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Chapter 4
Cultural Appreciation
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Lenny Elkhound wasn't too into anime or manga. He could appreciate the appeal because he had listened to and read so many stories of adventure he understood the inspiring powers of the written word and dazzling display of powers. if he really thought about it he'd rather live those adventures than read about them but that wasn't in the cards. 


His mother had told him about places she'd been and things she'd done and one tale had stuck with him. The sight of a forest of cherry trees in full blossom that had comforted his mother when she was at a low point and hadn't the will to go on. The Cherry tree blossoms for a very short time, the petals turning a brilliant pink before falling away. The people of Japan had long revered this as a symbol for the brevity of a warrior's life. In it his mother found a slightly different message. "The leaves fall away but the leaves are not the tree. The Tree remains through the tough times and when the tough times comes to an end it bursts back into life." Alma had told him how the trees taught her fortitude. Which was what Lenny was looking for out here in a back woods trail. 


The trees were in bloom not all of them but enough that the trail was littered with pink petals and they drifted on the wind with every shift of the wind and scattered here and there. It was as beautiful and gloriously momentary but it didn't have the same weight to him as it did to his mother. Lenny could readily see where the lesson came from but it wasn't having the same effect on him. It only took him a moments pondering to figure out why his mother had been at a low ebb worried by the lack of permanence in her life. Lenny however was riding high, getting to enjoy the here and now and the idea that he couldn't predict what was next.


As Lenny walked the trail he spotted a bit where a stone trail was slowly being reclaimed by nature. Curiosity took hold as he followed the carefully set stones that were bit by bit being covered by the grass. After a few moments walk he found himself standing in front of a tiny disused shrine. The wooden hut was almost totally trashed, the paint faded away, the roof on the verge of collapse and the statue within overgrown with moss. Lenny frowned at the state of the thing knowing that in such a state the divine powers were all but certainly gone from this place. 


The Japanese believed that the divine lived in objects and that respect must be given to them or the divine would leave. The Kami were as numerous as the stars and their powers varied. Each of them came with their own rituals and offerings. Without even knowing the name of this one it was impossible to say what kind of things needed to be done to restore the power of the kami.


As Lenny turned to leave the sound of metal clinking on stone caught his attention. He looked down and found an old fashioned lawn mower, of the sort that was just a blade on a stick operated by swinging it back and forth. looking back at the nearly overgrown shrine, a thought that he should clear up the area sprang to mind. Lenny walked back to the start of the path swinging the mower back and forth. From the start of the path to the edge of the shrine every stone was cleared of the encroaching grass. As the elkhound kicked at the grass A rattle drew Lenny's eye to a box of nails resting on a dirt covered tarp which was itself covering planks of wood. Lenny looked again to the broken down shrine and spotted a hammer leaning up against the side and felt the stars align  


It took next to nothing to pry the rotting and or broken boards away and even less to slot in the clean and treated boards in their place. The thumping of the hammer as each nail was driven made Lenny feel better. Maybe it was for nothing, maybe the little shrine would just fall into ruin again. But another voice whispered that it wasn't so, that all it took all it ever took was for someone to care about the broken things for them to be fixed.  Lenny didn't even question it as he found the roofing tiles beneath the planks of wood. When he found the sealed paint buckets and the brushes tucked beneath the shrine he found himself thinking that the caretaker must have grown ill. As he repainted the shrine he imagined a single spiritualist who maintained the shrine languishing in bed as his beloved shrine was taken back by nature.


Lenny tucked the unused supplies away and looked at the mossy statue within once more. Without even thinking twice he reached out and began to scrub the grime away. The elkhound blinked as he beheld the beauty revealed once the stains of time had been removed. The statue in his hands was of a lovely fox lady elegant and thin.  The statue itself was carved of obsidian or some other black stone like Jet or Beryl but it was also streaked with gold. Lenny had heard about the technique Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken things by using gold to repair the bond. Not in an effort to disguise what had been broken but to say that even broken things can be beautiful. Lenny looked at where the out stretched hand had been put back, the arm and head snapped away and the legs broken no less than three times. He couldn't say to whom this shrine was dedicated if there ever had been any clues they had worn away long ago. Lenny placed the statuette back in the shrine.


Lenny was about to walk away when a thought struck him. He reached into his travel pack and brought out a stick of incense he had like the smell of in the last town. With a flick of his lighter he placed the stick in the offering plate and sat with this forgotten spirit and enjoyed the satisfaction of healing something. The thing he had been searching for out in these woods was found not in a lesson about persisting through hardship but in the act of kindness in helping others. 


"Watashi wa nan-nen mo mainichi kono michi o aruite iru no ni… kono michi ni kidzuita koto ga nakatta[a]." Lenny looked up at the voice and found that a red panda lady was standing at the shrine's threshold. It seemed she had not noticed him until he turned to look at her because she sprang back arms wide and teeth bared. Were she not a foot shorter than Lenny it might have been intimidating, as it was he only thought she looked cute. 


"Kon'nichiwa! Odoroka sete shimatte hontōni gomen'nasai. Kowagaru hitsuyō wa arimasen yo. Watashi wa utsukushī masutādo ni kigai o kuwaeru yōna koto wa kesshite shimasen.[b]" Lenny apologized as he tried to recall the name of her garment. It was a form fitting dress that hugged tightly to the ladies curves elegantly, after a few moments thought he recalled the name Qipao. 


The girl relaxed and then giggled. "perhaps we should speak English? or did you mean to call me a beautiful mustard?" 


Lenny pinched the bridge of his nose. "Masutādo? no it's uh what i meant to say was... Otome yeah that's the one." Lenny rose from the ground slowly bowing at the waist. "My name is Lenny Elkhound."


"Oh I'm not a maiden but thank you for the compliment Elkhound-san." The red panda girl said, dipping into a bow as well. "You can call me Gigi."


"It's a pleasure to meet you Gigi... can you tell me anything about this shrine here?" Lenny asked, gesturing to it.


"Not a thing. Though it looks very new." Gigi said, stepping closer and looking in at the shrine intently. "I think I recognize the kami though. Kowareta mono o motodōrinisuru idaina megami.[c] She looks like she's seen better days."


"I'm sorry my Japanese is bad, could you repeat that?" Lenny asked but before he could get a reply a crack of thunder announced the beginning of a downpour. 


"[oh no if this dress gets ruined he will-]" Gigi panicked only to have her hand seized by Lenny without a word he lifted the girl into his arms in a full bridal carry and sprinted down the path. Gigi clung to Lenny's neck as he stared ahead. "Where are you going? the nearest town is back the other direction."


"Oh sorry I was heading for the hotel I was staying at." Lenny said reversing course and making his way along the path that was rapidly turning to mud. Sure enough after only a few minutes of running Lenny  was on the outer streets of a town.


"We can find shelter there, it's a hotel I... work at." Gigi Said pointing to a squat single level building with a neon sign that had the symbol for hotel illuminated. Lenny was huffing and puffing as he ran under the cover of the roof and let Gigi down. 


The inside was warm and dry.  "Greetings welcome to..." the red panda woman at the desk stared and trailed off as she caught sight of Gigi. "Mata nigedasou to shita no ne. Kare, kitto okoru wa yo. Anata wa tada no shōfu janai, kare no tokubetsuna okiniirina n ​​dakara."[d] The desk woman said in Japanese so rapid fire Lenny was lucky to hear a single word.


"Sanpo ni ittekimashita. Ichinichijū-ka ni tojikomotte iru no wa suki janai ndesu.[e]"  Gigi replied equally quickly. "Kare ni nani mo tsutaeru hitsuyō wa arimasen.”[f]


The woman clicked her tongue and looked annoyed. "Kiminara jibun de nantoka dekirudarou. Kono gaikoku hito no taiō o shikkari yatte, kondokoso kakujitsu ni daikin o uketotte kure. Kotosai wa mō gaman no genkaina ndakara na."[g] She said before pulling a key from the wall and tossing it to Gigi. "Your regular room is ready.


Gigi scowled but beckoned Lenny to follow her. Not having any other options as the lightning storm outside was getting more intense Lenny followed her. 


"I didn't catch most of that but there was something about running away?" Lenny inquired as Gigi opened the door.


The red panda girl froze... glancing around nervously she pulled Lenny into the room with her closing the door. "I hate it here. I would give up just about anything to live anywhere else." She confessed. "But Kotosai... he won't let me leave so easily."


"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to make things awkward." The elkhound declared. "I..." Lenny shuddered as the cold air of the hotel hit his wet clothes. "I want to help."


"Unless you can get me out of Japan I don't think you can." Gigi said, looking at the floor before reaching out and taking Lenny's shirt off him. "You need to get dry and warm before you catch a death of cold."


"My clean clothes are at my hotel." Lenny said, shivering. "I'm not going to ask you to sit in here while I'm naked." 


Gigi looked at him and smiled and something in it told Lenny that he was perhaps not being taken so seriously. "I told you before Elkhound-san. I am no maiden." she said before reaching back, undoing a clasp about her neck and letting the fabric fall to the ground revealing her nearly naked body to Lenny. "you like?" she teased.


Lenny was briefly struck by how often this seemed to happen to him anymore as he drank in Gigi's form, the red panda was on the petite side short and slender which was the only reason he had been able to carry her. The fur on her belly and neck was white and the strip of red that ran across her bosom helped highlight the curves of her breast. "You want to see more?" Gigi asked and before Lenny could so much as nod her black lace bra came away from her chest showing off the dark flesh of her nipples. Gigi turned her great fluffy ringed tail swirling through the air as she slowly pushed her lace black panties down and stepped free of them. "Your turn." Gigi all but sang. 


The elkhound blushed furiously as he undid his pants and shoved them off to pile on the ground with a wet sound his underwear equally soaked through finding their way to the same pile. he covered his crotch knowing very well that he wasn't hiding his erection but trying to maintain modesty all the same. 


"You know. I seem to find myself naked with very pretty ladies a lot since leaving home." Lenny said with a chuckle as he saw Gigi eyeing him up and down like a well earned dessert. 


"I imagine you had many girls wanting to be naked with you back home as well." Gigi said before placing her hands on Lenny's chest and stroking down his belly. "You have strong arms, and kind eyes." 


"I'm not that strong." Lenny denied on reflex.


"you carried me here in a dead sprint." Gigi said forcing him to look in her eyes, she was just a bit shorter so it meant Lenny could also see her breasts. "I told you nothing except my name and you brought me someplace warm in your arms at the cost of your comfort." Gigi said before shoving him backwards the elkhound landing on the bed. "I intend to repay your kindness." Lenny gulped as the red panda stopped between his legs. "You like blowjobs?"


"N-never had one." Lenny replied while he and Nani had been having sex basically every night they hadn't gotten terribly adventurous with positions.


"Oh then you will love this." Gigi said, kissing the tip of his cock. Lenny sat stunned as Gigi's warm lips trailed all over his cock up and down one side then back before kissing along the other. Her tongue ran from the base of his shaft clear up to the tip and swirled around the head. Gigi parted her lips letting Lenny's cock slide into their embrace, her tongue slicking over head in a wild dance. Gigi bobbed her head in Lenny's lap, the Elkhound shaking as he experienced a mind blowing kind of pleasure like never before. Gigi was startled as Lenny's hands clasped her cheeks and lifted her off his cock. Before Gigi could ask what was going on she got to watch as Lenny's cock erupted, spraying great sticky globs of cum into the air to land on his rod. "goodness that's a lot."


Lenny huffed his breathing slowly returning to normal. "You were right I loved that..." Lenny grinned at Gigi. "But I was always taught to take care of a lady and intend to keep to that lesson!" Lenny declared before grabbing the red panda by her arm pits and hauling her up his body. Lenny rolled over pinning Gigi to the bed. "one good turn deserves another right?" he asked before plucking Gigi's hips from the bed and planting on big wet lick on them. Lenny had never performed cunnilingus but he was not about to let that stop him. he was methodical about it using his tongue and his lips on each part then together. listening to Gigi's reactions and changing his moves accordingly. Gigi's squeals of delight as he sucked on her clit tongue or set his tongue probing about her delicate folds were all the motivation Lenny needed to keep going it wasn't until she grabbed hold of his ears and pulled his face from her groin that he realized how good a job he had been doing the red panda was grinning her chest heaving.


"Elkhound-san... the whole point was to reward you for your good behavior." Gigi said breathlessly. "Now I need to reward you more."


Lenny grinned wide. "oh no what a dilemma." The elkhound said as he shifted up Gigi's body. "I don't suppose you have a condom?"


Gigi's eyes slid to the left before she replied. "It'll be safe just this once." Her legs curled around Lenny's waist letting his throbbing hard dick press against her slick slit. 


"If you say so." Lenny said before giving a shift of his hips slipping his cock into Gigi's cunny. Lenny found it just about impossible to hold back pounding the Red panda into the mattress. Gigi locked her legs around his hip holding him deep inside her. Gigi's soft warm breasts rubbed on his chest and Lenny put his all into the round of love making. Finally Lenny couldn't take it anymore with no hope of pulling out he plunged his shaft into the red panda girl one last time before his balls emptied into her waiting womb.


for a moment there was just the sound of heavy breathing and the shared warmth and then the laughing started. Gigi and Lenny fell into a fit of giggles that escalated to proper laughter and then subsided. Perfectly content they stayed in the embrace no words not even the slightest sexual activities. Eventually though all things end and Lenny pulled away and Gigi hesitatingly let him go. Lenny relieved himself of the call of nature and returned to see Gigi sprawled on the bed half asleep with his seed dribbling from her sex. 


Lenny dressed himself his clothes were still damp and cold but he was running hot so it balanced out. he sat on an old radiator against the wall watching Gigi sleep as the crash of thunder and flashing lights and whistle of the wind told him the storm outside still raged. he didn't know all of what was wrong with Gigi but he knew she was in trouble. he sat and thought about all she had told him and after a few moments thought he had a solution. Lenny wrote a note to Gigi explaining where he was going and what he was planning before quietly exiting the room. 


Lenny was out of the motel and walking into the curiously storm-free streets heading for his hotel when he heard the footsteps approaching. "Omae! Gaikoku hito![h]" Lenny turned to see a scarred Tanuki missing his pinky on his left hand coming running after him. 


"Yokumomā, watashi no baishun yado ni nokonoko yattekite, watashinōkiniiri no on'na ni te o dashita na. Sore dake demo yurusenai no ni, hinin-gu mo tsukawazu ni Yari ya gatte. Omae ga don'na gaikoku no byōki o mochikonda ka, dō yatte wakaru nda? Shikamo, daikin mo harawazu ni nigeyou to suru nante, tondemonai yatsuda!"[i]


Lenny squinted at the man barely catching every other word. The tanuki had a terrible accent and Lenny wasn't great with Japanese to start with. "Shiharai?[j]” he said before recalling the word. "Oh yeah, for the hotel room. one sec." Lenny said, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. The tanooki jumped back about five inches standing  fully in the rain slicked street and to Lenny's shock pulled a tanto blade from the back of his waist. Lenny watched in slow motion as the blade was drawn up over the Tanuki's shoulder and flipped about the Tanuki took one step forward and then a bolt of lightning came crashing down from the heavens and struck the metal blade. The tanuki's suit caught fire as his rubber shoes meant the current couldn't reach the ground and the power of nature roiled across his body. The tanuki dropped dead on the spot, the smell of burning flesh and fur swaying on the breeze. 


"Elkhound-san!" Gigi said emerging from the hotel a dark welt visible on her left cheek. Her gaze shifted from the gob smacked dog to the burning body on the street "Kotosai."


"He- he pulled a knife and then... he got struck by lightning... he was dead before i could do anything." Lenny said. 


"He was going to kill you... he's a yakuza. He found the note you left for me... he was furious that you wanted to help me leave." Gigi said, touching the bruise on her face. 


Lenny realized he was missing some pieces about the situation he was in. "Gigi, who is this guy to you? I thought it was like a bad boyfriend or a family member you wanted away from."


Gigi looked at Lenny, her eyes cast at the ground. "He's my... pimp." she struggled to get the word out of her mouth like it was thorny and stuck to her tongue. "I'm a prostitute."


Lenny blinked  once twice and his features grew stony. "alright. then we definitely need to get you out of here."


Gigi looked up at him. "You really want to help me? Even knowing that I'm-"


"You've been exploited, mistreated and looked down on but that's not who you are." Lenny replied. "Out in the forest on a disused path I met a beautiful young woman who needed help and I decided to help you however I could right then and there. This doesn't change anything."


"Elkhound-san..." Gigi said tears filling her eyes.


"Call me Lenny." Lenny said as he reached out to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
[a]I have walked this way every day for years... I have never noticed this path.
[b]Hello! I'm very sorry to startle you. there's no need to be scared. I would never hurt a beautiful mustard
[c]Great Goddess of Broken Things made whole.
[d]You've tried to run off again . He's going to be upset, you know. You're not just one of the working girls you're his favorite.
[e]I just went for a walk. I don't like being cooped up inside all day.
[f]You don't need to tell him anything.
[g]you'll figure it out on your own, just handle this foreigner and make sure you get payment this time. Kotosai is losing patience you know.
[h]You! Foreigner!
[i]You have some fucking nerve walking into my brothel and playing around with my favorite girl. that'd be bad enough but you fucked her without protection, how am i supposed to know what kinda foreign diseases you brought her huh? To top it all off you try to skip out without even paying!
[j]Payment?