Epilogue

Sesshoumaru looked up from the ryokan ledger penned by Kagome's neat hand. The door to his private office banged open and the uninvited visitor barged in. "Keh, get up off your ass. You sit too much," Inuyasha growled. "Get your skis and I'll meet you over at the big air jump. I want to see if my new board flies better than the old one."

A dozen or so jumps each and a few races down the slopes, the two brothers quaffed hot sake at the bar. "Someday I'll beat you on the long jump too," Inuyasha boasted.

"Unlikely," Sesshoumaru replied in a bored tone. A few moments later he added, "Only an idiot like you would try the long jump on a snowboard. It is impossible to achieve the proper aerodynamic profile for a good jump."

"Whatever," Inuyasha waved his hand. "Hey Kagome, bring me that latest rug rat you're holding so Uncle Inuyasha can take a look at him."

Kagome smiled and passed the infant to her brother-in-law. "You can watch him for a while, I have some things to take care of at the inn." She slipped out the door as the hanyou was absorbed in making stupid faces at his nephew.

"How many does this make now, anyway. I can never keep track between Kagome's brats, the kitsunes, and all the strays she has taken in," Inuyasha mumbled around the baby's fingers stuck in his mouth.

"He is the seventh one still at home," Sesshoumaru smirked. Inuyasha would never have any progeny as long as he was still with the "Vampire Queen of Tokyo."

Inuyasha commented, "Place looks real good. I was skeptical when you guys bought the old dump, but Kagome's really turned the ryokan around. The rest of the ski resort looks good too."

Sesshoumaru offered back, "How's business in Tokyo? I haven't heard of any trouble lately."

Inuyasha stuffed a skewer of chicken in his mouth and mumbled as he chewed, "Kikyo's keeping the vamps in line. They're all still scared shitless of her, even the old ones."

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "My arcade business is falling off some though, too much competition from the games to play at home. I might invest in some karaoke equipment and expand the bars to branch out, that kind of thing seems to be going well."

"I thought your game design guys adapted some of your shooters for home consoles," Sesshoumaru commented.

"Yeah, the numbers are starting to look better there. I want to try something different though, maybe a quest or dungeon crawler." Inuyasha added, "Maybe based on some of our old adventures, ya know."

Sesshoumaru smirked, "Vampire movies seem quite popular these days."

Inuyasha's eyes lit up, "Yeah . . . Dracula's Castle Quest . . . or maybe, the Battle for Naraku's Castle. Yeah, I like the sound of that." He scribbled furiously on his cocktail napkin, finished his drink, and left. "See ya," he called over his shoulder after he doubled back to hand the sleeping infant to his father.

Kagome watched from the shadows, her fist crammed in her mouth to stifle her laughter. The vampire game had come full circle.

~ THE END ~

Vampire Challenge prompts:

blood, bride, dark lord,fangs, hypnotic, immortal, insatiable, night, transform, supernatural, hunter, prey, monster, innocent, twilight, dawn, carnal, fear,

bloodlust, bite