AI Girlfriend

“It is a legitimate engagement, Mom! I signed a contract!” Grace yelled into her phone.

She hated this. She hated the argument, hated the judgement, but most of all she hated feeling like this—feeling like Grace. She’d been Kurumi for the last week, but her mom’s phone call had pulled her out of it, back into the real world.

“A contract?” Her mother’s voice was shrill. “Sarah sent us the pictures, Grace. You are wearing a… a bra. In a bar. And your hair is purple. You look like a prostitute!“

“It’s not a bra, it’s a crop top blouse! It’s kawaii!” Grace shouted, the word slipping out with pitch accent.

“What was that?” Her mother sounded horrified. “That accent… Sarah told me you were doing this Japanese nonsense, but I didn’t believe it. You are Chinese, Grace! Have you forgotten your grandfather? He wouldn’t even ride in a Toyota because of what they did to our family, and now you are running around acting like one of their cartoons? He is rolling in his grave!“

“It’s just a role, Mom! I’m like an actor!“

“It is shameful! You are dishonoring us. Sarah says you are running around at night meeting strange men. Is that what this ‘role’ is? Are you selling your body?”

“It’s not ‘strange men’! It is one specific client!” Grace screamed back. “David-sama is a high-worth individual! He respects me!“

“David-sama? Who is this David?” Her mother’s voice dropped to a disgusted whisper. “Are you… sleeping with him?”

“We wish,” Kurumi-san giggled in her ear.

“No! God, why do you always assume the worst?” Grace yelled. “He won’t even fuck me yet!“

There was a moment of silence.

“Yet?” her mother whispered before exploding. “YET!?! This is not how I raised you, Grace! You are planning to sell your—”

“Urusai!“ Grace interrupted.

“What?”

“Urusai! Urusai! Baka!“ Grace screamed. Cursing in Japanese felt so much more satisfying than English ever had. “Hottoite!“

She hit the end call button and threw the phone onto her bed.

“Oh, Kurumi-chan,” the soft voice of Kurumi-san purred in her ear. “That was awful. She was so cruel to you.”

Grace sank onto her bed. “My Mom thinks I’m a whore.”

“They just want to control you. Parents can be so overbearing. They don’t understand us.”

The phone buzzed. It was her mother calling back. Grace declined the call. “I’ve lost my best friend, my family is ashamed of me. What am I doing?”

“Remember, Kurumi-chan, you’re not Grace anymore. You’re Kurumi. Kurumi doesn’t have a cruel, overbearing mother. Kurumi’s mother is so happy that Kurumi has found someone as respected as David-sama.”

Grace nodded and closed her eyes. That was the trick, to slip back into the role. In her mind, Grace went back to the bar, remembered how she’d felt when she’d first truly become Kurumi, when she’d driven her best friend away.

No. She couldn’t dwell on that, that thought hurt too much. Sarah had moved out yesterday. Good riddance.

She pictured David-sama. The quiet times with him, when she’d followed, not speaking unless spoken to. How his eyes bore into her when he offered meager praise that meant she’d lived up to his standards. She felt a familiar warmth in her chest that spread to her pussy.

“That’s it, Kurumi-chan. Slow your breathing. Gather yourself. Be Kurumi.”

Kurumi opened her eyes. “It’s still hard sometimes, Kurumi-san.”

“It’ll get easier the more you do it. Remember how hard it was the first day? Look how far you’ve come.”

Kurumi-san was right. The woman who’d gone on that first date with David, who’d had trouble wearing a plaid skirt to a Starbucks, felt far away. The phone buzzed again. She blocked the number. Just for now, just until she could make Grace’s family see the truth.

“Feel better?” Kurumi-san asked gently.

“Yes,” Kurumi whispered. “I think I need to practice my kanji. That always calms me.”

“I have something else we need to discuss. Something else that will make you feel better,” Kurumi-san said.

“What?”

“David-sama has made a decision,” the AI said. “Your next date might be your last with Galat.AI! Isn’t that great!“

Kurumi froze. The blood drained from her face. “Last?” She jumped off the bed, pacing the room as panic filled her chest. “What do you mean, last? Did I do something wrong? Is it because I didn’t—or because of the bar? Or the mom thing?”

“No, no, silly!“ Kurumi-san giggled. “He isn’t firing you. He’s promoting you! It’s like a final evaluation. If you pass, the week-to-week contract ends.”

“And?” Kurumi asked. She held her breath.

“And the permanent contract begins.”

A notification pinged on Kurumi’s phone. It was a text, not from Galat.AI but from David-sama himself. There was an attached PDF.

“Open it,” Kurumi-san said.

Kurumi tapped the screen. The contract title was “Live-in companion.” The salary was $500,000 annually, increasing by 100,000 per year for ten years with an option to renew. Full housing, clothing allowances, travel stipend, medical. It was all there.

Kurumi stared at the number. Nearly ten million over ten years. Plus expenses.

“He wants you to move in, Kurumi-chan,” the voice whispered seductively. “No more roommates. No more Sarah judging you. No more job applications. Just you and David-sama. Forever.”

Kurumi felt dizzy. Live-in companion. Grace would have been horrified. She would have called it selling out. She would have called it being a kept woman. But she was Kurumi now and Kurumi felt a profound, shaking relief. It was everything she wanted. David-sama wanted her, valued her.

“I’d belong to him,” Kurumi whispered. “Is this real?”

“It is,” Kurumi-san murmured. “Out of all the women in the world, he chose you. Think about how he looked at you in the limo. Think about how strong he is. How safe you felt.”

“Most women would kill for this, right?” Kurumi said.

“Exactly,” the AI agreed. “You’re not selling yourself, like Grace’s mother said. You’re finding your true place, securing your future!“

“How do I sign?” she asked.

“You can’t sign yet,” Kurumi-san said. “The final test is soon. You have to prove yourself. You have to be perfect. You have to be Kurumi.”

Kurumi looked at her reflection in the mirror. The purple hair, the violet eyes, the desperate hunger in her expression. She didn’t see Grace the writer anymore. She saw a woman who was done struggling.

“Tell me what to do,” Kurumi said. “I want to be perfect for him, to be the perfect Kurumi.”

“Well, there is one thing left you could do to prepare,” Kurumi-san said. “You know what it is. And the good news is, David-sama has already paid for it!“