shousetsubangbang

[shousetsubangbang]

Signups are now open for the April 28 issue; the text deadline for the issue is Tuesday, April 15 and the art deadline is Saturday, April 26.

Please reply to this post if you plan to submit a story or artwork for this issue, indicating whether you are interested in contributing to the issue as an author and/or artist, and whether or not you are looking for a collaborative partner. As always, you don’t have to sign up to participate, and you’re not creating an unbreakable contract by signing up, but��it’s always a good idea!

This issue’s theme is Quantum Entanglement: Our April issue is all about bringing things together, no matter how far apart they may be.

SPECIAL NOTE: Obviously there are a number of ways to interpret this theme, especially along isekai lines, and we’re happy to see all of them. However, for this issue, we’d especially like to encourage submissions that are “entangled” with other SSBB stories and art. One way to do this is to come back to older pieces: retelling a story from a different character’s point of view, writing a story based on a standalone illustration, or creating a radically different version of a story or illustration that already exists in our archives. Another way is to team up with other creators for this issue on completely new pieces and either collaborate on a single submission or create two (or more!) submissions that work as counterparts to one another. As always, stories have to stand alone and should not necessitate someone’s having read something else before — which should also mean that stories submitted together should be able to be read in any order and must be complete stories with a self-contained beginning, middle, and end. Note that this is not about continuing someone else’s story without their permission, much less just plain rewriting it. While you are welcome to use someone else’s work as a starting point, your finished product should be substantially different, yet still recognizably tied to the original. Works inspired by other SSBB pieces will have linked credit to their inspiration(s).

Quick Answers: Interested in participating but don’t know where to start? Bring your quick questions here!

Submission Guidelines for Fiction: All the specifics for text submissions. READ BEFORE SUBMITTING.

Submission Guidelines for Art: Whether you’re illustrating or submitting a standalone piece, here’s what you need to know.

Find the Shousetsu Bang*Bang community on Discord! Join us on our very own server for discussions, inspiration, shop talk, silliness, and other behind-the-scenes fun.

For related nonsense, announcements, and various goings-on, find us at our main website, Bluesky, Mastodon, Plurk, and Tumblr. (Other accounts in less-used places include Reddit, DeviantArt, Archive of Our Own, and Goodreads!) We have pages at Smashwords and Itch.io where you can download ebook versions of past issues for free.

Receive reminders and deadlines by email by signing up for our newsletter! We promise: no spam, only porn.

To make sure you don’t miss a single deadline, click here for our Google calendar with the dates pre-loaded.

[shousetsubangbang]

Take our new issue with you wherever you go! Download the ebook version -- for free, as always! -- at https://books2read.com/u/4E0nNl or https://s2b2.itch.io/bang-bang-no-113.

Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

cover by floremipsum_

~*~

Working From Home, by Domashita Romero (地下ロメロ)

collateral damage, by sen no akumu (先の悪夢)

Pyretic Victory, by Togi Kayako (土宜草子)

The Mill Girls Case, by Scops

The Aftermath of Overtime, by JJ

Keep On, by Iron Eater *

Wonder Women in Schenectady, by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel

A gloved hand against his heart, by Shrimp King

The Day After the 655th Time Through the Time Loop, by shukyou (主教) *

*illustrated

~*~

February 24, 2025

Dear Candidate,

We are pleased to offer you the position of reader at Shousetsu Bang*Bang.

We know this is a highly sought-after position, one only made available every other month, and after an extensive search, we believe that your skills make you the perfect fit for this job. You are cleared to start immediately, with an annual salary of zero dollars and a generous benefits package that includes full access to our extensive back catalog (total value zero dollars).

Please find attached the new issue, which will serve as your contract. Should you choose to accept, please click on the links above and dive right in. In lieu of a signature, we ask that you leave comments of support and appreciation for the creators, whose tireless efforts are the reason this queer webzine project is still going strong all the way into our twenty-first year of publication.

We are confident that you will find this offer exciting, rewarding, titillating, salacious, romantic, and, of course, very very queer. We here at Shousetsu Bang*Bang look forward to working with you for many years to come.

Sincerely, Your Editors

—

(For summaries, creators’ notes, and more, we would usually tell you to see this issue’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. In the interim, however, please visit the relevant Google Doc of contributor commentary for similar content.)

[shousetsubangbang]

Signups are now open for the April 28 issue; the text deadline for the issue is Tuesday, April 15 and the art deadline is Saturday, April 26.

Please reply to this post if you plan to submit a story or artwork for this issue, indicating whether you are interested in contributing to the issue as an author and/or artist, and whether or not you are looking for a collaborative partner. As always, you don’t have to sign up to participate, and you’re not creating an unbreakable contract by signing up, but it’s always a good idea!

This issue’s theme is Quantum Entanglement: Our April issue is all about bringing things together, no matter how far apart they may be.

SPECIAL NOTE: Obviously there are a number of ways to interpret this theme, especially along isekai lines, and we’re happy to see all of them. However, for this issue, we’d especially like to encourage submissions that are “entangled” with other SSBB stories and art. One way to do this is to come back to older pieces: retelling a story from a different character’s point of view, writing a story based on a standalone illustration, or creating a radically different version of a story or illustration that already exists in our archives. Another way is to team up with other creators for this issue on completely new pieces and either collaborate on a single submission or create two (or more!) submissions that work as counterparts to one another. As always, stories have to stand alone and should not necessitate someone’s having read something else before — which should also mean that stories submitted together should be able to be read in any order and must be complete stories with a self-contained beginning, middle, and end. Note that this is not about continuing someone else’s story without their permission, much less just plain rewriting it. While you are welcome to use someone else’s work as a starting point, your finished product should be substantially different, yet still recognizably tied to the original. Works inspired by other SSBB pieces will have linked credit to their inspiration(s).

Quick Answers: Interested in participating but don’t know where to start? Bring your quick questions here!

Submission Guidelines for Fiction: All the specifics for text submissions. READ BEFORE SUBMITTING.

Submission Guidelines for Art: Whether you’re illustrating or submitting a standalone piece, here’s what you need to know.

Find the Shousetsu Bang*Bang community on Discord! Join us on our very own server for discussions, inspiration, shop talk, silliness, and other behind-the-scenes fun.

For related nonsense, announcements, and various goings-on, find us at our main website, Bluesky, Mastodon, Plurk, and Tumblr. (Other accounts in less-used places include Reddit, DeviantArt, Archive of Our Own, and Goodreads!) We have pages at Smashwords and Itch.io where you can download ebook versions of past issues for free.

Receive reminders and deadlines by email by signing up for our newsletter! We promise: no spam, only porn.

To make sure you don’t miss a single deadline, click here for our Google calendar with the dates pre-loaded.

[shousetsubangbang]

Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

cover by floremipsum_

~*~

Working From Home, by Domashita Romero (地下ロメロ)

collateral damage, by sen no akumu (先の悪夢)

Pyretic Victory, by Togi Kayako (土宜草子)

The Mill Girls Case, by Scops

The Aftermath of Overtime, by JJ

Keep On, by Iron Eater *

Wonder Women in Schenectady, by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel

A gloved hand against his heart, by Shrimp King

The Day After the 655th Time Through the Time Loop, by shukyou (主教) *

*illustrated

~*~

February 24, 2025

Dear Candidate,

We are pleased to offer you the position of reader at Shousetsu Bang*Bang.

We know this is a highly sought-after position, one only made available every other month, and after an extensive search, we believe that your skills make you the perfect fit for this job. You are cleared to start immediately, with an annual salary of zero dollars and a generous benefits package that includes full access to our extensive back catalog (total value zero dollars).

Please find attached the new issue, which will serve as your contract. Should you choose to accept, please click on the links above and dive right in. In lieu of a signature, we ask that you leave comments of support and appreciation for the creators, whose tireless efforts are the reason this queer webzine project is still going strong all the way into our twenty-first year of publication.

We are confident that you will find this offer exciting, rewarding, titillating, salacious, romantic, and, of course, very very queer. We here at Shousetsu Bang*Bang look forward to working with you for many years to come.

Sincerely, Your Editors

—

(For summaries, creators’ notes, and more, we would usually tell you to see this issue’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. In the interim, however, please visit the relevant Google Doc of contributor commentary for similar content.)

[shousetsubangbang]

Signups are now open for the April 28 issue; the text deadline for the issue is Tuesday, April 15 and the art deadline is Saturday, April 26.

Please reply to this post if you plan to submit a story or artwork for this issue, indicating whether you are interested in contributing to the issue as an author and/or artist, and whether or not you are looking for a collaborative partner. As always, you don’t have to sign up to participate, and you’re not creating an unbreakable contract by signing up, but it’s always a good idea!

This issue’s theme is Quantum Entanglement: Our April issue is all about bringing things together, no matter how far apart they may be.

SPECIAL NOTE: Obviously there are a number of ways to interpret this theme, especially along isekai lines, and we’re happy to see all of them. However, for this issue, we’d especially like to encourage submissions that are “entangled” with other SSBB stories and art. One way to do this is to come back to older pieces: retelling a story from a different character’s point of view, writing a story based on a standalone illustration, or creating a radically different version of a story or illustration that already exists in our archives. Another way is to team up with other creators for this issue on completely new pieces and either collaborate on a single submission or create two (or more!) submissions that work as counterparts to one another. As always, stories have to stand alone and should not necessitate someone’s having read something else before — which should also mean that stories submitted together should be able to be read in any order and must be complete stories with a self-contained beginning, middle, and end. Note that this is not about continuing someone else’s story without their permission, much less just plain rewriting it. While you are welcome to use someone else’s work as a starting point, your finished product should be substantially different, yet still recognizably tied to the original. Works inspired by other SSBB pieces will have linked credit to their inspiration(s).

Quick Answers: Interested in participating but don’t know where to start? Bring your quick questions here!

Submission Guidelines for Fiction: All the specifics for text submissions. READ BEFORE SUBMITTING.

Submission Guidelines for Art: Whether you’re illustrating or submitting a standalone piece, here’s what you need to know.

Find the Shousetsu Bang*Bang community on Discord! Join us on our very own server for discussions, inspiration, shop talk, silliness, and other behind-the-scenes fun.

For related nonsense, announcements, and various goings-on, find us at our main website, Bluesky, Mastodon, Plurk, and Tumblr. (Other accounts in less-used places include Reddit, DeviantArt, Archive of Our Own, and Goodreads!) We have pages at Smashwords and Itch.io where you can download ebook versions of past issues for free.

Receive reminders and deadlines by email by signing up for our newsletter! We promise: no spam, only porn.

To make sure you don’t miss a single deadline, click here for our Google calendar with the dates pre-loaded.

[shousetsubangbang]

make original world and character content. take canon media and turn them into ocs. take established characters and call them yours well probably don't do that last one that's illegal unless it's some megacompany like marvel then take wolverine and call him bob. still illegal but! not immoral

[shousetsubangbang]

by Togi Kayako

Working for what the locals usually called a “supervillain” wasn’t a bad gig, mostly. As long as the boss stuck more to theft and property damage than out-and-out murder, Frank figured it was only slightly more dangerous than your average retail job. Job security was good. The boss always needed extra bodies to get materials, clean the lab, or help with experiments. It wasn’t glamorous, but it paid the bills and Frank was fine getting his hands dirty.

The best perk, in his opinion (which he’d never voice in a million years), was that the boss was hot. Frank had grown up on the same comics and Saturday morning cartoons as anybody, but he’d never loved the heroes.

He’d favored the villains in their lab coats and glasses, standing against a backdrop of glowing tanks and bubbling beakers. Young Frank had leaned in to catch every last word of the monologues and soak up all the echoing laughter. Given his dating history, it had clearly fried something critical in his brain during formative years.

Dr. Reeve didn’t laugh too much — he was more of a smirk guy — but everything else he had in spades. His lab coats were spotless, buttoned all the way up to leave only a peek of dark tie and crisp shirt collar from the clothes underneath. Close-toed boots, always, and polished to a perfect shine. Reading glasses for desk work and safety goggles for lab work.

The hench got all the same gear, as required by their union contract nowadays. Early on, when both Frank and the boss had barely been more than teenagers, they’d played it fast and loose with regards to safety. With age, and a fair number of scarring lab accidents, came wisdom.

Frank refocused on the stretch of sterile white hallway he was meant to be patrolling. Night shift wasn’t usually busy, only a hero break-in once a month or so, but that was no reason to get careless. The boss tolerated a lot of things, but going against orders and doing sloppy work weren’t on the list.

A door banged open around the corner, and Frank drew his gun. It was strictly non-lethal — gun and bullets both designed by the boss himself — but it packed enough punch to knock even the average hero on their ass. Bastards were way too fond of getting back up again, in Frank’s opinion, but that was what more bullets, backup, and emergency alarms were for.

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel

Miao-Fei loved skin, and Eva was showing plenty of it at the Halloween party where they first met. Miao-Fei hadn’t packed a costume – she had come to town as an instructor and artist for a three-day percussion clinic – but a friendly local band director had invited her to the shindig after the second evening concert, so she’d stopped at a drugstore on the way to the gathering, picking up a pointy hat and broomstick-shaped earrings to add to her standard all-black concert outfit. 

Her attempt to honor the occasion had earned an approving smile from the party’s host, who thrust cat-ear headbands, ratty boas, and other questionable accessories at guests who hadn’t made any effort whatsoever, punctuated by loud reprimands in the vein of “Our new friend Miao-Fei doesn’t even live here, and she did better than you!” Perched on the counter of the game room bar, Eva was above reproach, clad in a red and gold bustier and the star-spangled spankies of Wonder Woman. 

When Miao-Fei boarded her plane at Albany International Airport two days later, her carry-on included the cuffs from Eva’s outfit, as a souvenir of the two nights they’d spent together. 

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by Domashita Romero

“Yeah. Yeah absolutely. No, haha, nothing really. Oh, same, same.” Benny kept up the conversational white noise that was necessary at the beginning of a video call, answering questions about how his weekend went while his screen filled up with more squares. He’d go on mute as soon as they were filled up and the actual important people had come on the call. 

This meeting couldn’t quite have been an email, but Benny didn’t really need to be in it. His boss had been on some real optics shit lately, representing the team in cross-functional actions, camera on and all the great burdens that could be asked of a remote worker. Benny didn’t mind it that much; small price to pay for not having to put on real pants most days of the week. 

The meeting started in earnest and Benny mostly zoned out through the early stages of the agenda that truly had nothing to do with him. Something with email sends? Really not his business. He was just a code guy who could manage to be personable with non-engineers. 

A few minutes into the meeting he heard a little rapping at the door, followed by it opening a crack. “You good?” came Zeb’s voice. 

“Yeah, got a background on,” Benny said without moving his mouth too much. Today he was working from a beautiful virtual solarium, greenery hanging all around him. He really appreciated those things, because it allowed him to keep his office a goddamn mess. 

Zeb slipped into the room behind him and deposited a cup of coffee on Benny’s desk. Benny took his hand before it could escape to give it an appreciative squeeze. Zeb lingered behind him, eyes on his screen. “Muted?” he said softly. 

“Mm-hm,” Benny said, and smiled as Zeb’s hand snuck around to pet the back of his neck, invisible behind the virtual background. “If I have to say a single word this whole thing I’ll be amazed.” Benny already had the habit of staring at his own window ever video call like a vain cockatiel, and he did it now to make sure he wasn’t being too obvious.

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by Togi Kayako

Working for what the locals usually called a “supervillain” wasn’t a bad gig, mostly. As long as the boss stuck more to theft and property damage than out-and-out murder, Frank figured it was only slightly more dangerous than your average retail job. Job security was good. The boss always needed extra bodies to get materials, clean the lab, or help with experiments. It wasn’t glamorous, but it paid the bills and Frank was fine getting his hands dirty.

The best perk, in his opinion (which he’d never voice in a million years), was that the boss was hot. Frank had grown up on the same comics and Saturday morning cartoons as anybody, but he’d never loved the heroes.

He’d favored the villains in their lab coats and glasses, standing against a backdrop of glowing tanks and bubbling beakers. Young Frank had leaned in to catch every last word of the monologues and soak up all the echoing laughter. Given his dating history, it had clearly fried something critical in his brain during formative years.

Dr. Reeve didn’t laugh too much — he was more of a smirk guy — but everything else he had in spades. His lab coats were spotless, buttoned all the way up to leave only a peek of dark tie and crisp shirt collar from the clothes underneath. Close-toed boots, always, and polished to a perfect shine. Reading glasses for desk work and safety goggles for lab work.

The hench got all the same gear, as required by their union contract nowadays. Early on, when both Frank and the boss had barely been more than teenagers, they’d played it fast and loose with regards to safety. With age, and a fair number of scarring lab accidents, came wisdom.

Frank refocused on the stretch of sterile white hallway he was meant to be patrolling. Night shift wasn’t usually busy, only a hero break-in once a month or so, but that was no reason to get careless. The boss tolerated a lot of things, but going against orders and doing sloppy work weren’t on the list.

A door banged open around the corner, and Frank drew his gun. It was strictly non-lethal — gun and bullets both designed by the boss himself — but it packed enough punch to knock even the average hero on their ass. Bastards were way too fond of getting back up again, in Frank’s opinion, but that was what more bullets, backup, and emergency alarms were for.

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

cover by floremipsum_

~*~

Working From Home, by Domashita Romero (地下ロメロ)

collateral damage, by sen no akumu (先の悪夢)

Pyretic Victory, by Togi Kayako (土宜草子)

The Mill Girls Case, by Scops

The Aftermath of Overtime, by JJ

Keep On, by Iron Eater *

Wonder Women in Schenectady, by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel

A gloved hand against his heart, by Shrimp King

The Day After the 655th Time Through the Time Loop, by shukyou (主教) *

*illustrated

~*~

February 24, 2025

Dear Candidate,

We are pleased to offer you the position of reader at Shousetsu Bang*Bang.

We know this is a highly sought-after position, one only made available every other month, and after an extensive search, we believe that your skills make you the perfect fit for this job. You are cleared to start immediately, with an annual salary of zero dollars and a generous benefits package that includes full access to our extensive back catalog (total value zero dollars).

Please find attached the new issue, which will serve as your contract. Should you choose to accept, please click on the links above and dive right in. In lieu of a signature, we ask that you leave comments of support and appreciation for the creators, whose tireless efforts are the reason this queer webzine project is still going strong all the way into our twenty-first year of publication.

We are confident that you will find this offer exciting, rewarding, titillating, salacious, romantic, and, of course, very very queer. We here at Shousetsu Bang*Bang look forward to working with you for many years to come.

Sincerely, Your Editors

—

(For summaries, creators’ notes, and more, we would usually tell you to see this issue’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. In the interim, however, please visit the relevant Google Doc of contributor commentary for similar content.)

[shousetsubangbang]

by floremipsum_

---

See both versions of the cover in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by shukyou illustrated by 2013

Manny woke and something was different. For the first time in a painfully long time, something was different. It was Tuesday.

He knew this because it said so on the clock beside the bed, and also it wasn’t his clock. His clock had bright red numbers and no date. He felt like he had its bright and boxy 6:08 burned into his retinas. These numbers were a gentler blue, and its digits were a somewhat more graceful 7:14. The display also told him the temperature outside was 23 degrees F (-5 C), the sunrise would be at 7:22, and, maybe most importantly, it was Tuesday.

Manny just lay there for a minute, trying to catch his breath. He didn’t know what to do with a Tuesday. It had been so long.

Other things were different, too. The sheets were soft flannel against his skin, which was especially noticeable because he wasn’t wearing any clothes. There was someone in the bed on his other side, and that someone was starting to stir. Manny held his breath and cautiously rolled over.

It was Emmett. The bed was Emmett’s, and so was the clock, and so was the room, and so was the come still probably inside of him, because he had said to hell with condoms, because why the hell would someone bother with condoms when the day wasn’t going to matter? Not in a million years had he shut his eyes expecting that the next time he’d wake up, it wouldn’t be to 6:08 and his boxers and college t-shirt and his own bed and his own room and Monday all over again.

Oh, and it was his birthday, finally. Happy birthday to him.

Emmett stirred a little, rubbing his hand across his face. He had the most darling face, the most kissable lips in the world. Manny had gotten very good at knowing just how Emmett liked those lips kissed. He opened his pretty brown eyes, blinked away the confusion of waking, and — oh thank God — smiled. “Hey,” he said sleepily, his hand for Manny’s face.

It was all Manny could do not to bolt like a startled deer. He let out a long, shaky exhale. “I, um.” He swallowed hard. “It’s Tuesday.”

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by Shrimp King

“Harder, harder!” Pav panted, feeling his knees press into the soft mattress beneath him. He felt the quick slap of leather against the right side of his ass and hissed with delight. Moments later, the left side of his ass stung with pain instead, and before he knew it, he was melting into the pleasure and pulling against his restraints so hard that he worried he might end up breaking yet another headboard.

In the midst of his enjoyment, a clawed hand gripped his dark hair, pulling his head back. He expected to see the dominatrix that he had so lovingly invited to his chambers – or her protégé that had been assisting her in tormenting him – but instead came face to face with someone he very much did not want to see. Pav wrinkled his nose and swallowed the moan that had been trying to leave him. 

“My prince, your father has requested your presence in his studio,” Adalia chastised him. “In fact, he requested your presence an hour ago.”

Pav did not respond, but instead tried to sink even further into the mattress. His shaggy hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, and he tried to gather his words into something that was more creative than ‘fuck you.’ He was having a lot of trouble figuring that one out at the moment.

“I was busy,” Pav finally said, pushing himself up. The dominatrix offered him his shirt while her sub gathered his trousers, but Pav didn’t let her dress him. Instead, he twisted around on the bed to face Adalia, his erect cock pointing at her like an accusation.

“You call this busy?” Adalia said, gesturing at his companions.  “You were barely broken in, lad. Don’t whine.” Adalia reached forward and wrapped her hands around Pav’s cock, a curtain of her white hair falling over her shoulder while she leaned forward. “I’ll take care of this if I must, but your tardiness is beneath you.” Adalia began to stroke her hand up and down Pav’s length, her pace ruthless. She tossed her head to the side, ignoring another moan from Pav as she worked him over. There was a fiendish vigor in her gaze, and Pav bucked his hips helplessly at her touch.

“Leave us now. He can dress himself,” Adalia commanded, not even bothering to look behind her at his departing company.

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel

Miao-Fei loved skin, and Eva was showing plenty of it at the Halloween party where they first met. Miao-Fei hadn’t packed a costume – she had come to town as an instructor and artist for a three-day percussion clinic – but a friendly local band director had invited her to the shindig after the second evening concert, so she’d stopped at a drugstore on the way to the gathering, picking up a pointy hat and broomstick-shaped earrings to add to her standard all-black concert outfit. 

Her attempt to honor the occasion had earned an approving smile from the party’s host, who thrust cat-ear headbands, ratty boas, and other questionable accessories at guests who hadn’t made any effort whatsoever, punctuated by loud reprimands in the vein of “Our new friend Miao-Fei doesn’t even live here, and she did better than you!” Perched on the counter of the game room bar, Eva was above reproach, clad in a red and gold bustier and the star-spangled spankies of Wonder Woman. 

When Miao-Fei boarded her plane at Albany International Airport two days later, her carry-on included the cuffs from Eva’s outfit, as a souvenir of the two nights they’d spent together. 

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by Iron Eater

Any city of sufficient size was going to have its share of industry bars, and for working stiffs like Rosie who drove box trucks all day, their industry bar was Izzy’s. Rosie was too young to have known it at the height of its shittiness, back when more of the yellowing photos on the walls were bright and new; he was old enough to remember when they’d swapped out the massive block CRTs for flatscreens, though, to say nothing of noticing the dozens of other ways the place had and hadn’t changed over the years. The bartenders knew his preferences, could tell when he wanted to chat and when he needed to stew in the corner and let the world flow around him. He’d practically become part of the furniture himself. All this to say, when a new face showed up in the crowd one evening, he was primed to notice.

The face was new at Izzy’s, anyway. Rosie would recognize that neck tattoo anywhere.

“Hey, Ken!” he shouted over the roar of the game. “Over here!”

Ken, who was still in the process of zipping down his jumpsuit to air himself out, startled at the sound of Rosie’s voice, but he recovered quickly and waved back in acknowledgment. He grabbed a longneck at the bar before pushing his way through the busy room to sit down next to Rosie in a seat by the wall. “Hey! Lucas Rosenberg, right?” he asked.

Nobody called Rosie Lucas unless they were related to him or were trying to sell him car insurance. “Just Rosie. Goes with the hair, doesn’t it?” said Rosie with a chuckle. Where Ken’s hair was kept in a very short cut—he got used to it in prison and couldn’t go back, or so he’d claimed during their first meeting—Rosie’s went down past his shoulders, and it had been kept dyed a delicate rose pink since he’d been old enough to start making that decision for himself. The triangle patch sewn on his work jacket was the same color. Company truckers could look all kinds of ways so long as they did the job right.

“Rosie, Rosie.” Ken tapped his temple and clicked his tongue. “Got it.” He’d been like that at the job fair where they’d met, too, all effortlessly casual charisma, and when later on he’d gotten around to admitting that he’d done time for fraud on the back of multiple confidence scams, Rosie had been too charmed to be too suspicious. Why doubt someone just trying to get their shit back in order? Life had simply gone better for Rosie since he’d stopped worrying so much and let himself go with the flow. Sometimes parts of said flow had a rap sheet. It’d be fine.

---

Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five

[shousetsubangbang]

by JJ

A familiar band being gently wrapped around his neck from behind made Leo freeze. He hadn’t even heard the door open, though now he actually wasn’t sure if he’d shut it. Was this going to be part of some kind of punishment or reward? He couldn’t remember doing anything recently that’d have earned him either.

Hands as familiar as the collar finished adjusting it, and Leo risked looking over his shoulder as his chair was dragged backwards. He blinked a few times, briefly wondering just how long he’d been staring at his laptop without a break. Very briefly, though, as he took in Daniel standing behind him. His heart tripped over itself.

Daniel didn’t look angry per se, but he didn’t look happy either, expression settled into careful, practiced neutrality as he stared down at Leo. “Sir?” Leo swallowed. He’d intended to say more, to maybe try to ask a coherent question, but that single word was all he could manage.

“Tell me,” Daniel said softly, taking Leo’s chin in hand. His grip wasn’t painful, but it was firm enough that Leo got the message: Don’t move. “What time is it?” 

Leo blinked. He’d gotten off work at four, but he’d had to stay behind to talk to the director, so he probably hadn’t gotten home before five. He’d started on coursework once he got home, and…wait, had he even eaten dinner? Was he supposed to have made dinner? “L-late?” he guessed.

“That’s right,” Daniel confirmed. “So imagine my surprise when I came home to you holed up in your little office, glued to your computer, late on a Thursday evening.”

The blood rushed from Leo’s face. Thursday. Oh no. “I’m so sorry, let me–”

“No, no. If this,” Daniel gestured towards Leo’s laptop with his free hand, “is so important, you’re not leaving this room till you finish it. And neither am I.” Daniel guided him to face the screen once more before releasing him.

“I-sir, I-I didn’t–” he tried, and Daniel dismissively waved his hand.

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Read the rest of this story in the full issue, Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue 113: Nine to Five