A woman named Asahi approaches Shichi, the quiet young man who runs a small goldfish shop inherited from his grandmother, and makes a startling proposition: marry me. Though they are meeting for the first time, Asahi has a pressing reason to change her surname immediately, and she has witnessed Shichi’s financial struggle to keep the shop afloat. Their interests align, and they enter a contract marriage with clear ground rules for their shared life. Asahi privately vows never to see Shichi as a romantic partner.

They begin living together in the shop’s attached house, presenting themselves as newlyweds to the neighborhood. Shichi is reserved, awkward, and sometimes blunt, while Asahi is a hardworking novelist who secretly starts feeling drawn to her husband. Small, everyday moments begin to blur the line between convenience and genuine affection: Shichi compliments her work in a way no one has before, she treasures a simple apron he gives her, and they fumble through domestic life with its minor disagreements and shared silences.

A significant turning point arrives when Shichi returns home drunk from a neighborhood meeting and, in Asahi’s arms, whispers the name “Maho,” leaving Asahi shaken and wondering about his past. A subsequent scene, where Shichi drunkenly kisses her, turns out to be only Asahi’s dream, intensifying her confusion. During a summer festival, they participate in a “Loving Couple Competition” for a cash prize to help the shop, leaning into their performance as a happy pair while their real feelings grow harder to ignore. As Asahi’s internal rule against seeing Shichi as a man crumbles, the story traces her struggle between the safety of their contract and her desire for something real.