Dis Aliter Visum

Chapter 69

"I wear black, sometimes," Kurapica defended.

Kuroro hummed, looking him up and down. The blond pulled the blankets closer to his chest, feeling rather unnerved with the look in the older man's eyes. That only made Kuroro chuckle. "I'll be back soon," he told Kurapica. "If you're not dressed when I return, I'll take it as an invitation."

He easily avoided the pillow Kurapica sent at his head and laughed as he left the bedroom. A moment later, the door into the suite opened and closed. Kurapica sighed and racked his fingers through his hair. Another sigh and the blond shuffled over to the edge of the mattress, then pushed himself to his feet. He made his way to his luggage and he started going through them. He got a pair of dark jeans, then a black T-shirt. He got dressed; underwear, pants, then socks. He was about to put his top on, when he paused. He looked at the garment, frowning softly to himself.

Well, he should wear something underneath, in case they had to go somewhere that day and he had to change his top. He crouched by his bags and riffled through them. He found a black tank top that he quickly slid into. He as about to do the same with the T-shirt, when he again paused. He looked at it and hesitated. No, this wouldn't do. He buried it at the very bottom of one suitcase and took out a light grey, sleeveless turtleneck top instead, which he put on.

He brushed his hair, then eyed the hotel coffee machine. He could wait for Kuroro and decent coffee, but his body was calling for caffeine and he didn't know when the older man would be back. It wasn't much of a debate. He fixed himself a cup, then sat down on the loveseat, cup in one hand, book in the other.

That's how Kuroro found him when he returned, carrying a few bags and a cardboard tray with two large cups on it. Kurapica had long since finished the horrible brew from the hotel and he gratefully accepted a cup from the older man. The Spider Head set the bags down on top of the coffee table and sat next to him before taking a few sips from his coffee.

"So," he said at length, "wearing anything black?"

"No," Kurapica lied, unable to look at him. He drank some coffee in silence. Finally, he glanced at the older man. "So what's the plan for today?" he wanted to know.

"First, I need a blueprint of the professor's house, and I need to know more about the security on the premises." Kurapica nodded. So far, it sounded reasonable. Kuroro continued, "I'd like to have a look at his finances as well." He looked at the blond. "That will be your job."

"Okay," Kurapica slowly enunciated, unsure of the legality of looking into someone's bank account.

"Oh," the Spider Head said with a knowing smile, "don't worry your pretty little head; it is very much illegal. It is neither theft nor murder, at least. I'm just curious to see how a man who works at a university can afford something worth billions of zennies."

Well, that didn't seem so bad. "Okay," Kurapica repeated, more firmly this time. "How do I go about doing that?"

"Do you still have that wig you wore for the passport photo?" Kuroro asked him.

Kurapica nodded. "The brown one? Yeah, it's still in my luggage."

"All right," the older man set down his cup on top of the low table and retrieved a laptop from a bag. Kurapica didn't want to know how he'd gotten the thing. Kuroro turned it on, picked up his coffee and took a few sips while it booted up. Once the device was on, he typed on it for a minute, used the touchpad a bit, clicked on something, then turned the laptop towards him, saying, "Here."

Kurapica glanced at the screen and saw the photograph of a young woman with heavy makeup and brown hair, cut at the shoulders. His wig was a little longer, but not enough to be really noticeable. After all, hair grew fast. "I see," he told Kuroro. "I'm going to pretend to be this woman?"