When Touga woke up, his first thought was to tear the bandages off his right wrist, which he did. Gleefully. He left them scattered across the bed and prowled across the room, flexing hand and wrist tentatively, to the bathroom. He washed his hands vengefully, triumphant in being able to use both of them again. It would be a few more days before the bandages on his back could be removed, but at least those injuries weren't causing pain anymore. Too impatient to wait for Keiko, he entered the closet and started browsing through the hangers. Today was an important day, and he was particularly anxious to look stunning.

Today, he would begin proving to Utena that he was no longer the Playboy. He would break out of the role the curse had placed him in, like a-

Touga paused. Blinked. Shook his head, chuckling at the twist on the old phrase.

"If it cannot break out of its shell, the chick will die without ever being born." The words rolled out with the comfort of long familiarity. He grinned. "I am the chick; the Playboy is my egg. If I can't break the Playboy's shell, I will die without ever truly being born."

Knocking on the door interrupted the improvised speech, and Touga exited the closet to let his fashion consultant in. She would be confused and disappointed to find him charming but aloof, but a prince wouldn't lead her on as he had been doing.

Smash the Playboy shell...

Utena was in the middle of brushing her teeth when she heard the door to her room open and tentative footsteps. A quick peek out of the bathroom confirmed it was Kouze, claiming her dirty laundry. She gestured frantically for the blue-haired girl to wait, then ducked back in to spit and rinse hastily.

"I have a favor to ask," she said once her mouth was no longer full of minty foam. "It may be a little...weird, but..."

Kouze just tilted her head, curious. Utena took a deep breath and plunged ahead.

"I want to know, if you can find out, if Touga-" Blushing, Utena broke off and made suggestive hand motions. "-you know."

To her surprise, the other girl gave a sly smile. "If he has recently, or just if he does in the future?"

"Just the future," she said hastily. Kouze nodded.

"I'll keep my ears open. If I may ask, why do you want to know if he does?"

Utena thought for a moment, weighing what she knew with what she felt comfortable sharing. "He said the Playboy is gone. I want to see if he's telling the truth."

Blue eyes widened in shock. "He said that?"

"He did. He said, The Playboy is gone. You can tell the staff if you want, but they'll find out soon enough."

Kouze hugged the dirty laundry to her chest. "I'll make sure the word gets out. If he does anything with anyone, I'll let you know." The look of awe she was giving Utena bordered on worship. "The curse is breaking. We're going to be free again, and it's all because of you."

"Stop that," Utena protested. "I didn't do anything. He's doing it all himself." It was clear that nothing she said was going to make Kouze believe she wasn't responsible for the change in the lord of the castle, so Utena gave up. "This is going to be all over the castle by nightfall, isn't it?"

Kouze shook her head. "Lunchtime."

Utena just sighed.

Breakfast was a nervous event. Despite what she'd accidentally learned the day before, Utena couldn't bring herself to let her guard down just yet. She kept expecting to see that lazily seductive smirk, or hear a well-crafted insinuation. None of it came, leaving her feeling as off-balance as if she'd been bracing against a strong wind that suddenly wasn't there. Touga was the very model of a perfect gentleman, courteous and charming, polite and considerate – and above all, absolutely proper.

If it hadn't been for the frequent worried looks and the moments when he stopped and looked away, taking a breath and visibly centering himself, Utena would have wondered where the clone had come from and where the real Touga's body was.

It was painfully obvious to her that he was struggling against his playboy inclinations, and that he understood her uncertainty. She smiled and nodded encouragingly at him, trying to convey without words that she knew what he was doing. Once, when the servants were out of the room, she almost told him that he didn't have to worry, she wasn't going to freak out at how he was acting – but then she remembered that he thought he'd been talking to Saionji. Some twisting undercurrent of intuition whispered to her that she must not let him know that she'd overheard him, and she suddenly understood how much this was costing him. He was throwing away power and pride, desperately afraid that in the end, it would all be for nothing.

With a thought of what kind of Prince would I be, Utena told her fear to go leap off the edge of the dueling arena and forced herself to treat Touga the same way she treated her male friends.

After the meal was over, Touga inquired with painfully false nonchalance if Utena would do him the honor of sparring with him. She met his eyes, acknowledging his fear of her rejection, before giving him a teasing smile and accepting with the 'reassurance' that she'd go easy on him due to his injuries. When one slender eyebrow arched up and he bantered back that even wounded, he was more than a match for her, she realized that she'd missed his ego. Even though it brought the fear that the Playboy still controlled him, she preferred seeing him full of self-centered confidence rather than the vulnerable, fearful thing he had become.

They walked to the main courtyard in comfortable silence. The stablemaster was waiting for them, looking healthy despite the white bandage holding back his dark blue hair. He had already hitched the flying stallions to a lacy confection of a carriage, and was holding the door open for them. Utena climbed in somewhat hesitantly, suddenly remembering that there had been no flying horses to ferry her from dueling arena to castle courtyard the day she'd arrived.

"If you wish, I can teach you how to ride them later," Touga said quietly as they lifted off and flew up/down towards the arena.

Utena turned away from the window, not wanting to be aware of the moment when down became up. "I'd like that, thank you."

There was silence for the rest of the brief trip. Utena couldn't stop thinking about that odd moment of vertigo that had somehow transported her to the castle, and for the first time she wondered if her arrival was destined. If, as Saionji believed, something other than chance had brought her here to break the curse.