Chapter 4~ Despite What Her Uncle Told Her, The Land Lady Persists That She Pay Her Rent

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Masha Johnson was terrified- no, scratch that, she was petrified as she plastered herself against the wall parallel to her doorway, her two hands raised above her head in submission. There, standing a few feet away from her stood the very thing she was so very afraid of at this early hour.

What the heck happened, you ask? Well it was something like this:

-Five Minutes Earlier-

"Alright! ALRIGHT! Ahm commin'! Jus' hold yer horses!" Masha slurred at her front door as she stumbled out of her fold up bed. Almost running into the wall, she fumbled around for the knob before grabbing onto it and yanking the door open. "Whaddaya wan'?" she thrust her head out into the hallway to glare at whoever disturbed her peaceful slumber. The first thing that came into her sight was a lighter… no, it was a hand holding a lighter, and behind it was another holding a can of… something.

Blinking once, twice, she starred at the blurry image of the two things being held in front of her before shuffling back and closing the door. She needed more sleep, yes, that was it. More sleep. Stifling a yawn, she trudged her way back to her nice… warm… comfy… bed~

Of course she only got about halfway there when the door was abruptly kicked open and someone rushed inside, yelling incoherent things at her all the while. With an ear piercing shriek, Masha threw herself against the closest thing she could find, the wall, thus, leading us to where we left off.

She, now fully awake, stared as a lighter was once again shoved in front of her face, a foot stood between her nose and that thing. Next came the rattling as the perpetrator shook their can of, Masha squinted, oh… okay it was hairspray.

"Now then," The figure said, by the sound of their voice, they were female, "Pay me what you owe."

She blinked. What? What did she just say? Masha didn't recall owing anyone anything, except for maybe that one guy she went to high school with who she borrowed five dollars from, but hey, he wouldn't come all the way to New York just for that… would he?

Just then, Masha began to vaguely remember the story Luck told her about the land lady when they first met.

"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."

Well she got the idea now. Sweet Jesus.

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Luck Gandor was not a happy man. No, in fact he was feeling rather murderous, having been awoken so abruptly and so early by some terrible scream coming from the hallway that made his ears want to start bleeding. Honestly, who in all of hell could scream that loud? He silently swore that if he ever found out who it was that they would have a dinner date with the fishes in the bay.

Absent-mindedly he checked the calendar. Ah, it was rent day. That would explain the scream… somewhat. Oh wait, Masha had yet to experience a rent day. Yes that's right, she moved in shortly after the last one. Luck pondered over it silently before realizing one thing, that scream most likely came from her.

With a sigh, he stood and made to exit his apartment.

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"H-hey, listen. Can't we just talk this out?" She pleaded, looking her land lady in the eyes.

"No, now pay up."

"Aw c'mon! It's like," she paused to check the clock, "5 in the morning! Can't this wait?"

"No"

Good lord, was this woman hard to bargain with. At any rate, she may have to bust out the big guns and go all out Tae-kwon-do on her, Yeah, that's right, she knew Tae-kwon-do. Blame it on her older brother, who insisted on teaching her every new technique he learned, which include (somehow) how to disarm a person.

"Hey wait! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LEGGO OF ME!" The land lady screamed.

Oh hey. Masha snapped out of her thoughts to find Luck had somehow snuck into her apartment and had the land lady by the collar. Brilliant. Just… brilliant.

"Miss Mayu, what do you think you're doing?" He brought the middle aged woman to eye level, "Do you realize what time it is?"

"SHE'S TRYING TO KILL ME, LUCK!" Masha wailed, maneuvering to hide behind the taller man.

"LIES!" the woman argued, shooting her tenant a glare. "I'm simply collecting the rent you owe me, that's all."

"But my uncle said he paid for my first three months here."

"Yeah so?"

"That was in August! ITS' ONLY SEPTEMBER." She deadpanned, staring at the older woman coldly.

"No it's not! It's clearly- um… what month is it again, Mr. Gandor?"

"It's September," he yawned.

With a snort, Masha crossed her arms victoriously and sent the lady an I-told-you-so look, which was returned with a scowl.

"Fine then. I guess you're safe… THIS TIME."

"I swear if this happens again next month I'll-"

"Would you two please quiet down?" Luck attempted to interject, peering down at the two of them.

"-beat you over the head with the nearest thing I can get my hands on."

"And what if there's nothing nearby?" Miss Mayu taunted.

"Then I'll-"

"My head hurts." Once again he tried to intervene, failing yet again.

"-bust out some martial arts or something."

"Ha! I doubt you could!"

"That's it. I'm going back to bed." He applied bluntly, before turning around.

"No wait! Luck!" Masha lunged forward, grabbing onto his naked arm. "Don't leave me here with HER." She muttered with horror, her eyes flitting towards their land lady.

"Just kick her out."

"WHY I NEVER-" Apparently Miss Mayu caught wind of it, as she started to object, sending the two a reproachful glare.

"Mamaaaaaaaaaaa."

"Mamaaaaaaaaa wher' are youuuuuuu."

In an instant the woman froze as two sleepy, child like voices called from below. Narrowing her eyes she strutted towards the doorway.

"You win this time… but next time, you'll be sorry!" she called as she rushed down the stairs. "Just wait a second my darlings! Mama's right here!"

"…"

"…"

"… Well that was convenient."

"I'll say."

"Um…" Masha released Luck's arm, backing away slightly. "Good night?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on the man's face as he stared down at her. "Good night." He agreed, before shambling away back to the confines of his own warms covers. "Oh… and Miss Masha." He paused at the entranceway. "You look much better with your hair down. You should wear it like that more often."

She sputtered at him, turning red. True enough, she never really wore her hair down whenever he saw her around; it was refreshing to see her like that.

"Well you look good without a shirt and bed hair." She muttered to herself. "But you don't see me saying nuthin'."

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THE END!

Okay, not really… but yeah. I'm pretty sure you all want to beat me over the head with the nearest object now. *laughs nervously*

SWEET JESUS! ABOUT 5 PAGES!

New record for me!

For some strange reason I can't stand writing long chapter like others do. I don't know how they do it! I envy their patience.

So… um… yeah.

And now y'all have met the land lady. Wonderful isn't she? *claps*

I stayed up late typing this. Be thankful, I actually bothered with it. Yes, I am terrible. DEAL WITH IT.

Masha: … You gave me fanservice… I LOVE you.

You're welcome, though the fanservice was just a random though. Do I leave him shirtless? Or does he sleep with a shirt on *narrows eyes* Ah, well. I left it off for the sake of you fangirls out there. AND HEAVENS ARE THERE FEW! … maybe. I still don't understand why DuRaRaRa! Has more fanfiction than Bacanno!

IT MAKES NO SENSE! Maybe its because of Shizaya or something like that. Oh! I know! Its because it's easier to write for!

Yeah it probably is, half the authors out there don't want to look up nuthin' on the prohibition era so they settle for writing for something more modern. Kinda what I'm doing… except it was because I could only picture something in a modern setting… and the Gandors need some more modern love~ srsly… they just, like, disappeared. WTF

. DISCLAIMER!

Masha: Ashj does not own any of Baccano's plot sequences (be they coincidential or not) and/or characters, they instead belong to one Ryohgo Narita (aka 'the epic one'). She does however own Masha, the Landlady, and her children (who have yet to be named).

*looks at above statement* That last sentence kinda looks wrong…

Masha: Well it's ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN! … so deal with it.

Fine!

Review please! (all of mine are pretty much from my editor/ beta reader person, save for, like, three) C'MON PEOPLE! GIVE AN OPINION! *loads shotgun*