Ah, yes, disclaimer: don't own Seika's Kaichou, nor her alien…
Two weeks have passed since that evening when Misaki revealed to Usui her family's unfortunate economic circumstances. He listened with an unreadable expression, and seeing her to the train station, left. After that, she listened alertly to any mentioning of the word 'maid' at school, but there were none. Usui, too, was mostly absent. Misaki concluded that she bored him with her petty problems and that he already forgot about it all. She was relieved, and stopped worrying about him. Anyway, there were more pressing things to think about.
The Ayzawa family got a letter from the bank to which Mr. Ayzawa owed money, stating that the Loan and Discount Department revised their debt agreement and concluded that when they demanded payment for Mr. Ayzawa's debts from his wife, Honoka Ayzawa, they made a 'slight error' as the loan was insured. The confirmation of the insurance payment file somehow got mixed in a wrong dossier and was overlooked. Mrs. Ayzawa was invited to a meeting with the head of the department, to discuss the compensation the bank management wished to offer.
Misaki decided to accompany her mother to provide moral support and to oversee the proceedings – Hanoka wasn't a very practical person. It turned out that there were no reasons for concern. The department head, Mr. Tanaka, was a shy man in his early forties. He occupied an office full of books about economic and marketing analysis. Tanaka sincerely wished to correct the 'unfortunate mistake' of the clerk who handled the case six years ago. "It's not a common occurrence at all at our bank, I assure you Mrs. Ayzawa, and we would like you to compensate you for the inconvenience our bank caused to you." said Tanaka fervently. "As I wrote to you in my letter, the loan was granted, though it exceeded the usual amount our bank would provide to a private account holder. It was a short-term loan, under exceedingly high interest rates and it was Insured by a PLI company according to Mr. Ayzawa's wish."
"Insured loan?" Asked Hanoka "I didn't know such thing existed."
"It's a common enough occurrence, when big amounts of money involved" assured her Mr. Tanaka seriously "The PLI company insures a percentage of the consumer's loan to reduce the lender's risk; this percentage is paid to the lender if the consumer does not pay and the lender forecloses the loan."
Seeing her blank look, he hastily explained "That means, Mrs. Ayzawa, that you were never needed to repay your husband's loan. As it appears, he insisted on the insurance, so that you wouldn't have to repay it if something happened to him. We already contacted the insurance company, and got full coverage, including interest, on said loan. "
"So all these years…" said Misaki slowly "When we were forced to pay…it was some clerk's mistake?" She glared darkly at the financier. But Hanoka looked vastly relieved, as if a heavy weight suddenly dropped from her shoulders. Her smile was radiant and she looked suddenly much younger. "So my husband was worried about us, after all." Tanaka, getting the full impact of her smile, blushed hard and his face turned an interesting shade of red. Miskai suddenly realized that her fragile and overworking mother was still a very attractive woman, capable of dazzling any male.
Mr. Tanaka collected himself. "Indeed. We already calculated the refund of your previous payment, and placed the sum in your account. "He handled some papers to Hanoka. Misaki took them from her mother and closely examined them. After a few minutes she said. "They seem alright. However, I will check them at home more thoroughly, as now I know your bank is tend to make mistakes." She shoot a sharp glance at the poor manager, who twitched under her glare.
"Of course, we will compensate you for your troubles caused by our administration. "He said hastily and handled another document to Hanoka. "It's the proposition about the amount of the compensation our management wishes to offer, to atone for our mistake." Hanoka stared speechlessly at the numbers in the document. Misaki looked over her shoulder and gulped. It was indeed a big sum of money, one she could only earn with a few years of hard work. "I was requested by my management to ask you to be discreet about our bank's mistake and to promise not to initiate any lawsuits in the future." Hanoka, eyes still round from the surprise, nodded agreement.
"It was you who found out about this insurance thing?" asked Misaki curiously "And why only now?" Tanaka shook his head "I wish I could take the credit, but no. It was found out by a young economic student, who worked part-time here. He revealed this mistake when working in the Archives. He made a full inquiry in the matter and submitted the results to me. Extremely talented youth. He had been an enormous help for me in other matters, too. His analytical abilities are astonishing. "Tanaka took off his glasses and started to polish them. "I wish I had more assistants like him."
"Oh, how kind of him!" smiled at him Hanoka "Can we thank him personally? And of course we are also very grateful to you, Mr. Tanaka! You are our savior!" She looked at the financial director with bright, admiring eyes. "You can't really imagine what it means to us! To me and to my girls!" The combined effect of her smile and praise was immediate. Mr Tanaka dropped the glasses he was polishing and mumbled "It's nothing, really, just doing my job… I am happy that I could help you… that is… our bank is at your service… ehm…yes. " Then he suddenly remembered her question "…as about my young accomplice, I regret to tell you that he is left our employ." Mr. Tanaka looked really sad. "He said he needed to take a break from his studies and work, as his family opened a snake ranch in Africa, and they asked for his help."
Hanoka looked as if all the information she received today was too much to absorb. "A snake ranch…?" she asked faintly.
After filling all the necessary forms with the assistance of the helpful Mr. Tanaka, they left the room much more wealthier than they entered.
Leaving the office of the department head, they crossed the open space where the employees of the department worked. Hanoka was walking as if on clouds, with a dreamy smile in her face, probably envisioning the bright future of her girls, but Misaki looked lost in her thoughts. "Mom, don't you find it strange after all those years of monthly debt repayment, someone suddenly takes the trouble to revise our file?"
But Hakoka looked unconcerned "No, not at all. I think the people here very thoughtful and accurate! That nice Mr. Tanaka even promised to advise me about secure investments and how to deposit the compensation money to get a safe interest every month. Then we can save up for your future academic education and Suzanna's! It would be much easier for us to provide for the family now!" Her phone rang "Oh,it's Suzanna! I have to tell her instantly the good news!" She quickly darted toward the exit, as to not disturb the clerks. Misaki stood for a moment, thinking and then turned to the secretary who sat at the reception desk at the entrance of the room. Her hair was dyed blonde and she wore a dress which hadn't left much for imagination about the shape of her breasts.
"Excuse me, please. Can you tell me how can I reach the student who worked here part time the last two weeks?" The secretary looked at her coldly and shook her head "Sorry, but our policy forbids us to provide personal information about our employees." Her college, a plump brunette, who sat at a nearby desk said laughingly "She wish she knew how to reach him!" The secretary blushed behind her makeup "I do not!"
"Oh, really? I overheard you asking him out! I don't blame you, who can resist such a hot blonde with those emerald eyes, yumm!" she rolled her eyes "Not you, apparently!" retorted the secretary. "I, too saw you giving him your phone number! I bet he never called you!" the squabble was interrupted by an older clerk who quieted the girls and asked Misaki if he can help her. Misaki shook her head and dizzily left the room.
It's a filler chapter, I hope I didn't bore you too much… if yes, tell me, I'll reduce the fillers next time… banks and finances are borrrring, but I needed to give some insight into Usui's character and explain how suddenly Misaki got more free time and then change the scenery (at least temporarily) from the maid cafe.
btw, ideas and critics - ANY critics are very welcome.
Thanks for all the nice reviews, lostvindications (thanx for your faith in me, I'll try not to disappoint ;) melodygarden and AimlessReader !
AimlessReader: As about the plot, no, I don't intend to follow the manga closely, I want to write a humor/romance/adventure ff. I have big plans and a few surprises up to my sleeve *evil laugh* but i want to keep them secret. All I can say that I plan to write an adventure placed not only in the school/cafe setting, but… elsewhere. I wanna deepen the characters and give them some background (yep, moar filler chapters) There'll be much mushy Usui – Misaki love, spiced with some Tora awesomeness. He's one of my fav. characters, you see.
…Their relationship will build through many adventures and dangers…yeah.
Oh, man, I wish my english wasn't so bad
Review plse, it gives you karma points and sweet dreams about blonde aliens ;)