Chapter 23

Tempest was called to the Sumo federation head office.

For a moment, he was worried that he had done something wrong and would be forced to retire! However, he was relieved when the chairman was all smiles and welcomed him into the office with open arms. "Come, we need to talk!" he stated.

They went into the office and had a seat. The chairman appeared rather confused at first. "Is something wrong?" Tempest asked.

He sighed aloud. "I… am trying to figure something out, and I want to be sure that there is no fault on our end here." He explained. "Tempest… have you been paid yet?"

He paused to the question. "Paid?" he asked. "I get paid to do this?"

The chairman's eyes widened. "YOU HAVEN'T CASHED A SINGLE CHEQUE WE HAVE SENT TO YOUR ADDRESS!?" he demanded.

"Is that what those are? I thought they were notices for upcoming events and contests…"

The chairman took a seat. "Thank God, I was worried that money just vanished into thin air!" he said. "What became of those letters and cheques?" he asked.

"I'll be honest, I think my sister shred them."

The chairman nodded. "I know you are not lying about this, so here is what we are going to do, I am going to cut you a cheque right now, you need to take this to a bank at once!"

"A bank?" Tempest asked.

The chairman froze once more. "Do you have a band account?"

Tempest froze, he didn't, let alone know what one was. "I… don't believe so. All my needs were taken care of by my family…"

"Very well then, let's go right now. I want to be sure you are given everything you are owed!" he decreed.

They left the office and went to the bank across the street. It was a rather high ended establishment. There, Tempest had to fill out some forms and information before they gave him a bank account. Then the chairman wrote a cheque. "Please deposit this into his account at once." He said.

The cashier took the paper and froze, but nodded. It took a few minutes but everything was in and all was right with the world. "Sir, would you like your bank statement?" she asked of Tempest.

He nodded.

She printed off a piece of paper and gave it to him. Tempest tucked it into the pocket of his kimono and walked out of the establishment. "I think I will direct deposit your money," the chairman said with a laugh. "But please let me know if you have been shorted."

"Okay, thank you sir." Tempest said and graciously bowed to him in thanks. From there, he wondered back to Misty's apartment. When he got in, she was surprised to see him.

"I thought you had your meeting?"

"Just came from it," Tempest paused. "Did you know I get paid to sumo wrestle?" he asked.

She snorted a laugh. "Of course I did! Athletes like them make BIG money, why?"

"Well… I didn't!" he confessed. "I thought this was a hobby, and hobbies you don't really get paid to do right? I mean, this is all fun for me!"

Misty continued to laugh aloud at his innocent comment. "Oh man, you really don't know how the world works do you?" she came out from behind the kitchen island and hugged him. "You can be a weird duck at times, you know that?"

"Weird snake you mean,"

"Whatever, so… how much did this guy pay you?" she asked.

"Oh, right I didn't look at it yet." Taking the statement from his pocket, he presented it to Misty. "This is my bank information now."

She took the paper and opened it. Then, her eyes began to bug out a little. Suddenly she went weak in the knees and fainted!

Tempest didn't catch her in time, but he wondered, what caused her to fall like that?

#

She came too about ten minutes later. Lying on the couch she looked up as Tempest watched over and fanned her carefully. "Oh thank goodness you woke. I was worried!"

She slowly eased herself off the couch. "I… I fainted?" she asked.

He nodded. "I am trying to understand that myself. One moment you are fine, next, you faint at a piece of paper!"

Her eyes suddenly widened. "Your bank statement!"

He nodded and passed it to her once more. Misty stared at the paper oddly, which caused some concern for Tempest. "Are… are you okay?" he asked.

She turned and looked at him funny. "Do you realize how much you have!?" she demanded.

He shook his head. "I don't really know, the chairman said he would write me a cheque and I guess that's what is in my account right now."

"Tempest… listen to me… you have 2.5 BILLION YEN!" she shouted.

"Billion?" he asked.

"Yes, BILLION!" Misty said defiantly. She shook her head to it all. "We could get a house…"

"A house?"

"Yes, a big house, we can move and get a backyard so if you ever went serpent, you would at least be able to fit in your own house… Tempest. You can do a LOT with this money! Still… why so much? You just became Yokozuna!"

He thought it over. "Well, perhaps it was all those new sponsors that have signed on for the Sumo league. Also, I heard something about a cut from the profits from my match with Raiden…"

"We're moving!" Misty declared.

"But… I just moved!"

"Tempest, we don't need to live in an apartment, we can have a house!" she stated. "You want to turn back and forth right? Here, you can't. We're on the top floor, I don't want to see you try to fit up here in your serpent form. I think you would go through the floor!"

"Probably… but is this enough money?" he asked.

"More than enough. My show is taking off, you are Yokozuna, and we are going to be fine! Let's do it okay? Let's get a nice big home, with a large backyard, a pool… a massive kitchen…"

She began to name off all these things she wanted, Tempest didn't quite understand though. However, he was happy that Misty was happy. Perhaps a house is a better option than an apartment…