#NAMI COLLECTIVE ISLAND FUND COMPLETED

[hannahbarberra162]

Struck Twice By Lightning, Chapter 10

I love Buggy. I think he'd have Nami / Usopp energy with his BFF (me).

18+ MDNI

On Ao3

A day or so later, there was another island at which the crew wanted to dock. You didn’t understand their sailing path - where were they heading? What was the plan? Shanks said that they were “sailing around,” looking for parties, festivals, and booze. 

“That’s it? You’re just… sailing around ?” you were flabbergasted. 

“What else would we do?” Shanks said, already drinking in the early afternoon on a lounge chair.

“I don’t know - whatever Emperors are supposed to do! Collect money or get more subordinate crews?” You had been so into the grind of daily life for the last ten years the thought of doing nothing forever was completely foreign to you. 

Shanks swirled his drink, and replied “I don’t feel like it.” 

“You don’t feel like it ? Then how do you guys get money?” You were guessing he had no idea.

“I have no idea. Benn gives me some when I ask.” There it was. Just the thought of seeing their accounting books sent a shudder down your spine. You’d done your own finances for your business - it was a huge headache but it was important to keep yourself entrenched in the money side of things.

“Why would I improve upon a perfect system?” Shanks asked, reclining back and crossing his legs. You rolled your eyes - you didn’t have it in you to argue with such idiocy.

“You’re right, O wise Emperor. Why can’t we all just drink alcohol at 1 PM on a Tuesday?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s Monday.”

“It’s not. Speaking of alcohol, the sake is done brewing. The koji we got is better suited to a shorter brew. We can open it tonight if I can get it pasteurized in time.” It wasn’t the best you’d ever made, but it was pretty good for sake made on a pirate ship with makeshift tools. 

“Hm. What should we call it?” Shanks tapped his drink in thought.

“What do you mean we ? I brewed it, I get to name it. I have a whole naming convention system I use.”

Shanks pouted. “But you brewed it with ingredients bought by my money on my ship. That means it’s mostly mine. So I get to.”

“You just said you don’t know how the money flows on your ship! Maybe it was money from Beckman’s private fund and he gets to name it!” 

“No, I’m still his captain. Oh wait, that’s right!” Shanks snapped his fingers “Captain’s orders - I’m naming it!”

“You know that’s not how that works.”

“Sure it is, you’re not a captain so you wouldn’t know.”

“Fine, but I get to veto anything especially egregious.” You crossed your arms.

“Nonsense, all my ideas will be great. How about Shanks’s Huge Di-”

“No.” 

Shanks scoffed at you. “You didn’t let me finish! I was going to say Shanks’s Huge Dinner, a sake meant for drinking with a fine meal.”

“No, you weren’t.” You smiled despite yourself. 

“No, I wasn’t. What about Shanks’s Amazing Co-”

“No.”

“Shanks Gave Me A Screaming Or-”

“No.”

“The Red Force?”

“No.”

“Hey, what's wrong with that one?! That’s the name of the ship!”

“Ah, well, I already have one with that name. That’s the kind in the bottle I gave to Benn when I met up with you.” You muttered it reluctantly, knowing how Shanks would take it. And indeed, Shanks looked like the cat who ate the cream.

“Didn’t you say that it was your best sake? That it won awards?” Shanks was turning the screws and he knew it.

“Yeah, yeah.” You waved him off. “It’s not like the name did any of the work. Besides, I named other brews after other famous ships. I also have Queen Mama Chanter, Moby Dick, Big Top, and a few others. Helps sell the alcohol in different areas.” 

“Awww, Buggy. I can’t believe you named one after him. I thought you didn’t like him.”

“What? No, I love Buggy. We’ve been close friends for years now. I should call him, actually. Let him know I’m here. He’d love to hear all the dirty details.” You’d buried the hatchet with Buggy long ago - it turned out you had a lot in common and enjoyed talking to each other. You had each other’s transponder snails and talked pretty frequently even though he was out in the East Blue. He was a great friend - supportive and caring, and always -  always -  ready to talk shit. 

“And what dirty details are you going to share, exactly?” Shanks raised an eyebrow.

“Just confirm a suspicion or two.” 

“Like what? About my huge dinner?” You laughed. 

“No, a much darker and more closely kept secret…” you leaned over him and put your arms over the top of his chair, blocking out his sunlight. Shanks looked up at you with a furtive glance. You brought your face down to his and whispered into his ear.

“You keep the goatee because you still can’t grow a full beard.” Shanks smiled and snarled, reaching up trying to grab you. You laughed and danced away, evading his arm. He got up to chase you, catching you with ease since you weren’t really trying to get away. He pinned you against the railing of the deck with his body, nuzzling your face with his own. 

“You’ve discovered my truth. What can I do to have you keep my secret?” He spoke softly into your ear, causing you to shiver. His hand was playing with the ends of your hair, lightly pulling.

“Hmm. I can think of a few things. Let’s talk more in your cabin.” Without another word, Shanks swept you up and carried you over his shoulder to the cabin, smacking your ass loudly.

“Hey! Just for that I’m naming it Shanks’s Goatee!” He smacked it again playfully. 

If he got to float around the sea having fun and doing nothing, you didn’t see why you couldn’t do the same, at least for a little while. 

~~~

Later that afternoon, you did decide to call Buggy. You hadn’t called him in a few weeks, due to all the Shanks shenanigans, which was a longer stretch than usual. You went to the cabin and pulled out your transponder snail. It was wearing Buggy’s hat with the hair pulled through the corners, which made you smile. You laid on the bed and dialed his line.

Purupuru purupuru purupuru purupuru

“What’s up toots?” Buggy’s familiar and pleasant tone came through. He was probably reading something on the other end, as the snail's eyes were tracking something.

“Don’t be mad,” you stated. That made the snail look at you directly. 

“Don’t be mad about what? If the Big Top Brew was a flop this time, I don’t care, I'll still buy it all at full price.”

“No, no, nothing like that. I…uh…have some news.”

“What kind of news?” The snail’s eyes narrowed. You led a pretty boring life generally, it was usually Buggy telling you his adventures with his traveling circus.

“Well, uh….” In the background there was a commotion and some of the crew started yelling.

“What was that sound? Where are you?” He sounded concerned. Even though you never needed him in that way, you were sure Buggy would come to your rescue if you ever asked.

“Oh, um…I’m on the Red Force?” you ended the statement as a question.

“What.”

“I’m on the Red Force, with Shanks?” You were expecting a huge outburst from Buggy, since he was usually quick to anger. Instead, the snail sighed dejectedly.

“Why? I thought you wanted to divorce him.” 

“I did - I do. But he wouldn’t grant me one unless I came on board with him for a month.”

“And you agreed? Come on, I thought you were smarter than that.”

“I - I guess not.” You didn’t want to upset Buggy and his opinion meant a lot to you. Despite what people thought about him, he was smart and perceptive. You were taking his words to heart. The snail sighed again.

“I’m not mad, just disappointed. You’re going to get hurt, and it will be worse than last time. Did you have sex with him?”

“.…” You didn’t want to lie to Buggy, but you sensed this was a dangerous path. You absently stroked the snail with a finger.

“Is Shanks with you?” 

“No, but I’m guessing he’s listening in.” 

“Hi Buggy!!!” Shanks yelled happily from outside the cabin. You imagined he was waving as well. 

“Doesn’t matter. I’d say this to his face, too. This won’t end well. Shanks is a man who only wants what he can’t have. Call me when he forgets about you again.” Buggy abruptly hung up the snail. He’d never hung up on you before.

You sat there in stunned silence. You knew Buggy had your best interest at heart. His relationship with Shanks was…complicated, to say the least. But there was no doubt that he knew Shanks well, maybe even better than you. You’d cried to Buggy about Shanks so many times over the years. It would be hard to see a friend make the same mistakes over and over, you thought to yourself. You were still thinking about it when Shanks opened the door to the cabin and leaned against the doorframe.

“Can I come in?” 

“Sure.” You gestured to the couch, where Shanks sat down. He looked pensive but cracked a small smile when he saw the snail. 

“Is that his look now?” He asked, pointing at the snail. The Buggy snail in question had already fallen back asleep wearing the hat.

“Yeah, his hair’s really long.” 

“ ‘S cute.” Shanks looked at you from across the room.

“If you asked me ten years ago, I would have agreed with Buggy.” Shanks was looking directly at your surprised face. “It’s a flaw of mine - he’s not wrong. I used to only want what I couldn’t have and once I got it, it lost its shine. Thrill of the hunt, you know. I had you, treated you the same way. So then I didn’t have you any longer.”

You stayed silent - this was similar to things he’s said before. But he’d never acknowledged that he’d lost interest once you were together for a while. It felt…validating. You were worried that this was all rosy retrospection, that Shanks was romanticizing the past and forgetting what it was really like. 

Shanks continued, “I realized - I never had you. You’re not an object I can hold in my hands and claim. You allowed me to experience a slice of time alongside you. And I was ungrateful. Nothing has ever compared to that period in my life - I think about it all the time. I think about you all the time. I’ve never forgotten. That’s why we’re sailing to nowhere. I don’t need to hunt for the next big thing. I don’t need to collect experiences like notches on a bedpost anymore. None of that matters. I want something meaningful. I want you back.”

You swallowed dryly. You got off the bed and walked over to Shanks sitting on the couch. You were shaken by the depth of his words. You faced him and straddled his lap. You took his face in your hands, searching his eyes with your own. You pressed your forehead against his.

“I still love you too,” you said. You twined your arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

[ask-strawhat-nami-blog]

Franky puts a beli maker he made in the askbox.

[hakuouki-history]

Ezo Republic - 2010 Japanese Wiki Entry

From the Japanese-English Bilingual Corpus of Wikipedia’s Kyoto Articles . This is a translation from the Ezo Republic’s Japanese wiki entry, exactly as it was in 2010. It is taken from HST00891 in that collection.

For information on the database and how to use it, please check this post.

Just like English wikipedia, none of this information is guaranteed to be accurate. It’s not a current version of the Japanese article either.

This article is really interesting but also a real mess of a translation. If you want to read the whole thing and understand some of its mangled English, I’d suggest first reading the entire Ezo Republic article on English Wikipedia for context.

However, if you just want to find out how many votes Hijikata Toshizo got in the Ezo election for president, or the exact structure of the Ezo military (including which battalion Iba Hachirou commanded), scroll down past the confusing bad translations. This article is a treasure.

The translated sentences used in this service contain English contents which are translated by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) from Japanese sentences on Wikipedia. My use of these translated sentences is licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Please refer to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or http://alaginrc.nict.go.jp/WikiCorpus/ for details.

Ezo Republic

The Ezo republic that was built in January 1869 was a familiar name of the Ezo Island Government, a political power belonging to Sabaku-ha which existed for a short time in Ezochi (inhabited area of Ainu) (Hokkaido). It ruined due to the end of the Battle of Hakodate on May 18, 1869.

Summary

In 1867 in the late Edo period, the Edo bakufu ruined due to the Taisei Hokan conducted by the 15th Seii Taishogun, Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA, then through the mediation of Tetsutaro YAMAOKA, the bloodless surrender of Edo Castle was decided at a meeting of Takamori SAIGO, a general officer of the grand government general, and Kaishu KATSU, president of the Tokugawa family's army.

Takeaki ENOMOTO, the Vice-President of Navy, who made sure that Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA left the capital for Shizuoka, went away form Edo for Ezo leading eight military ships on Kaiyomaru as a flagship from off Shinagawa on August 19, 1868, for the purpose of rescue of former retainers of shogun and protection of Hokuhen. On the way, in Sendai, he merged the remnants of Denshutai (Edo shogunate's army) which was put to rout in the Aizu War, Old Shinsengumi and Shogitai, then reached Kitakami and Morimachi (Hokkaido) where he suppressed each region, captured Goryokaku, got the Prefectural Governor, Kinnaru SHIMIZUDANI, on the run and put the whole Ezo Island under his control.

The person who used the term Ezo 'Republic' for the first time was a foreigner. It was Adams, a diplomat of the British Legation, who accompanied the Captain of Anglo-French warship and met ENOMOTO in Nonvember 1868. In the book 'History of Japan' he wrote in 1874, he introduced Hakodate Seicho as a "Republic", and after that, the people who used his expression got the majority. This political power is also just called Hakodate Government, but this naming is not appropriate because it did never aim at a sovereign independence nor defending local authority. ENOMOTO and others did not called it 'Ezo Republic', nor declared it was an independent sovereign state. There is also another theory that states that it should be called 'the territory of a group of surviving retainers of the Ezo Tokugawa Shogun Family', considering their purpose and the circumstances.

It is often said that 'the Enomoto Government' was admitted as 'Authorities De Facto' by foreign countries, and here is the actual background. On November 4, 1868 after the Enomoto's army occupied Hakodate, the British warship Satellite and the French warship Venius entered the Hakodate port together with Adams, Secretary of British Legation, on board, following the directive of Harry Parkes, British Minister. At this time, a salute was fired at Benten Daiba to welcome the both worships, but they ignored it.

On November 5, the British and French consuls stationed on the spot and the captains of the two warships held a meeting, and at this this, the two captains were highly evaluating the Enomoto's Army. After a while, Naoyuki NAGAI, a Hakodate bugyo administering the Hakodate port, came over and asked them to wait for a while until Enomoto came back from his business trip to Matsumae. NAGAI had a lot of experience of diplomacy, and his attitude gave a good impression to not only the British and French consuls but also the captains of the British and French warships. During the meeting, Enomoto Fleet's flagship Kaiyomaru fired a twenty-one-gun salute to welcome the visit of guests. The American, Russian and Prussian consuls looked at this and made a courtesy call on Kaiyomaru without going to the British and French warships.

On November 8, Enomoto met the British and French consuls and the captains of the British and French warships. The claims of the British and French side were severe, but he could do nothing but accept it taking into account of the public law. After the meeting, Enomoto demanded a memorandom, and the captains of British and French warships accepted it. A few days later, they sent Enomoto a memorandam shown below.

We maintain neutrarity about this domestic issue. We do not approve any privileges as a 'warring group'. We approve it as Authorities De Facto.

That means, it was actually nothing but a mamorandam made freely by the captains of the British and French warshipsl, who had a good impression on Enomoto and ignored the intention of their countries (although the use of the terms as above was carefully avoided in the directive made by the British Minister Harry Parkes.) An elementary mistake was made despite the presence of Secretary Adams.

But, once Enomoto read it, he was delighted saying 'This is a useful description. We can take it in any way'. He thought about this memorandam as follows. In the diplomatic terms, 'strict neutrarity' can be used only in case of 'outside neutrarity', and in case of 'domestic issue', it means 'nonintervention of domestic affairs' (that means, it is strange to say 'strict neutrarity' for 'domestic affairs').

A 'warring group' can be used in case of attempting separation and independence from Japan or overthrow of the government, therefore, any use of the force for a demand such as taking away someone's land is not serious and is not applable (Enomoto had no intention to attempt 'separation and independence' from Japan nor 'overthrow of the government', so his group did not need to be certified as a 'warring group'.)

Authorities De Facto' means the one which has completed occupation, settled down sufficiently and nearly formed a country. In this case, it had not got there yet, so probably they used these terms because of not getting used to the terms and their good impression on Hakodate that made them careless about it.

The first 'public bid' in Japan took place in order to organize Ezo Island Government.

Furthermore, it was separated into two groups, 'Army group' and 'Navy group', and the 'Army group' was further divided into small groups such as 'Shogitai' and 'Sho-shogitai (small Shogitai)', therefore, the entire army was not a monolithic organization. Because of this, the first 'public bid' in Japan was decided to take place modeling after the oversea political system such as America. The persons who took part in the vote were the leaders (commissioned officers) and the higher ranking officials of the Old Bakufu Deserters' Army, and noncomissioned officers and soldiers were excluded, and of course, Hakodate residents did not take part in it, neither.

On December 15, 1868, the first 'bid (election)' of Japan took place when the New Government was established.

The details of 856 votes at total were as follows. 

Takeaki ENOMOTO : 156 Taro MATSUDAIRA : 120 Naoyuki NAGAI : 116 Keisuke OTORI : 86 Shirojiro MATSUOKA : 82 Toshizo HIJIKATA : 73 Sadaaki MATSUDAIRA : 55 Saemon KASUGA : 43 Emon SEKIHIRO : 38 Makino Bingo No Kami : 35 Katsukiyo ITAKURA : 26 Nagamichi OGASAWARA : 25 Michiaki ENOMOTO (Tsushima) : 1

As it is shown, Takeaki ENOMOTO obtained the largest number of votes. However, it was less than 20% of the entire votes, not a majority, and the votes were dispersed to each group. Referring to the results of the 'bid', primary cabinet members were selected as follows.

President, Takeaki ENOMOTO Vice-President, Taro MATSUDAIRA Navy Bugyo, Ikunosuke ARAI Army Bugyo, Keisuke OTORI Army Bugyo Nami, Toshizo HIJIKATA Hakodate Bugyo, Naoyuki NAGAI Hakodate Bugyo Nami, Saburosuke NAKAJIMA Esashi Bugyo, Shirojiro MATSUOKA Esashi Bugyo Nami, Masanoshin KOSUGI Matsumae Bugyo, Katsutaro HITOMI Reclamation Bugyo, Tarozaemon SAWA Accounting Bugyo, Michiaki ENOMOTO (Tsushima) Accounting Bugyo, Rokushiro KAWAMURA Head of warship, Gengo KAGA Head of infantry, Sakuzaemon FURUYA Trial Chief of Army and Navy, Shigekata TAKENAKA Trial Chief of Army and Navy, Nobuo IMAI

Not all of the candidates who gained the votes could become the cabinet members, and the poll was not entirely reflected on the selection. Thus, they could make a form of government, but the financial situtation deteriorated, and the war funds they had raised were running short. So, Michiaki ENOMOTO, Accounting Bugyo who had ever been in charge of fund raising at the Old Bakufu, and Taro MATSUDAIRA, Vice-President, counterfeited money for circulation, and they became notorious for 'Deserter's money' for this reason,

Furthermore, they even did bad things, such as demanding unreasonable commissions to stall keepers at fairs, pestering hush money in exchange of tolerating gambles, imposing tax on prostitutes and collecting passage fee from women and children at the gates set up in the city, all of which provoked residents' antipathy. When the financial situation finally got to the deadend, the leaders of the Old Bakufu planned to collect money and valuables from wealthy merchants in Hakodate, but Toshizo HIJIKATA was strongly againt it, and the plan was turned down. However, residents' antipathy to the Old Bakufu was increasing, and some of them joined the 'Yuguntai', a guerrilla standing on the new government side, or worked as spies for the new government army.

The Old Bakufu was separated into Army and Navy taking the organization as follows.

For your information, rejiman ("列士満" (レジマン)) means 'Regiment' in French, and Japanese phonetic-equivalent characters were used.

Army

(Army Bugyo: Keisuke OTORI, Army Bugyo Nami: Toshizo HIJIKATA)

The First Regiment: the First Battalion (Mitsutaro TAKIGAWA, four platoons, Troop of Denshu commissioned officers, Shoshogi-tai, Shinboku-tai), the Second Battalion (Hachiro IBA, seven platoons, Commando unit, Shinsengumi, Shogitai).

The Second Regiment (Koshichiro HONDA): the First Battalion (Shojiro OKAWA, four platoons, Denshu Infantry), the Second Battalion (Shirojiro MATSUOKA, five platoons, Ichiren-tai).

The Third Regiment: the First Battalion (Saemon KASUGA, four platoons, Kasuga-tai), the Second Battalion (Juntaro HOSHI, four platoons, Gakuhei-tai).

The Fourth Regiment (Sakuzaemon FURUYA): the First Battalion (Kakushinsai NAGAI, five platoons, Shoho-tai), the Second Battalion (Shintaro AMANO, five platoons, Shoto-tai).

Artillery unit: Hiroemon SEKI Engineering Brigade: Shinnosuke KOSUGE, Yushiro YOSHIZAWA Mechanic: Ichinosuke MIYASHIGE Hospital service: Ryoun TAKAMATSU

Navy (Navy Bugyo: Ikunosuke ARAI)

Kaiyomaru (Tarozaemon SAWA, sank off Esashi in November 1868) Kaitenmaru (Gengo KOKA, later Seikichi NEZU, self-burned at the Hakodate port in May 1869) Takaomaru (Kenzo OGASAWARA, self-burned at the Kunohe port in March 1869) Banryumaru (Bankichi MATSUOKA, self-burned at the Hakodate port in May 1869) Chiyogatamaru (Hirosaku MORIMOTO, aground at the Hakodate port in April 1869) Shinsokumaru (Shinzo NISHIKAWA, sank off Esashi in November 1868) Transport Ship : Oemaru, Chogeimaru, Hoomaru, Nagasakimaru, Mikahomaru, Kaishunmaru

About ten soldiers including Assistant Chief Jules Brunet, Captain of Artillery Unit, deserted French Military Advisory Team which was giving a military drill to Bakufu Denshutai (Edo shogunate's army) at Ota Jinya (regional government office) in Yokohama City from 1867, and abandoned the French national army to join the Ezo Government. Jules Brunet was appointed as assistant of Keisuke OTORI Army Bugyo, and four 'brigades' were led by french commanders, Arthur Fortant, Jean Marlin, Andre Cazeneuve and François Bouffier. The French soldiers who got involved escaped to a French ship being at anchor off Hakodate calling for protection before the fall of the Goryokaku.

For communication to the French soldiers, Masachika TAJIMA who had learned French at Yokohama Futsugo Denshu Sho (French school under direct control of Bakufu) and others were in charge of interpreters. Keisuke OTORI left favorable comments in his Nanki Kiko, saying, Brunet is 'still young but quite smart', Cazeneuve is 'very brave and often showed a great performance in the military advance to Matsumae'.