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[Powder Miner]

Asuna led Yliss over to a relatively isolated little corner of the ship (without going deep enough into the ship to look like she was about to murder Yliss, that is), before she proceeded to turn and then lean backwards against a wall, her arms crossed, silent for a moment. She looked very cool and all, but she ran her thumb up and down one of her own upper arms in a nervous motion.

There was a deep breath, in and then out, and:
:"Uh- so, you know how you told everyone, uh... forever ago, I guess, that your name isn't really Yliss Wander?"
:"Well, uh..."
:"I've kept it even more secret, and for... stupid reasons, but my name isn't actually Rio Ito either. I mean, uh, the Ito part is my actual family name, but... uhhh... my given name isn't really Rio. Although I guess it isn't bad, honestly, eheh, it was a good choice for something I sort of made up on the spot when I signed up for Serena's job.

[SirAston]

She listened calmly to Asuna.

"Uh-uh. Okay? Weird. I wonder what need you have to hide your name like that. Your given name at least. So, what could be..."

Something clicked in Yliss' head.

"NO WAY!"
"Your wish was to be like Asuna, so the only reason to hide your given name is because you've been a frikkin' dude on Earth, just like me!"
"Shit, bro! And I had the hots for you, not because you look like Asuna, but because after you calmed your tits, your personality was actually really fucking sweet!"
"Damn, dude... Good thing we didn't become a thing, I wouldn't have known if that would have been straight, or gay, or lesbian, or whatever. I still am confused about if I like chicks, if I like Peach Boy, or both."
"At least you're someone that can understand me. That's a huuuuuuge relief, thought I'd be the only sucker living in a woman's body..."

No one said the click was that of a bright lightbulb.

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Milly? What do MPMH intend to do once this is all done?

[Powder Miner]

Well, that was aaaaaaaaaa lot to take in, and if there was one thing Asuna Ito had never in her whole life been good at doing, it was taking in a whole lot of information at once. In fact, it had been a major issue for her more than once (most recently, in untangling the giant confusing web of conspiracy that people like Jarvis seemed to be able to get instinctively).

So, Asuna took a long moment frozen while she attempted to calculate all of that.
:"..."
Okay, so... Yliss thought that she was a guy back in Japan...
:"..."
...and was trying to figure out what attraction to her counted as, because Yliss was a guy back in Japan...
:..."
...which meant that Yliss had, like, a crush on her something, which... like... it looked like she had something with Momotarou, so that was probably fine to not deal with too much...
:..."
...and also that "calming her tits" line was pretty offensive but honestly it could probably be forgiven, given the circumstances.

Slowly, Asuna brought her hands together in front of her to signal that she was finally unfrozen and got everything. She spoke gently, too (because oh, boy, this was going to be kind of a lot to address, but it wasn't like she felt any ill will at all).
:"Okay, so... that's not quite it, um, it's definitely a lot sillier than all of that. I'm really sorry you had to deal with all of that."
:"I'm definitely not gonna judge you for it though. Um, I guess I... don't know if this is the same sort of situation you're in or not, but I had a really really close trans friend back in Japan, since I'm bi myself and we had the same sort of social - uh, I'll actually get into that whole thing in a little but."
:"I haven't really been in the position to think about romance or anything this entire time, though. I've been kinda screwed up for a while. Youuuu... have some sort of thing going on with Momotarou, though, right? So that's fine?"

[SirAston]

"... Wait... Not quite it, you say? Then... Wait... Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait."

Yliss blinks for a few seconds.

"... Alright, you've not been a man on Earth, I revealed to you that I've been a man on Earth, I also opened up all my feelings towards you, and you're bi. Got it."
"Excuse me for a moment, I'll return to the ship's deck so I can jump over board right now because"
"PFHGTNGLVTRMH!"

She is now frozen in place, her brain having visibly tilted in the pinball definition of that word.

[Powder Miner]

Asuna winced, one of those really full-face cringes, for juuuust a moment, before she reached out to very lightly grab her counterpart's shoulder, piping up after long enough that enough neurons were probably firing again for Yliss to actually understand her.
:"Uh, so... if you need to take a moment that's... like, fine, it's, uhhhh, understandable given the situation and all..."
:"But I kinda was gonna explain what my name actually is and, er, all that stuff, so, er, you... wouldn't... be alone... in the awkwardness... in that case?"

[SirAston]

Yliss takes a deep breath. And another one. She looks to the ground, still visibly embarassed about her own stupidity. She shakes her head, although it wasn't clear if she was rejecting Asuna's offer or not. She still stares to the ground for a few more seconds, an uncomfortable silence before she finally looks up towards Asuna.

"My true name is Satoru Nakamura. I've been an overweight otaku neglected by his parents who had a lot of hatred towards the world. Without wanting to sound arrogant, at the same time I was quite the gifted one, whatever I attempted, I quickly adapted to it and created good enough results that co-workers or randos on the internet praised me for it. And that lack of challenge in my life bored me, so I switched hobbies and professions constantly, having felt empty all that time, until I've decided that forcing myself to attempt becoming a sushi chef was my last call to achieve something in life. And then I... ... ended up here."

She slides down to the floor, her legs angled against her chest and getting hugged. Yliss looks up to Asuna.

"Sorry it came out so suddenly when you wanted to open up yourself to me. I... kinda needed that. Sorry to overwhelm you with all that."

[Powder Miner]

Asuna had to bite one of her lips in a bit of self-frustration at part of what Yliss had said, but on the whole she did listen, and then...

She slid down as well, so she was sitting against the wall now and eye-level with Yliss, although only leg was up and she wasn't hugging it. It was seemingly a more relaxed posture, though the tension in her shoulders and arms (at odds with the fluid grace of her wish) as she braced herself against the floor gave it away some.
:"Uh, no, it's fine, um, Satoru. Honestly..."
:"A little perspective is something I guess I have sort of really needed for a long time."
:"I've been so angry about my wish for so long, and I still do want to change it, but... it's more of a minor thing than I've been acting like, and it's really my fault, not Serena's at all. I think you probably have more complicated problems than I do, although I guess I don't know the exacts."

She paused for a few seconds.
:"Uh, see, of all things, well... my name is... uh... I mean, you'll see why I've been going under another one with Team F. It is, believe it or not, heh... Asuna Ito."
:"I didn't really look all THAT much different either, actually. Like... my eyes weren't this color at all, my hair was just a liiiittle oranger, and wavier, and obviously I could dress differently, which I... miss... but, like... it was kinda similar."

She swallowed and took a moment to get to the really tough part.
:"My parents didn't like me much either, but it was because... I wasn't really gifted. At all, really. At, um... much of... anything. Uh, I was too dumb to pass... any of my college entrance exams, so in the few years I had, I kind of just settled down in whatever I could. And that wasn't a whole lot. There weren't a lot of jobs I was talented enough or... smart enough, really, to get into, so... I just drifted from part time to part time, really. Uh, and I had a couple of really close friends who helped me get by to the extent that I was getting by. I owe them a lot, and I hope they're doing okay."
:"I really wanted to have something going for me but I didn't have a lot. I had one thing, though. I at least happened to look a lot like, super coincidentally, Asuna Yuuki, and, you know, hey, same name! And this was a few years back when I figured it out, and I was a huge otaku too since it was tough to, like, do most wider things, so I really latched onto that. And, um, I didn't want to die when it happened, it just did, a really really stupid mundane death that I guess fits, but I kinda... saw it as an opportunity to get to actually BE Asuna Yuuki and be GREAT at being Asuna Yuuki and it'd be the best thing ever and then it wasn't.

She let out a breath and then smiled ruefully.
:"Now I'm sorry for overwhelming you, heh. . . I've only ever told anyone the name bit, and, uh... only one."

[SirAston]

Yliss calmly listened to everything Ito had to say, occasionally nodding.

"So that's how it is..."

She curls up a strain of her hair with her finger, looking at it contemplatively before she releases the curl.

"Heh... And now you're the better swordsmaster here among the two of us to the point that you've been acknowledged by a Patronage god, while I feel like I'm not as good as you, and felt like this fight is the last chance of me catching up to you, so you could... dunno... acknowledge me?"
"... Swordfighting... Something you're really, really good at, which earlier sounded like that didn't really happen in your life before... and I... kinda wanted to steal your thunder, in a way. I envied you a bit for that. That I wasn't immediately acknowledged for doing something well. Even though I really desired a challenge in life, I couldn't appreciate having found one in you..."
"Damn, I'm really fucked up."

Yliss slowly stands up.

"Yeah. I'll concede the title of 'best swordfighter of Team F' to you. Attempting to surpass you now would just feel like a hollow achievement to me, that I realize now."
"But, once I figure it out, what it actually means to be happy and content with my life, once I figure out how to judge the worth of my life and not rely on others to judge it, I'll find you, and I'll challenge you to a duel. Not for the title of best swordfighter..."
"... but because I want to fight you as a friend, so I can appreciate the moment, not the results."

She pats the handle of Orochi, resting at her left side.

"Still, kicking Freya's butt as hard as possible will feel pretty satisfying to me, so don't complain if I accidentally surpass you anyway today."

[Powder Miner]

Asuna shrugged widely and smiled a little ruefully, if less so than the previous.
:"Honestly, I don't mind. Uh, like, yeah, finding your own, like... path to meaning and all is definitely I think the best way to go, but I've been doing that too. I do want to be a great swordfighter and all, but..."
:"I'm not quite happy with it as is, is all. It being a wish thing and all. Uh... I might not really be the brightest, but I've been really trying my best for a lot of this adventure to try to actually learn how to fight with a sword, not just... rely on the things that the wish gives me to skate by."
:"I still haven't forgotten that I managed to eke out of Serena that promise earlier to maybe fix my wish, and, like, it was kind of BS because the wish worked as intended, but I'm gonna get her to remove it. I want to see how well I can do when I'm relying on everything I've learned, my work, and I guess my experience with all of this. I want to be a great swordsmaster as Asuna Ito, not as Rio Ito or as Asuna Yuuki."
:"And then once I do that and you find yourself we can challenge each other and see how far we've come. You know, like... you said appreciating the moment, not the results and all, but I guess I mean doing it not for, like, a title or anything. Just to see how it looks for heroes who have defeated... uh, the evil goddess Freya's grand conspiracy, I guess? to spar. (I still sort of only half get all of that.)"

[SirAston]

"Right, you got screwed over by Serena, so she can technically fix your shit. I've been screwed over by Freya, so I'll consider reverting my wish to be a pipe dream."
"Plus, even if I could, I don't wanna disappoint Peach Boy, he really could..."
"... why is Momo such a strong argument against reverting my wish in my head?"
"Oh no."
"Oh no!"
"Ahahahahahaha."
"Urge to jump over board is back and stronger than ever!"
"... Except not. Holy fuck am I confused about that."

[Powder Miner]

:"Well, hmm. I guess it sort of sounds like what your gender is, y'know, whether you are Satoru or you are Yliss regardless of your body and all, might be a more complicated thing for you that you might have to kind of consider for a while before making any decision about a wish, but... winning and all would probably open up possibilities with divine power. I'd think getting all the goddesses and demons in a row would get that set up."

There was another long pause from Asuna.
:"Also, like, you DID have a thing with Momotarou going on, right? I, er- I'm not wrong about that, am I? Like you guys are kind of talking all the time and then like it's also flirting most of the time and then you keep saying all of these things."

[SirAston]

"... I think I do like him, yeah. But, uhm, also full-blown female body."
"After all, I've been very smitten with Keith before, and considering he looks fantastic, most woman would stare at him anyway."
"Probably a female brain in my head with only my past memories stored in there, I still have to discern how much of everything there is me and what else is the result of me being a woman. It probably doesn't fully compare to being trans or anything, although don't quote me on that, I don't know much about that in the first place."
"... Damn, why am I even comfortable with wearing obviously-female clothings, and like preparing my hair like that? That hairstyle ain't happening by itself, it's a bitch to set up in the morning. I had short hair on Earth like the average Japanese dude and yet I decided to don my hair like that during my first month on Generia. Wouldn't it make more sense if I was a full-blown tomboy?"
"But, uhm... Are all those details necessary in the end? I... People would probably say that I should do what makes me happy, doesn't matter what I am, right? So, maybe, just follow my heart?"

Yliss exhales a deep sigh.

"No clue. I'll figure it out when we dealt with everything we're expecting to fight today. But, thank you, Asuna. Female friend, I think I really needed that in life. Or, well, a good friend in general."

[Powder Miner]

:"Yeah, heh, uh, it sounds like a complicated situation and you don't need to figure it all out right now."
:"But... yeah, friends can make tough situations a lot easier to navigate. My friends back in Japan meant everything to me. Honestly, that's the sort of thing I've been forgetting in my time here in Generia, too. I guess it's probably time to learn it again. Feel free to get into contact with me whenever you need to once we get this fight done."

[SirAston]

"I will. For now, let's focus on what is important right now."

Yliss walks ahead, slowly but surely returning to where everybody else was residing.

Pfft... Her name really is Asuna, amazing...