Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider OOO, and I am making no money off of this. This is solely for my own and other's entertainment.

AN: This sprang from the random thought of "Why Eiji?" which my muse sank it's teeth into and wouldn't let go. This is my first time really doing on introspective on Ankh so let me know what you guys think…

Warnings: Minor spoilers through parts of 46. Ankh/Eiji…maybe Ankh/king if you squint

Comparing Kings, Confronting Reality

Ankh sometimes wondered what had compelled him to choose Eiji as the new OOO. He could claim that the other male had simply been convenient, and, while that was part of it, that wasn't all. He could've run away while the Yummy had been distracted, leaving the strange brunette behind to fend for himself while he found someone else to use, but he hadn't. He had, instead, given a man he'd just met a tool that could destroy the Greeed, including Ankh himself, and drive the brunette insane, much as it had his former partner – the original OOO, the king. Ankh could only ever describe it as luck and instinct that had led him to choosing Eiji.

When he thought back on it later, Ankh couldn't help but wonder if he had sensed some of what lay beneath the grinning fool's mask, some of what made Eiji so similar to yet different from the first king.

Some things were obviously different. Where the king had always been dressed in somber colored clothes made from the finest fabrics, Eiji wore hand-me-down clothes from the thrift store with more colors – bright colors at that – than Ankh had thought could exist on a single piece of cloth. Where the king had always made sure he looked his best even straight out of battle, Eiji allowed himself to be dressed in ridiculous get ups and cared more about finishing a fight for good and then making sure everyone else was okay before he ever even thought of himself. Where the king had hoarded his treasures and barely lifted a finger to help anyone who didn't benefit him greatly, Eiji gave away everything he had and would earn more just so he could give that away to help everyone.

Some things were frighteningly similar. The two even looked a bit alike in their coloring and basic facial structure and build, even if Eiji's hair tended to go wild at the slightest provocation. They could both be incredibly stubborn when it came to getting their own way. Both were more than they ever appeared on the surface, and both, over time, had cultivated an incredibly accurate ability to know when Ankh was planning something.

Then there was the one think that made them so incredibly similar and yet indelibly separated them. They had both been raised in the lap of luxury, being given everything they wanted and more. As a result they had both become whirlpools of greed, the luxurious life leading to greater and greater desires. Yet where the king had continued forward, continually fulfilling his desires until he was little more than a Greeed himself, Eiji had lost all desire for himself in one fell swoop, had essentially become a void of greed which allowed him to use OOO's powers without the fear of being driven insane – though, ironically, it was that void that may lead to his eventual destruction via the purple Cores.

Perhaps it was the last – the void – that he had sensed, the last which had drawn him to the other male despite the sting of betrayal that had still felt raw and new. Maybe it was that along with Eiji's caring nature – which lead to even complaints sounding simply like concerned comments – and frighteningly clear insight into his thoughts that had allowed him to trust the brunette far more than he'd even trusted anyone before, had led him to actually care about the other male more than he'd thought possible.

It was that affection that now led him to worry about the brunette even as they fought against each other. Despite their fights and disagreements, Ankh still watched him from afar for reasons even he couldn't fully explain. The blonde watched as Eiji fought to balance his increasing need for the power of the purple medals with the risk he ran of losing himself completely – more often than not forgetting to actually care about what would happen to him if he continued to use the medals without his own desire to control the power. He watched until he could no longer stand watching Eiji continue down the path towards self-destruction.

Ankh's visit to the café, though, is what clinched it. As he walked around the dark, quiet, empty café reminiscing on the memories he had made there – both those he and the brunette had shared with everyone and those intimate moments they alone had shared – he suddenly couldn't stand the idea of being away again. Yet he still couldn't give up the want, need, for a body, a life, of his own.

In the end though, it was all up to Eiji as the brunette was the only one who could help him achieve his desires. There were now only three paths they could walk down: he could keep using the cop's body until it gave out which he knew Eiji wouldn't like, they could end up fighting – seriously fighting – about the aforementioned issue which would lead to either only one or neither of them surviving, or – and Ankh barely acknowledged to himself how much he wanted this – they could work together again and maybe together they could bring forth the untapped power of the medals and OOO in order to create nothing short of a miracle – a human body of Ankh's own, a life where he could experience everything fully and find actual fulfillment rather than the shades of it he had experienced previously.

It seems it was time to find Eiji and have the conversation they'd both been avoiding from the beginning, and whatever came after would change everything.