat aback, her only real friends were the other members of the Investigation Team, and being swarmed by these girls was a bit of a system shock. She pretended to think about the offer as she got her heart rate under control as well as her higher brain functions. After a moment, she stood up. "I would like to talk with all of you. Shall we go somewhere else?"
Mina grinned. "We usually hang out at Rei's place, come on!" Naoto hoped she wouldn't wind up regretting this decision.
She was regretting this decision.
She was in no way out of shape, but the girls had all been walking quickly, and Naoto had to jog to keep up with them. After that, in the summer heat, she found a mountain of stairs in front of her. As she reached the top, she was soaked with sweat and about to collapse.
Mina was there to help her. "Naoto-senpai? Are you alright?" She staggered into the shrine as she forced out "Ice cream..." From her parched throat. The girls just looked at each other as Rei went inside to get some ice cream while Ami gave her some water to sip on.
Naoto paid little attention to the conversation the other girls were having until they brought up something interesting. "You know that new movie they're filming?" Mina asked the group, "I hear that that some new idol was cast in the lead role."
Naoto felt she had to interject. "I'm sorry to correct you, but that lead role belongs to Risette."
The girls were surprised, to say the least. "H-How do you know that?" Mina asked. Usually she was the one who knew all the gossip.
"Simple. I know Rise Kujikawa." She said with a smug grin on her face. The six just stared at her with stunned expressions. Naoto pulled out her cell phone and looked through her contacts/ "I can prove it too." She pressed a button, dialing the desired number.
It took only one ring to hear, "Naoto-kun? Aren't you calling long distance?"
"Don't worry about the extra charges. Anyways, I have some friends who want to meet you. You don't mind, do you?"
Rise replied with, "Any cute boys?"
"No. Six girls. Is it a problem?"
Her answer took a few seconds. "Nope. Put me on speaker for them."
Naoto did as she asked and set her phone in the center of the group. Rise spoke through the speaker. "I'd love to meet Naoto-kun's friends! Go around, telling me your names, and then we can chat!"
Naoto let them go on for about twenty minutes before finally picking up her cell phone again. "Well, this was nice, but Rise-chan has other business to attend to, I'm sure.
"What? No Way! These girls are cool! I wanna keep-" Naoto ended the call, knowing her grandfather wouldn't like seeing this on her phone bill.
Seeing it was getting late, she excused herself. "I'm sorry. I should be getting home. It is late."
"Alright, bye Senpai!" Serena said which the other girls parroted. Naoto smiled, these girls seemed to be good company, though they looked a little bit like the Sailor Scouts. And if that was the case, she was going to teach them how to fight. After all, from what she had seen from them so far, they needed some hand-to-hand combat training. Speaking of training, Naoto needed to practice with her Persona first chance she got.
That night, Serena was sitting down for dinner with her family. Her mom innocently asked her, "So, how was your day?"
Serena beamed before replying, "You'll never guess who we met today!" She said happily. Rini finished for her. "The Detective Prince!"
Her parents were surprised to say the least "The detective Naoto Shirogane? Are you sure?" Her mother asked.
Serena nodded. "It's him all right. He'll be starting at the same school once it's back in session."
Her brother, Sammy, was much more skeptical. "Please. Do you guys actually believe that? What would an ace detective want with Meatball-Head?"
Serena was steaming, but Rini covered her mouth to keep her quiet. "It's true! In fact, we'll invite him over tomorrow!" She turned to Serena's mom. "Is it okay if we have him over for dinner?"
She smiled at the two girls. "If he says yes, go ahead. Just call ahead, alright?"
When Naoto arrived home, she found a box and a letter, both left inside her room. The letter was from her grandfather, simply explaining the contents of the box. They were the Sailor V case files she requested, and she began to skim through them. As she read, her mind kept wandering to the girls she had met earlier. Something about them just seemed… familiar. She reached toward her phone to call the Shadow Operatives, but quickly discarded the idea. She wasn't an official member and using a Persona's analytic capabilities for something to small as identifying the Sailor Scouts would be frowned upon. The main factor in not stopping was her pride. Just because she had these resources didn't mean she should use them. She needed this to not grow complacent. If there isn't enough evidence, go out and find some.
The next day was rather uneventful. No one came in unless it was the emergency wing, and Naoto wasn't allowed to operate, so she spent her time watching and taking notes. Once she was done for the day, she found Serena and Rini waiting right outside for her. "You two?" She said in surprise. Once she regained her composure, she asked, "How long have you been waiting?"
"Not long." Rini said. Serena was more nervous, not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of her. "Um... do you have any plans this evening?"
Naoto quickly thought. She was just going to read most likely, or talk with her friends online. "No, why?"
"We were wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner."
Naoto mentally went over her options: A home-cooked meal made by one of her kohai's family or another cup of instant ramen. Clearly the choice was clear. "I'd love to. What time should I come by?"
Rini and Serena beamed. "We can go now! Come on!" Naoto found herself at their mercy as they both began to pull her in their excitement. Naoto was a little upset by being dragged, but she did have her Persona and Teddie glasses, so she could still do some detective work on the Sailor Scouts on her way home.
In the Dead Moon Circus tent, Tiger-Eye, Hawk-Eye, and Fish-Eye were looking over a collection of photos, with Fish-eye getting some teasing for her failure with Naoto.
"Heh, it was a good attempt, Fish-Eye. I guess you should brush up on your abilities."
"I am fine! If it wasn't for that blue midget with the giant beam sword, I'd have got her without issue." She shot back.
Hawk-Eye pulled out a photo of a young woman from the pile. The woman looked to be a young mother with long blue hair. "This one looks like she's a good choice."
The other two looked over his shoulders. "Man, you've always been one for the young motherly type, haven't you?" Tiger-Eye asked.
"Get off my case" He said, before leaning back and taking a sip of a drink. "I know exactly what I'm doing. Besides, she looks exactly like what we're looking for." He smirked. "I think I'll capture this heart in record time. Just watch me."
As Naoto was being dragged by Serena and Rini, they bumped into Serena's mother, Ikuko Tsukino. With her was a bag of groceries. "Mama!" Serena called happily. "What's in the bags?"
Ikuko turned to see her daughter and niece dragging a boy dressed in blue. "I was going to make a pie for our guest. I didn't expect you to bring him by so quickly though."
Naoto shook her wrists free and gave a curt bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsukino-san."
She chuckled. "My, how polite." She smiled at the girls and Naoto. "Would you like to help me?"
They nodded but as Serena reached for the bag, the bottom gave out, spilling groceries all over the ground. As they went to pick them up, a man with tall pink hair came out to help them, his hand reaching for the same lemon Ikuko was reaching for, their hand touching.
They both pulled their hands away as the man stared at her. "Mother!" Everyone was shocked, their eyes opening to the size of dinner plates. He quickly noticed and apologized. "I'm sorry; you just look like someone I've been looking for." He produced a locket, showing a worn picture of a woman who looked just like Ikuko Tsukino.
Naoto knelt down to get a better look. "What was this woman's name?"
He replied, "Ikuko."
This gave the others another panic attack. It was about this point that the man passed out. Naoto checked his pulse on instinct. "He's breathing and his pulse is strong. If I had to guess, I'd say he's just exhausted. Tsukino-san, will you watch him? She turned to the other bluenette. "When people wake up from fainting spells, they're usually disoriented and frightened. The fact that he recognizes your face could help calm him."
She gave Rini a 500 yen coin. "Find a vending machine and grab him something to drink. Serena, I'm still getting used to the area. Will you help me find some food to bring back for him?" The two nodded, Rini running off and Serena leading Naoto off.
Naoto learned that Serena could be serious when it was needed, since as soon as they bought the first thing they found (A small block of tofu), she was dragging Naoto back to where their mother was waiting. As they were about to return, Rini pulled them aside into the bushes.
"Look!" She hissed quietly. Through a gap in the brush they could hear the man begin to make advances on Serena's mother.
"No one's that lucid after passing out," Naoto said, "So he must've been trying to get her alone!"
After a few more words were exchanged, the man revealed himself as Hawk-Eye, and trapped Ikuko without much effort. Naoto looked Serena and Rini, willing to use this chance to test her hypothesis. "You two go get help. I'll try and handle this." She slipped on her Teddie Glasses and stepped out before Hawk-Eye got to examine the Dream Mirror.
"Stop right there!" She called, revolver in hand. He growled and turned to face her.
He produced a small torch. "Geez, kids need to stay out of the way." Using the torch, he blew a large jet of fire out toward her, which she rolled to dodge before firing two shots. He dodged the bullets without much effort.
As he readied another attack, a familiar voice was heard. "Stop right there! I'm Sailor Moon!"
A second one added, "And I'm Sailor Mini-Moon"
Both voices together this time. "And in the name of the Moon, we will punish you!"
Hawk-Eye just sounded annoyed at their appearance. "So many kids. Looks like you need a playmate! Remless Cannonball!" What formed was a blue girl and a cannon, which the girl was cleaning, and then she climbed inside. She lit the fuse and fired herself at the two Scouts. Unable to react in time, they looked done for.
"Garudyne!"
A miniature tornado of green energy held the girl as Naoto had Sukuna-Hikona out and ready. "Move!" Serena and Rini moved away as the Remless was tossed into the brush. However, in the meantime, Hawk-Eye had checked out the Dream Mirror.
"Kids, family, being a good mother? Where's the Pegasus dream?" He pulled his head out of the Dream Mirror. "Well, that was a waste of time. Might as well destroy this dream now."
Sailor Moon covered her mouth in shock. "You can't!" She produced a wand and began to spin. "Moon Spiral Heart… Attack!" She shot heart-shaped energy out of the wand, which fired out at Hawk-Eye.
He crossed his arms and was pushed backward before shrugging off the attack entirely. "Nice try, but now it's my turn!" He fired a jet of fire, which Naoto was ready for.
"Bufudyne!" A large ice pillar erupted between Hawk-Eye and the Scouts, shrouding them, and Naoto in a shield of steam. This wasn't good enough as the Remless had rejoined the fight and fired itself right into the center of the cloud, leaving a crater and forcing them all out of the steam cloud.
Naoto knew she was leaking Spirit Energy, and fast. She needed to wrap this up. "Megido!"
Her persona gathered up pure white energy before allowing it to explode downward, leaving both Hawk-Eye and the Remless damaged. On the other hand, Sukuna-Hikona was flickering in and out of a physical form because of the high level of mental stress on Naoto. "Tempest Slash!" As she went in for the kill on Hawk-Eye, he fired a jet of fire at her Persona, forcing it to return to her soul and knocking Naoto onto the ground and igniting her shirt, which she quickly rolled on to try and put out.
Meanwhile, the Scouts were dealing with the weakened Remless. It had also shrugged off Sailor Moon's attack. "Twinkle Yell!" Mini-Moon called, and Pegasus came, elevating them to the Super level. "Go for it, Sailor Moon." Mini-Moon said, to which the blonde nodded.
"Moon Princess Gorgeous Meditation!" she cried, firing an energy blast from her new wand, destroying the Remless for good, leaving Hawk-Eye no choice but to retreat. The bonds holding Ikuko also vanished, as Sailor Moon ran to catch her and lay her down softly.
Naoto's glasses allowed her to see the Scouts as who they really were without any magical memory fogging, and so as Sailor Moon laid her down, Naoto snidely remarked, "Rini, you may want to have that soda for when she wakes up, since she looks exhausted." The two girls gasped in shock and surprise. Naoto chuckled. "I won't tell, Detective's Honour." She said.
The two dispelled their transformations and walked over to Naoto. "How did you know?"
She chuckled as she took off her glasses and put them away in her pocket. "Those glasses are special. There's more to it, but it's complicated." She panicked as Serena and Rini both moved up close to her. After that, she realized that the fire had burned a hole in her shirt and her bandages were exposed. She blushed bright red and quickly tried to play it off. "I was injured before I arrived."
Ikuko was waking up at about this time. Once they made sure she was alright, she noticed Naoto's bandages. "Naoto?" Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Tsukino-san! Please don't worry over me. I'll just go home and change."
"I don't think so! You're clearly hurt. Let me see the wound to make sure it's alright!"
Naoto quickly ran through her options. She could either give in or tell the truth. The former was the more appealing option.
Later, at Serena's house, Naoto was in the bathroom with Ikuko. As she went to unwind the bandages, she stopped her. "Please don't."
"Naoto, I need to make sure your injuries are cleaned properly."
"There is no injury. I lied." Naoto blushed as she explained, "I'm a girl, but because of how the police force is predominantly male, I act as a boy."
Ikuko smiled, "Don't worry. I won't pry."
Naoto pulled her hat down further to cover her grey eyes. "Thank you. I'd much rather not explain it."
The blue-haired mother stood up. "I'll find you a shirt to borrow to replace your burned one."
"Thank you. I'll be sure to return it."
Outside the door, Serena, with her ear pressed to the door, had her mind blown. Her handsome detective senpai was a girl? It was mind-boggling, but once she recovered from the shock, she instantly began to think of how funny it would be to see Mina and Re vie for her affection.
That night, in her notebook, Naoto jotted down what she had found. She added the description of Hawk-Eye on the page of her unknown enemies, which also had a description of Fish-Eye, along with their known talents, which were fire breathing and knife throwing respectively.
For her Sailor Senshi notes, however, she filled out quite a few blanks. Serena and Rini were Sailors Moon and Mini-Moon, and then by process of elimination she was able to make educated guesses as to who the other Sailors were. Educated guesses weren't enough though. After all, she was a detective, and even acting alone, she was still a Seeker of Truth.
So, what did you think? I'm trying to keep Naoto's power relativly low. And her skills this time equated to 52 SP. Considering after being tired and weakened by Fish-Eye alongside having her Persona ripped out of her soul, could use a 15 SP move, I'm trying to limit per power so she doesn't eclipse the Senshi.