"To New York? You're moving there? Why?"

Masha Johnson smiled, "I'm attending college there. There's nothing to worry about, my Uncle will be helping me out until I can stand on my two feet. I'll be fine."

"You can say that all you want but I'm still going to worry. Anyway… good luck out there. I gotta go."

After saying her words of farewell to her friend she snapped the phone shut before staring at the concrete pillars of the airport. This was it; she would be leaving to start anew.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The 5 hour flight from LA wasn't that bad, she got stuck to a nice young couple, too young for her. They were both about a year younger than her! But it was quiet on her end; she spent the duration reading some random book she picked up on alchemy.

By the time they had gotten in, it was already 4 in the morning. Masha yawned as she stepped up to the baggage claim. There were people already crowded around the damn thing. A groan slipped from her lips as she squeezed through. Snatching her bag up as soon as she saw it, she turned to leave, only to find herself nose first into a very warm wall.

"Ah! Sorry!" She stepped back, rubbing her nose. "It's fine." She looked up at the man, built tall with a suit on and a pair of shades covering his eyes. How creepy. She walked around him and headed outside to wait for her uncle.

It was incredibly dull. For the next half hour she sat against one of the pillars and watched the other people; mainly the couple she sat next to once she spotted them. Or at least until some black Mercedes pulled up; and then they left.

As it turned out, there was more than one of those people in a black suit. There was a whole crowd of them over by the airport entrance, around some lanky guy with blonde hair. What were they? The Mafia? She snorted and grinned to herself before she saw a familiar face pull up in a car. "Masha!"

She scrambled up to greet him. "Uncle Peter!" After a brief embrace, he clapped his hands on her shoulders and looked her up and down. "Ah, you've grown since I last saw you. Come. I'll get your things." She protested a bit, but he convinced her to get settled in the car while he put her bags into his trunk.

"Now, I've found you a nice apartment in Manhattan. It's been around since the 1920's, so it's old, yes, but very comfy. I've already put in some old furniture of ours and your rent for the next three months has been payed… so you have time to find a job. But that's all I'm doing for you, ya hear?"

"Awwww, Uncle, you're so cool~"

"Don't hug me while I'm driving!"

"Sorry!"

She peeled off of him and faced forward.

-..-..-…-.-.

And here they were, parked in front of some old, dilapidated building. "This is it." It was already 6 o'clock. Masha groaned as she practically flopped out of his car and onto the sidewalk. They traversed up several flights of stairs until they hit the sixth floor. When they came to her door, her uncle handed her the key. "Take good care of it; I don't want any phone calls from the landlord, y'hear?" With a drowsy nod, she turned to open the door, Peter left after giving her a light pat on the shoulder.

Not even bothering to unpack, she collapsed onto the couch in the middle of the room and passed out.

-.-..-.-.-.

A week had passed since she moved in. Masha managed to fill out several applications forms for nearby restaurants and bookstores. But alas, she was bored. "There's nothing to doooooo." She whined as she sagged against the wall. Her wardrobe was already ransacked, the books she brought were already read, and she had no TV, Radio, or Playstation.

With a sigh, she propped up her head against the back wall. Two months ago she had woken up to find she didn't know anyone anymore. Her friends had moved and she couldn't manage to contact them. Aleksander showed up briefly to take custody of Katja while she was out, but left without visiting her. Her parents wanted nothing to do with her. She spent those next two months in therapy (physical and mental) and managed to discover that her Uncle Peter was willing to help her out. What luck she had! He payed for the plane ticket and everything.

So here she was now, bored and alone. Maybe she could find a nearby college to apply to. With another sigh she got up and started to straighten out her apartment.

..-.-…-.-..-.-.

Luck tucked the newspaper under his arm as he twisted the key in the lock. After a quick change he would go out to lunch with Firo and Ennis. The boy seemed ecstatic to tell him about the wonders of Japan. As he mused to himself a giggling stampede of two pushed him into his door. Cursing silently he turned to see the malevolent grins on the faces of the landlord's twins. At the age of 7, the duo was already making too much trouble.

"And what are you two so happy about so early in the day? Hm?" He looked down at them with a stern eye.

"Mama said somebody moved in."

"She said we should go say hi."

"Mama said it would be polite."

"It is really polite Mr. Luck?"

They tilted their heads in unison, staring up at him with large eyes.

"Yes… yes it is. Now you two go off and say hello. I have better things to do." "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?" They pouted, "Mr. Luck is so mean~"

"So meeaaannn~"

And with that the two scampered off to the apartment next to his. With a small smile he watched them they argued over who should knock before turning the knob to his door and entering.

.-.-.-.-..-.-.-

"Hey!"

"Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyy~"

"Open up!"

"Yeah open up!"

Masha awoke to the a rather loud rapping on her door, groggily she hoisted herself of the couch and shuffled her way to the large wooden plank that currently stood in the way of her and the people she wanted to strangle. With one jerking movement, she had the confounded thing open and was now staring at an empty hallway.

"Hey lady!"

"Lady!"

"Look, look!"

"Down here!"

She lowered he gaze to find a boy and a girl staring up at her. "Ummmmmmm, yes?" They both exchanged a look and grinned. Uh oh.

"Ladyyyyyyy~"

"What's ya name lady?"

"Ah, it's Masha."

"Masha!" They cheered, "Ne, Masha?"

"Guess what?"

"Our Mama's the landlord!"

"She said to say hi."

"She's letting you stay here."

"So you gotta be nice to us!"

"Cause we're you bosses."

"Got it?"

They both gave her a smug look and crossed their little arms… it was actually rather cute.

Masha blinked as she soaked it all in. "Um, okay."

"You shouldn't listen to them."

"Uwa~ Mr. Luck!"

A man leaned against her doorway with a playful smirk. "They're nothing more than a bunch of trouble makers. It's just their mother that you have to look out for." She blinked again before standing at full height. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, she once threatened to set my apartment on fire if I didn't pay the rent on time. Lo and behold, on the day it was due, I found her standing at my doorway with a can of hair spray and a lighter."

Masha giggled. "Sounds traumatic."

"You have no idea." He smiled and extended his hand, "Luck Gandor, your new neighbor."

"Ah, Masha Johnson, it's nice to meet you Mr. Gandor." She took his hand and shook it firmly. The twins stared up at them, clearly taking a dislike to being ignored.

"Hey."

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy~"

"S' rude to interrupt Mr. Luck!"

"Yeah! Rude!"

..-.-.-.-..-.

"You find her?"

"No sir, Konstantine is very sorry, ya." The blond man bowed to his boss.

"It's nothing to be sorry for. Don't worry about it. I found where she's living anyway." Konstantine blinked at the man. "Should I-"

"No, give her a couple days to get settled." He looked at his boss with consternation. "All I want to do is say hello after all."

.-..-.-..-.-.-.-.-

Wahahhahahahahhahahahhaha! It is complete!

Masha: A complete waste of time that is.

Oh hush! You know nothing of the amount of labor I put into this!

Masha: What labor, it took you 3 months to write this chapter!

And what dreadful labor at that.

Masha: There wasn't any labor at all, you just procrastinated.

Luck: She has a point.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat! You too Luck? Has everyone turned against me?

Luck: I was never on you side to begin with.

Masha: Just do the disclaimer darling. It'll shut her up.

No it won't! You lie, you filthy-

Luck: Ashj does not own Baccano or any of it character who are instead owned and created by Ryougo Narita. She does own Masha, her Uncle Peter, and Konstantine however.

Yes! Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss! Mwahahahhahaahahaha! Now review, before I send Claire to nom of your fingers!

Claire: C'mon man; that was only one time!

Czes: -screams and runs away-

(Because I know a lot of you are probably going What the Fuck? Right now XD Feel free to ask questions)