Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. All rights are reserved to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, and Sunrise.

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My Lovely Marionette

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Chapter I

With attentive golden eyes that gleamed like a recently lit candle on a cold winter night, the young man watched the performance from the balcony at the right hand of the stage. Besides him was his younger brother with his fiancé, both intoxicated in love. It annoyed the oldest brother that they behaved like this in public, but he did not bother reminding them since he knew perfectly well they would not care.

This did not surprise him in the least, Sesshomaru was just glad Inuyasha had ceased his womanizing habits and had sadly met the charming Lady Kagome Higurashi. Sesshomaru found her to be one of the most difficulties persons he had ever gotten along with, and just the thought that she would be living under the same roof with him made him almost wish Inuyasha was not getting married. And he emphasized almost.

For the time being, Sesshomaru ignored their presence and was deeply engaged on the performance on stage. There was just something about it that captured his entire concentration that he could not place a finger on. He listened with a considerate ear and he observed with patience that he reserved only for Inuyasha's impudence. This was the first time he had ever attendant a ny theaterical performance in almost two years. Sesshomaru found he was much too busy to indulge in such things when there was work to be done first.

In regards to the performance, it was something he and Inuyasha had shared a few words with, but had never gone into depth. The only reason why he was here tonight was because Miss Kagome had pleaded with her husband-to-be to take her, and as a means of revenge for trying to get a restraining order on Kagome, Inuyasha had dragged a reluctant Sesshomaru with them.

To both his relief and diminutive distress, the play was drawing to an end. It was incredible in his opinion how fast time went. He pulled out his gold pocket watch and read the time to be half past ten at night. For two and a half hours he had been trapped besides his brother and his annoying bride and he was neginning to question his sanity. Next to him he could hear Inuyasha and Kagome whisper that the play was coming to an end and after words they would go eat somewhere.

If there was one thing Sesshomaru learned from his past experience while being forced to live with Inuyasha since childhood, it was to never go out with him after any sort of formal event and dine after words. Things were sure to turn rude and messy and that was the last thing Sesshomaru's respectful reputation needed. He pretended not to have heard the last comment and turned his attention back to the darkening stage. The curtains had been drawn once more and the final act was about to start.

The entire audience waited for the curtains to rise and when they did, their stay for nearly three hours and patience was well rewarded. Before his very eyes three life-sized marionettes, one was an elegantly dressed ballerina marionette and the other two were harlequin marionettes.

For a split second he honestly mistook them for statues, but the refractions of the stage lights showed the thin wires attached to them and manipulated their movements. Sesshomaru was not fond of women; he tolerated and assisted them when they came to seek his aid, but his displeasure for them boarded close to what people considered a misogynist. Sesshomaru did not think he was a misogynist, but he just did not have the time to deal with them beyond a superficial fashion.

Never in his life had a woman had so much influence over him as the girl down on the stage did. She was beautiful and virtuous; she had long chestnut hair that was pulled back in a neat bun and her eyes were like rich chocolate that sparkled like the stars under the bright lights of the stage. Her influence over him was not one of romance, but of curiosity. There was something about her generally that made him feel the way he did when he watched the three characters interact.

The two harlequins were trying to win her heart. Each drew a sword and fought to claim her. None of them spoke, but instead they allowed their bodies to speak silently. Sesshomaru kept his eyes on the girl and observed every move she made. She was no more than seventeen of age; a tender age to be acting he thought. What he was sure the crowd misinterpret for entertainment, he saw it as the truth. At the last second when both harlequins were about to skewer one another, she intervened and begged them to stop.

It happened so fast that Sesshomaru thought he had missed something that was not there before. The scent of fresh blood reached his senses and he noticed the faint blood spilling from the girl's midsection, made hardly visible by the many layers of her skirts. She had been stabbed and the audience roared in pleasure. They thought it was just part of the act, but he knew better. It was human blood and the girl was wounded. Somehow she managed to bear the pain as she recovered from her false faint and bowed gracefully to the audience before being carried away.

As the theatre-patriots began to weary down and leave, Sesshomaru stood up from his seat and said to Inuyasha as he exit the booth, "I won't be joining you right now, but rather later. Something has been brought to my attention and I must attend to it immediately. Oh, and Inuyasha don't do anything stupid on your way home. Good night." with that said he left and headed to the stage to find her.

To his luck, he found her in her dressing room with a bundle of whiskey covered linens pressed to her stomach in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Sesshomaru entered without knocking and said straightforwardly, "A charming performance you and your companions gave, though if you ask me, the stab to your stomach was a bit uncalled for would you not agree?" the girl spun around and meet his golden eyes. Her eyes went wide and she stumbled ungracefully away from him.

A/N: Sorry for the occ-ness, couldn't help it. If no one has guest who the girl is, it's Rin. I got the idea of her being an actress and dressed up like a marionette after watching an old movie in French and I thought it would be nice to dress her up and have Sesshomaru ask her why she chooses to live the way she does. This story isn't going to be long. In fact it was supposed to be a one-shot, but I guess it's not anymore. I hoped you liked it! Please review!