A Deal With A She Devil

Shinichi Kagawa was a broke, unemployed loser who didn’t even have one hundred yen in his pocket. Yet for whatever reason, he had somehow ended up in a “business meeting” at a fancy yakiniku restaurant with a government agent.

“Come on, aren’t you hungry?” The government agent took perfectly cooked cuts of beef off the grill and loaded them onto Shinichi’s plate. “And you oughta drink a bit too!” She pushed the beer she ordered for him closer.

“Yeah… Thanks…” He dipped a piece into some sauce before eating it. It was delicious, tastier than anything he had eaten in months, but he couldn’t get over how bizarre this situation was.

Shinichi had lost his job a while back and was never able to get a new one. He had used up all his savings and was about to get kicked out of his apartment. That was until Masumi Akagi arrived at his door. She was a middle-aged woman who claimed to work for the government and wanted him to join some kind of program, taking him to this restaurant to work out all the details.

After a sip of his beer, Shinichi asked, “So what exactly is this program you mentioned?”

Akagi smirked. “I picked you up, a poor, starving boy and took you to this beautiful restaurant, and all you want to talk about is business?”

“What? Do you think I’m a ravenous dog or something?” Shinichi crossed his arms. “You told me I could make ¥400,000 a month if I enrolled in this program.” He put his arm on the table. “I just want to know what it is.”

“Oh, it’s…” Akagi winced slightly at the question. “It’s complicated…”

“How so?”

“Well… It’s pretty much like an experiment… Basically, you just have to live with a roommate for a period of time.”

“That’s it?” Shinichi was skeptical.

But Akagi’s smile was glowing. “Yup. Don’t worry, we can work all that out later. First thing’s first, however…” She pulled out her cellphone and tapped on it for a few seconds. “I need you to fill out a little survey. Here.” Akagi handed him the device. “I’ve already got it all set up.”

With a slight grimace, he took the phone. “What’s this even for?”

“Just gathering some general data.” She took a sip from her drink. “Don’t worry about it.”

Shinichi took another drink of his beer to match Akagi, a habit of his from his salaryman days, as he started going through the questions.

Do you value stability or adventure more?

When you’re upset, how do you act?

Do you prefer brutal honesty or gentle diplomacy?

So far, it just seemed to be some kind of personality test. However, the questions soon started to take a different turn.

How often do you require contact from a partner?

What makes you feel the most loved?

How do you feel about public displays of affection?

These relationship questions felt like they came out of nowhere, and they were a bit irksome, but Shinichi still answered them. However, the next section was what really bothered him.

How many romantic partners have you had?

How many sexual partners have you had?

He was already getting annoyed, but these questions made him scowl. It almost felt like the test itself was mocking him. Begrudgingly, he typed in “1” and “0” respectively.

***

The survey ended up taking a long time, nearly an hour. By the end, he had subconsciously finished off three beers and was starting to get drunk.

But Akagi only smirked as she saw his signs of intoxication.

Everything was going according to plan.

“Thank you very much, Shinichi.” She took back the phone and started looking through the results. “Very interesting…” Her face lit up as she saw one certain detail. “I think you’ll do very well…”

“Hm…?” Shinichi hadn’t heard her properly.

“Anyway, it’s time we make this official.” Akagi quickly cleared out a space on the table and pulled a contract out of her leather briefcase and laid it out flat. She then clicked a pen and handed it to Shinichi. “Sign right here, please.”

Shinichi rubbed his eyes. “What’s this about again?”

“Just the program I told you about. All you have to do is live with someone for a while, do a couple other small things, and then you’ll get ¥400,000 a month!”

“I-is…” Shinichi blinked at her as he took the pen. “Is that all…?” He was a lot more agreeable when he was drunk.

“Of course.” Akagi gave a bright but predatory smile as she placed her finger at the bottom of the last page. “Just sign right here.”

His vision blurring, Shinichi focused as best as he could and signed his name.

***

Shinichi shot awake as he heard a pounding on his door. “Damn it…” he muttered to himself as he was hit with a splitting headache.

But the knocking didn’t care about that.

Shinichi climbed out of bed. He was still dressed from last night.

Just as he was about to reach the door, the knocking got even louder.

“I’m coming!” he yelled out before unlocking the door and swinging it open.

“Ah, good. You’re still alive.” It was Akagi.

“Yeah…” He rubbed his eyes, frustrated.

“Anyway, you better get ready. We need to get going.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you remember? You need to head over to your new living space.”

Shinichi closed his eyes. He did remember her mentioning that last night. “Ugh, fine…”

“All right. Just take a shower, brush your teeth, put on something nice, and then we’ll go. Don’t worry about bringing anything else. We’ll call in some movers to take the rest of your stuff there later.”

“Okay…”

Shinichi invited Akagi in while he got ready. His apartment might’ve been an old, shabby dump, but it had been his home for some time. It was surreal to be leaving, especially under such strange circumstances.

And he didn’t even know exactly what those circumstances were.

***

“Here we are.” Akagi had led Shinichi to a clean, modern apartment building. A far cry from his former residence.

“So this is where I’ll be staying? I assume the ‘roommate’ is already inside?”

“You got it!” Akagi pressed her finger down on the doorbell.

Some shuffling was audible from inside, and after a few moments, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a woman.

The first thing Shinichi saw was the ashen pallor of her face, the prominent gray bags under her eyes, and the long, messy black hair that draped over both features.

As the door opened further, he was able to see the rest of her. Her outfit, consisting of a black sweater and a long black skirt, almost made her look like an occultist or something. She was also taller than average, being almost as tall as Shinichi at about 5'4".

“H-hello…” she murmured, her eyes shifting to the side.

“It’s good to see you.” Akagi turned to Shinichi. “Shinichi, this is Shuko Ku–” She cut herself off. “I mean… Shuko Kagawa.”

Shuko blushed slightly and fidgeted.

“Kagawa? What a coincidence, we have the same family name.”

As if she was trying to hide, Shuko pulled the door towards her.

But Akagi only smirked. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a coincidence.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Shinichi asked.

“It’s standard practice for a woman to take her husband’s name, isn’t it?”

Shinichi only looked at her confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Do I really need to spell it out?” Akagi walked over and put her hands on Shuko’s shoulders, causing the girl to flinch. “This is your new wife, Shinichi.”

All he could do was stare blankly until it finally landed. Shinichi’s eyes widened as he yelled, “What!?”