There was chatter of people in the main room as Lila ushered Hisoka into the normal private room. Just as she was about to follow him in, she froze up when she heard the chatter stop.

Faintly, there was music in the background. She could hear a familiar fiddle's playing style. It was faint, but she could make it out. Lila locked eyes with Mira before the two of them rushed towards the main entrance.

"It couldn't be-"

"Bancho!" Lila cried out, lunging at the male as he barely had time to stop and catch her. "What are you doing here?"

His laughter echoed as they entered the building again. "Howdy, everyone! Mira, how's it been? Yasu, staying out of trouble? Saki, keeping Yasu out of trouble?"

"One at a time man," Mira laughed, taking her turn of a hug when Lila was placed back on the ground. "Can't be asking so many questions and expect answers immediately. Plus, you haven't answered Lila's question either."

"Sit, relax, have a drink," Saki told Bancho while Yasu went to make his usual order. 

Bancho placed his fiddle on a table near the bar counter, nodding his head as the girl made the drink. "Two of you have been trained well. Who was it, Nana?" 

All of them cringed at the mention of the name, but none had it in them to correct the man. Nana was one to drill it into the girls that hospitality should be the foremost aspect of their work. "How long are you here for?" Lila asked, sitting next to him at the table. Her legs were shaking even while sitting, unable to contain the excitement of her mentor's surprise visit. 

"Hoping to convince Nana to get you away from work for a bit?" Bancho laughed before leaning back as a drink was placed in front of him. "At least a week." He smiled before taking a sip of what was handed to him. 

"C'mon, play something for us." Saki smiled, leaning against the bar counter.

"I shouldn't. Nana would disapprove."

"Please, please," some of the girls begged, folding their hands as they begged him to play the fiddle. It didn't take much as he smiled while grabbing the instrument and immediately started to play.

Lila smiled at the familiar music. Bancho would play it all the time for her, starting when she was barely a teenager starting her training with him. He at one point named it "Lila's Song", considering it was always for Lila he played it for.

Having been waiting for Lila to come back, Hisoka got more impatient once he heard the music outside. He stepped out of the room, walking towards the main area only to stop in the doorway between the two.

There was Lila, just dancing in the middle of the bar area. A smile was on her face as she spun and twirled, changing directions every so often. She seemed happy, matching the music that was being played.

It seemed like he wasn't the only one watching Lila. Other working girls stopped what they were doing, watching Lila dance to the music being played by this stranger. Considering how comfortable the women were around him, Hisoka figured that this man was no stranger to the girls.

"Another one!" Someone called out over the clapping when the music stopped and Lila stumbled into an ending pose.

"Sorry ladies, I don't want to get in trouble with Nana," Bancho announced before downing the rest of his drink. "Speak of which, I'll go make my presence to her while the rest of you continue with work."

There were a few groans as work was resumed, women leaving and walking around with drinks in hands or escorting patrons. "Lila," Mira nudged the girl before motioning to Hisoka.

"Shit," Lila mumbled, walking in the direction of Hisoka and ushering him back into the room. "You're supposed to stay in there."

"Who was he?" He asked while sitting down on the piles of pillows.

"Bancho?" Lila questioned while sitting across from him. "He was a mentor of mine. Up until I 15 or 16 maybe." Lila explained. "Then I finished my remaining training with Nana, went back to Bancho for a little bit of work but was brought back here."

"How long did you work with him?"

Lila frowned as she thought back to the work she spent with Bancho. "It wasn't long. Less than a year. I enjoyed it though. I don't know the exact reason I was brought back to Nana, but I have my own theories. I think after Nana, I've been working here the longest."

Lila glanced back at the beaded doorway, slightly frowning at those thoughts. "Anyway," she sighed before looking back to Hisoka. "What do you want to see?"

"She's having fun here, enjoying herself while she's with me."

"And how many of your trainees have gotten caught? Sold to at auctions to entertain others? You might as well hand them to their deaths as well."

"Given her situation-"

"I was there too. We both were there when Lila joined our section." Nana argued to a group of elders. "But given Bancho's history of trainees getting caught when they join him at the docks, we could lose Lila as well."

"I think we can all agree Lila is a special one," Bancho reasoned with everyone. "That's why I think we should allow her to go somewhere where she'll be happy."

"I'm assuming this was about transferring you?" Hisoka glanced from the orb before him to Lila.

Lila nodded her head, resting her head against her knees. "I guess Nana was more convincing, but our kind has been popular on the black markets. I think one of our kind can go for just as much as any super rare items. Or forbidden items. I get Nana was trying to protect me and all, but I miss working at the docks."

"What did those docks have that this place doesn't?"

"We were outside all the time. Those that choose to focus on music, tend to work at the docks. Singers and musicians like Bancho. I would dance along to the music, but the sun, that's what I miss the most." She smiled, eyes close at the faint memory. "I miss the warmth from the sun on my skin. It felt like I wasn't trapped."

Hisoka leaned forward, admiring the look on Lila's face. He noted how relaxed she was at the moment. Different from her usual guarded self. This was even different from the one he would see around Saki and Yasu, or even Mira. He wanted to leave the look engrained in his memory, in hope that he would be able to see her in the same state again.