Saturday at Echo Shroud
"Did you hear? Haruka-san is bringing a new manga by Muzushiro for serialization," said Takeda, flipping through his notes as he walked.
"Yeah, I heard," replied Moriyama, rubbing his eyes. "Ever since Muzushiro announced he was ending both his series, we've all been scrambling to fill the gap. I haven't slept more than five hours all week. Thank god he's starting a new one. Maybe now we'll get a break."
As they neared the editorial meeting room, they spotted Sakamoto rushing in, papers clutched tightly in his arms. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"Why are you in such a panic?" Takeda called out.
"I haven't hit my quota for scouting new manga," Sakamoto said breathless. "Editor-in-chief Amane was dead serious. We all have to find something that can take Muzushiro's spot. I've been searching for weeks and read over a hundred drafts. None of them come close to Muzushiro's level. She can't really expect us to find that kind of quality in just a month, right?"
"Don't worry. I heard the rumor that Haruka's bringing a new manga by Muzushiro," Takeda said.
They entered the meeting room and took their seats. A few minutes later, Haruka walked in holding a manuscript. The editors glanced at her, then at the draft in her hands and finally let out a breath. It wasn't just a rumor anymore. She really had brought a new Muzushiro manuscript. There was a visible wave of relief in the room.
Soon after, editor-in-chief Amane arrived.
"Haruka, did you bring Muzushiro's draft?" she asked.
"Yes, editor-in-chief," Haruka replied, steady as ever.
"Good. Let's start with Muzushiro then. That man has been giving me trouble ever since I took this position. It's about time he paid me back with something decent."
The mood in the room shifted. Everyone could tell Amane still held a bit of a grudge. Since she became editor-in-chief, Muzushiro had announced the end of two flagship titles within a month. That had brought a lot of trouble to Amane. Newest update provıded by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Interns moved through the room, handing out copies of the manuscript. As the editors flipped to the cover, it read:
Title: Fullmetal AlchemistAuthor: Muzushiro
They started reading.
The first three chapters immediately pulled them in—full of action, establishing the world's alchemy system with strong pacing and layers of mystery. It was sharp, focused, and gripping from the first page.
Then the story moved toward the city of Lior, where the Elric brothers were investigating a priest named Father Cornello, who was supposedly performing miracles. Alongside that plot, the manuscript flashed back to their past—their mother's death, and their attempt to bring her back through human transmutation.
But the transmutation went horribly wrong. Alphonse's entire body was lost, and Edward was dragged into the heart of the world, where a strange being revealed itself as "Truth." In exchange for forbidden knowledge, Edward lost his leg. Even that wasn't enough to bring his mother back.
He returned to find her reanimated in a twisted, inhuman form. Then he realized Alphonse was gone. In desperation, Edward performed another ritual, sacrificing his arm to bind Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. That was where the flashback ended.
Back in Lior, the brothers uncovered the truth: Father Cornello wasn't performing miracles. He was using a Philosopher's Stone, a mythical tool that allowed alchemy without equivalent exchange.
That's where the draft ended.
"This story's more complex than I expected," muttered Moriyama, still flipping through the pages.
"Yeah, and it's already showing signs of standing out from typical action manga," said Kondo. "I don't think it'll get buried under the usual genre pile."
"There's no ?" asked Sakamoto. "It feels like it's building up to explain the Philosopher's Stone. Why'd he stop there? We're editors, not readers. We shouldn't have to suffer through his cliffhangers."
"Haruka, do you have the ?" Takeda asked.
She shook her head. "No. As you all know, he's doing too many things at once. He only had time to draw this much."
"This has the potential to be on par with Initial D," Amane said. "But can he actually handle three serializations at once? He's already busy. If we want to keep our sales strong, we can't delay this. It needs to start running so it's established by the time Natsume and Initial D end."
"Don't worry, editor-in-chief," Haruka said. "I'm already searching for a new assistant to reduce his workload. And you know Mizushiro—he's never missed a deadline. I'll personally guarantee that if we serialize this, he won't miss one now either."
The others nodded, flipping through the pages once more. Gradually, the tension in the room began to ease. After all the pressure surrounding Mizushiro's double-ending, this draft was the first real breath of fresh air they'd had.
Amane glanced around, taking in the slightly calmer room. "Don't get too comfortable. This is one manga that might fill the gap. We still need two more, at least one solid backup to rely on if either of the others flops."
They spent ten hours in the meeting that day, staying until almost 8 p.m. By the end, most of them were exhausted but relieved. They hadn't found another clear flagship contender; the one they did find had only a 50-50 chance, so they still needed to keep looking.
As the team packed up, Amane called out to Haruka before she left.
"Please thank Mizushiro-sensei for me. I know ending both series puts us in a tough spot, but he's also stepping up by creating something new for us. Personally, I still think Natsume could have continued. Even if Initial D had a natural endpoint, Natsume could have gone on—it's just short stories."
For the past month, Amane had been working nonstop—twelve-hour shifts, barely any time at home. It had strained her marriage. She resented it at times. But now, seeing Mizushiro work himself to the bone too, that gave her some peace. She wasn't the only one suffering under the pressure; he was carrying it too.
"I'll tell him," Haruka said as she left the office.
She had already started looking for Haruka's new assistant. Fullmetal Alchemist was scheduled to begin publication by the end of the month. There wasn't much time left.
Shout out to Saadat Salman, Sandro kupatadze, Khumo Mononyane, M3RL1N0711 for joining my p-atreon! your support means everything to me.
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