From time to time, Ritsuka liked heading into the summoning room and trying his luck. Sometimes he managed to summon a new Servant but more often than not, he got nothing good. This time was actually the former but who appeared was far from what he expected… which was saying something since he had no expectations whatsoever. When the three bands of lights appeared, Ritsuka felt giddy inside as that meant it was a Servant. He shielded his eyes from the flash before slowly bringing his arm down to see…

…Himself.

While Ritsuka was stunned into silence, his doppelganger did not notice him as his eyes were closed. " Ahem, I don't really know why I am one, but I'm a Servant of the Shielder Class. My name is Rit…su…ka. Huh?!" At last, the Servant opened his eyes to see who his Master was, only to be greeted by his own face, equally as dumbfounded as he was.

Only a single word was uttered between them. "What?'

It didn't even take half an hour before the news spread to all of Chaldea— the newest Servant was their own Master.

At least… that was a very very very oversimplification of the situation. As they quickly found out after finding a safe place to talk away from prying eyes, they (Ritsuka, Mash, Da Vinci, Sion, and Goredolf) learned that the Servant Ritsuka led a completely different but still similar life.

"An organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of humanity… and you're one of the soldiers chosen to fight those who wish to threaten humanity's future? Am I getting this right?"

"Yup," nodded the Servant at Da Vinci's question. "Fire Moth. It's been all I've known for the last couple of years and I wouldn't trade them for anything, even if there's a couple… unscrupulous suspects there." He sighed but had a smile on his face.

"Huh… That's… huh…" was all Da Vinci could say, giving Ritsuka (the Master) a not-so-subtle glance. Well, everyone was actually…

"How are you a Servant then? From what you said, you weren't exactly special among your peers," Sion bluntly stated but Ritsuka (the Servant) didn't take offence to it.

"No, if anyone in Fire Moth's ranks deserves to be a Servant, it'd be Kevin," he smiled, likely thinking of that person. "He didn't get the title of Humanity's Greatest Hero for nothing."

"Humanity's Greatest Hero… and his name is Kevin?" Well, there were worse names but it sounded so… normal to Ritsuka. Either way, how the other Ritsuka became a Servant was a complete mystery. However, right he had another pressing question. "So… why do you have a tail?"

"Huh? Oh, this thing?" The other Ritsuka glanced behind him at his swaying tail— it was jet-black and pointed at the end like an arrow. "Human experimentation. I consent to it of course… sort of… It wasn't like I could refuse."

"That does not sound consensual to me…" muttered Goredolf. He had been trying to wrap his head around the idea of Ritsuka being a Servant and now he had to process it was not their Ritsuka but an alternate version.

The other Ritsuka only shrugged. "Well, it didn't kill me so… oh wait… it technically did…" he suddenly trailed off at a realization. "We—well, I like it and so did my best friend." His cheeks puffed as he huffed while trying to defend his unnatural appendage.

Either way, one question was answered so that led to the next. "You said you were a Shielder? Like Mash?" As it turned out, Ritsuka had neglected to mention it to the others— only telling them he had summoned himself as a Servant.

"Huh?" Mash's eyes widened at the revelation, staring at the new Servant with shock. "You're… a Shielder?"

"Yup!" He nodded before summoning his weapons: a large duelling shield coloured red and white. One of the bladed ends, however, looked different from the other. "A Key of Domination… well, this end is anyway. I like to keep it as part of the shield but I can just use the sword if I need to; I'd rather keep guard and let someone else dish out the damage though. Oh, and I can create some illusions with it. Nothing that big but could make for a good distraction."

Again, more glances were sent in Ritsuka's direction. That was going to be the norm now, was it? "A—anyway, I think it's time you meet the other Servants," Ritsuka coughed out. He just hoped this would go well… A second Ritsuka was going to be a massive change to the delicate balance in Chaldea…

"Hang on, before we leave, there is still one last thing we need to settle," Da Vinci interjected while glancing between the two Ritsuka's. "What are we going to call you two? We can't just call both of you Ritsuka."

"I… thought that would be easy? I could be Ritsuka and he could be Fujimaru." While it did not feel right to relegate him to a last-name basis, it was the option that caused the least—

"Wait, how do you know that?" The other Ritsuka suddenly asked, a mild look of surprise on his face before slapping himself on the forehead. "Oh, wait. You're me. Of course you'd know that."

Ritsuka, however, only looked at his other self with confusion. "What do you mean by that?" Why wouldn't he know his own name?

His question led to the other Ritsuka looking back in confusion too. "What do you mean? Isn't that what dad wanted to name us?"

"Um… What?" Now it was everyone looking at the other Ritsuka, making him shrink from all the eyes on him. "Is Fujimaru not your name too?"

"No? That was what Dad wanted to name me but he couldn't say to Mom and they ended up naming me Ritsuka," he answered which only led to further confusion. "What did they want to name you?"

"Um… Both? My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka?"

"…You have two names?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"..."

"…This is definitely gonna take a while to get used to."

A/N: This other story with RITSUKA (following PE conventions) actually was released after the first few chapters with Kousei but I decided it's better to alternate it here. Either way, RITSUKA as a Servant was something bumping in my head for a bit so I did it. As for why he's Shielder, my circle of brainrot decided that a dueling shield was fun and as I mentioned on this site, he has a Key of Domination that has been modified slightly for his own fighting style. As for the whole illusion thing I mentioned, PE HoD had weakened abilities of the Herrschers before it so I thought Wynaut and say the Core his DK was made from had PE Herrscher of Sentience's powers. If I'm right in that being how it works, nice; if not, alright, I'll take the L on that.

Anyway, see you tomorrow when the next two parts get uploaded.