As Ritsuka had suspected, the new Servant— simply named Sakura —came from the same place as his counterpart did. Their reunion was surprisingly brief; that wasn't to say they weren't happy to see each other… well, the other Ritsuka was while Sakura was more curt, but they quickly went their separate ways. Sure, Ritsuka would find them talking from time to time, but for a couple of minutes before going on with the rest of their day.

"Oh, we do know each other, but she was in another division than me. Sakura dealt with more… unscrupulous missions while I was a simple soldier," explained the other Ritsuka not too long after the Assassin was summoned. "I did occasionally bump into her, usually in the kitchen, but that was really the depths of our interactions. She's quiet but quite nice when you get to know her and get past her lack of social skills."

And she indeed lacked much interest in speaking to others most of the time. Ritsuka would usually catch her in a variety of places around Chaldea— the training room, Muramasa's smithy, and the kitchen were the normal places for her to be in. She also often volunteered to help take care of the child Servants with his other self. One time, he visited the kitchen while the usual crew was preparing lunch to find Sakura there… after a couple of minutes when Boudica pointed out she was watching him from the corner. "Oh, hey!" Ritsuka smiled once he got over his surprise. He should have expected something like this to be honest; she was an Assassin after all.

"Mhmm…" she just nodded at him. Ritsuka internally debated on just leaving her be but eventually decided to take the leap. He had not yet taken the time to really talk to her yet and now was as good a time as any.

"What do you think of Chaldea so far, Sakura?" He asked her to which she answered it was fine.

"More lively than Fire Moth." It was essentially the same as the other Ritsuka's answer. "Most of everyone here is nice enough but there are a couple of people I miss from there, especially… her…"

Her previously neutral and calm demeanour was briefly replaced by one of sorrow before she caught herself. "Who are you talking about if I may ask?" Ritsuka asked with slight hesitation.

"...My little sister. She lived with me while I worked with Fire Moth," Sakura explained. "Unfortunately, she had… I don't know how much Ritsuka has explained to you about our world but things were not well by the end of our lives."

"Oh… I'm sorry for your loss," Ritsuka sympathised with her, his mind flashing back to his own little sister. "What was her name?"

"Rin. She—" crash—!

Both of them turned their heads towards the sound to see it was caused by Emiya dropping a couple of trays. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing. My hand just slipped," Emiya answered without missing a beat as he picked the trays back up and resumed working. Ritsuka continued to stare at him but eventually shrugged it off.

"Hmm… I'll be heading to the training room, Master," Sakura then stated. "I want to get some practice in before lunch." She said farewell before leaving the kitchen, leaving Ritsuka slightly confused but overall glad she shared some things about herself with him.


Soon, a week passed since Ritsuka summoned his Servant self. He sought him for a bit, wishing to ask him the same thing he asked Sakura the other day and eventually found the two together talking in the halls. While he didn't mean to, they didn't notice him at first and he overheard a bit of their conversation.

"—take it. I've been meaning to ask that for a while but… I was a little scared," the other Ritsuka asked.

Sakura didn't answer at first but eventually— "...She has not talked about you at all. Make of that what you will."

"I see… I just hope that she'll stop grieving me. I'd rather not her get stuck in the past."

"...Hua is strong. I'm sure she will," replied Sakura before she turned her head down the hall at her Master. From the look in her eyes, she had known he was there the entire time but didn't mention it. "Master, what brings you here?"

"Hmm? Oh… hey, Master," waved the Shielder as Ritsuka approached them.

"Hey, I was looking for you. I was wondering how you've adjusted to this place. You've been here for some now so I want to know how you feel," Ritsuka tried his best to sound normal as he asked his question.

The other Ritsuka took a moment to think before giving his opinion. "Well, besides getting dragged to the training room, being stalked occasionally, and getting a chill down my spine from time to time… I actually like it here," he smiled back at his Master. "I still miss Fire Moth but I don't mind sticking around here. Besides, since Sakura is here, that means some of them could end up still here." He paused for a few seconds before adding, "...Is it bad that I wish for that since that's sort of the same as wishing they died? No offence, Sakura."

"None taken. I understand what you mean."

"Well, we'll have to see about that last part," Ritsuka chuckled a bit at his counterpart's words. "Though it is nice to hear you're doing alright. I was afraid since… well, you know, you'd have problems settling in." He sort of still did but overall, the other Ritsuka was doing well.

His counterpart then apologized and said he had to go help Atalante. "See you guys later," he cheered as he left with them waving back.

There was a slightly awkward silence between Ritsuka and Sakura— until the former broke it with a question. "So… were he and Hua a thing?"

"No," she bluntly answered. "They never got together though they were close. Elysia, a fellow Moth soldier of ours, once described them as toeing the line between friends and lovers."

"I see…" Ritsuka hummed in understanding as Sakura let out a small sigh. "Something wrong?"

"Not exactly. I'm just reminded about something. Ritsuka— him, I mean —he was not the popular person in Fire Moth but he had his admirers… and then there was Rin who believed I was one of them," Sakura sighed again, crossing her arms in frustration. However, there was the slightest hint of a smile on her face. "She had the gall to try setting me up with him because 'he would be a great big bro.' I love her dearly but she could still be an annoying child when she wanted to be."

"I know the feeling," Ritsuka shared her smile; he had a similar experience to her with his own sibling. "That does make me curious. What do you think of him?"

The question initially caught Sakura off guard before she thought about it for a second. "He's… nice, I guess…" she muttered, the slightest hint of pink dusting her cheeks.

'Ah… guess Rin did have the right idea,' Ritsuka thought. He admittedly felt slightly awkward since they were talking about another him here but that was the norm in Chaldea. It was too bad his counterpart was still interested in Hua even after his death.

"...Actually, is it alright if I ask you a few questions, Master? I realized I don't know too much about you yet."

…Oh. Was she—? "OH NO YOU DON'T, MISSY!" Both of them jumped back in surprise as Kiyohime suddenly popped up between them with a fierce look. "You're new here so I'll give you a warning," she stated, narrowing her eyes at Sakura. "You'll be facing foes greater and worse than any you've ever faced before. You do not want to go down this road."

"Hu… huh?" Sakura could only stupidly blurt out as she tried processing Kiyohime's warning.

Kiyohime, meanwhile, turned towards Ritsuka and beamed at him. "I'm sorry about that, Achin-sama. Please forget what you just saw," she requested before going on her merry way.

"...You'll get used to that," was the best thing Ritsuka could say to console Sakura.

"Okay…?"


A/N: Here's more SAKURA content and yes, I am going that route. Why? Cause I want to smile