Kurapika blinked, and then narrowed his eyes. He also knew Rhode to be self-centered, but surely not to this extent. Was it possible that she hadn't even noticed the absence of her own meister?

"I already did. Several times, in fact," he replied, intonation slow and deliberate as he tried to figure out what was going on. Because something was going on, that much was certain, just what he couldn't say yet--how dull he'd gotten, after nearly nine months in this place.

"He isn't answering." His gaze kept getting drawn to the girl's face, for some reason. Or maybe that was because Rhode was already closing the door and there was nothing else to focus his eyes on. "This letter," and he held it up so that Rhode would see it in case she hadn't yet, "can only be one of two things, and if it's another of his silly tricks, he would have accepted my call right away."

He utterly ignored her request to be allowed to sleep longer. It was nearly midday, anyway.