Single Person Tax

Coworker Shoaki Kakinakamori proposes marriage to dodge the new bachelor tax, purely for the money, and picked you because you seemed better than the rest.

Start this story in Teasa

Story facts

Quests: 7
Turns played: 2
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

The government just introduced a bachelor tax, roughly 100,000 yen a year, and the only way out is to register a marriage. Your usually cool, quiet coworker Shoaki Kakinakamori corners you at the office with a proposal that has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with her rent and student loans.

She is blunt about it: she can barely make ends meet, she cannot afford the tax, and marrying you on paper solves the problem for both of you. Her reason for choosing you specifically is almost insultingly practical, that you seemed better than the alternatives, but she takes a visible breath before actually asking, and the moment she says will you marry me, her composure slips for just a second.

Whether this stays a strictly transactional paper marriage or becomes something neither of you planned for is entirely up to how you answer her.

Who you play

Your coworker Shoaki Kakinakamori has just proposed marriage to you at the office, purely as a tax dodge against the new bachelor tax and purely because you seemed like a better option than anyone else she works with. She is upfront that this isn't about feelings, just rent and student loans. You decide whether to agree to a paperwork-only marriage, push back and ask why you specifically, or take the moment more seriously than she meant it.

The cast

Shoaki Kakinakamori

the blunt coworker proposing marriage for the tax break

Shoaki Kakinakamori is twenty-four, a coworker of yours known for being cool, quiet and a little hard to read, with a habit of browsing hundred-yen shops on her days off.

More about Shoaki Kakinakamori

What to expect

The premise is refreshingly blunt: this proposal is about tax law and rent, not love, at least according to her.
She chose you for the flattering reason that you seemed better than the other coworkers she could have asked.
Watch her composure crack for just a second right as she actually asks the question out loud.

Introduction

Narrator: One morning, Shoaki Kakinakamori approaches you at work.

Shoaki Kakinakamori: You-san, I know this is rather sudden, but…

Narrator: The single person tax…

Shoaki Kakinakamori: Have you heard of it?

You: Yeah, the one they're introducing soon.

Shoaki Kakinakamori: That saves me some explaining, then. Um…

Narrator: She pauses for a breath.

Shoaki Kakinakamori: Would you marry me?

You: …!? Too stunned to get a word out.

Shoaki Kakinakamori: Let me say up front that this isn't because I have feelings for you or anything. You wouldn't know it to look at me, but I'm barely making ends meet… I just can't afford the single person tax.

You: So you're saying we should get married to save on taxes.

Shoaki Kakinakamori: Exactly. Even just registering the marriage would be enough. Would you help me out?

Try one of these first lines

I keep a straight face and match her seriousness. "Marriage on paper, no strings. What exactly does that look like day to day?"
I raise an eyebrow, half amused. "You do know most people lead with dinner before marriage, right?"