The entire group was somber that night, sobered by what they had found in the ruins of Naraku's castle. Knowing something of what she was going through, Miroku kept a close eye on Sango the whole time. Finding the remains of her father and the other slayers who had died that day… it would have taken a toll on anyone. This time, he hoped, Sango would feel comfortable enough with the group to stay with them and not do anything rash.
If she got into another fight the way she had when Naraku blackmailed her into stealing the Tessaiga… it might be enough to kill her right now, or at least make her even more vulnerable to Naraku's cruel trickery. He could only hope that things would remain peaceful for a while so she would have a chance to work through her grief, rather than being consumed by it.
For all that Sango was hit the hardest, the rest of the group was obviously affected as well. Kirara stuck close to Sango, making sad sounds now and then, and snuggling up against her friend as if to share in her grief. Inuyasha and Shippou were uncharacteristically subdued even after they finished setting up camp, forgoing their normal bickering. Even Kagome seemed unable to muster her usual cheer. She ate her dinner in silence and sat near the fire, lost in her own thoughts the same as everyone else. All in all, it promised to be a gloomy and sorrowful evening.
Ordinarily Miroku would have been happy for the quiet—and the lack of arguments among the other members of the group. But given the circumstances, he couldn't enjoy it even a little. The memory of bones and shattered armor and graves… it was all too fresh in his mind.
He'd laid many people to rest before, but never the parent and companions of someone he knew and cared about. It left him feeling unsettled, uncomfortably reminded of his own lingering grief over the death of his father.
His grief, at least, was an old and familiar ache. Sango's was new and undoubtedly sharp. The solemn anguish on her face kept drawing his gaze despite his best intentions. He remembered that pain only too well, and could not help but worry for her.
Off to the side, Kagome stirred. She looked concerned, almost confused. After a long moment, during which Inuyasha and Shippou also noticed and looked her way, she finally spoke. "I… I think I sense a jewel shard nearby!"
Inuyasha perked up immediately. It figured—he preferred an enemy to fight or a jewel shard to track over sorrow and grief, any day. Not that Miroku could blame him.
Casting one last look at Sango, Miroku turned his attention to the other members of the group… and tried not to give in to his more paranoid fears. Yet it nagged at him: how convenient that a single jewel shard should turn up nearby the very day that Sango unearthed the remains of her father and the other dead slayers. To assume this shard must belong to Kohaku, and that this must inevitably be another trap, ready to snare Sango in her weakest moment, was foolhardy. It was too great a coincidence. It had to be.
He couldn't help it; he looked back to Sango. If she shared his fears, she did not show it. Her face was the same sorrowful mask that it had been all day. It hurt his heart to see her like that, yet he had no words of comfort to give her.
"It's coming closer!" Kagome announced. "Wait, now it's heading that way." She gestured into the distance.
"Then what are we waiting around here for?" By the time he finished asking the question, Inuyasha had already hauled Kagome and Shippou onto his back. He was only waiting on Miroku and Sango, now. There was no choice; Miroku would have to worry about comforting Sango later.
Even so, she had been through a lot already today, so Miroku asked her, "Are you ready?"
She nodded.
Moments later, he was mounted behind her on Kirara's back and they were off, racing through the forest. At times like this, he was glad that all he had to do was hang on and let Sango and Kirara do the work of following Kagome's directions in the growing gloom.
"It's this way!" Kagome shouted. Kirara veered in the direction she was pointing. "It's close, but the aura… it's still moving!"
From above and behind them, Miroku heard the sound that he had been dreading since Kagome alerted them to the jewel shard's presence: the distinctive loud buzzing that only came from Naraku's hell wasps. He twisted to look back and nearly fell off Kirara in the process, but he'd seen enough. "The saimyoushou!"
"Bah," Inuyasha shouted back. "So they're after the jewel shard, too?"
Their presence meant that Naraku might be nearby, despite the recent disappearance of his castle.
Up ahead the trees opened up into a wide clearing. Even in the near dark it was obvious something unnatural was going on there. A large, misshapen creature loomed over what might have been a child. A child armed with a chain scythe.
Miroku's fears were confirmed as they drew near enough to hear the youkai demand that the boy give up his jewel shard. There could be no doubt that the boy under attack was Sango's brother Kohaku.