Mami listens, going very quiet and still as Utena tenses against her. And she thinks on those words, long and hard, as fireworks continue to burst and bloom above them in shapes of whimsical fancy that have never seemed less appealing. There are loose threads here that she can pluck at in the hopes of unraveling some of the mystery shrouding Utena. There are gaps, chinks in the other girl's armor, that Mami can pick and pick and pick at until they widen in crumbling chunks under her fingernails. Mami knows how to be stubborn, to be cruel if it meant ultimately being kind - for despite the barbs that sometimes lace her words and despite the way her gold eyes can narrow dangerously, all Mami has ever really wanted is to help others. It's kept her walking, kept her breathing, even when it had to lean upon wounded idealism and the guilt of survival to do so.

Her voice is soft and neutral. "I see."

But Mami decides to let the subject of princes and Ohtori and all their trappings go for now, for tonight. She's not Utena; charging forward out of heroic impulse isn't her way. No, her way is subtlety and caution and being keenly aware of fragile underpinnings, the minute yet significant impact of the smallest pressures. Forcing something now won't help Utena - and perhaps Mami's already pushed too much, too soon, as it is. She rubs her hands together, caressing the slim and elegant knuckles, feeling the cool metal of her ring. "Yes, that's right."

Silence. Her breath escapes in a thin white cloud. Then the gem set into the metal band begins to glow brightly as Mami comes to a decision.

"I guess I never told you the whole story about that, huh?" A slight shifting movement, and now there is no ring but instead her Soul Gem nestled carefully in the palms of her cupped hands. It continues to glow, the golden light free of corruption and oddly comforting. "About how I gained my powers, about Kyuubey."