Adjusting to a new surrounding would always be difficult, but RITSUKA admitted it was a breath of fresh air to be in Chaldea. There was still some getting used to, of course; fortunately, Sakura being around helped though she tended to keep her distance from him. He wondered why but didn't push her to talk to him; she was likely getting used to Chaldea too.

Speaking of this place, besides Ritsuka himself, RITSUKA usually finds himself talking with Kadoc and Atalante. The latter admittedly did not say much, preferring to entertain the child Servants of Chaldea but every once in a while, she would ask him about his life and express some interest in how he got his tail. Naturally, she raised an eyebrow at the mention of human experimentation. "I see… that's surprising to hear. Then again, I suppose anything can happen."

"What do you mean? How did you get your tail?"

He should not have asked to save himself the headache. Apparently, Atalante was turned into a lion at the end of her life, which translated into her having cat ears and tails as a Servant. RITSUKA knew one's legend could affect one's appearance as a Servant but not to that extent. It was interesting to learn since he didn't know about 95% of Chaldea's Servants; they were legends in this world but not in his. The only exceptions were a few that oddly shared their names with some Honkai Beasts…

"...Miss Atalante?" RITSUKA spoke up after a moment only to be admonished lightly.

"Please, no need to be so formal. Just call me Atalante."

"Okay… Atalante… Can you tell me a little about our Master?" As much as he tried to ignore it, the topic had been nagging at him for a while now. He had noticed the looks thrown his way and knew the question behind those eyes— "What makes him different from him?"

Atalante pondered his question for a few seconds before answering RITSUKA. "Master is… the bravest human I've known who has done things that no one else could ever attest to doing." That was rather vague but the admiration in her voice was clear, stoking RITSUKA's curiosity more. "Chaldea keeps records of his missions if you are interested; speak with Da Vinci and she'll show them to you."

After that, RITSUKA did as Atalante suggested and searched for Da Vinci in her workshop. He happened to also bump into Sakura along the way who somehow already knew his intentions. "Do you mind if I accompany you? I'm also curious about Master's deeds." Seeing as he had no reason to turn her down, they continued together and soon reached their destination; Da Vinci was fortunately free to answer their questions.

"What he did? Hmm… that is a long, long story," Da Vinci let a melancholic sigh at the question. "It's quite the thrilling tale— one full of adventure, pain, and triumph… well, usually. Considering the state of the world now, it's one that could be seen as fruitless. To start from the beginning, Ritsu… Fujimaru was never meant to be the one to save humanity. Not by himself anyway. There were supposed to be 47 others who were supposed to work together to safeguard humanity's future; Kadoc was one of them actually but…"

Da Vinci gave a brief summation of the early days of the Grand Order and what they needed to know— the first Director's goals, the betrayal of the second Director's most trusted mentor, the incapacitation of the 47 Masters and Singularity F. Ritsuka just happened to be the last one remaining and had to carry the role of being humanity's last Master during the so-called Incineration of Human History. "Chaldea was left as the sole bastion of humanity and Ritsuka was our last hope in saving it. To spoil the ending a bit, we eventually overcame the seven Singularities and defeated the mastermind behind the Incineration, but at great costs."

"And… Master was the one who saved everyone?"

"It was a team effort, and he would be the first person to tell you he only got as far as he did with everyone's help," Da Vinci corrected him. "But if you want to get to the nitty gritty of it… yes, it was ultimately him who stopped the mastermind. He was the only person left who could have done so— so he did it."

A savior of humanity… so that's the difference between them. The thought of an alternate version of himself being more accomplished was not that strange, but RITSUKA didn't think he'd actually meet that version. Someone who had successfully saved the entirety of humanity… while he died without much fanfare doing the same thing. It… ached a bit if he was being honest. At the same time though, he couldn't help but feel prideful and happy that Ritsuka did something so amazing— even if he didn't know what he was signing up for.

When she saw the cheerful smile on RITSUKA's face, Da Vinci let out a small giggle. "I was going to say there's no need to feel inadequate next to him, but it looks like you're fine with that."

"In a way, I am. I admit I'm a little jealous, but that's not fair to him. I doubt Master wanted to do all that on his own," RITSUKA replied with a small understanding nod. "What about you, Sakura?"

The Assassin, who had been quietly listening to Da Vinci's story the entire time, glanced back at him. "…He is impressive, I won't deny that," she finally answered before turning towards Da Vinci again. "But this new situation he is facing… the Ordeal Call?"

The mention of their current crisis made the Rider sigh in exhaustion. "Yeah… to put it simply, Chaldea is being punished for saving the world the incorrect way and we have to prove our innocence. You two really joined at a bad time."

That only made RITSUKA feel even more sympathetic towards his counterpart; he doubted anyone would want to be in Ritsuka's position now. Any jealousy had been stamped out from hearing his Master's plight. "…Has he complained about anything?"

"…No," was Da Vinci's short reply.

Ritsuka had just completed his tasks for the day when he ran into RITSUKA and Sakura. Both of them had unreadable expressions, making him wonder what was going through their heads when— "Huh?!" —he found himself pulled into a hug by his other self. "He—hey, what's this about?"

"Nothing," RITSUKA answered in a small, comforting voice. "Just… I thought you needed one."

"O…kay?" It admittedly was a little weird getting one from himself, but he appreciated the gesture. "What about you, Sakura?"

"Hmm? Oh, don't mind me, I was just accompanying hi—"

"Oh, come on. You also get in here!" RITSUKA chuckled as he grabbed the Flamechaser and pulled her into the embrace too. She let out a small yelp but otherwise didn't put much of a resistance. "…Sorry by the way."

Though he didn't say anything else, Ritsuka already had a likely idea of what prompted RITSUKA to do this. "It's no bother. I…" he trailed off, unable to come up with anything to say. "…You can let go of me now, by the way. You're hugging me a bit too tight."

"Huh? Aren't you the one still hugging me though?" replied a confused RITSUKA.

"…"

Ah… that would explain it…

A/N: Understandable, SAKURA. I too would like to be sandwiched between two Ritsukas. The others might not like you doing that tho.

Anyway, this is the last part of the RITSUKA side so far but there is one more Kousei chapter tomorrow. See you then!