[Ultraman] Could Carmeara Become Trigger's Beloved White Moonlight?

Kusama Saori, former industry-leading producer, now the one left holding the bag on a massive disaster of a project.

The TV station and her company handed her a failing project: Ultraman Trigger.

Fed up, she went to a bar to drink herself into a stupor. Things got even worse when she met a host who clung to her and wouldn't let go.

Kusama Saori took advantage of being drunk to flirt with the host, then made her escape.

The “host,” Manaka Kengo, had just transmigrated and hadn't figured out what was going on yet. He was left completely bewildered.

Manaka Kengo woke up from a deep sleep inside the Eternity Core, and the whole world had changed.

There were no monsters, no Dark Giants, and no GUTS.

He was a rookie who was about to audition for a tokusatsu series called Ultraman Trigger.

Manaka Kengo: “Wait, aren't I Trigger?”

The night before the audition, he ran into a drunk girl at a bar.

It was his old nemesis, Carmeara, who had died long ago, the one he had missed through countless sleepless nights.

But she looked at him as if he were a stranger.

*

Kusama Saori never expected to mistake the lead actor of the tokusatsu series for a host and flirt with him.

She deeply regretted it and decided to avoid him if she could, or pretend nothing had happened.

But the next day, Manaka Kengo showed up at her door asking to share her apartment.

No matter what excuse she gave or how unreasonable her conditions were, she couldn't get rid of him.

Manaka Kengo sat dejectedly in the corner outside her door, like a little dog abandoned by its owner.

Kusama Saori couldn't bear it. “All right, then you can…”

Before she could finish, Manaka Kengo had already moved his luggage into her home.

Kusama Saori: “…”

Kusama Saori was convinced he was a rookie trying to take a shortcut, swallowing his pride to get his hands on the connections she could offer.

But Manaka Kengo's behavior grew stranger by the day, and his kindness toward her knew no bounds.

She kept wondering if he might… like her.

Everyone on the crew: “Obviously!”

But one drunken night shattered all her illusions and fantasies.

Manaka Kengo, drunk, pressed his lips to hers. “I finally found you.”

At last, she understood. He was searching for the shadow of someone else in her.

Kusama Saori couldn't help laughing.

I thought you were a potential boyfriend, but you thought I was your beloved's stand-in?

So it really was all in my head!

*

After they got together, Kusama Saori would crook a finger, and Manaka Kengo would walk over with a beaming smile. “What is it, Saori?”

Kusama Saori teased him. “Do you like me or Carmeara?”

Manaka Kengo looked confused. “Aren't you both you?”

Kusama Saori: “No. Pick one.”

Manaka Kengo summoned all the emotional intelligence he had. “Your name is Carmeara, and your name is Kusama Saori. You're you, and I love all of you. No matter which world you're in, whether you're in darkness or light.”

Kusama Saori: “...Then why didn't you say that earlier?”

Manaka Kengo froze, opened his mouth, then pressed a hand to his forehead. “I said it the very first time I saw you. You said I was pretending to be the victim and harassing you.”

Kusama Saori: “…”

Come to think of it, he did.

Reader's guide:

Carmeara/Kengo pairing, both are their original selves, one-on-one, happy ending. This isn't a purely modern entertainment-industry alternate universe; the story will explain all the connections. Tentatively planned to go behind the paywall in the late stages or after completion.

Carmeara's human form has the same name as in my previous book, since she's the same person in a different story. It feels odd to write her with a different name, so I'm keeping it.

The story involves the Japanese entertainment industry. Just have fun with it. You can imagine the real actors in the roles or not, either is fine.

Comments are open. As usual, other works will also make appearances.

My next book will be Did Lord Belial Fall for His Human Host? I've already drafted 50,000 words. I'll start it as soon as this one is finished.

After Belial learned that his two friends, Ken and Marie, had gotten together, he nearly smashed the Land of Light.

The result was that he fell gravely injured to Earth in the Showa era, forced to share a body with a broke, talkative girl who had nothing but sweet words to say.

Belial: “Ken, just you wait!”

The girl sharing his body couldn't do anything but praise people.

“Lord Belial, you're so handsome!”

“Lord Belial, you're so strong!”

“Lord Belial, you look good even when you're expressionless!”

“Amazing! You can glow! You're way brighter than the lightbulb I found before!”

Belial: “...Is there something wrong with this woman?”

Later, he realized that this affliction was contagious.

*

Takanashi Mei found an Ultraman. He was her first real friend, even if he did have a terrible temper.

She worked hard to earn money, helping stray animals and orphans.

She did her best to live well, smiling at everyone and never holding back her praise, but people still disliked her, and she couldn't make a single friend.

All because she had the worst luck imaginable.

She could spot a five-yen coin on the road, only to fall into a hole the very next second.

She was incredibly unlucky, and she brought bad luck to those around her, too. No one liked her.

Takanashi Mei: “Just smile, and it'll be fine. I'm not a yen coin, so not everyone has to like me.”

Belial: “Making absolutely everyone hate you is a talent in itself.”

Takanashi Mei: “Wow, Lord Belial, you're praising me! You make it sound like I'm really impressive.”

Belial: “? I knew there was something wrong with this woman!”

*

Belial treated Takanashi Mei like a power bank. He found that his recovery sped up whenever Mei used his powers.

Once he realized this, he pointed at the “old friend's son,” Taro, who was fighting a monster. “See him? I'm even stronger than he is. If you listen to me, you can do the same.”

Takanashi Mei's eyes lit up. “Really?”

Belial started teaching Mei how to use his powers. On the surface, they were saving Earth, but in truth, he wanted to make things difficult for Taro.

Whenever he looked at Taro, he got annoyed thinking about how he was the son of Ken and Marie. The more annoyed Belial got, the more he picked on his human host, who had nothing going for her.

Belial complained, “You have nothing going for you. Your figure's average, and you don't have much of a womanly figure!”

Takanashi Mei soothed him. “It's okay, Lord Belial. You'll have kids of your own someday!”

Belial: “Is that the point?”

Takanashi Mei: “If it isn't, what is?”

But at some point, without him noticing…

He began to care about her smile, her warmth, and how pale she looked after using her powers.

Then one night, he suddenly realized he wanted to kiss this unlucky, useless girl with an average figure and an especially sweet smile.

Belial: “I must be going crazy…”

And then he really did go crazy.

Takanashi Mei collapsed in front of him, her body dissolving into starlight.

Belial: “…”

*

Belial had never realized how difficult it was to make a woman understand that he liked her.

If the woman in question was Mei, though, it made perfect sense.

Whenever he tried to express his feelings, she'd say, “I know, Lord Belial. I'm your very best friend!”

He'd give Mei the finger-heart, and she'd give him a thumbs-up. They were always talking past each other, never able to get a whole sentence through.

He got so many of those “Takanashi Mei's Best Friend” cards that they nearly covered the floor of the entire Land of Light. Belial became so sensitive that just hearing the word “friend” set him off.

Damn being your best friend! I want to be your man!

Pairing: Belial before his corruption, whisked away

Theme: My love for you will cross time and space, and never cease