Reincarnation AU! There are so many things I could have done with this idea but this is what I think the most realistic occurrence would be.

As always, I don't own SNK or any of its characters.

The sound of chattering voices brought a smile to Armin's face. He didn't know what it was about it exactly that comforted him. Maybe it was the idea of so many lives and stories happening at the same time without being aware of one another.

Or maybe it's just that they are alive.

The blonde shook his head and kept walking absentmindedly through the mall. He wondered if he should go into a store but he didn't have any money so there would be no point.

That was when he looked ahead and made eye contact with someone. He froze and the other person did so as well. Armin felt shock hitting him in waves as he kept looking at those eyes. They were so familiar. He knew this person. He knew him well.

But he had never seen him before; he was sure. The brunette before him blinked and gave a lopsided grin that made Armin's chest stir with emotions he couldn't quite point out.

"Hey." He said, and even his voiced seemed so his. "Um… this is going to sound weird but… do I know you? I feel like I know you."

Armin smiled back.

"Yeah… I feel the same."

They both looked at each other. It should have been awkward, staring at a stranger for so long, but it wasn't. It was like their eyes couldn't get enough of each other, like their subconscious had connected and couldn't believe they were standing in front of each other.

Armin opened his mouth to speak but someone else's voice resonated instead of his own.

"Jean!" A girl walked out of a store and made her way to the brunette. She laced her arm with his and smiled. "I found it! We can leave now."

Armin blinked. The enchantment that had been over them a moment ago had been broken and he had never felt so disorientated in his entire life. The other guy, Jean, looked the same. He stared at the girl for a moment as if he had forgotten who she was before his mind cleared up.

"Right. Um…" He looked back at Armin who suddenly felt very out of place. The girl looked at the blonde and tilted her head with confusion.

"Who's this?" She asked. Before Jean could say anything, Armin interrupted.

"No one. I'm sorry to have bothered you." Without looking back, he walked away and tried to ignore the burning ache inside his chest.

As the girl pulled Jean away, she began to chat cheerfully but the boy couldn't pay attention. The image of the blonde boy with the bright blue eyes was still in his mind. It felt wrong to let him go like that and he felt his head pulsing as if disagreeing with what he had just done. He looked back and saw the boy's silhouette move farther and farther away.

Maybe in another life…