Along with the smoke, Niles might also -- if his hearing is good -- have picked up the low murmur of a man's voice, coming from one of the patios on the side of the house. The murmur stops abruptly as soon as he calls out Gojyo's name, there's a quiet sibilant sound of somebody swearing fluidly under their breath... and then Gojyo emerges, his eyes red and puffy like he's been crying.

He stops with a jolt when he sees who it is that's come to call -- of all the people who he thinks might have come by to check on him, Niles is just about at the bottom of that list. "What are you doing here?!" he hisses, storming over to the other man. "You can't be here!"

Inside, he feels sick. Did Hakkai go to Niles when looking for Gojyo? Does Hakkai know about the two of them? Does everybody?