As they learned, the people from the other Ritsuka's world did not have last names… for some reason. Ritsuka had to wonder how they would differentiate between two people with the same name. Either way, they would need to come up with a nickname for him later but as they entered the cafeteria— "They're all staring at me…"
"Because you look exactly like him."
"No need to point out the obvious…" muttered Kadoc, who finally joined them after dealing with a couple of menial tasks. His reaction had been shock (as expected) before sympathy because— as he stated —"You're going to have to deal with a lot of comparisons."
Well, Ritsuka could not argue with that, especially since the other Ritsuka didn't lead the same life he did. Regardless though, he introduced the new Servant to everyone he could; the rounds of introductions didn't take that long as many sought them out, glancing between the two Ritsukas to make sure they were seeing right. Besides their clothes and the other Ritsuka's additional appendage, they were basically identical according to most. A couple of his more "observant" Servants did note some minor differences such as his hair was slightly longer than his Servant counterpart by a couple of centimetres.
By the end of it, the other Ritsuka's head was spinning from trying to remember all the names and was faceplanted on one of the cafeteria tables. "So… many… too fast…" he muttered.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ritsuka apologized. Meeting so many in such a short amount of time was bound to give someone a headache; it didn't help that, as mentioned before, some were pretty in his (the other Ritsuka's) face when meeting him. At least now they could have a break and rest for the rest of the day.
Mash and Kadoc soon returned carrying plates of food for them. "Here you go, Senpai and… Ritsuka-san…" She awkwardly said as she put them on the table. It felt foreign to say his name like that, even if it there was no other way to address him.
"If there's one thing that helps ease the mind here, it's the food," Kadoc shared as he sat down with them. "You'll grow to like it here."
"Thanks…" The other Ritsuka groaned as he got up. He took a tired bite of his food and let out a cheery hum. "This is good. Certainly better than anything back in Fire Moth."
"Fire Moth?"
"Uh… best way to describe is that it's similar to Chaldea in their goals. Minus the Rayshifting," Ritsuka gave the gist of it to Kadoc who was not around earlier. With the mention of Fire Moth, a sense of curiosity ignited inside Ritsuka as he turned back towards his counterpart. "If you don't mind me asking… how was it like there?"
"Hmm… Honestly, pretty tense most of the time. Things were not completely terrible but they were not going well when I… kicked the bucket," confessed the other Ritsuka. "Certainly not as lighthearted as things here. It's more… lively here is the best way to put it. Everyone is more energetic if you get what I mean."
"I think I do…" Ritsuka nodded, knowing better than anyone about his Servants' antics.
"That's not to say everyone is all mopey and serious. There were definitely some bright people in Fire Moth," the other him quickly added. "There was Elysia, Griseo, Eden, Pardo… um… Well, there were certainly smiles to be had there."
From out of the corner of his eye, Ritsuka saw Kadoc rolling his eyes. On the other hand, Mash was curious about another thing, "Was one of them the friend you mentioned earlier?"
"Hmm? Oh, no. Well, I like to think we're friends but nope, I was talking about someone else." A bright smile spread across the other Ritsuka's face as his tail started swishing happily. "Hua is one of the more serious folks in Fire Moth but she's still one of the best parts of it if you ask me."
"Oh, it's like that?" Kadoc quietly muttered, already seeing where this was heading.
Mash meanwhile naturally inquired further. "What was she like?" She asked.
"Hmm… Hua is… smart, serious, cool, cute, brave—" the other Ritsuka started listing off. "—amazing, determined, completely unstoppable when she puts her mind to something, beautiful, strong—"
'…Oh good lord,' was all Ritsuka could think as his other self described his "friend".
"—quiet, loyal, sometimes a bit quick-tempered but that's rare, definitely calm most of the time, also has this noticeable way of—"
"Okay, okay, I think we got it," Ritsuka interrupted before his other self could continue rambling.
"You sure you two were only friends?" Kadoc loudly questioned him with an exasperated face to which the other Ritsuka's cheeks flushed slightly.
"Yeah, yeah, we're only friends. Everyone keeps thinking otherwise though," he hummed in thought.
" I wonder why," Kadoc rolled his eyes again before resuming eating his lunch.
The other Ritsuka looked back at him in confusion before a downcasted look replaced it. His tail even drooped slightly as he muttered, "Oh right… I wonder how she would take it…" He let out a sigh, this time more out of sadness than exhaustion. "Did she even survive that battle?"
It didn't take a genius to figure what was upsetting him and Ritsuka tried to console him the best he could. "If Hua is half the person you described her as, I'm sure she survived and be able to get through your… what happened."
"…Yeah, you're right. Hua's strong enough to move on from my death," the other Ritsuka cracked a smile at his words. "Alright, enough talking about the sad stuff. Let's eat!"
A couple of days passed since the other Ritsuka's summoning and he was mostly settling in well. There were of course a couple of incidents (such as some like Scathach dragging the other him into the training room to see how good he was) but other than that, things were surprisingly going smoothly. The other Ritsuka was nice enough to get along with most of everyone in Chaldea once they got over the fact there was now a second Ritsuka.
Ritsuka would usually find his counterpart taking care of the younger Servants, helping babysit them with Atalante and such. Apparently, he had a similar role back in Fire Moth helping care for a young child who lived on base. He also learned they shared lots of interests— down to having the same dream for the future. It was… jarring for Ritsuka to look at a near-perfect mirror of himself but he moved on from it.
In any case, Ritsuka found himself in the summoning room again testing out his luck; it was again mostly duds until the triple rings appeared once again.
When the light died down, he heard a calm female voice speak. "Servant, Assassin. I can handle myself in a straight fight but if you wish for me to take out an enemy… Ritsuka?" The pink-haired Servant with fox-like ears protruding out the top of her head trailed off, her eyes widening upon seeing him. She was dressed in more modern clothing which helped Ritsuka realized what was likely going on.
"Ah… No, but yes?" Ritsuka chuckled nervously. "It's complicated."
A/N: And for the RITSUKA substory, we have SAKURA cause wynaut? I just like her and she was the first Flamechaser to die so she appears first. She'll only be called Sakura for the future cause I'm lazy and it's not like there's another Sakura to get confused with.
