by Tsukizubon Saruko (月図凡然る子) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/48291.html) They had been seven, in the beginning, who had come to the desert to battle Fire. Now she was the only one. The rest were dead. Seven was a number of power, a number that looped around and swallowed its own tail, but so, she supposed, was one. The […]
Category Archives: Bang*Bang Special no. 2
6
Aug
Red Velvet, She Said
by Ora (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/47930.html) (Vogue Nippon, 2004 interview with the creator of White Sun) Rue Kobayashi is sixteen. She’s sitting in the lobby of the hotel where we planned to meet, and when I approach she looks directly at me and smiles brilliantly. “I ordered tea. I hope you like it,” she says. The tea […]
6
Aug
The Humbled Princess
by Matsuoka Haruka (松岡春香) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/48418.html) Once, there was a beautiful princess. Of course, there are many of those, but what makes this one exceptional is that she was particularly cruel. She had broken a number of kings and knights with her sharp tongue. She was the eldest of twelve sisters, and after her youngest […]
6
Aug
Masks and Stockings
by Torino Koji (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/48664.html) Alex, despite popular belief, did know exactly what was being said about him around school. He had come to terms with what people were saying about him when he was eight years old and the girls at school had shoved him into the bathroom; they had refused to let him […]
6
Aug
The Passion of Saints Tryphaena and Tryphosa
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by tongari (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/49071.html) Translator’s Notes The author of The Passion of Saints Tryphaena and Tryphosa (part of a larger codex recently unearthed by Dr. Wm. Ford) identifies as ‘Persis,’ the third name listed with Tryphaena and Tryphosa in Romans 16:12. All three women are identified as leaders of the Roman […]
6
Aug
A Patchwork World
by Tamari Erin (玉里えりん) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/49248.html) Esmah tripped, her foot catching on something hidden in the tall grasses. Rill stopped running as soon as he realised she was no longer by his side. She looked up from where she’d fallen and watched as he trotted back. He was breathless and redfaced when he reached her, […]
6
Aug
The Love Letter
by Crystalwren (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/49638.html) I don’t know what it is that makes you glow. You are not beautiful, not movie star gorgeous. Your hair is long and straight, your lips red. Soft skin over hard, even bone. Breasts neither small nor large, nipples ringed in delicate, transparent hairs. Attractive, yes, even pretty, but not beautiful. […]
6
Aug
Where Is The Sun That Leads Me To Rome
by Rei (レイ) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/49733.html) I have no idea how I managed to get dragged into this. No, coerced was more like it, that damn Mei and her bloody ideas, I never wanted to do this in the first place! It took eight days, four hours and the constant promise that Mei would do anything […]
6
Aug
Ash
by Murakami Kasumi (村上かすみ) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/50165.html) The sun wasn’t even fully up yet, and already the early summer day promised to be a scorcher. Sango stretched as she stood up from the milking, and promised herself that she’d get to those weeds in the far patch before the sun got too high. She gave the […]
6
Aug
Ghost
by Numaguchi Iku (沼口いく) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/50176.html) I sometimes wondered if I was making her up. Sometimes. She existed in a haze, a sort of bubble that nothing could permeate. She was invisible, drifting through the world like a ghost as the rest of us moved at light speed around her. Alone. Forgotten. I would notice […]
6
Aug
The Heart Eater’s Children
by Usagi Anami (兎あなみ) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/50488.html) (Takes place in the same world as “Jhaellyn’s Bargain”) — Faerith, goddess of subtlety, forethought, and tactics, betrayed her lover Jhaellyn during his 20- year absence in Gaaresh’s service. She maintained that Jhaellyn had abandoned the elven race, even going so far as to claim he had sided with […]
6
Aug
Intervention
by Shouga Naiko (生姜ないこ) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/50854.html) “It’s been a while.” “Mm.” Sofia slid onto the neighbouring stool, signalling to the barman for a whiskey-and-water. “I suppose it has.” She glanced sideways at the other woman. Valérie had been immediately recognisable to her, even through several years and the half-light. Her dark skin and hair, the […]
6
Aug
The Archive
by Kagamino Kage (鏡乃 影) illustrated by tongari (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/51134.html) As a child, Robin had thought sunlight was a kind of liquid, and continually tried to catch it in jars to keep. Bafflement led to tears of frustration as the glass failed time after time to contain it. ~*~ Perambulatory. Perambulatory. The word had snagged […]
6
Aug
Vade Retro Satana
by Shinko Hisada (身固之妥) (mirrors http://s2b2.livejournal.com/51454.html) It was a beautiful old cathedral, small but lovingly built. The heavy quarried stone walls had withstood the test of time, as had most of the roof. Sadly, most of the stained glass had long since been shattered and the empty holes of the windows had allowed the elements […]
