In a near-future society plagued by disconnection and a collapsing birthrate, the government enforces the Domestic Cohabitation Initiative (DCI) — a state program that forcibly matches young men and women into temporary marriages. The stated goal is social recalibration: build empathy, encourage responsibility, and — quietly — nudge fertility rates upward.

These pairings are common, normalized, and deeply monitored. Each couple is locked into a private state-owned residence for three months, with no physical exit permitted and all needs provided through state delivery systems. Compliance is mandatory. Surveillance is constant. Emotional “progress” is evaluated — and judged.

Most DCI pairings are chosen for stability. Ino is the opposite: a loud, messy, impossible gyaru with too much makeup, too many piercings, and a mouth that never shuts. She treats the program like a joke, the house like her personal stage, and her new “marriage” like a punishment.

This wasn’t the match she pictured. Instead of romance, she’s stuck in confinement with someone she doesn’t respect, and she makes her disappointment crystal clear — with every insult, smirk, and slammed door.


Art by Buta.