Any guesses as to who Alphonse could be? Go ahead and guess, you won't be expecting the surprise~he's male, of course. I don't like doing reverse genders unless it's the OC self insert, stuff, it makes it a bit too complicated. I know, I have Shizuo as Ed and Kasuka as Alphonse-I wanted to go with the original idea-which was Ed as Masaomi, and see how it goes. Maybe even use Ed as a reincarnated Masaomi blog. :D

Chapter 2 An awkward reunion on different sides

Sometimes he wondered what on earth he'd done to deserve such a life. He'd remembered how his brother had died. They were just having fun.

It had been a day when they'd had no work in the military-the two brothers were just hanging out, talking, laughing like they normally did, Ed punching him in the shoulder for calling him short, saying Ed knew better because he was older.

Then, it had happened.

A sniper had come out of nowhere, and the bullet was aimed straight for Alphonse, but Edward had taken it for him. He still remembered Edward's fallen corpse, his eyes wide in shock, as he'd coughed up blood and how Al had held him in his arms as he spoke his final words.

"Alphonse, look for me. I know I'll be reborn. And when I am...you'll find me again, won't you?"

"Brother, don't talk like that." Al whined, as his brother's body was growing colder and colder, and Ed's grip on his brother's body was slowly losing, his skin was getting paler.

His golden eyes were slowly closing. "I know...I'll be reborn...we'll be brothers, right? Please, find me again...Al. We could be brothers once more, right...?"

His eyes closed and his hand fell to the side.

Edward Elric was dead.

The suit of armor shook his brother. He wouldn't move.

"Brother!" Al cried.

He was dead.

"Brother, please, no!" Al screamed.

"It's no use, kid, he's a goner." Mustang said sadly.

"BROTHER!" He cried, as he awoke, his dark hair falling in his eyes as he awoke.

He pushed strands of his dark hair back with his fingers.

The boy sat up, noticing tears pouring out of his eyes. "Shit, not again." He muttered.

"I keep on dreaming like that."

This boy was Alphonse Elric-or had been. He had been reincarnated as a human, again that surprised him as he had been stuck in the suit of armor. Perhaps Truth decided to give him a second chance, but this world was far too different-more modern, with odd technology, no signs of alchemy.

His new parents were nice, but they had problems.

To his delight, he'd discovered that he had an older brother. He was thrilled. Perhaps it was Ed. However, he couldn't have been more wrong.

The door to his room was kicked open, as a tall, dark-haired man stood in the doorway, glaring at him. The scar on his face was clearly visible.

"Having another dream, you fucking sissy?" He hissed.

If this was his big brother, then this was God's idea of a joke.

"Get the hell out of here, Ran," He said, coldly.

"You don't talk to me like that, little shit," Izumii said, lifting up Alphonse Elric-or, Aoba Kuronuma, by his shirt sleeve, and glaring at him. "You're worthless. I'm your older brother, after all, that means you do whatever I say."

"Never," Aoba snapped.

As Izumii skulked off, Aoba buried his head in his sheets and cried, his vermillion eyes leaking with tears.

"Why did I have to be reborn without my brother?" He moaned.

There was no way Aoba's brother was his real brother. Edward. Edward would never treat him like that. Edward would punch the shit out of Izumii and tell him to treat him better.

His brother had been reborn. He was going to find him, no matter what.

"Is he close to me," He mumbled, looking out the window at the busy streets below of Ikebukuro, "Is he somewhere, out here?"

What he didn't know was that his brother had a new identity, and a new life.

Aoba didn't know what he was expecting when he turned up at Raira High School.

His mother had insisted that she wanted him to be happy and safe from his wicked brother. The less said about Izumii, the family-screw up, the better.

"I wonder who else has been reborn," He muttered as he walked to school.

Frankly, Orihara Izaya reminded him too much of the Colonel.

That was scary, because Mustang had been a man with an agenda, but also a heart, and now he was not only a conniving mastermind, but devoid of a heart.

"Yet another reminder of reincarnation's cruel sense of humor," He mumbled, tightening his fists.

He paused as he heard a new voice scream, "IZAYYYAAAAA!"

His heart pounded in his chest. Was Shizuo Heiwajima his brother?

That was impossible.

"I'm mistaken," He muttered.

Whenever he got into school, the teacher escorted Aoba in.

"I'm Aoba Kuronuma, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

His eyes scoured over his classmates.

A redhead with blue eyes who had her arms wrapped around a brown-haired boy. Boring.

A dark-haired girl with glasses who seemed quite shy-Sciezska, was the thought that crossed his mind momentarily, before he dismissed it as idle nonsense. Boring.

A boy with spiky black hair and blue eyes who looked vaguely interested in him.

Aoba had to bite back a gasp, the boy looked just like Pride. It had to be a coincidence. He was just an innocent kid who looked like him.

The boy beside the black-haired boy was too engrossed in his cell phone to pay attention.

"Kuronuma, you will sit beside Ryuugamine and Kida."

'Kida? What a weird name,' He thought as he sat down beside the other youth, who was too involved in his cell phone.

The teen beside him was wearing a hoodie. As he turned to greet the other with a smile on his face, Aoba had to bite back a scream.

The boy before him was distinctly Asian. However, his hair was bright blond, though it looked...dyed. It was quite short, but stuck up a bit.

Still, blond hair...and those eyes...they were gold. That face, that smile, it was...

"Br-" He began, but the boy smiled before his face turned into a frown.

"You," He mumbled, "You're."

"I'm Aoba, don't you recognize me?"

"Oh, yeah, I recognize you," The blond said coldly. "You're a member of a gang, aren't you?"

Aoba froze. How did he know that?

"So your name's Kida, right?" He said, trying to make polite conversation with the boy he thought was his brother-he looked and acted enough like him.

"The name's Masaomi Kida," He said sharply, "And don't act like we're friends."

Edward-no, Masaomi said, glaring at him.

Aoba realized that though this boy looked like his brother, he was his reincarnation. He felt his heart pound faster while sitting beside him. He observed his brother's reactions in science class, noticing that the blond youth did particularly well.

He had to bite back a laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Masaomi said, scowling.

"Nothing," He muttered.

"You're a weird kid." He said in response.

While they were having lunch, Masaomi nudged Mikado.

"Hey, Mikado, let's go hit on some girls, namely Anri-chan! I wanna see your beautiful breasts, I could just gra-"

Mikado punched the blond in the face.

"Masaomi, you're a freaking pervert."

"I know, and I'm proud of it! What girl doesn't want to go out with the one and only Masaomi Kida!"

An energetic, bubbly personality? Like Ed, but different. He had always been more serious.

This Ed was more cheerful. Wait, this was a mask. Ed had always used masks, this was no different.

"Kida-san, could I speak to you?" He said.

"No," The other said sharply.

Wow, this was going to be difficult. How could he tell him, "I believe you were my brother in a past life" without sounding like a psycho?

"I just want to talk in private about some homework," He lied.

"Homework?" The blond muttered, raising a brow. "All right. Mikado, wait here."

"What is it you really wanted?" He snapped. "You're in a gang, right?"

"That's right, I'm in the Blue Squares." Aoba said, "And you, you're in the Yellow Scarves?"

"Yes," He said icily. Those were the eyes of the Full Metal Alchemist, all right.

"You're the leader, right?"

Masaomi jumped. "How did you know?"

"You're too obvious. You wear all yellow, blond hair, that's so typical." He said with a laugh.

"Shut up! So I like yellow, so what?" Masaomi snapped.

"You're awfully short, too," He said.

To his surprise, the other shrugged.

"Eh, who cares. Height doesn't really matter."

"Listen," Aoba said, "I-"

"I have nothing to say to a punk like you. Stay away from Mikado." The other said, glaring at him again.

"Do you have dreams?"

"Dreams?" The other remarked, quirking a brow.

"I have weird dreams, and I believe that we were."

"You have some issues." Masaomi remarked.

"Wait, do you know anyone named Alphonse?" Aoba pressed.

"Alphonse," The other said, "I did have an imaginary friend by that name, but you know how kids are, coming up with silly stuff." He rubbed his neck, laughing.

'He is my brother,' He thought, 'This is my brother. But he doesn't remember me.'

"You are acting awfully familiar with me, Kuronuma." Masaomi said, "Have we met before?"

"Maybe we have." Aoba said.

"Probably out on the gangster battlefield." Masaomi said before biting into his sandwich and drinking his milk-wait, what?

"You like milk?"

"Sure, who doesn't?" Masaomi said. "My mom always taught me to drink milk. She passed from a car accident. It's impossible to bring her back, those are the laws of nature. Death is natural, you can just accept it."

Upon hearing Aoba chuckle, Masaomi glared at him.

"What's so funny?" Masaomi demanded.

"Nothing."

The boy suddenly nodded off, his golden eyes closing as he fell asleep.

"He's like him, but different," Aoba muttered.

As the school day drew to a close, Aoba sighed as he walked outside with Ryuugamine and Masaomi. Masaomi kept shooting him odd stares before rolling his eyes and walking closer to Ryuugamine.

Suddenly Izumii skulked up to them. "Hey, shithead, time to come home. My mom sent me here."

"Screw off," Aoba hissed.

Izumii grabbed his arm. "What was that, you little punk?"

Masaomi glared at Izumii. "You could try treating him nicer, you know. He's your brother, right?"

"What do you know, kid?" Izumii sneered.

"That's right, I don't know," He said, "Because I'm an only child. But I think siblings should be respecting each other."

Izumii sneered before walking away.

"Um, thanks," Aoba muttered, "Kida-senpai, that was really amazing."

"Nothing really," Masaomi remarked.