How The Other Half Lives
A/N: This is an original chapter to help introduce my OC, Larissah, and her relationship with her twin siblings, Leo and Luna, as well as give her a starting relationship with Yusei's sisters. It will also give small insight into her family, as well as a deep friendship with two more characters who will appear later. Enjoy.
Sheridan stirred awake as she rolled onto her back. Sunlight crept through the blinds as the young girl rubber her eyes. She wore a pale blue nightgown and her hair was ridden with bed-head tangles. Sheridan yawned and stretched, her vision focusing.
She was in a large room, laying on a king-sized mattress. Her eyes widened as she remembered exactly where she was. The home of her idol, Larissah Warren. Sheridan practically jumped out of bed, overjoyed that she wasn't dreaming.
Vendetta was stirring awake, from her spot on the light, mocha-colored sofa. She wore an over-sized navy blue t-shirt and black shorts.
"Ven wake up." Sheridan giggled, pulling her sister to a sitting position. "Guess where we are."
"I'm gonna guess home, since last night was too crazy to be real." Vendetta groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Nope. It all happened." Sheridan rebuked.
Vendetta opened her eyes, gaping at the master bedroom around her. "You've got to be kidding-" the aroma of food filled the air.
"Wow, something smells great." Sheridan said, sniffing the air.
"Probably the house keeper or personal chef." Vendetta guessed as the two sisters opened the bedroom door.
What they saw was the open living room of the Warren Penthouse, which surprised even them. What they weren't expecting was to see Larissah, with her blunett hair pulled into low-pigtails, clad in pink flannel pants, a lilac spaghetti-strap tank top, and Ruby Carbuncle slippers, standing at the stove frying bacon and mixing pancake batter.
"She models, sings, and cooks." Vendetta muttered. "There's no way this is real."
Larissah smiled at the two sisters, "Morning you two, sleep okay?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you." Sheridan replied, taking a seat at the bar counter.
Larissah chuckled. "You don't have to be so formal, it's okay." she informed, taking a small glass from the ivory cabinets. "So, what would you like to drink? Orange Juice, Apple, Milk, Coffee?"
"Uh, Apple's fine." Sheridan answered, smiling.
The blunett teen pulled a jug of Apple Juice from her refrigerator and poured her young guest a drink. "Here ya go." she said, setting the glass in front of Sheridan. "What about you, Ven?" she asked.
"Coffee, I guess." Vendetta replied, leaning against the bar counter.
Larissah studied the other teen for a few seconds, "You look like a Kuriboh Roast type of girl." she smiled, setting a small container in her Kaiba Corp. coffee maker. She set a coffee cup under the spout and pressed one button. "Give it a minute."
"So, you cook too?" Vendetta questioned, eyeing the bowl of pancake batter.
Larissah nodded. "Yeah, it's a Saturday morning tradition." she answered, pouring a cup full of batter onto a ready skillet. "Since Saturday's my day off, I always make breakfast for the twins. It's something they look forward to." her hazel eyes twinkled and as she watched the pancake cook.
The coffee maker beeped and Larissah set the warm cup in front of Vendetta, along with a bottle of French Vanilla coffee creamer and a small container of sugar. "Just to sweeten it a bit." she smiled at the other teen and went back to cooking.
"So, no personal chef to cook for you?" Vendetta questioned, adding the cream and sugar to her coffee.
"Not really, I mean there is room service." Larissah answered. "But, when I'm home, they get time off." she set a couple slices of bacon on a plate and added a couple more to the small pan. She then scooped up one pancake onto another plate and poured another onto the skillet.
"So, what kind of pancakes are you making?" Sheridan asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Blueberry Chocolate Chip." Larissah answered, giggling. "It's the twins' favorite. In fact, they should be waking up soon."
As if on cue, one of the upstairs bedroom doors flew open, "Food, all right!" Leo exclaimed, running down the staircase. "My favorite day of the week!"
Larissah handed her little brother a glass of Orange Juice as he skidded to a halt at her side.
"Good morning to you too, Leo." Larissah greeted, ruffling her brother's hair.
"Sis, it smells amazing!" Leo eyed the cooking food and licked his lips.
"It'll be a few minutes longer this time." Larissah informed. "We do have guests."
"Typical Leo, always has tunnel vision when it comes to food." Luna sighed, walking into the kitchen. She looked at the two Fudo sisters, "I apologize for him."
"I didn't even notice they were here." Leo defended.
"Exactly." Luna pointed out. She took her glass of Apple Juice from her older sister, "So, who are our guests?"
"New hire." Larissah answered. "My new assistant and her little sister." she lied, winking at the two, now stunned, sisters. "Yeah, Vendetta was hired last night, but her and Sheridan's housing situation fell through, so I offered for them to stay with us."
The twins nodded and welcomed the two sisters to their home.
"Now, it'll be a few more minutes before breakfast is ready, so, why not turn on some cartoons or something." Larissah suggested. "You're welcome to join them, Sheridan."
"Oh, okay thanks." Sheridan replied, joining the twins in the living room.
"Smooth, really smooth." Vendetta noted, walking around the bar to stand beside Larissah. "So, why'd you lie to their faces? And why protect us?"
Larissah shrugged. "It was the right thing to do." she answered, not meeting Vendetta's eyes. "I couldn't let Security take you guys away for just wanting a better life."
"Yeah well, our brother wasn't as lucky." Vendetta sighed. "Why can't you bail him out?"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Larissah admitted. "If he was with you two, I would've gladly taken him in as well, but Security was already on him before I could even try." she put the second pancake onto the plate and poured a third one. "I'm sorry."
Vendetta crossed her arms over her chest.
Larissah cracked a smile, "You don't like me, do you." she noted, shrugging it off. "I can understand, and I'm not offended."
"You're not at all who I expected." Vendetta said, not meeting the celebrity's eyes. "Sheridan idolizes you, so much to the point it's annoying. When Yusei told us about him going to the City and taking us with him, all Sher could talk about was meeting you."
Larissah chuckled, "Well, I'm flattered." she replied, setting the plates of pancakes and bacon aside. She reached up and took five more breakfast plates from the cabinet. "I'm glad to hear my influence has reached as far as the Satellite."
Vendetta cracked a small smile. "A couple of my pals back home think you're a cutie." she chuckled.
"Again, I'm flattered." Larissah repeated, scooping pancakes and bacon onto each plate. "I hope I can meet them someday."
Vendetta gasped. "You would really come to the Satellite?" she asked.
Larissah nodded, taking three plates towards the table. "Of course." she answered, setting the plates down. "I always love meeting my fans. And, I've been trying to talk to my manager about going to the Satellite to meet my fans living there, maybe even give back. But, it's never been in the cards."
Vendetta set the remaining plates on the table, her eyes wide. "I guess I was wrong about you." she admitted. "Sorry."
Larissah shrugged it off. "It's okay." she smiled, turning to the living room, where the three younger kids were watching television. "Okay, breakfast is ready!"
The three kids ran to the table and started digging into their food. Vendetta took the empty seat between Sheridan and Leo, which was across from Larissah, who sat in between Leo and Luna.
"Wow, Larissah this is amazing." Sheridan squealed, taking a bite of her pancake. "You know, my big brother would so love this."
Vendetta rolled her eyes as she took a bite of her bacon.
"My sister is a great cook." Leo bragged, taking a sip of his juice.
Sheridan giggled. "If there's one thing my brother loves more than a girl with good dueling skills, it's a girl with great cooking skills."
Vendetta nearly spit out her coffee, shooting her sister a sideways glare. "You did not just say that."
Sheridan met her sister's eyes. "What, it is true." she defended. "He even said it himself."
"Yeah years ago when we were actually content with our lifestyle." Vendetta reminded, sighing.
The doorbell rang, halting the conversation. Larissah slid her chair back and walked over to the door, looking through the peephole. On the other side stood a short, effeminate man wearing red lipstick, had two red lines running vertically over his eyes, and spiky purple hair, dressed in a red coat with a black collar and gold trim, underneath it was a white shirt with gold lining, gloves, and black and gold boots.
Larissah opened the door slightly, so the strange visitor couldn't see inside her home. "Can I help you?" she asked.
The short man cleared his throat, "Yes, Miss Larissah." he replied, clearing his throat. "I'm Special Deputy Lazar, I work for Director Goodwin, and I have a delivery for you and your little sister, Luna."
"What kind of delivery?" Larissah asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lazar held out two decorated envelopes addressed to Larissah and Luna Warren. "Director Goodwin invites you and your sister to his annual Fortune Cup duel tournament." he informed, as Larissah took the invitations. "He hopes you two will be able to attend." he chuckled. "Have a good day, Miss Warren."
"Thank you." Larissah replied, shutting the door as Lazar walked away. "Okay that was weird."
"Who was it sis?" Leo asked.
"Director Goodwin's creepy assistant." Larissah answered, handing Luna her invitation. "Apparently, the good Director wants Luna and I to participate in his duel tournament."
"That's so cool!" Leo exclaimed.
Luna just stared at her invitation, not bothering to open it. "I don't know." she muttered. "I'm not that good, and I don't like dueling in front of other people."
"Don't worry sweetie, we'll nip that stage fright in the bud, no prob." Larissah promised.
Luna slid back in her chair, "It's not that at all!" she rebuked. "I can't, I just can't." she ran back up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door shut, leaving her invitation on the table.
"Is she okay?" Vendetta asked, looking across the table at Larissah.
The older Warren sister sighed, "I thought she was over it, guess not." she muttered. "It's nothing, I'll talk to her in a bit."
Lunch passed and so did dinner, and Luna still hadn't come out of her room.
"Is Luna okay, she hasn't come out of her room since that guy came by." Sheridan questioned, drawing from her deck of cards.
Sheridan sat across from Leo, both of them in the middle of a duel, without holograms.
"She does this every time." Leo answered. "We'll be in the middle of a duel, and she says she hears the monsters, and it freaks her out and she just quits."
Sheridan nodded and tributed her 'Baby Celestial Dragon' to activate her 'Celestial Event' spell.
"Uh, what does that do?" Leo asked, blinking in confusion.
"Allow me to summon my 'Divine Celestial Dragon', which is my best monster." Sheridan giggled. "And since you only have one monster on the field, in attack mode, and it's weaker than my monster, I attack."
"You loose Leo." Vendetta stated, sitting on the white sofa, her nose in a magazine.
"Awe man!" Leo whined, picking up his cards.
Sheridan laughed. "I learned a lot about dueling from some old friends." she smiled, "They were the top duelists back then."
"Nice moves, your Celestial deck is pretty cool." Leo complimented.
"Thanks." Sheridan replied, rubbing the back of her head.
Larissah shook her head and walked up the stairs, entering her sister's bedroom. Luna was curled up with her stuffed Kuribon her back towards the door.
"Luna, sweetie." Larissah soothed, sitting down on her sister's bed, rubbing her shoulder.
"I can't duel in that tournament." Luna stated, her voice cracking. "I just can't."
"Luna, I'm not gonna let anything happen." Larissah promised.
Luna rolled over and threw herself into her sister's arms. "You say that now, but there's no way to stop what always happens." she cried. "It scares me sis and don't wanna go through it again."
Larissah wrapped her arms around her shaking sister and rubbed her back. "I know sweetie, but as long as I'm here, nothing's gonna happen to you." she promised. "Now," she pulled Luna away to wipe the tears from her eyes. "why don't you take a nice, relaxing bath. That always helps, right?"
Luna smiled and nodded, "Okay, you're right." she slid out of her sister's arms and walked to the bathroom door, which linked her room with Leo's.
"I'll be back in a bit to get you ready for bed." Larissah promised, exiting the bedroom.
The Warren house was silent as everyone was turning in for the night. Vendetta and Sheridan laid in the king-sized bed in the second master bedroom, sound asleep.
Larissah tucked Luna in her bed, smiling at the sight of her sleeping sister.
"Night sweetie." she whispered, kissing Luna's forehead.
The teen slipped out and walked to the next bedroom, slipping inside. She pulled the bedspread over Leo, who rolled over onto his side, snoring away.
"Night Leo." Larissah muttered, kissing his cheek.
She slipped out and retired to her own room, climbing under her deep purple bedspread, laying flat on her back. Larissah raised her right arm over her head, tracing the design of her crimson birthmark, narrowing her eyes.
"Could this tournament somehow be related to this mark?" she thought, rolling over on her side. "And what of that Dragon?" she closed her eyes. "If they are all connected, then I need to speak to him about whether I should participate or not. Sayer always knows what to do, especially with my dueling abilities."
To Be Continued…