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As the Smoke Clears #4 in Rivalry Series	By : kurahieiritrJIO Category: +G to L > Initial D Views: 2672 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Initial D, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-As the Smoke Clears
- 2-Smoke 2
- 3-Smoke 3
- 4-Smoke 4
- 5-Smoke 5
- 6-Smoke 6
- 7-Smoke 7
- 8-Smoke 8
- 9-Smoke 9
- 10-Smoke 10
- 11-Smoke 11
- 12-Smoke 12
- 13-Smoke 13
- 14-Smoke 14
- 15-Some 15
- 16-Smoke 16
- 17-Chapter 17
- 18-Smoke 18
- 19-Smoke 19
- 20-Smoke 20
- 21-Smoke 21
- 22-Smoke 22
- 23-Smoke 23
- 24-Smoke 24
- 25-Smoke 25
- 26-Smoke 26
- 27-Smoke 27
- 28-Smoke 28
- 29-Smoke 29
- 30-Smoke 30
- 31-Smoke 31
- 32-Smoke 32
- 33-Smoke 33
- 34-Smoke 34
- 35-Smoke 35
- 36-Smoke 36
- 37-Smoke 37
- 38-Smoke 38
- 39-Smoke 39
- 40-Smoke 40
- 2
- 3
- 4
CHAPTER 3

Ryosuke found it impossible to ignore the irritation in Singing-Wolf's voice as she growled into the phone. He decided that her pacing would fray the area rug if she did not change her agitated steps. Hiroshi was pretending interest in the foreign program playing on the older model television set, although he did not know English. Sammy continued to block the television from his view with ceaseless pacing as she argued with Martonelli. The older Takahashi brother's English had improved by leaps and bounds from constant use during his forced stay in America. He had little difficulty understanding the harsh words flying past her lips.

"That's not the fucking point, Rob. Takumi Fujiwara's not an option because he was drugged! You can't change the Iron Will's regulations. Arguing with the Board of Directors will only cause headaches nobody needs. Pain in the ass that it is, it doesn't mean they'll back down just because you choose to throw a hissy fit."

Some of the things Samantha said made no sense to him. Words like hissy seemed to be a regional anomaly that he had no reference. The black-haired street racer glanced over his open book to watch her storming toward the television stand yet again. He could not reconcile this woman with the one met six months ago.

The multitude of braids, and feminine clothing had been shed like a false skin. There was nothing calm about the driven woman that emerged from the previous veneer of civility. Worse, a complete disintegration of manners had occurred with Samantha's return to her homeland. She even acknowledged that her previous behavior was enforced by the American Embassy's code of conduct. After seeing this nastier version of the woman, the dark-haired man wished fervently that they could return to Japan.

All of her obscenely thick, long, burnished highlighted dark-copper hair was a tangled mass confined in a haphazard ponytail she continued to flick back from her face. Not a trace of makeup graced her darker colored skin. She was wearing ripped up blue jeans, arms shoved up long sleeved jersey, and heavy hiking boots. Muscular and feral, Samantha Singing-Wolf now displayed battle scars with unapologetic pride. Puckered ridges ran riot across her bare forearms and stomach in confirmation of her violent nature.

By comparison, Keisuke's battle scars were negligible. His little brother had earned every scar in cruel fights. Discovering such hard evidence of this woman's deep seated viciousness dismayed Ryosuke. He would have preferred never to have seen the scars that flashed and flowed across her skin in a haphazard pattern. Accepting that Tohji's warning had been correct was an unwelcome reality.

Her next salvo was deeply guttural in tone. "So? We bagged the bitch's property and exposed part of her sick business. I can guarantee she's gone deep underground to save her own ass for the moment. Doesn't matter that someone tried to get at Takumi when he was in ICU. Kahori probably left the country the same day we sacked her operation. I doubt they'll find her in Japan. The authorities are wasting their own damned time. She moved most of her assets to another country before they could be frozen. That's how slavers and drug lords operate. They should be trying to get a tracer on her in China or one of the neighboring nations."

Kenta looked ready to bolt for the bunk house as he watched the irate American warily while sitting beside Hiroshi. They were waiting for Twylah to call them for the evening meal. Like himself, Kenta found this new version of the American frightening. Etsuya had wisely chosen to make himself useful to Samantha's aunt in the kitchen. How he coped with this overwhelming hellion each day baffled Ryosuke. He did not begrudge the other man's avoidance of Samantha after they returned each evening from her business. However, it was odd that Etsuya insisted on helping since there were others capable of handling dish duties for Twylah.

"No shit, Sherlock. How elementary a concept my dear Watson! That's the point I've been trying to pound into your head for twenty minutes. So glad you finally found the same fucking page, Rob. Now that you've got your head out of your ass, how about getting on track with a new program?"

Ryosuke was appalled by her constant flow of curses, and condescending tone. He wondered whether her aunt was selectively deaf, or simply resigned to Samantha's offensive language, and harsh behavior. She made another bristling circuit around the living room as she listened to whatever was being said.

"Wrong. That ain't gonna happen! The law's different over there. Guilty until proven innocent is their motto as I understand it. Get over it, Rob. You can't control another government no matter how fucking rich up the bull's ass you are. He knows more about how his country than you ever will, dumb-ass. Stop wasting ever' body's time with hair-brained scheming. It won't kill them if they can't get into the Iron Will Continental this round. 'Sides, their cops might just make it impossible even with most of their crew being over here. I can't babysit them if I'm behind the wheel, and I have to be 'cause I'm the current champ. That's in the contracts I signed when I won the last one."

Annoyance radiated off the tawny woman as she fell silent. A violent head-shake as she wheeled again whipped her heavy mane in an arc that slashed her torso before settling against her hip in front.

"As if?! With their cops thinking one of them will get kidnaped, or butchered, it's a no brainer. Remember, I'm the psycho-bitch that's better than the best at the catching game, Rob. Kahori's got nowhere to hide hostages, or the leverage she needs to play her hand in Japan. Since she's lost the game advantage on the home field, she pulled stakes fast. If she's as sick as I think she is, she'll change playgrounds, and then seek revenge on the guys I'm watching over because Japan's on to her."

Ryosuke listened closely to the leggy female's shift in stalking conversation. She shoved hair from her face for the seventh time, again revealing the sharp edges of scar masses on her lower back and side. Were they in continued danger because of being in America as she was suggesting?

"Oh bull shit, Rob. Quit pushing the favor card to get your damned way. Stop splitting fucking hairs to get out of losing. This asinine fixation you've got going needs to go! Sticking your nose so far into his business won't get Keisuke Takahashi into the Iron Will. It sounds like he's not hot to dump his brat on someone else. Never heard of a single man taking responsibility for his ball busts before, but that's worth respect in my books. Most men are hot to get between any dumb bitches legs that'll spread 'em, but even a hint of a brat on the way and they're skipping town here. Maybe it's the Japanese culture, or you're dealing with a completely different beast than you've ever met before. Either way you better get this through your thick skull. Your . . . money's . . . worthless this time. Give up already. Let Keisuke deal with his own shit. It's not in your job description."

Hiroshi spoke softly. "Ryosuke-san, nani's going on? Sammy-chan sounds a lot angrier all of a sudden."

Ryosuke set his unread book on the coffee table, and answered in their native tongue. "Samantha's arguing with Martonelli about us. Our rather forceful Iron Will benefactor is reluctant to agree with her point that Project D won't be able to enter because of the various complications caused by minasan's abduction."

Hiroshi frowned. "The kēsatsu sent you back right after Keisuke rescued minasan. Matsimoto was escorted to the airport immediately after being released from the hospital. The only reason your ryōshin are in even in Nihon is because of Keisuke san finding his musuko in the compound. Keisuke san would be shipped over here, except he has to stay in Tokyo to see if he's going to be charged with any crimes."

"Hai. Of course Keisuke's doing everything in his power to get custody of his musuko, Hikaru. Our ryōshin did the unthinkable by hiding his kodomo's existence from us. Anything Keisuke needs from me is his as far as I'm concerned. Okāsan's hatred of Akiho caused unforgivable harm to my nephew."

"But, the kēsatsu won't allow us to return to Nihon before Kahori's captured. Naze is Sammy chan yelling at Martonelli san about the race?" Kenta asked.

"Perhaps our extended stay is becoming an intolerable burden on her aunt. Still, Twylah won't let us pay for anything. How can we not be an encumbrance? Doing dishes, and fixing things around here isn't helping them support our food bill I'm sure." Hiroshi pointed out.

"That isn't the reason for this argument, minasan. Samantha's angry because Martonelli's trying to interfere with Keisuke inappropriately. They've been fighting about our criminal justice system, and the Iron Will's Board of Directors' rules. She mentioned Keisuke's musuko also. From the things I'm hearing, it sounds like Martonelli is attempting to meddle in everything possible to insure Keisuke, and Fujiwara are both in this year's Endurance race. Much as I've become appalled with her behavior since we got here, I can't fault her for being nasty to Martonelli."

Kenta scratched his head. "I still can't wrap my mind around Keisuke san being an otosān. It's so unreal, Ryosuke-san. Keisuke san never seemed careless to me."

"He wasn't careless, Kenta. Our otosān said Akiho couldn't have kodomo. He also put her on birth control to regulate her menstrual cycles because they were so erratic. Learning that our ryōshin hid Akiho not only getting pregnant, but managing to carry to term is a very unpleasant shock. Keisuke was making immediate arrangements to move himself and Fujiwara into their own place when Samantha san and I were escorted to the airport."

"I wonder how Fujiwara feels about Keisuke san having a kodomo, Ryosuke san. When Keisuke san told us about asking Fujiwara to give him a chance, it sounded as if they weren't settled into a solid relationship. Something as major as an unexpected kodomo could ruin everything Keisuke san was hoping to build with Fujiwara." Hiroshi sounded pensive.

"That's not going to be a problem. Takeuchi said Fujiwara defended Keisuke rather fiercely when Akiho claimed he never wanted his musuko. Fujiwara never wavered in his belief that Keisuke was unaware of Hikaru's existence. Takeuchi said Fujiwara was adamant that Keisuke would have searched for Hikaru until he found him had he known about his musuko's existence. He also mentioned that Fujiwara jumped between an Overseer and Hikaru on one of the rare occasions he wasn't chained hand and foot inside their cell." Ryosuke explained.

"Sounds like Fujiwara really believes in Keisuke san. I've known Keisuke san since he was in middle school, and I would have wondered if it was true had his ex said such things to me. I would've been shocked, but I also know Keisuke san has a history of being wild." Hiroshi added in an apologetic tone.

Sammy slamming the phone into its base made the trio jump. "Damn fucking arrogant prick needs his ass kicked! God, I hate Rob's screwball testosterone phases. He's such a pushy fucking jack ass in man mode!" Ranting to herself, Samantha headed for the front door, completely oblivious to her startled audience's shocked stares.

"Of all the fucking nerve! I swear I'll get back into Japan just so I can beat the unholy shit out of him!" The door imploded on protesting hinges as it collided with the framework a few seconds later.

"Whoa! Scary!" Kenta said in a quavering voice.

Twylah minced into the room shaking her salt sprinkled, black-haired head. She picked up the receiver and listened for a moment before replacing it with a soft grunt.

"Is everything alright, Twylah?" Ryosuke asked in English.

"Phone still works." She sounded pleased even though her expression remained passive.

"I take it your niece has broken phones in the past?" Ryosuke asked in gentle tones.

"Went through six one year. Sam's like her mother. Bad tempered that one. 'Spect Sam'll come to a bad end before long. Her mother did."

The older woman looked toward the front door. She muttered something in her native tongue as she fingered the kitchen towel slung over her shoulder.

Hiroshi asked, "Nani did Twylah-san say?"

"Twylah said Samantha frequently breaks telephones because of her very bad temper." Ryosuke translated.

"Kind of hard to miss her moodiness. Lately, we've begun to wonder naze she's so angry for a reason, Ryosuke san." Kenta added.

Turning to Twylah, Ryosuke asked, "Do you know why your niece is always so upset, or how we might help calm things, Twylah?"

The Indian woman turned to look at him as her dark eyes crinkled at the corners in a rare smile. "You men-folk been helping plenty. My ranch is looking mighty good thanks to you. None of you can fight the dark spirit that took Sam when she was twelve. The ones who know how to do something about it always refuse. The council says Sam's white, so she can't see the medicine men on the reservation. They believe white man's spirit is very weak to the dark spirits, so they won't help her."

Ryosuke addressed Twylah, "Do you mean Samantha's recently violent temper, and extreme mood swings when you say dark spirits, Twylah?"

Twylah plunked her bulk into the overstuffed lazy boy across from the couch where they were sitting. "The dark spirit in Sam is more than anger. Her white grandfather's mighty cruel. He made her into a deadly warrior when she was too young. Many inhuman things to his warrior ways got taught to her. Killing for sport, not out of a need to survive, or to protect others is his way. Emptiness is a great hunger in some men's blood. Her mother's father is as rabid and empty as I've ever seen. So many are taught to never be satisfied with the things they already have in the white man culture. You could say that Sam's white grandfather is this kind of person."

"Nani is Twylah saying now, Ryosuke-san?" Hiroshi interjected.

"She said Sammy san's ojīsan is very cruel and inhuman. It seems he trained her to be a white warrior, as Twylah calls a body guard. She said her niece was too young for the training she received. It was the training that created the extremely moody onna that we're coping with every day."

Ryosuke turned back to Twylah. "From the screaming match she had on the phone, I think Martonelli's causing a lot of stress. Your niece is being placed in a very awkward position by our presence, Twylah. I know we've put considerable strain on your finances recently. Your generosity is deeply appreciated. Still, if our presence is contributing to Sam's irritability, we should do something more to ease your burden. I can't fault her for being frustrated if we're causing a problem."

Twylah shook her head. "It's got nothing to do with you menfolk. You've done much good for my family. It's an honor to buy extra food, and cook meals for men like you. There's new paint on the repaired wood fences lining my drive. Your group repaired my front porch, and painted it. You've brought a good spirit into my home so I'm blessed by the Great Spirit by having you here. Sam's anger is all about Rob."

"How so, Twylah?"

"In man times he gets very forceful, even cruel when he doesn't get his way. He walks an empty, very bad road that so many young people choose. In woman times, Robi remembers things about the good red road we've shown her over the years. Sam can't stand the sight of Rob, but loves Robi as only a blood sister can. That has always been their way."

"You make it sound like Martonelli has multiple personality disorder, Twylah. Is Martonelli on medication for it?"

"Why do doctors think pills that separate the mind from the spirit are the only answer for everything wrong with people? Pills only make the problem life long. Discipline and knowledge is the only way to end Rob's problem." Twylah answered in a flat voice.

"Well, medication can help people control their behaviors for everyone's safety, . . . if nothing else." Ryosuke replied cautiously.

Twylah hummed as she considered his answer. "Much sickness has its true beginning in wounded spirit. Modern medicine ignores spirit because it can't be measured with machines. If doctors accepted that everything has a spirit that fights battles to stay pure, people wouldn't get so sick. Fire has medicine, the same as you and I do. My people's idea of medicine gets laughed at by fancy school doctors. When a person's medicine is poisoned by a darker medicine, what some call a demon, the body gets poisoned too. The body weakens along with the spirit. People get very sick this way. Don't get me wrong. Your pills and surgeries are needed too. People also need the Red medicine of my people. Our shamans help to strengthen a person's spirit power so they heal faster. They take the pills and such your kind of medicine gives out while healing. Sick people can only learn things that make a real change in their lives so the sickness doesn't return if they listen to our medicine men and women."

"I'm not sure I understand how this involves Martonelli? If Martonelli has a very extreme mental or emotional problem caused by the hormonal extremes experienced, then pills are probably necessary as a starting place to correct the imbalances, Twylah. Most likely Martonelli should decide which gender is preferable and get the other removed to stabilize completely." Ryosuke replied.

"Pills will destroy Rob's twin spirits. Rob is a man and woman at the same time. Two spirits, not the normal one you and I have. It's a fight of Rob's spirit versus Robi's spirit that causes the trouble. Sam and I know this. When Rob was little, people were cruel because of Robi, Rob's unusual body. The rabid ways sank deep into Rob's half of the twin spirits that Rob, Robi's body houses. Those angry ways are very strong when Rob is a man. As Robi's spirit accepts and loves Sam as a true blood sister, the red spirit shows when she is a woman. I asked the elders how I could help Martonelli, but they refused to talk about it."

"I don't understand how talking to your elders affects Martonelli and Sam's relationship." Ryosuke tried again. "What you describe as two spirits sounds like extreme hormonal shifts in Martonelli's case. It would be hard to cope with that kind of inundation of chemical shifts for anyone. I wonder why Martonelli doesn't have corrective surgery to become a single gender which would ease the excessive physical strain experienced."

"Rob embraces being both man and woman. Rob, Robi could make the changes more bearable by finding an inner harmony. The fool won't do this, so suffers more than necessary. The same is true for Sam's wounded spirit. When she killed those men to survive, the elders said she had never had a place among the tribe to start with because she was white. Why complain when white blood proved true is their view. Her spirit got divided by extreme violence she was too young to face. By saving her own life, she was condemned by those she thought would help her. She still fights that darkness. It is hard to watch her slowly losing to the darkness that taints her spirit."

Etsuya spoke from the doorway. "When did this killing happen, Twylah?"

Twylah looked at him as she answered. "Sam was twelve. Some very bad men shot my best cutting horse out from under her, and attacked while she was winded. They broke her cruelly so she could never have the woman's ceremony. They were hiding on the local tribe's lands. Reservation police should have handled everything. They didn't get called in until much later. Sam almost died because of a sheriff's deputy that broke Federal laws and interfered in reservation business. He caused so much trouble that it still follows Sam to this day."

Ryosuke continued translating Twylah's words for Hiroshi and Kenta. Both men paled as they listened. Etsuya kept the conversation going, "Can you tell us the whole story from the beginning, Twylah?"

With a regal nod, Twylah began speaking as she stared at the fireplace mantle. "Sam came here from that fancy school back East for summer vacation. She saddled up Squirrel to go looking for some of my cattle. I lease grazing rights from the local tribe. We go riding anywhere on their lands without breaking the rules. There are areas where the land forms long cliff faces full of caves all around here. Three men running from the law holed up in one of the deeper caves. They saw Sam on Squirrel and shot my horse. Sam got a dislocated hip when the horse went down. I sent Chappy looking for her when she wasn't home at dark. He found Squirrel's carcass. He told the reservation police and they were calling in trackers from a couple different tribes as well as their own men to search for Sam. Chappy had noticed the different shoe sizes and types so the reservation police knew they were in for a manhunt."

Ryosuke continued to translate as best he could while the older woman spoke in a sing song voice. Etsuya supplied several words that he could not translate comfortably.

"Those bad men got tired of hurting Sam after a time, so tied her up. They weren't very good at tying knots though. She got loose, which is about the only good thing that grandpa of hers ever taught her. They were careless men that left weapons laying around. Sam got her hands on a hunting knife before they knew she was free. She fought, and managed to bring 'em down, but she was weak from lost blood. Sam got to the road that runs just outside the reservation. She flagged down a county deputy thinking she'd get help. She told him she thought she had killed at least one of them, roughly where they were located, and what had happened. The deputy refused to take her to a hospital. Instead he put Sam in handcuffs and took her back to the caves. Then he called in his sheriff friends. After a spell he took her to the juvenile detention center and threw her in a containment cell."

When Twylah hesitated, Ryosuke thought she was finished. Mixed feelings about his previous judgements about Sam's behavior rose. Suddenly with a flash of insight, Ryosuke got a sick suspicion he knew where she had gotten many of her scars. Those ridges were reminders of a savagely fought struggle to survive rape and other brutalities.

"So Sammy chan got medical help at the facility she was taken to, I assume." Etsuya prompted.

"Nope. That fool deputy filed charges against her for murder. Another officer checking on the teenaged prisoners later that night noticed the cement floor under her bench had a dark stain. Sam almost bled out that night. Rope burns, cracked ribs, dislocated hip, and knife wounds were tended at the hospital. The doctors operated to stop all the internal bleeding. Sam's body recovered, but her spirit's still twisted."

"Twylah, did you know several policemen have been harassing Sam at her garage recently?" Etsuya asked.

She closed her eyes. "So, they've started up again. The fat one's the brother of the deputy that nearly killed Sam. The Howell family get taught young to become police. When the younger brother got fired, and charged for his panicked foolishness, his family got bitter. Their grand lawman history was destroyed. They take their bitterness out on Sam every chance they get. The deputy only worked in the field for six weeks before getting fired from the sheriff's department. He had to serve time in prison. That young man just wasn't meant to be a deputy. Some folks can stand the smell of blood, and real bad happenings, but that young man couldn't."

"Why are these other policemen allowed to harass Sam, Twylah? Can't she report them to their superiors?" Etsuya asked while rubbing his chin.

Sammy's icy voice resonated in the room. She spoke in slow, heavily accented Japanese. "You don't understand. Those kēsatsukan like to tear my garage apart because I managed to kill two full grown, hard-bitten felons the system had trouble keeping behind bars. That family hates me because I'm a vicious little savage that got special treatment because I'm a half-breed minority. Like Twylah said, some people can handle blood, guts, and gore, while others can't. If they wanted their two-century long family tradition of being kēsatsukan to stay perfect, they never should've forced that wimp into the ranks."

Ryosuke was startled to see her near the kitchen doorway hugging her arms over her chest as she rubbed them vigorously with her hands. Matsimoto was standing slightly behind her, looking shocked by her declaration. Obviously Sam had returned through the back door. The last he had seen of Matsimoto, he was avidly examining her garage. It seemed they had come into the house together.

Kenta's voice brought Ryosuke's attention back to the group. "Will Etsuya get into trouble since he's working with you, Sammy-chan?"

Sammy walked into the living room and snatched up her long-sleeved flannel jacket, tugging it on as she answered. "There's no reason for them to bother him. Howell's family wants revenge because the laws of this nation went after their baka relative when he screwed up. Judge threw his glorified double murder case out of court because of all the compromised evidence, and the repeated offenses list of the dead men's criminal records. Hell, there were standing warrants out for the arrest of both of them. One was on the FBI's most wanted list. Self defense isn't a crime in this country. Officer Howell not only forgot that, but he did way too many things that were illegal. He was too green an officer to know any better. Personally, sending him to prison was wrong in my opinion. I could tell he was panicking big time that night. Fact is, I felt sorry for him because he damn near fainted just smelling the blood I was losing. The only thing that registered in his head was my saying that I thought I'd killed one of the bastards. Hell, the baka started shaking so hard I'm surprised he didn't shoot himself trying to arrest me."

Matsimoto placed a hand on her shivering shoulder. "You were strong enough to kill adult men when you were a little girl?"

"Did I stutter, or speak English by accident? I said I killed the damned criminals that gang raped me, now didn't I? The survivor didn't get very far before he was picked up the next morning. Kind of hard to get away when you have to hop on one leg."

"Calm down, Sammy-chan. We appreciate your honesty since Etsuya's working at your garage. We're concerned that he might get arrested because of working there."

"Etsuya won't get any flack so long as he keeps his mouth shut whenever they drop by. It's just the Howell family's payback mentality, Ryosuke. They're after me, and nobody else. There's no reason to go after my employees."

"Nani do you mean by payback?" Ryosuke asked as alarm crawled up his spine.

"It's not going to land Etsuya or any of other employee in jail. They simply need to keep their noses out of it. See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil's the name of the game. Etsuya's got nothing to worry about because I already warned him."

"But, if you killed people, naze aren't you in jail?" Matsimoto asked. Ryosuke heard Etsuya quietly translating for Twylah.

Sammy dropped onto her haunches in front of the coffee table. "There were several Federal laws that Howell didn't have memorized. Federal law always overturns state, and local laws in this country. Reservations fall completely under Federal law because they're Annexed Nations, and separate from the state where they reside. You with me so far?"

"Matte. Nations, as in independent countries?"

"You got it. Arizona has all three major Apache Nations, Hopi Nation, Pascua Yaqui Nation, Navaho Nation, Tohono O'Odham Nation, among others. Twylah's ranch borders reservation land. States like Oklahoma got large numbers of different tribes during the same time Arizona became a designated Reservation region. Both states were still listed as territories back then. A few tribes were small enough that they were allowed to remain in their original states, but they got hemmed into much smaller sectors of land after signing treaties with the United States to end the Indian Wars."

Tugging a cigarette from her metal case, she lit it. Etsuya took over Twylah's newly vacated seat. Matsimoto dropped onto the couch which forced Kenta to scoot closer to Hiroshi. Once satisfied that they were all settled, she continued explaining the complexities of the legal system.

"The United States Marshals, or reservation kēsatsukan have to handle all crimes inside reservation borders because they are actually treaty controlled, yet separate, micro-countries. Howell called in county Sheriffs to handle everything. Someone older, with experience showed up and realized they were going inside reservation borders. By then it was way too late for Howell to keep his job. Failing to take me to the hospital when I bleeding all over the damned place landed him in a prison cell on criminal negligence charges. Tribes tend to be unified on the custom of self preservation rights if nothing else. It's about the only thing they don't get into political battles with each other, or with the White Man Government about. Across the board minasan agrees on self defense being an undeniable right."

"Gomen nasai for prying into your life, Sammy-chan. I think we've all learned some pretty extraordinary things about this country tonight. I never knew that American Indians weren't actually Americans." Etsuya spoke up.

"Native Americans are the very first Americans. But, tribes are very diverse in their customs and cultures from the melting pot variety Americans that came here on boats and took over. Elders that run tribal business don't promote fraternizing with outsiders either. They lose too many of the younger generation when they relax closed minded rules. Elders don't want outsiders bringing businesses inside the borders and corrupting their cultures. Most reservations are bitterly poor places. Grudges don't die easily when it comes right down to it. To the tribes, getting a better paycheck means selling out their traditions, values, customs, religious beliefs, and morality. European descendants flat can't understand the completely spiritual mentality of most tribes. Tribes are seen as superstitious, noble savages which the movies continue to feed to the majority of non tribal people. Knowing that outsiders won't step outside of their cultural boxes, the tribes make due with whatever they can get without complaints. Some tribes are searching for answers to the problem of the extreme poverty of their people. A couple have found ways to improve their lives by creating businesses outside reservation boundaries. They employ a large enough number of their own people in one place to prevent corruption of their principle values while working with outsiders that way." Sam's icy tones had taken on an amused thrum.

"Arigato for explaining all of these things to us. It helps us to understand you a little better." Matsimoto spoke with sincerity.

Samantha chuckled. "Well, Indian tribes are something you'll never understand. Hell, I don't even understand Twylah or Otosān half the time, and they're my own family. Some things I get, and others I don't. Some tribal ways are ingrained into my hide, and others I can't stand. If you find me hard to get along with, . . . give up while you're still ahead. The Apache people are extremely hard for outsiders to accept because there is no such thing as compromise in their cultural values."

Twylah ducked her head into the living room. "Wash up and come eat while the foods still hot."

Etsuya smiled with a nod. "We'll be there in a moment, Twylah." He swept his gaze over the room. "Looks like we need to get our hands washed."

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As the Smoke Clears #4 in Rivalry Series