Maia lived on her own, and had no interest in marriage. That is because her tastes were different from most women. And since the law didn't allow same-sex marriages, it had been a moot subject in her life.

    But then her parents arranged an omiai with a family friend, because they thought that they were thinking about her best interests. She agreed to go along with their plan, to avoid conflict and grief. It was her intention to settle the matter with the man at the meeting, and leave it at that.

    The man, however, turned out to be a decent fellow, and she found it hard to cut their discourse short. The more that they talked about each other, and their lives, the more interested they both became in the other. As the end drew near, her original plan felt harder and harder to follow through with.

    "If only he were a woman." She thought to herself. "Then I wouldn't have to turn him down."

    As if in answer to her plight, the man did become a woman. And that is how the miai concluded.