Disclaimer: I own the plot, the title, Scarlet, Ginmaru, Takara Kyoden, Takara Bairei, Kawate Kinuko, Takara Kahori, Asahi Mayuko, and Takara Tansho. I don't own Sango, Miroku, Naraku, or any other Inuyasha characters and/or themes. Please do not sue. Thank you.

Author's Note: Please read this note. That's why it's here.

I'd like to talk to everyone about reviews. First of, I'd like to make a note that this site does not require people to review. To some, that's a great thing, to others, not.

Now, I'd like to talk about reviews on a more personal level. I think everyone here understands why reviews are great, but allow me to fabricate the details. While I know most authors like to flaunt their reviews (myself not excluded), they have a better, stronger purpose, and they're the reason why was created. Reviews are little windows through which the author can see what their reader really wants. I need those windows, and I don't get enough of them. Without feedback, I'm at a loss.

Furthermore, I'd like you all to note that my Inuyasha stories are not my masterpieces. They are my "works". I slave over them and fine-tune things, but not in the same way I slave over my personal stories that I someday hope to get published. That's why I need reviews, so that I can work on my works. Like I've said before, reviews are a great way for authors and readers to communicate, they let the author know what their readers like, and what they think could be changed.

I know my writing is not perfect. I don't pretend that it is. That's why I need reviews to help motivate me and to instruct me. I need to know what works and what doesn't and while I won't change my story completely, I take each and every review into account. I consider each one carefully, and sometimes email the reviewer to ask them to elaborate upon their point a little more.

Ok. Time to stop talking about reviews. For the schedule, I've decided to more or less trash it. I'll try to update every week, but I can make no promises. The reason I'm getting rid of the schedule, you ask? Well, because I hate schedules, quite frankly. And also because new complications have sprung up with my Monday scheduling.

Right now. Reading time. Thanks for listening to my review rant.

Chapter 11, Blood Seal

They entered the village slowly, Sango walking quietly behind. The air was frigid and the night dark. All they could hear was the roar of the wind as it shoved snow in their faces. They walked blind, their eyes half-closed against the offensive gusts. Eventually, Miroku ran into a wall and they skirted around it until they found a door. The air inside the hut was still slightly warm, and the walls kept out the wind and snow. Beside the fire pit, a small meal was laid out, hardly three hours old and ready to be cooked. While Miroku prepared dinner, Sango readied two futons and several blankets for them. Then, they sat down across each other.

"I'm sorry," Sango said in the middle of the silent meal.

Miroku looked up in surprise, and found the princess was glaring at her food, her cheeks bright red. "For what?" he asked.

"For-for what I said before," Sango stuttered, her cheeks burning. "I didn't mean it. I was just- just so angry!"

Miroku's mind flashed back to before the fight, when Sango had shouted coldly at him, calling him a peasant. He smiled slightly, grateful for the apology. "You're forgiven," he said softly, ushering another helping of rice into his bowl.

She winced, but Miroku missed it.

"How's your back?" she asked softly.

Miroku didn't answer right away. He couldn't deny that his back was troubling him immensely. He was worried about the wound, and upset that he would have to ask Sango to bind it for him. "I think it will have to be bandaged after dinner."

Sango nodded. "I figured as much."

They carried on in silence for a time, both consumed by their own thoughts, both trying to push the horrible images of the massacre out of their minds. Eventually, Miroku spoke, his voice gentle and even-toned. "Do you know who Naraku is, Sango?"

The hand Sango had kept in her lap suddenly closed in a fist around her robes. She did not answer, and kept her eyes on her food.

"If you do know anything, it would help us considerably in our fight against him," Miroku pointed out, also keeping his eyes on his food.

There was a long silence, and just when Miroku was about to give up, Sango spoke. "As a young child, I often had trouble sleeping."

Miroku creased his brow and looked up at the princess.

Sango's face was reflective and her thoughts illegible. "I would sneak down to the servants' quarters and stand outside the door. They would tell stories at night and I loved listening to them." A small smile tugged momentarily at her lips. "My favorite story was about my father and mother and the little boy named Naraku."

Miroku leaned in to hear her hoarse words over the crackling of the fire.

She shook her head. "It was a ghost story, and terrible story that sent shivers up my spine, but I loved it all the same. I was never sure if it was true, now I know it is." She scoffed and her expression changed to show concern. "As the story goes, my father was engaged to a young woman named Tansho. But a week earlier, a youkai had appeared before her. The youkai had used a strong drug to desensitize her, and then he had raped her. My father, without this knowledge, married her. Tansho tried time and again to rid herself of the baby, but nothing worked." Miroku frowned, unable to fathom the dishonor the girl must have felt. "She gave birth to a son, who, in order to save Tansho from shame, my father claimed as his own."

Here, Sango became quite distressed. "But the child was cursed. Tansho realized this at the child's birth, but when she tried to kill the offensive baby, the curse worked as a defense and she attacked her. She was killed by her own son." Sango paused, her lip curling in disgust. "Tansho's three ladies-in-waiting took the baby to my father. He named him 'Naraku.'

"My father was stricken by grief and anger. He sent the three ladies on a quest to the northland, where they might find a legendary miko. After journeying many, many months and surviving countless hardships, the three ladies reached the miko. After examining Naraku, she agreed that the child must be sealed. She performed the ritual that very evening, using the same vile which had contained the poison Naraku's father had used on Tansho as a seal."

Here, Sango's voice faltered and she was forced to pause in her tale. Miroku could not believe what he was hearing. "But another thing was needed; the miko required blood to make the seal complete. The three ladies offered theirs, and Naraku was placed in limbo. The three ladies returned to their homeland."

Tears formed in Sango's eyes. Strangely enough, Miroku was beginning to feel a strong tug on his own heart. Something about this tale was deeply affecting him. "My father was overjoyed to hear of his stepson's sealing and rewarded the ladies handsomely. Somewhat to his surprise, he found that he had fallen in love with one of the three ladies, the youngest, whose name was Kinuko." For the first time since she had begun her story, Sango looked up at Miroku. "Kinuko was my mother, houshi-sama."

Miroku's mouth fell open.

Sango quickly looked away again, shutting her eyes tightly. Several tears trickled down her cheeks and she hurriedly brushed them away. "The second lady's name was Mayuko, and she returned to practice under the miko. The oldest by several years, Kahori, married the lord Takara Bairei."

Miroku's eyes grew wide. His heart stopped. His blood turned cold. His mother, Takara Kahorihis mother had been one of the three who sealed Naraku away with her own blood.

"The blood seal was promised to be upheld as long as the blood of the three ladies remained flowing in the body of a mortal. But it came with a terrible price.

"Mayuko fell out of contact with the other two. Kahori soon had a son." Sango paused and placed a hand over her heart. "Kyoden was that son. But Takara-sama did not feel secure with just one child. Kahori had another son, another boy. She named him Miroku." Sango glanced at Miroku, her eyes mournful. Miroku could not meet her gaze. He was beginning to understand:

It was as little a coincidence that his mother had fallen ill immediately after his birth as it was a that he and Sango had joined on a quest to seek out and destroy Naraku.

"Miroku was sick at birth, and it was a wonder that he survived. But the true concern of the kingdom lay with the health of their princess. Kahori was on the brink of death, too ill even to nurse her son. It turns out, houshi-sama, that the more the blood of the three ladies was spread, the faster it would kill the original bearer."

Miroku closed his eyes. He wouldn't let Sango see the pain reflected within them; wouldn't allow her to see how her words were tearing at his heart.

"A few years later, my mother gave birth to me. Kyoden and I were engaged several months later, I guess in hopes of securing the blood seal. Anyway, despite Kahori's condition, my mother desired to bring forth an heir for my father. He warned her against it, but five years after my own birth my mother went into labor with a son, my little brother Kohaku." Sango stopped, taking a calming breath. "My mother died shortly after she finished labor."

Miroku bowed his head and muttered a silent prayer under his breath. The room suddenly seemed darker, and upon finishing his prayer, Miroku stroked the fire. The flames cackled evilly. Then, it was quiet again. Finally, Miroku whispered, "Is that why the seal weakened, is that why Naraku is free?"

"No," Sango continued. "Kohaku and I remained to carry the blood of our mother and keep the seal intact. However, recently my father received word of Mayuko's death. Mayuko was married, but there was a secret she had kept from my mother and Kahori."

"She was infertile, wasn't she?" Miroku said softly.

Sango nodded. "Her blood disappeared from the earth, and the seal must have weakened."

"But you and Takara Kahori are still alive!" Miroku protested. "Isn't that enough? Isn't it enough that Takara Kahori hangs on the brink of death, remaining alive only to uphold the blood seal? Isn't it enough that you spend each day in a living hell?"

Sango bit her lip and looked away. Miroku sighed in frustration. He had said too much. He watched as a single tear drifted down the princess's cheek. He could offer her no comfort; he was nursing his own aching heart.

Finally, Sango muttered, "The seal needs the blood of all three, houshi-sama."

"Then" Miroku said, sitting back in disheartenment. "Is there any hope?"

Sango didn't answer, her own mind clouded with uncertainty. Miroku understood; her chances for the revenge she yearned for were becoming bleaker and bleaker.

But perhaps, he thought suddenly, that was a good thing.

--

"Hurry up, Mayuko!" Kahori shouted over the howling wind. "We'll freeze to death if we don't make it to the village!" She adjusted the strap that tied their supplies to her back and waited for her younger companion to round the bend in the road.

"It's not my fault," Mayuko moaned as she came into view of the others. "This brat won't stop fussing!" She held the thrashing child up as evidence.

"It's because he's cold," Kinuko explained, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders. "You're letting the snow hit him right in the face. Cover him with the blanket!"

"You say that as if you care whether the brat lives or dies out here," Mayuko said with a frown.

Kahori sighed and brushed her bangs out of her face with the back of her hand. "Despite everything that's happened, Mayuko, Naraku is still the baby of Tansho-sama, and we have the responsibility to bear him safely to the miko."

Mayuko rolled her eyes. "Whatever, but you're not the one carrying him."

Kinuko opened her mouth to argue, but Kahori only shook her head. "Let her go, she's tired."

Suddenly, through the blinding gusts of the blizzard, the village emerged. Kinuko exclaimed happily and clapped her hands together. "Finally!" she called out, beginning to rush down the road.

Kahori smiled reflectively at the exuberant fifteen-year-old. Not that she could deny she was happy they would get a warm place to sleep as well. Even Mayuko, who was always being pessimistic and gloomy was smiling a little. Together, the three ladies walked down the hill into the village.

The village leader greeted them warmly, recognizing them as servants of Kawate-tono. They entered his house and while Mayuko put the cursed baby in bed, Kahori and Kinuko set out their sleeping mats. They had a hot meal and then laid down sleep, unaware that a decade later, two of their heirs would be sleeping on the same floor.

- Ichimu