Miroku did not generally have difficulty sleeping at Kaede's, but tonight he was restless. A roof over his head was a veritable luxury, and with Inuyasha off in the forest somewhere, peace and quiet reigned. Nearby, Sango and Shippou slept peacefully, but Miroku could not shake the strange sense of unease that had crept over him ever since sunset.
The weird part was, Kaede seemed to feel it too. When everyone else was settled for the night, she rose quietly and went outside.
Miroku waited a bit before following her out. She was standing not far from the door, looking out over the forest in a contemplative manner. It took him a moment to realize what she was looking at: faint, unearthly lights were floating above the distant forest, bobbing to and fro in a seemingly aimless fashion. Those were not ordinary lights, nor were they foxfire. He suspected what they were, but he did not like it. "Kaede-sama, are those…"
"They are souls of those who have died," she confirmed. "I worry that this means my sister is in trouble."
Kikyou's unnatural second life was something he did not like to think about. The idea of a soul being forced into a body made of clay, which must consume other dead souls in order to survive, was deeply horrifying.
Despite the eerie sensation the idea caused, he asked, "Should we go investigate?"
"If it is Kikyou, and if she is in the sort of trouble that will cause that, there is nothing we can do."
And besides, Miroku thought, if it was Kikyou… Inuyasha would have sensed her presence long ago, and was likely already at her side. Even if it had nothing to do with Kikyou, Inuyasha was probably already on his way there.
If he wanted to be reckless so soon after a bad injury and a fight with Kagome, that was up to him. Miroku had no desire to go running off into the forest at night, chasing ghosts and dead women.
He watched the lights for a few more minutes, then went back into the hut to get some sleep.