by Tenno Ai (天之 愛) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/25281.html) Theirs is a holy war, or so it’s said. In truth, Raphael has never associated holiness or warfare with his life, right from the moment he walked into the monastery to begin his training to now, in Rome on an assignment that could have him promoted to Bishop, […]
Category Archives: Bang*Bang no. 7
Sword
by Matsuo Akane (松雄あかね) illustrated by indelicateink (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/25563.html) The sword was heavy in his hand this late in the day from the endless thrusts and parries, the stepping and shuffling, the blocks and attacks of his daily practice. His muscles burned, feeling bigger and denser than they’d been when he had picked up his […]
Most Likely Loving You
by HOP (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/25692.html) Connor hated him. No, he didn’t just hate him. He hated him with a passion, loathed him with his innermost core of being until all his thoughts were filled with images of him and his irritatingly silky golden locks and his annoyingly perceptive chocolate brown eyes and his aggravatingly perfect lips […]
Getaway
by Seihaku Perrito (精薄perrito) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/26015.html) Essua threw the last of the discreet, black bags on to the back of the truck. His hotel-issued black jeans were too hot in the humid Costa Rican night. His white polo, sporting the hotel’s insignia on the left breast, had been professionally pressed when he put it on […]
Stained Glass Windows
by Chiame Ayame (血雨菖蒲) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/26307.html) It wasn’t so much the thought of eternal paradise or fear of punishment that had sent him to church, as the solitude and serenity of the empty chapel. When he was five, he’d snuck into the one at his church after everyone else had gone home and his parents […]
Queen of Hearts
by Akane Arisu (赤音アリス) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/26816.html) I’m the Queen of Hearts…bitch. I hate little girls. I hate my husband. I hate cats that freakin’ smile too much. I hate you. I love myself. He’s so violent, so vain. So beautiful and dangerous, slick and gorgeous, an ideal that watches from the bushes, waiting for you […]
Exchange for Money
by Kisarazu Megumi (如月図恵美) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/27081.html) There is always at least one day in a person’s life that can change it all forever. You can wait for it, hope for it, but it will always come unexpectedly. Jonathan was a twenty-four-year old Caucasian male. His hair was blond and cut similar to Leonardo DiCaprio’s hair […]
The Soulsinger
by Kuroi Fuji (九呂井ふじ) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/27432.html) “…Singers were welcomed by the sea-going, because having the Song aboard kept the spiritwrack away. It almost guaranteed that the biggest problems of a voyage would be mundane: contrary winds or unpredictable currents, rather than plagues of nightmares, food inexplicably spoiling in a day, ropes suddenly snapping, or wood […]
Following Darkness Like a Dream
by Elenna Lapin (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/27788.html) Admiral Oberon Gruenwald tapped the fingers of his left hand on his desk. “Where the hell is that shuttle?” he said to himself. “It should have been here an hour ago.” He clicked a few buttons on his computer and called up the civilian shuttle schedule. “Delayed. Why am I […]
Take a Picture
by Shinju Yuri (真珠百合) illustrated by calintz (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/28113.html) The author offers her apologies and notes that this makes at least as much sense as half the doujinshi she’s read. Richard Mapleton did shoots with ball-jointed dolls, by preference; he said the dolls pretty much expressed everything he wanted to say about the state of […]
The Soul of Jonathan
by shukyou (主教) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/28246.html) Stephen stepped forward into the chapel, his bare feet cold against the stone floor, his bare head chilled in the Easter pre-morning. Sunrise would come soon, and with it all the Paschal celebrations – but now it was yet night, the proverbial darkness before the coming dawn, and Stephen stepped […]
Reacquaintance
by Syouryuushi (翔琉子) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/28547.html) When Connell returned from his travels to become the Adair household’s librarian, he had not expected the young master to request tutoring in geography. As he accepted the task, the only thought that ran over and over in his head was, “Damn.” Unlike the tutors for various other rich families, […]
Tracks
by Mitsui Matsuri (蜜井茉莉) illustrated by redplasticglass (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/28710.html) First week of November, the previous year Ise wiped sweat and tears from his face, ignoring the sidelong glances. A mud-splattered young man slumped against a brightly animated ad probably wasn’t too uncommon a sight in Yokohama — but he wasn’t drunk (yet), or homeless (yet), […]
Abuse of Authority
by Shinko Hisada (身固之妥) illustrated by Ravyn (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/29048.html) In a country that had been almost constantly at war for more than ten years, a commander who could win battles and keep winning them was a treasure more precious than gold or jewels. When he could do it without excessive loss of troops, he was […]