Kitsune no Ken GAIDEN Chronicles

by Neon Majestic

During the periods of time skipped over by official records, people did not sit in a vacuum. They continued living their lives, being who they were, doing what they were best able to do. These chronicles tell tales of people who lived at the same time as the Kyuushingai. SUPPLEMENT to "Kitsune no Ken: Fist of the Fox." GAIDEN 41, "Justice vs. Punishment," now up!

38. Harlot's POV

Kitsune no Ken GAIDEN Chronicles

Written by Neon Majestic

(DISCLAIMER: The Naruto franchise and the characters therein belong to and were originally created by Masashi Kishimoto.)

OoOoO

GAIDEN 38 – Harlot's POV

(N.B. This Gaiden begins immediately following Gaiden 37.)

(WARNING: Rated very high M for a very mature scene.)

"W-what? Me?" Yumi looked as surprised as she felt on hearing the Purple Storm gangster's ominous words. "Why? What have I done?"

Said gangster was leering at her, while his fellow Purple Storm and the Tiger Dragon member both turned eyes on Yumi. "Yeah, guys, that's her, all right," the thug informed the other two.

"Y'know, she's pretty hot," the second Purple Storm remarked with a growing grin.

"But this other one isn't so bad on the eyes, either," the Tiger Dragon commented as he looked at Kurenai. "Think we can get a two-for-one deal, fellas?"

Genma shifted himself so he was directly between the thugs and the women. "Over my dead body, bastards!" he snapped.

"That can be arranged…" and the first Purple Storm reached his hand into a pocket and pulled out a sinister-looking knife, holding it up for Genma to see it. "Heroes die early, buddy."

CRASH!

Out of nowhere, a heavy-looking wine bottle smashed into the knife-wielder's head, knocking him senseless to the ground. "What the—" the second Purple Storm had just enough time to gawk before a heavy boot made contact with his jaw, and he joined his buddy on the ground seconds later.

Kurenai's eyes widened. "Kakashi!"

True enough, the dust-mask-wearing teacher was there, his foot atop the second Purple Storm's head. "We heard the commotion and came to see what was going on," he commented. "By the way, nice throw there, Anko," and he flashed a thumbs-up toward Ichiraku Ramen's front entrance, where Anko and Mei were standing along with a few other patrons.

"Are you kidding? Nobody can beat MY aim, whether—hic!—drunk or sober!" Anko pointed her thumb boastfully at herself…before staggering. "But, ah, I don't think I'm good to drive…"

"You didn't drive, don't worry," Mei said soothingly, patting her fellow teacher on the shoulder.

"That being said…" Genma turned a threatening look on the Tiger Dragon member. "You wanna try your luck, 'buddy'?"

"Please say yes." Kakashi leveled a threatening glare at the gangster.

"Grr…" The Tiger Dragon looked from Kakashi to Genma and then at his downed companions. "Screw you!" he screamed, turning to flee.

"Nope." Kakashi grabbed him in a very quick arm-lock around the neck, stopping him in his tracks. "How's about you elaborate for us about what your pal was saying concerning Yumi-sensei here, hmm?"

"Let go of me, man!" The gangster struggled against Kakashi's grip.

"I'll consider it after you explain yourself. Or I can drag you to the cops right now and you explain to them. Either way, I happen to like how it feels to choke a boy-bitch right now." Kakashi tightened his grip around the thug's neck.

"Ack…!" the punk's face began turning blue. "You know who you're messing with, you son-of-a-bitch? I'm a Tiger Dragon!"

"Really, now?" Kakashi tightened his grip further, turning the thug's face bluer. "Seems more like a fluffy lizard to me."

"Oi, oi, oi! What's going on here?"

They all looked up at the sound of the angry voice, in time to see a policeman stomping toward them. "Hey, you, hands off!" he snapped at Kakashi.

"Actually, officer, our friend is choking a guy who tried to assault us, along with his two friends here," and Kurenai motioned to the other two thugs who were, only just then, groaning and trying to sit up. "We'd like to press charges against the three of them, please."

The cop looked at the downed thugs. "Say…I know you…you're with the Purple Storm gang, aren't you?" he asked suspiciously. "We should have some space in our cells for the likes of you."

"And this reject here," Kakashi indicated his quarry, "just identified himself as a Tiger Dragon. Should that mean anything, officer?"

"Hmm, yeah…the Tiger Dragon gang from out of Sound City," the cop confirmed. "I think we can cram him into our cells, as well."

"…aw, crud," one of the Purple Storms muttered.

OoOoO

"So what exactly is it you want to show me?" Nigai asked crossly as he and Karyu headed down a seedy back-alley toward a depressingly gray two-story building.

"Just wait a while; it's something to get your mind off the stress of worrying about tomorrow," Karyu answered casually. "Think of it as a goodwill gift, a way of solidifying our ties."

They stopped right at the entrance to the building, and Karyu gave a slow shave-and-a-haircut knock on the door. "The monkey prunes on the roof at midnight," he spoke up.

Nigai cocked an eyebrow at the weird-sounding phrase, but before he could open his mouth to comment on it, the door opened just a crack, enough for the person on the other side to peep out. "Oh, Karyu, it's you," the doorkeeper noted. "Who's that behind you?"

"New management of Sound City's Tiger Dragons. He and I are in a business arrangement, and I thought I'd give him a special Konoha-style present," said Karyu. "Got a recommendation for such an occasion?"

"…come on in and wait in the main hall. We should have just what your friend might like." Then the door opened a little wider, enough for the two to enter.

Karyu nodded at Nigai, motioning for the latter to follow him. They walked through the doorway and, with the practiced ease of past experience, Karyu headed for what Nigai figured must be the main hall, an open space with two lounge chairs strategically placed opposite each other. Karyu flopped down on one chair, while Nigai sat more guardedly across from him. "So…what exactly is this place, anyway?" Nigai asked.

"It's called the Pudding Place. And the name's a deliberate misidentification; you won't get any sweet treats here." Karyu chuckled knowingly. "At least, not the digestible kind."

"And I'm supposed to know what you mean by—" Nigai stopped mid-sentence as four girls suddenly came into the room, all clad in tight leather tops and skirts and high heels, each girl wearing an outfit of a different color. "…aaaaaaand now I get what you mean."

"Ladies," Karyu greeted the girls with a nod. "How's business been?"

"Random—a good john here, a bad john there," one of the girls answered. "You here for some action tonight, Karyu-kun?"

"Nah, not for me." Karyu nodded his head toward Nigai. "For my pal here. He's visiting from out of town."

Nigai cocked an eyebrow as he took in the girls' appearance. "Hmm…seems you ladies know your stuff."

"Do you know yours?" another of the girls asked directly.

"Feisty as ever, eh, Kohada?" one of the other girls quipped. "Lucky for you that your last john had enough of a sense of humor not to slap the feisty out of your face."

"Oh, shut up," Kohada gave the other girl the finger.

"Anyway, you're here to get a service, so…" The fourth girl looked right at Nigai. "What'll it be? Wanna do a one-on-one thing? Or maybe you think you can take us all on at once?"

Nigai gave Karyu a flat look. "What do you recommend?"

"Hey, it's your call, bro. All I'm doing is providing you the goodwill gift," and Karyu chuckled.

"Hmm. Well…" Nigai turned his eyes to the girls again; then he locked eyes with Kohada. "Kohada, was it? Let's see exactly how much you think you know."

"Sounds like a challenge." Kohada put a hand on her hip as a smirk came on her lips.

OoOoO

"…ugh…what time is it?" Kakashi groaned, his head resting against the wall as he sat in the waiting area.

"8:30 now," Yumi replied, checking her watch. "Don't worry, the police should be just about wrapping up with taking our statements soon."

"Well, they've talked to me, you two, and Kurenai already...they're talking to Mei now…and then they'll talk to Anko afterward," said Genma. "Let's just hope Anko's done puking her guts out in the bathroom by the time they're ready for her."

A nearby door opened, and out came a disgruntled Kurenai. "You guys, the next time anybody lets Anko drink that much on an outing, I will personally shove that person's head into the nearest toilet just so they know what it feels like to have to smell alcoholic puke up close and personal!" she exploded.

"…oh, Mommy, I wanna diiiiie…" Anko's pitiful voice sounded from the other side of said door.

"Well, we all know who's gonne have a monster hangover in the morning—no amount of black coffee's going to help that case," Genma sighed. "Not that I feel too much better, myself…"

"Me neither…but at least the cops were kind enough to give us coffee," Kakashi said ruefully.

Yumi glanced toward a nearby wastebasket, where several small Styrofoam cups testified to the amount of coffee they'd drank before. "No surprise…we had to be clear-headed enough to give them our statements," she commented. "I'm still feeling the drink in me, though…not a good example for a teacher to be setting, huh?"

"You think?" Kurenai asked dryly.

"But you know, come to think of it…" Genma stared contemplatively at the ceiling. "What those punks said earlier…why would they want you, Yumi-sensei?"

"How would I know? I've never seen them before," said Yumi.

"I think the answer to that question is obvious. They wanted to take Yumi-sensei for some unwanted 'fun'." Kurenai made a rude noise with her teeth as fresh disgust spread over her face.

"But if that was their aim, they could have gone for any random woman…" Kakashi frowned. "But based on what you said they said, Genma, it sounds like they were looking specifically for Yumi-sensei."

"Does it matter at this point? At the very least, they're now in custody, we'll have pressed charges, and then we can all go home and recover from this scare," said Yumi.

"Hmm…yeah. Sorry. I guess we're just overthinking this." Genma shrugged apologetically. "You already called your husband, right?"

"Yes, Takishi should be on his way to pick me up now," said Yumi.

"Oh, Yumi! There you are!"

They all looked up in time to see Uboshita Takishi heading their way. "I came as fast as I could. Are you hurt? Did those people do anything to you?" he asked Yumi urgently.

"No, sweetheart, I'm fine. My fellow teachers helped me," said Yumi.

"I see." Takishi turned to the others and bowed deeply. "Thank you for taking care of my wife, everyone. I really appreciate your looking out for her."

"You're welcome," Kurenai said politely. "Why don't you take Yumi-sensei home, then? We'll finish up things here."

"I'll do that, then. Thank you once again." Takishi bowed once more.

"Indeed—gracias," and Yumi now bowed too. "Please excuse us." And with that, she and her husband left.

"Oh, good gravy, I'm gonna—blurgh!" Anko retched in the bathroom again.

"Sweet heavens, not again…" Kurenai groaned as she tramped back inside the bathroom to help Anko.

Kakashi spared Kurenai's departing back a glance; then he turned to Genma. "You thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

"That it wasn't a coincidence that these punks just happened to be looking for Yumi-sensei?" Genma's expression was humorless.

"That, plus the overwhelming desire to go find answers. And I happen to know someone we can go to for those answers," said Kakashi.

"Mmm-hmm." Genma nodded. "Need company?"

"As long as you're willing to exercise the booze out of your system," Kakashi answered. "Of course, first we escort the ladies home after we're done here…then…"

Genma nodded again, a resolute expression on his face. "Then."

Just then Mei came on the scene. "They finally finished taking my statement," she announced. "Anko's the last one now, I believe…where is she?"

"Puking her guts out in the bathroom. Maybe you'll want to go in there before Kurenai gets the bright idea to drown her in her own vomit?" Kakashi suggested.

Mei sighed and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. "Not that I feel much better myself, guys, but at least the cops' coffee helped somewhat. Note to self: never drink like that again."

"Mei, is that you out there? Please give me a hand with Anko before I kill her myself!" Kurenai snapped from the bathroom.

"Coming!" Mei zipped into the bathroom in an instant.

"Kill me now…please…" Anko moaned.

OoOoO

Kohada had been working at the Pudding Place for the past approximately three years, since August in the year of the 365 days to be exact. It wasn't the kind of work she'd expected to land at any point in her life, but that year of crime-riddled devastation across the country had cut her aspirations tragically short when her family's sushi shop in Earth County had been burned to the ground and her father brutally murdered by rampaging hoodlums.

Theirs had always been a close-knit family. Her mother had died of complications from pneumonia when Kohada was eleven, leaving her father to singlehandedly put her through school on the money he made from the shop. His earnings weren't much, but she helped the best she could with after-school errands for neighbors for a small sum, and both of them had always been frugal, so they made their funds stretch, and they were happy despite not being rich. Plus, she'd always dreamed of becoming a journalist, and her father had squirrelled away a little here, a little there over many years until there was just enough to pay for two years of college, enough for her to pursue her dream at least part of the way.

Then the 365 days' violence erupted in their neighborhood, and her father was gone, and all they'd saved up for gone with him.

Kohada had never been one to give up, however. Her father had taught her, via their lower-class living, how to make the best of every circumstance thrown her way. And she still had her ambition to make something of her life, even while present circumstances seemed dire. So even as she grieved the loss of her father, the loss of the family business, and the loss of the means he had set aside for her future, she vowed that she would not let this adversity cripple her.

Securing help would be a major challenge, she'd expected that much, especially since she couldn't get in touch with any relatives on either side of the family; the 365 days had affected the wider country, including places where her relatives lived, and after several days of trying and failing to reach them, she'd had to come to the conclusion that they must have perished in the year of violence. Either that, she realized sometime later, or they assumed that she must have died as well, assuming any of them had tried and failed to contact her or her father by the shop's number or by mobile. She had lost her mobile phone during the confusion of when the gangsters swept through her community, and with it all of the important contacts she'd saved up. And as if that weren't bad enough, many of her friends who hadn't lost relatives or been killed themselves had left the area, as their homes were too badly damaged for them to stay; and the few who were still around had enough on their own plates without having to spare their now-meager resources to help one more person who wasn't even family.

By chance, she'd gotten in touch with the sister of one of her former friends, a friend who'd sadly been among the 365 days' casualties. The sister was planning to leave the area, since the continued presence of opportunistic thugs meant it wasn't safe to stay where they were; she had been offered a chance to move in with her boyfriend in neighboring Wind County, and now she offered a bit of asylum to Kohada as well. Kohada had accepted the offer, figuring that it would at least be one step toward either confirming the status of any of her relatives or getting a financial footing to resume her education.

Unfortunately, what Kohada didn't know until too late was that the boyfriend didn't have noble intentions for his girlfriend, or for her once he'd met her. Since neither of the girls was working, he'd said, they had to earn their keep in order to stay with him, which was fine—until it was learned that his idea of them "working" consisted of "pleasing" any of his male friends who came by, none of whom exhibited a lawful appearance or attitude. And so it was that Kohada wound up here, at the Pudding Place, with the only other alternative being to get thrown out on the street with nowhere to go.

The police? Oh, they'd tried covertly contacting the cops on the boyfriend and on the owner of the brothel…but as fate would have it, a couple of the cops they spoke to had under-the-table contacts and private arrangements with the brothel's owner, and the brothel's owner happened to be one of those friends of the boyfriend who the girls had to "please" when requested. The owner wasn't happy; and when the owner wasn't happy, the boyfriend wasn't happy; and when the boyfriend wasn't happy, neither Kohada nor her friend were happy, if the beatings and rapes they got subjected to as punishment were any indication. And Kohada would never forget one particular occasion when, after her friend dared to refuse to give head to one of her boyfriend's friends because the guy clearly hadn't showered, he and the other guys took the two girls down to the basement of the house, handcuffed them to the metal plumbing down there, and then the boyfriend and his friends—all six of them—took turns violating the friend's back-parts while Kohada was made to watch under threat of suffering the same fate if she tried to close her eyes or look away.

And Kohada would definitely never forget that fearful night because, hours after the six men were finally done and had un-cuffed them, her friend—battered, bleeding and with a haunted look in her eyes the last time Kohada had seen her—was found dead on the front lawn, her neck twisted at an unnatural angle, blood on the grass from where she'd landed. The coroner had ruled it a suicide; Kohada privately ruled it as her friend's final desperate bid for escape.

But Kohada herself…she refused to break, no matter what. Suicide would never be an option, no matter what depravity she found herself subjected to as a working girl in the Pudding Place. She still had her dream of journalism; one day, she kept telling herself after satisfying whichever john picked her out for pleasure each evening, one day she would break free from the chains that now held her captive, and she would tell the world, by pen, camera or audio-recording, of her struggle to make something of this dark chapter of her life.

Even if the struggle included putting up with the behaviors of men who used her for their own selfishness.

In these past few years since she'd begun her life at the Pudding Place, Kohada had had to endure all sorts of johns. Some were married men looking for a "quick fix" that they obviously weren't getting from their wives at home; some were single and fairly attractive but utter liars about their ability to perform; and the worst of them were brutes that just happened to look like men. It was a blessed rarity when a man paid for time with her but didn't actually want her for her body so much as to just have someone to talk to, to listen to him, to give him some kind of honest feedback for whatever situation he was going through. She could count on one hand the number of guys over the years who'd been honest enough to admit from the start that they had little to no experience in the sack and just wanted to be free from the taunts of their supposedly more versed friends; guys like that, she took a bit of pleasure in showing them the ropes, where to touch, how much pressure to apply, what not to do, and most of all the importance of respecting "no," "don't," and "stop," especially when those words were used separately from each other.

Tonight's customer, Karyu's pal Nigai, did not fit the latter two categories at all.

He was definitely no virgin, Kohada could tell that right away, but he was definitely no gentleman either. True, there'd been worse guys than him, guys who wouldn't hesitate to slap her, choke her, contort her body into difficult and cramping positions for their own amusement; but his own brand of savagery, confined as it was to what he was doing to her just then, wasn't much better. He was average, Kohada knew that, but right at the moment he may as well have been wielding a tree trunk, given how he was hammering away behind her while she was on her hands and knees, clutching the sheets and letting out cries that weren't fake and weren't for pleasure as she felt her most tender place getting roughly infiltrated again and again, each feeling of fullness punctuated by a grunt from Nigai that testified to how long it had likely been since his last real encounter with a woman. The way he gripped her waist, as though she was a pumpkin he was squeezing to test firmness, did little to ease her discomfort.

The smell of sex, the feel of sweaty skin on sweaty skin, the sight of their lewd shadows on the wall if she turned her gaze just so, she was familiar with it all. But each encounter she'd had over time had its own merit, was its own experience; and when focusing on her personal ambition to drown out the mental knowledge of pain didn't work, she could draw on the experience of nicer physical encounters and derive genuine pleasure from those. Those guys who'd admitted to having no experience, when they took her in similar positions to this…yes, she'd been subservient all the same, but they at least were conscientious enough to ask if they were hurting her, if she liked it at this speed or that depth, how long she wanted them to go for.

Nigai didn't have even that courtesy.

She felt his pelvic area hitting her buttocks harder than previously…felt him digging and driving deeper into her…realized what that meant and braced herself, balling up her fists and clutching more of the sheets in them, bit her lip to try and stifle her cries, failed as her body betrayed her and combined pain with orgasm…shivered as she felt extra wetness that wasn't hers and heard his loud and animalistic grunts…and then she collapsed completely to the mattress, her grip on the sheets loosening, and felt him falling with her and atop her.

Then there was no sound save for their labored breathing.

OoOoO

"Hello? Suigetsu!" Genma knocked on the front door. "Are you home?"

"He'd better be," said Kakashi, standing beside Genma on the porch.

A moment later the door was opened, and there stood Suigetsu's mother Ryuzetsu. "Oh, hello," she greeted them.

"Ryuzetsu-san," Genma said politely. "My colleague from school, Hatake Kakashi-sensei," he motioned to Kakashi. "Is Suigetsu in? We need to talk to him right now."

"Is he…is he in some kind of trouble again?" A troubled look came over Ryuzetsu's face.

"No, no, ma'am, nothing like that," Kakashi hastened to assure her. "Just something we need to verify with him, is all."

"Hmm…" Ryuzetsu didn't seem convinced by the assurance, but she didn't push the issue. "Suigetsu!" she called over her shoulder. "Two of your teachers are here to see you—Genma-sensei and Kakashi-sensei!"

"All right, all right, I'm coming," Suigetsu's familiar brash voice sounded…then a moment later he was at the door, cocking an eyebrow at the two men. "Oi, howdy. What brings you here at this hour?"

"Shall we take a walk and have a man-to-man-to-man chat? And don't worry, we'll have you back inside in a few minutes," said Genma. "If it's fine with you, Ryuzetsu-san…?"

Ryuzetsu nodded. "All right."

Sighing and shrugging, Suigetsu stepped outside to join Kakashi and Genma, paying no heed as the door closed behind him. "So, teachers, what's this about?" he wondered aloud.

Kakashi gave him a piercing look. "We'll cut right to the chase, Suigetsu. Earlier this evening, some guys from the Purple Storm gang approached us and indicated they'd been looking to kidnap Yumi-sensei."

"Eh?" Suigetsu's eyes went wide. "Kidnap Yumi-sensei? Seriously?"

"Luckily, that didn't happen," said Genma. "But what we want to know is why they'd be looking for her."

"Ah…well…Yumi-sensei's a sexy Spanish teacher. Who wouldn't want to kidnap her?" Suigetsu cracked.

Seconds later, Kakashi's knuckles rapped hard on Suigetsu's head. "Number one—that wasn't the slightest bit amusing. Number two—if these guys wanted to grab hold of a girl for any illicit fun, they could've picked out any number of women across town, yet they specifically said they'd been looking for Yumi-sensei. We want to know why that is, and we want to know NOW."

"Hey, c'mon, don't go railing on me all at once!" Suigetsu protested. "Why ask me, anyway?"

"Don't think we don't know about your juvie record, Suigetsu—it's part of your file at school," Genma said frostily. "You spent some time with the Purple Storms, and even now you're well-versed in the goings-on of Konoha Town's gang underworld. If the Purple Storms are up to something, it's in everyone's best interest if we know about it so we can do something about it. Understand?"

"Come on, Suigetsu. What's the latest you've heard about the Purple Storms?" asked Kakashi. "And why would a Tiger Dragon gangster from out of town be hanging out with them?"

That got Suigetsu's attention. "Huh? The Tiger Dragons? But didn't they get busted after what went down with LOVE at Parliament?"

"Their leader, yes, and a few other members, from what the news said that time," said Genma. "But obviously not all of them got held. And the fact that they seem to be suddenly buddy-buddy with the Purple Storms raises a lot of questions that we need answered now."

Suigetsu looked from one to the other of them. "Sheesh…you guys ought to be cops instead of teachers. You're acting just like cops right now," he groused.

"We're waiting, Suigetsu," Kakashi said in a low tone.

"Fine, fine." Suigetsu nodded. "The Shippuden Tavern—further down in the slum area, not far from here. That's where all the gangs go if they want to do negotiations without getting at each other's throats."

Genma's jaw tightened. "I know the place. There's an unwritten rule there that says there's to be no gang violence in or around the premises; that makes it a safe-zone for any of the local gangs' members to chill out and have a drink without having to worry about being shot by rivals from other gangs."

"So if the Purple Storms and the Tiger Dragons were to make some kind of arrangement, that would be the place to do it," Kakashi reasoned. "But who would do the negotiation on the Purple Storms' behalf? Their leader, Arashi, was killed some time ago—who'd be the person in charge now, Suigetsu?"

"From what I hear, that would be Karyu," said Suigetsu. "He and Arashi used to attend the same middle school; that's how Karyu got into the gang. If anybody in the Purple Storms were to call the shots in Arashi's place now that he's kicked it, Karyu would be the most likely guy for the post."

"Then Karyu's the one we need to have a few words with," said Kakashi. "Suigetsu, other than Shippuden Tavern, where's Karyu likely to hang out?"

"You're not seriously thinking to go confront Karyu, are you?" Suigetsu asked incredulously.

"Where?" Kakashi's tone brooked no argument.

"Ugh…honestly…" Suigetsu gritted his teeth. "There's a brothel called the Pudding Place, not far from the town's junkyard. It's a two-story building, gray, no signs on the front. Karyu's always been a ladies' man, so he goes there every so often to hang out with the hookers they've got there."

Genma couldn't help but smirk at Kakashi. "Sounds like your kind of place, Kakashi."

"Well…" Kakashi sighed. "If I can get to see beautiful women in varying states of undress, I guess that's a bonus…" Then his gaze steeled. "But before that…this teacher needs to kick some delinquents' asses."

OoOoO

END GAIDEN 38

00000

NEON MAJESTIC: I need to say it—Karyu's weird passcode-phrase at the whorehouse door is in fact a shout-out to This Bites!, an epic ongoing fan-fic in the One Piece community; in that story, Spandam used the phrase as part of a botched sign-language communication in response to Kaku declaring that he wanted a raise (after having to put up with Spandam's sheer stupidity and the resulting wrath of Fleet Admiral Sengoku).

Also, in canon, Kohada was a minor character who worked as an assistant in her unnamed father's sushi-shop. The Naruto wiki has SUCH a treasure trove of potential characters to use in these Gaiden chapters.

As for my making Kohada a prostitute in this story…don't worry, she's not one in canon. In addition, I based her experience here on a real-life testimony I heard earlier this year from a woman who survived sexual slavery some years ago; the real-life lady gave her testimony at a human trafficking awareness conference for which I gave coverage in my capacity as a journalist, and her story was untold levels more horrific than what I portray Kohada as going through. I am asking you to take my word for it on that.

And now…next Gaiden chapter, we'll be taking a break from this Gaiden arc with the Tiger Dragons and Purple Storms, and you'll be getting a Christmas-themed Gaiden, in keeping with (as of this writing) tomorrow being December 25! And it'll include some surprise character additions, including one which I had previously said would not make an appearance in Kitsune no Ken. (Well, the character didn't show up in the main story, at least, but that person will be here in the Gaidens.) Who is that character? Wait and see, loyal readers.

Gaiden 39 is up next!