Akane Tsuda is the protagonist of the story, a twenty-eight-year-old office lady working in the planning department of a major electronics manufacturer that develops household robots. At her workplace, she presents a facade of being highly competent, organized, and hardworking, earning her the respect of her colleagues and even a small, unnoticed fanbase among them. She is described as having a cooperative and diligent personality on the job.

This public image, however, stands in stark contrast to her private life. At home, Akane is a complete mess; her living space is notoriously untidy, and she is incapable of performing basic housekeeping tasks. She also has a drinking habit and behaves poorly when intoxicated. It is during one of her drunken, lonely nights that she impulsively goes online with the intention of hiring a maid. After searching the internet, she ends up purchasing an android named Nadeshiko from a shopping site, a decision she immediately regrets upon sobering up.

The android that arrives is no ordinary household robot but a highly illegal, adult-use romance model, often called a sexaroid, whose very possession is a serious crime. This puts Akane in a difficult position; she cannot return Nadeshiko because the seller has vanished, nor can she dispose of her or tell anyone for fear of being treated as a criminal and losing her job. Initially, she refuses to register herself as Nadeshiko's official owner, but her indecisive and easily-influenced nature leads her to continue living with the android anyway.

Despite her initial shock and mortification, Akane is not particularly resistant to the sexual relationship that develops with Nadeshiko. In fact, she is shown to be interested and, over time, even begins to initiate encounters herself. Nadeshiko is consistently the more aggressive partner, playfully teasing and pursuing Akane, who often finds herself flustered and overwhelmed in a submissive role. While she is generally oblivious to the romantic interest others have in her, including a childhood friend named Jun, her feelings for Nadeshiko gradually evolve. As they live together, Akane starts to recognize Nadeshiko as someone important to her, moving beyond seeing her as a mere purchase. Her coworkers, particularly a junior named Ito-san who deeply admires her, remain unaware of her secret life, and Akane goes to great lengths to keep it that way, fearing the professional consequences.