A/N: The next update might take a week or two; I had five tests and a concert in the span of two days and I am POOPED. And of course there's finals week... *deep sighs*

More excuses, of course, but I promise it'll be out eventually! ;)

In the meantime, once again, tons of thanks to ascella star, my dedicated reviewer :) Like I said, I'm glad you found it interesting... Haha, Reflections are just the tip of the iceberg! The first few chapters were like an intro to the characters and setting, the story will start to pick up from here! (Get hyped! ;D)

Drop a review if you like it (or even if you don't), and as always, enjoy!

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Tʜʀᴇᴇ *

Four days later, Shinichi found himself fever-free and adjusting surprisingly easily to his new environment. He was formally (re-)introduced to Haibara Ai, Kazuha's Reflection— who, despite her knife-edged glares and impersonal reticence, wore a softer look in her eyes, seeming to relax around him more as time passed.

He also met Momoi Keiko, a mellow, friendly girl with light brown pigtails, wire-rimmed glasses, and bright eyes several shades more golden-green than Sonoko's, who also turned out to be Sonoko's Reflection. Sonoko repeatedly insisted that the two of them used to be impossible to tell apart, and that they'd agreed to deliberately dress and act differently from each other in order to prevent confusion.

(Privately, Shinichi didn't believe her, but considering Sonoko's somewhat… dramatic personality, he was reluctant to voice this thought.)

Everything seemed normal enough to Shinichi as he settled in, but all of that changed one day when Heiji and Kazuha got into a heated argument.

"Geez, woman, there's no need ta yell at me over a piece of bread!" Heiji griped, sticking a finger in his ear.

"It's your own fault fer stealin' food off of my plate! I was savin' that fer later!" Kazuha retorted.

"Ahou! It's not that big of a deal, just go ask fer anoth'a slice!" Heiji shot back. "It ain't that difficult, ya know!"

"You're th' ahou! Why should I hafta get up an' ask fer more when you're th' reason I don't have any left?" Kazuha shouted.

"Ahou!"

"AHOU!"

Shinichi stared in astonishment as wisps of bright green flame sparked and crackled through the air surrounding Heiji, while a humming, semi-transparent aura thickened around Kazuha. Neither of them seemed to notice or care, however, as they continued their bickering.

"Um," Shinichi cleared his throat uncertainly, attempting to point out the strange physical atmosphere between the two teenagers. It seemed important to note, since Heiji's flames were starting to grow bigger and louder by the second. "Hey, there's, uh—"

He stopped short, perplexed by the sudden materialization of thin ice walls blocking off the dispute from the rest of the world. "W-What…" he stuttered as he caught sight of Ai sitting several feet away, shaking her head in exasperation at Heiji and Kazuha.

What really struck Shinichi as unusual, though, was the faint mist swirling from Ai's fingertips towards the layer of ice— and the conspicuous fact that no one else in the dining hall/cafeteria seemed to be paying attention to the confounding spectacle in their midst, except for one tall guy with a buzz cut who remarked as he passed by, "At it again, huh?" Ai just rolled her eyes.

Shinichi was desperately pinching himself when Kaito slid over to him with a knowing, too-casual grin. "What's up?" he said nonchalantly, and Shinichi had just refocused his openmouthed shock on his companion when he was abruptly pulled to his feet by a vice-like grip on his wrist.

Looking up, Shinichi found himself face-to-face (well, almost— the newcomer was markedly shorter than he) with a grim-faced, dark-haired girl whose green-gray eyes all but screamed with urgency and a deadly sort of determination.

"Come with me," she commanded. Kaito, who had just opened his mouth to protest, clamped his jaw shut as she seized his arm and added, with a flash of her stormy gaze, "You too."

In the blink of an eye, they were standing at the door— which the girl kicked open with aggressive force— and then they were rushing down the hallway at a dizzying speed. The two boys were understandably dazed by the time Ran stepped into their path. "Who are you and where do you think you're going?" Ran demanded, glaring fiercely at the girl. Shinichi noted with growing bemusement that pale violet flames similar to Heiji's were flickering around her.

The girl critically scrutinized Ran— to the point where even Kaito was beginning to feel uncomfortable— before finally snapping, "Tag along, if you really want to know. Just don't get in the way."

She impatiently brushed past Ran, who dutifully trailed after her, and resumed breezing through the halls with renewed vigor. At long last, the foursome arrived…

… at a dead end.

Before anyone could muster up the courage to question the strange girl, however, she flung open the last door, herded everyone into the room before her, and locked the door.

Shinichi squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright fluorescent lights overhead, revealing the polished surfaces of—

"The bathroom?!" Ran exclaimed.

Sure enough, the tile-floored room was equipped with a toilet, sink, towel rack, and mirrored wall cabinet. It was also a bit small for four teenagers, as Shinichi soon discovered.

("Sorry," he apologized to Ran, whom he'd accidentally elbowed. She waved her hand dismissively, telling him not to worry about it.)

"So are you going to tell us what's going on?" Kaito pressed.

"First you should explain powers to the poor boy," the girl replied, nodding towards Shinichi. "Otherwise he won't believe anything I say."

Kaito and Ran turned to look at Shinichi, who smiled weakly at them as he recalled all of the strangeness of the day. "I can't believe you haven't told him about it yet," the girl commented dryly.

"It just sort of… slipped our minds, I guess," Kaito laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"So, can I get an explanation before I lose my mind completely?" Shinichi ventured.

"Powers are— well, exactly what they sound like," Ran obliged. "Like Reflections, everyone has one. They're element-based, and everyone has his or her own quirk in terms of abilities."

"Element-based? Quirks?" Shinichi echoed quizzically.

"Manipulation of natural elements— that is, fire, ice, or energy. Fire—" Shinichi let out a startled yelp as Ran held up her hand, displaying the tiny, pale violet flames dancing at her fingertips. "— is the most abundant, while ice and energy are typically less common." Curling her fingers, she extinguished the flames before lowering her hand.

"Quirks are basically just the individual idiosyncrasies of powers," Kaito piped up. "The color of the flames, for example— like you saw, Hattori's are green and Ran-chan's are violet."

"They can also be differences in skill set. Some fire-types can melt ice. Some ice-types can freeze liquids, solid objects, and thin air; others are more comfortable with water." Ran put a hand to her chin in thought. "Come to think of it, I've never tried using ice-fire…"

"Energy is seriously the best!" Kaito interrupted enthusiastically. "There's so many different kinds of energy, like Kazuha-chan's electrical energy, and Sonoko-chan's voltage energy, and Keiko-chan's light energy, and of course life energy, which is the coolest thing ever, and—"

"Let me guess," Shinichi interrupted sardonically. "You're an energy-type, right?"

"Nope!" Kaito grinned gleefully at his Reflection's stumped expression.

"It's a… 'work in progress,'" Ran explained, marking air quotes with her fingers. "Nobody really knows what his power is, and he himself—" she poked her thumb at Kaito, who was goofily juggling multicolored rubber balls, "— is too busy with magic tricks to care."

Sensing the explanation was drawing to a close, Kaito glanced over at the girl, who was somehow perched on edge of the sink. "Now what?" he inquired as his juggling balls disappeared one by one.

"Now for my spiel," she sighed wearily, and suddenly she seemed much older than a teenager.

"My name is Kagayake Ryuki," the girl began, fixing her audience of three with the intensity of her stare.

"I'm an immortal."

A/N: Sort-of a cliffhanger there (not too bad, I hope)...

Originally I planned to end the chapter a bit later, in a more appropriate spot, but... meh. I got lazy, I guess.

* Not too important, but I just wanted to point out the sheer awesomeness of small caps! I didn't know I could do that here! :O