The bar, which had been thick with murderous intent just moments ago, now held only the two of them.
"Go on, then. What do you want?" Itori rubbed her temples helplessly, her earlier mischievous grin gone.
"There are two things..." Louis held his glass, carefully choosing his words. After all, mishandling one of them could get him killed.
"Information about Kanou... Mainly, I want to know where he is."
"I don't know that either..." Itori lowered her hand and leaned across the counter toward Louis, looking straight into his eyes.
"All sorts of strange people are looking for him right now. If I knew, I wouldn't be able to keep this place open."
Itori showed no confusion over who Kanou was. Clearly, she had already heard of him.
"Assuming he's still around here, which area do you think he'd most likely be hiding in?" Louis asked after a moment's thought. With her extensive intelligence network, Itori's insight might prove crucial.
"Ward 20, obviously. His family's hospital is in Ward 20, after all." Itori answered without even thinking.
"..." Seeing that Itori had no intention of giving it any serious thought, Louis could tell she didn't want to reveal anything valuable.
"..." Louis stared at Itori's tightly sealed lips, gritted his teeth, and held out his wrist, placing it on the counter in front of her.
"If you can tell me something..."
"Trying to seduce me..." Kiyoko Itori's eyes suddenly changed, and she asked with a mischievous smile, "I used to do that too, when I was younger..."
"..."
She took Louis's wrist and held it beneath her nose for a sniff. Her delicate brows drew together slightly. Rather than savoring it, she seemed to be suppressing an impulse.
Kiyoko Itori's lips were moist and glossy, painted with wine-red lipstick. To