Curiosity Killed the Sesshomaru

Sesshomaru opened the door to Buffy's room without a single squeak. Since stealth was one of the most emphasized points in his training, this was an easy feat. Sesshomaru observed the area for traps the blonde Slayer could've set up in case of intruders. Once he deemed the area secure, he walked inside and closed the door, quietly, behind him.

"Based on what the priestess said a normal bedroom in this time period looks like, Buffy's room seems to fit the mold," Sesshomaru said quietly to himself.

Buffy's room had light blue walls with no wallpaper. There was a queen-sized bed with a comforter that had a dark-green-and-white plaid pattern on it. The comfortable-looking bed had two medium-sized pillows with white pillowcases adorning it.

The tall window had drapes that matched the comforter perfectly. Next to the window was a door, slightly ajar, that Sesshomaru was certain lead to a walk-in closet piled high with as many shoes, clothing, and accessories as the Blonde Slayer could buy.

'So, this is what a normal girl's looks like. It seems that human and demon women do have something in common. Perfectly manicured rooms filled to the brim with materialistic treasures that do not truly do any good,' Sesshomaru pondered.

He stalked silently to the dresser. His eyes searched the dresser for unknown objects of interest. Suddenly, his gaze found a blue book lying innocently towards the edge.

"What have we here," Sesshomaru thought out loud. The house was empty; there was no need to be silent. "Somehow, this bodes familiar."

Kagome rummaged her bag for a new object of study. Ever since her wish had granted the Sessho-tachi everlasting access to the future, Kagome felt it was her sole duty to teach them of future customs. And she only had a month to do so.

"This here is a pen. It's a writing utensil used in my time."

Without a moment's notice, the pen vanished from her grasp. As her eyes adjusted in shock, she saw Sesshomaru turning the pen this way and that, examining the contraption while Rin and Jaken watched in fascination.

"Where is the ink stored for this?" Sesshomaru's normally velvety (inspired by 'Twilight'), but stoic, voice now dripped with carefully concealed eagerness.

"There is a storage system inside it. All you have to do is start writing. Also," Kagome took out a number 2 pencil. "This is a pencil. It's made of wood and works almost the same way as a pen, only it uses graphite, a type of metal, to write. It used to use lead, but then, when the people who made pencils finally realized that they were killing the school kids, they stopped."

Sesshomaru gently raised his, naturally, perfect eyebrow. 'She's enjoying her rant, isn't she? Ah well, it'd be a shame to rip her from her joy, now wouldn't it?'

Suddenly, his eyes lowered back to her bag. A pale yellow, hardcover book was sticking out from the opening of the pouch. Without warning, and with lightning speed, the book was taken into Sesshomaru's custody.

"NO~!" Kagome jumped up and tried to seize the book from its captor. Because he had the advantage in height, he was able to easily able to hold it high above her head. Sesshomaru's eyes flicked across the page as Kagome's desperate attempts failed her miserably. Rin and Jaken were jumping as well to catch the words on the page.

"No. Sesshomaru, you don't understand. That's my diary!"

Sesshomaru paused at this, his brow rising again, this time in confusion. "Diary? What is this unfamiliarity you speak of?"

"A diary is a personal journal that someone writes in so that they can convey their personal thoughts without sharing them with anyone else. Unless permission is granted, no one else but the author can read it!"

Wanting to keep his honor intact, Sesshomaru closed the book with his finger and handed it back to the waiting hands of its rightful owner. "If this is true," he folded his arms, letting his kimono sleeves dangling and covering his hands, "I shall not read another word."

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Kagome hugged the book to her chest before putting it back in her bag. "Thank you."

Sesshomaru brought himself back to the present as his refocused on the cause of his flashback. He thought to himself for a moment, his face not betraying any of his thoughts. Suddenly, his full lips curved up into a mischievous, malicious, immeasurably beautiful smirk.

"Technically, I only swore allegiance to the priestess. The Slayer, however, has not won my loyalty, yet. Besides, this may be the tool to discovering why the demonic numbers have depleted so much."

His grin widening with every step closer, his hand reached for the book with unforgivable curiosity.

"Let the games begin."

A/N: For those of you who'd love to gripe at me over and over again about how this is the first update in over a year, all I have to say about that is, "Don't. Just don't."

::cough cough Hailstar cough cough::

Shout out to ZipporahssBird, my longtime, real-life friend, who helped me finish this chapter. You all have her to thank for forcing me to get it together and speed this up. With her help, more updates will be coming your way soon. Hopefully. Snaps for Zippy!

Byeness.