With all the time he's been spending with Asshole, it's only made sense to try and get the man to communicate. Gojyo knows that he can't talk to Asshole about their shared past -- and honestly, even if he could, he wouldn't. Banri's much easier to tolerate without his memories -- but his own captivity has made him look at his silent shinki in a new light. What if Banri's really in there, just trapped in the back of his body's mind and unable to speak or control himself? It's not a situation Gojyo would wish on his worst enemy.

First he'd started with writing. Maybe if Banri couldn't talk, he could express himself in text? But while Asshole proved he could read, he didn't seem to understand writing -- Gojyo put a pen in his hand and Asshole would just hold it. Sign language had failed in much the same way. Asshole responded very well to gestures for come here and pick that up, but wouldn't repeat the gestures on his own.

Tonight, it's smoking. Banri had never been much of a smoker, but he'd enjoyed the occasional cigarette, especially when he'd been drinking. So Gojyo's given Asshole his very own cigarette -- lit it for him and everything -- and now it's just a question of whether Asshole will figure out how to inhale.

It doesn't look good. Thankfully, the experiment is interrupted by a visitor. A visitor... with a plant. "Yeah," he nods in response, not getting up from his spot at the edge of the porch (his butt's gonna start leaving a dent there if he's not careful). "You looking for Hakkai?"