A/N: Wow it's been two years since I last updated this fanfic. It stopped and started and then stopped and started, but now it's finally back in gear again, thanks to me rereading some of the fics that got me interested in the first place, namely the work where Harry is Ed. That one is a great fic, too bad it's dead. Well, I won't keep this one dead.

Just been consumed by the walking dead. But I'll drop in on this one from time to time, so don't you all fret. I expect to see reviews too, it's been a bit dry lately, so please reward me for updating a two year hiatus story.

Chapter 5 Mikado's perspective

From a young age, Masaomi had always been...different, Mikado thought.

He was smart, intelligent, a genius even. He excelled at math and science and even once had read an entire textbook in one day.

He was modest and denied being so intelligent, but Mikado knew he was brilliant. Why did he deny it? He was smarter than Mikado could ever dream of being.

But sometimes, Masaomi could be unusual and strange in ways that he didn't know how to explain. Like that time where he had insisted that he had an imaginary friend. The only problem was that his imaginary friend was apparently 'real' to him and that he was not only adopted, he was also his 'brother.' Where on earth one got such an imaginary friend was beyond Mikado's knowledge.

The only thing he knew was when he had asked Masaomi about why he believed in this imaginary friend so much, that his friend had just given him an annoyed look and responded in quite an unusual way. Masaomi had been quite an imaginative kid, he knew this much. It contrasted so much with his logical, scientific side that Masaomi always claimed to have.

Another unusual thing he noticed about him was that Masaomi somehow knew some smatterings of German, despite never having been to Germany, or having studied the German language, or having German parents. It puzzled him, but the blond had since stopped speaking that language that much. He did not know how the blond acquired the knowledge in the first place. Asking him how he spoke it just got confused stares from the other. It seemed that even he didn't know how he had come to acquire such knowledge. It was sort of like walking and having the ability to do so without any problems doing so and not even thinking about it.

Mikado couldn't help but think about these things as he typed on the Dollars website. He noticed a few people were posting about an unusual topic that he hadn't noticed much before, that on "past life memories." He decided to give it a look. As he clicked on the link, he read over the comments.

'When I was younger, I told my mother that my name wasn't my name and that I had died in another country. Turns out I had died in World War II and there was a soldier of that exact name serving under the English army. I even found his grave. My mom said I was super obsessed with military things, planes, and soldiers. I even knew the names of certain soldiers who weren't even that well-known. My parents came away believers in the whole thing.'

'I once had a fear of water. It turns out that a distant relative of my father's was on the Titanic and died. I believe that I was reincarnated after this death. Humans do have their soul continue on after they die.'

'I heard my grandmother talk about this, supposedly she has a birthmark where she was murdered in a previous life.'

As he read over the comments, his eyes grew wide. He was getting a feeling that perhaps this had to do with Masaomi's strange behavior. Perhaps Masaomi was experiencing past life memories, or had before this, when they were kids?

He next read over testimonies from parents of kids who believed they were also reincarnated. Apparently, the parents said that their children acted unusually adult for their age, had strange tendencies to be precocious or recall things that no ordinary kid knew. They also insisted on wanting to see their past life families, such as seeing siblings, or parents that no longer existed this time around.

He left the link, thoroughly convinced that Masaomi was experiencing, or had experienced this same type of shit.

Still, why in the world would Masaomi be so obsessed with a suit of armor? His thoughts went back to how the blond had looked so longingly at the suit of armor. Had he been in a museum as a curator in a past life, or a knight? He found both of those things unlikely. But what else explained his insistent obsession with the subject of having a brother?

He texted Masaomi.

'Masaomi, do you remember when we were little and you insisted that you had a brother? You never gave up on this subject.' He wrote, half expecting Kida to reply with some stupid joke.

Instead, it took over five minutes before he received a response.

'Sort...of? I think that was just weird childhood stuff, Mikado. It doesn't mean anything. Perhaps I was just lonely for a brother or sister since my mom didn't have any.'

'No, I think it was a past life thing! I read about these people who went through the same thing as you! It's not just nonsense!'

'I think it was an overactive imagination, but yes, I remember the imaginary friend named Aru. I don't know where he came from, he just existed. I stopped seeing it around like third grade.' He replied.

'What about that time where you freaked out over the book? You got all upset over the Philosopher's Stone, remember?'

'What?' Kida sent him a confused emoji in response, 'I don't understand what you're talking about.'

'You know, you freaked the heck out on me for reading about how Dumbledore destroyed the Philosopher's Stone and insisted it was made of people. Something crazy like that.'

'...I literally have no idea what the heck you're talking about, Mikado. I don't remember that at all.'

'I remember it, clear as day!'

'Kids are weird, Mikado. Let's change the subject. Wanna come hang over at my house soon? We can play video games.'

'Okay, sure, I've gotten all my homework finished, how about you?' He asked.

'Pretty much gotten most of it done.' He texted back, 'Talk to you later.'

Mikado closed his phone and thought about the past. Could all of this crazy stuff explain how odd Kida had been in the past?

He wondered why the blond was so evasive. From the way he was acting, he clearly remembered all this stuff, right?

He closed his eyes and thought about the past.

"Mikado, here's my best friend!" Masaomi showed him a picture of a strange-looking gray thing with arms and orange eyes. It looked like the Iron Giant.

"What is that? Your imaginary friend?" Mikado asked.

"It's my brother! His name is Aru!" The five year old said happily, smiling.

"But, Masaomi, you don't have a brother." The black-haired kid said.

"I do! He exists!" The brunette said, putting his hands on his hips.

"It's not real, Kida." He admitted.

The brunette stared before frowning. "You just don't believe me! You think I'm crazy!"

"You're not crazy, just imaginative." He said.

The brunette had changed the subject.

Kida looked at the bookshelf full of old books and comic books.

He noticed a really strange old book that was battered and worn, and pulled it out.

It was one of his diaries from when he was little, with the words, 'property of Masaomi Kida' on the front.

"I thought I lost this." He mumbled, flipping the pages. Oddly enough, each diary entry had pictures of scribbles and strange symbols like stars in childish scrawl.

Every single entry was marked with 'Dear Aru' and sloppy strokes describing what he was doing that day. Then signed with love, your brother, Kida. Although somehow, there was another name written: Ed? Who the hell was that?

He nearly dropped the book in shock, recalling the strange voice in his head. Was that proof that all of this was connected?

Dropping the book on the floor, he flopped back onto his bed, but before he got in his pajamas and fell asleep, his mind was on just one thing: who the hell was this Aru person and why had his younger self been so obsessed with him?