Here we are, Chapter 3! I know it's short, but it's not supposed to have anything big in it. It's mostly setting up for the future chapters. Read and review please?

Oh, and I'll be away until August 24th, but I'll try to have a chapter written in my notebook for you!

Frozen Fortune Chapter 3

When Naoto woke up, the sun was just coming up. She took a look at the calendar and saw it was Sunday. Her one day off from working. She decided that it would be a good idea to go speak with Serena and Rini, and to learn more about the Sailor Scouts. She showered and dressed, feeling the comforting presence of Sukuna-Hikona resting in her mind. Her Persona had the passive skill Invigorate, and it was at the highest level, meaning that it refreshed her mind and restored her Spirit at a fairly rapid pace.

Once she was dressed and had eaten, she headed off to the Hikawa Shrine, hoping to find Serena, Rini, and the other girls. To her surprise, she bumped into Serena and Rini on the way. She smiled at the two. "Good morning Lady Moon, Little Moon," She said it quietly so only they could hear it.

They gave Naoto a smile. "Hey, Tiny Detective," Serena shot back, clearly in a good mood.

Naoto didn't like the nickname, but held her tongue. She had given them nicknames in the first place anyway. She instead struck up a conversation. "So, are you heading to the temple again?"

"No, I have other plans." Her face took on a sour look. "But this little thing just had to follow me!"

Naoto cocked her head in confusion as they began to argue. She was glad she didn't have a sibling or cousin who would constantly argue with her. Listening to these two was starting to give her a headache. Not helping matters was the sound of a motorcycle nearby. Naoto began to rub her temples to try and ease her headache, but as the motorcycle stopped, so did the two girls.

Naoto looked up to see a tall man with black hair step off his bike. Both Serena and Rini had hearts in their eyes as Rini quickly pushed Serena to hug onto him. ""Hey there kiddo," He said with a smile.

Serena pulled the pinkette off of him before hugging him. As she let go, she smiled to Naoto. "Oh, Naoto, this is my boyfriend Darien. Darien,this is Naoto."

Naoto extended her hand which he shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you Darien."

He smiled. "Likewise. It's not every day I get to meet a celebrity." He chuckled as he saw her eyes widen. "I was just making an educated guess that you were the Detective Prince!" Naoto recovered and quickly focoused a glare on Serena, who promptly shrank and used her boyfriend as a shield.

Something else caught Naoto's attention. "Your arm's hurt!" She cried, grabbing his arm when she noticed that part of it was bandaged.

He laughed. "Oh, I just had a nasty scrape. It's mostly healed now." He got back onto his bike, Serena following suit. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

She smiled at Naoto. "Hey Naoto? Do you want to watch Rini? If she's too annoying, just drop her off with Rei. Okay? Thanks!" She said as they sped off, letting Naoto and Rini on the sidewalk.

Naoto didn't know how to deal with children. She did not have a normal childhood. She grew up with her grandfather and butler. She spent most of her time working with technology and reading books well above the standard reading level for her age. Honestly, she was surprised she didn't become some kind of superhero. Before she acquired her Persona, that is. She felt if she was a superhero, she'd have some sort of bat motif.

Rini broke the silence. "So, can I hold your gun?"

Naoto deadpanned. "No."

"Please?" She begged.

"No. Never."

Rini pouted. "Why not?"

"You're far too young. And I'm not taking responsibility if anything happens." Rini huffed and turned the other way. Naoto tried to steer this conversation another way. "So what else do children like to do?"

Rini gave Naoto a pointed look. "How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen? You were a kid pretty recently! I can't believe we're having this conversation."

Rini would have continued, but Naoto interjected with, "I never had a proper childhood. Both my parents died when I was very young."

"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry!" Rini quickly apologized. "I didn't know…"

Naoto brushed it off. "Don't worry about it. But I still don't know what to do with you."

Rini smiled. "Well, back to your earlier question, kids like cartoons." She gave Naoto an innocent smile. "Mind if I come over?"

The young detective gave her a neutral expression. Rini could be a good source of information, and Serena had asked her to baby-sit her. "Alright. Follow me." She said, leading the young Sailor Scout back to her apartment.

Serena clung tight to Darien as they went off toward their destination. He decided to ask her some questions. "So does Naoto-?"

"He knows about the Sailor Moon thing."

"How many?"

"Just me and Rini."

"How does he fight?" He asked.

"It's really neat. He uses this card to summon what she calls a 'Persona.' He can also use multiple elements. I've seen him use ice, wind, light, and some non-elemental magic attack."

Darien nodded "I see. I suppose we'll need to have a serious talk with him soon…"

Naoto was sitting on the couch with Rini on the floor in front of the TV. As the last show ended, Rini looked back at Naoto. "How are you not sick of this? Everyone else gets sick of it after the first hour."

Naoto smiled. "Well, I don't mind it. But you owe me. Mind telling me about the other Sailor Scouts?"

Rini hopped up onto the couch with her. "Well, I can't tell you who they are, but I can tell you what they do."

Naoto smiled. "That's fair. So go ahead."

"Well, Sailor Mercury uses ice, though she mostly gives logistical and strategic data. Sailor Venus tends to use light beams and whip attacks." Naoto raised an eyebrow, but kept her comments to herself considering Rini's age. "Sailor Mars uses fire. A lot of fire while Jupiter fights with her fists and the zappy electric stuff."

Naoto nodded. "Right. And you and Sailor Moon?"

Rini smiled, "Well, my powers are still developing, but Sailor Moon doesn't exactly have an element. She does have the most powerful attacks though."

Naoto finished taking notes. "What're you doing with that notepad?"

The detective sighed. "Taking notes. I need to know my allies to work well with them. "

As Naoto put away her notepad, she heard Rini run off. Her voice came from the bedroom. "Why are there so many books? Wait a minute, Magical Detective Loveline? This is a kid's manga.. Ohmygosh! You have Volume Eight? I have to read this!"

Naoto grabbed her collar. "Alright, I think it's time for you to go." As she dragged the pinkette, she added. "I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone those were there?

Seeing Rini's grin, Naoto stopped her. "And what I mean is you will not tell anyone. Am I clear?"

Rini swallowed. "Crystal."

Darien was not sure about what he was doing. His arm still hurt from that one big wave of damage with that Persona, and he was not still healed. The fact that the beam sabre had cauterized the wound so it didn't get infected, it\d just take longer for the gash to heal.

Moving around at night across rooftops in a tuxedo and top hat was also seeming less and less appealing, though it could be worse. He knew where he was going, and landed on the windowsill. He carefully slid it open and slipped inside. "Ace Detective indeed." He thought.

As he stepped inside, he heard the sound of voices talking. As he walked through the apartment, he saw the person he was looking at the computer. "Yes, it was nice talking to you to. If you two need any more help with the summer homework?"

Two voices came from the computer. The first was a male. "Thanks Naoto-kun. And we're still coming to visit in a few weeks."

A female voice came from the monitor. "We'll call you in a week when we need to do chemistry or any other science!"

He sighed. "I know. Goodbye Kanji-kun, Rise-chan." He closed her laptop before turning to face him. "So who do I own the pleasure." He asked.

His eyes were drawn from the young detective to a glowing card in her hand. "I heard the window open. Who are you?" She saw the ripped sleeve in his arm. "Wait a moment. You're that man who was with Serena and Rini that first night."

He nodded. "That was me. I-"

Naoto cut him off. "So what's your hero name? I assume you have one as well."

He looked slightly hurt. "… It's Tuxedo Kamen."

Naoto looked him over. "I don't have a problem with it. It's direct, at the very least. More importantly, why didn't you break in?"

His face flushed under his Mardi Gras mask. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about the Sailor-"

"Let's be frank here. We both know who Sailor Moon is. Just say Serena." Naoto paused, "And next time, please use the door."

"Well yes. I wanted to confirm whether you were on our side." He said.

Naoto quickly replied with, "I assume you'll have some sort of 'war council' soon. Once you decide what to do with me, that will affect my answer. I will work with all of you happily, but if you choose to fight me, I will respond in kind. Does that meet with your approval Darien?"

Naoto laughed at his shocked expression. "It was a lucky guess Your reaction told me everything I needed to know"

He sighed. "Well, I guess once you figure out one of us, it's a domino effect."

Naoto nodded. "I'm just trying to assign the right person to the right Scout. If you want to change, the bathrooms to your right. Or you can use the window."

He waved before climbing out the window. "I think it'd be better if I exited the way I came. I'll use the front door next time."

Once he was gone, Naoto shut the window and sat down. She certainly hoped her entire stay wouldn't be this weird. Why couldn't she go to a normal city?

Meanwhile, in a place beyond time and space, a tan woman with long green hair was carefully observing the timeline, making sure everything stayed on its predetermined path to Crystal Tokyo where life would return to all the planets in the Solar System.

She gasped as she saw a divergence in the time stream. One led to the normal time stream for the most part, wile the other led to a different future with a blue-aired woman sitting on the throne. Te world was much less harmonious then it should have been, and to anyone, it would mirror an old war movie, with total war practices going on.

She couldn't see the divergence, it was too shrouded in fog, she would have to check it out herself. But she was able to gleam only one word from it. One name.

Shirogane.

I want to thank TTY7 and Animeflutist for the inspiration for this! Please send me your praise, but direct any distaste to them!

I kid, I kid.

In all seriousness, thank you both and to everyone else, if you don't like something, drop a review with constructive criticism.

And I moderate guest reviews, so you can't hide as an anon.