Sousuke's POV

I worked for one of the many TV channels who specialized in movies for TV. The channel I worked for was similar to the "Hallmark" channel in America or (formerly known as) ABC family. I mostly wrote sci-fi or action, but after the Sci-Fi channel moved some of their employees, so I ended up here. Only, this time of the year there were many jobs requesting to plan Christmas movies for following year. I think they had us write them around Christmas on the year before they were expected to air was because they wanted to film in winter weather to make it more believable. Plus the time it took to find actors and film. It was a long process.

Regardless, this was my first time writing such a screenplay and I didn't really know where to start. This was not my expertise and I didn't even know what people who watched these movies wanted. I wanted to discuss it with my boss so that I could possibly be moved to a different genre, but the chances of that were slim.

"Uh, boss," I said to my superior, "I'm sorry, but I really don't think I'm a good option for this screenplay. This isn't really the genre I'm used to writing in. I don't want to let the channel down."

My boss looked over at another writer standing next to him, then back at me. I had never seen the other writer before, so he must have been new. "I figured this would be a challenging request for you, but you are a great writer so I believe in you. How about this, Tachibana-kun here will help you," he motioned towards the writer standing next to him. "He is used to writing this kind of genre, but doesn't have the experience you do so it would be beneficial for both of you."

I bowed politely to Tachibana-kun, but spoke to my boss in a hushed tone on my way up, "Boss, I really don't think-"

"Sousuke-kun, if you can do this, I will let you write and direct your own TV movie to air next summer as a part of our new collection. If you can't work with others then you definitely won't be able to make it in the movie business."

I thought about this ultimatum for a moment and finally sighed. "Yes, sir."

Tachibana-kun smiled warmly at me, bowing slightly. "I'm Tachibana Makoto, please take care of me."

I couldn't be bitter towards him, it seemed his smile would just melt away that cold exterior. "I'll do my best. I'm Yamazaki Sousuke. You can just call me Sousuke. Since we will be working together for a while there's so need for formalities." I smiled.

I swear I saw Makoto blush. Or maybe my romance goggles were beginning to work and I could write this movie after all. "Well then, you can call me Makoto."

"Great. So, did you want to talk about some ideas over lunch?"

"Yeah that sounds great."

We ended up going to some ramen place where we could talk and while getting some work done. Although romantic movies were not my specialty, I would try my best in order to further my career and experience.

"So, Makoto," I cleared my throat, "what genre screenplays do you write now?"

Makoto slurped some noodles before answering. "So far I have been mainly assigned to romantic comedies. How about you?"

So that is why the boss paired us together. "I usually am writing action or sci-fi. I can see why the boss wanted us to work together. I may have experience with writing, but I'm not too good at ideas like that."

Makoto nodded, "it's good to explore different things, too. Who knows, maybe someday I'll help you write an action movie," he smiled. His smile was equivalent to a ray of actual sunshine and my heartbeat quickened weirdly.

"Yeah I suppose you're right," I said, eating some of my ramen. "I'm just not sure where to even start. Did you have any ideas right off the bat?"

Makoto thought for a moment, chewing. "Well, I would like to have an unconventional couple. Most of the times these romantic comedies have a cold, domineering man, and a woman who is engaged to him, but through some sort of events she ends up marrying another character who she falls in love with over the course of the film."

"Ok. So what would be considered unconventional?"

He tapped his chin with the clean end of his chopsticks. "I mean, having a person who doesn't want a relationship, but ends up in one is good. Or maybe a couple who don't seem like they would mesh together well, but they actually have a lot in common once they get to know each other."

I got out a small notepad from my back pocket and started writing these things down. "Ok. Anything else?"

"Well I'd have to get approval from the station…"

"For what?"

"I was thinking...maybe a gay couple?" He shrugged, trying to play it off, "but whatever. I mean, that would truly be unconventional in this genre of film."

I almost choked on my food, which led to a coughing fit. Makoto looked startled and I quickly drank some water to clear my throat. "Ah, sorry. I just wasn't expecting that."

"Exactly! Neither will the audience," he stated, his smile in full bloom.

I ignored the beating of my heart for a moment to say, "I'm not sure we can do that. I mean, I don't know what the channel would say. We would have to ask for approval and go from there, but the chances are slim."

Makoto looked a little disappointed. "Yeah I guess you're right."

His sad face hurt my chest a little. What was this sensation? "How about I email the head of the department tonight and ask? It doesn't hurt to ask." I said this reassuringly even though I was almost positive it would get turned down.

Makoto's smile returned a little, "Ok. Besides that, I had a lot of ideas about involving clichés."

"But don't we want to avoid clichés as much as possible? I mean, people will expect clichés in these types of movies, so isn't it best to break that pattern?" I asked. It seemed weird to include clichés. What was the point of watching something if you knew what was going to happen?

"That's just it, people love clichés." I raised an eyebrow and he quickly elaborated. "You see, as humans we love everything to be tied up in a bow. We love things that are in order and predictable. The minute a woman hates a man in a movie, you know they are going to end up together by his wit and charm and cliché situations that cause them to interact." I was beginning to see his point, but I still wasn't convinced. "Some great examples are catching someone coming out of the shower, falling into someone's arms-there are a lot to choose from."

"Ok, so even if we decided to go with this cliché idea stuff, we still need a plot to go around it." I added.

Makoto took a sip of his drink before speaking. "Exactly. You know what I was thinking? This situation we are in right now would be a great plot for a movie."

"How so?" I pondered.

"Because, imagine it, two writers are forced to come up with ideas for Christmas movies, but they hate clichés and want to avoid them; however, in the process of trying to write this movie, they themselves experience all these clichés with each other without even noticing it."

I nodded, writing the idea down. "That's actually pretty interesting. So I assume they fall in love with each other?" I asked.

His eyes locked with mine and I suddenly felt like I was being exposed for some reason. "Of course."

"Ok. So tonight I'll be sure to email the network about the 'unconventional couple' and send them a summary of the idea. Does that sound ok?" I asked, finally looking up at him again.

He smiled, beaming. "Yes. I'm so happy I get to work with someone who is as experienced as you. It takes a load off my mind."

My heart thumped. "Well I'm thankful that I am working with you. I never would have thought of an idea like this in a hundred years."

Makoto chuckled, causing me to look back up at him. "So I guess you aren't the romantic type, then?"

This caused me to chuckle, "Well I'm not against romance. I enjoy a cozy meal or a date, but I'm not very good at expressing my feelings sometimes. I care too much about how I appear to people."

"Ah, I see," he nodded. He slurped up the last of his ramen and set his chopsticks down. "Looks like I'll have to teach you some things," he laughed. I must have looked panicked because he added, "for the film, of course."

"Of course."

A/N: this first chapter is hella short, but I just wanted to get the basic intro out here! Like my other SouMako fic, I have the chapters outlined so hopefully writers block won't be a big issue! Anyway, thanks for reading!