I just want to quietly draw manga

While 5 Centimeters per Second and Voices of a Distant Star were facing casting delays, Haruki's other two works Natsume's book of friend and Initial D were thriving.

The Natsume manga had just launched its first collected volume, selling around 500,000 copies in its debut week. Many readers who hadn't followed the series before picked up the book and got hooked. Some even subscribed to Shroud Line just to keep up with the latest chapters.

Its ranking in the magazine shot up, finally surpassing Ryūkon a long-standing favorite and reaching third place overall.

As for Initial D, its intensity, fresh theme, and appeal to the male-dominated shounen demographic caught fire. With enthusiastic fan support and strong word-of-mouth, its popularity skyrocketed. Though still ranked second, it had nearly closed the gap with Airi's Dream world, trailing by only about 100,000 fan votes.

Another reason for its surge was the climax unfolding in the recent chapters—

The long-awaited race between Takumi Fujiwara and Takeshi Nakazato had reached its peak, drawing in millions of readers.

In this arc, Takumi's evolving mindset about racing, Ryosuke Takahashi's calm demeanor, and his tactical analysis of Nakazato's GT-R32 played out brilliantly.

Chapter 18 became a turning point.

In the iconic five-hairpin stretch of Mount Akina, Nakazato tried to block the AE86 from overtaking by hugging the center line. But Takumi seized a razor-thin chance riding the drainage gutter with one wheel while sliding through the inside of the corner. As they exited the turn, his AE86 was neck and neck with the GT-R32.

Then, just when Nakazato tried to outpace him on the straight, his front tire lost grip and scraped the guardrail.

Everyone watching knew Takumi had won.

Fans were already celebrating the thrilling finish, but the manga didn't let up.

As Nakazato's GT-R32 lost traction and scraped the guardrail, it skidded sideways, blocking most of the narrow two-lane road.

Behind them, Ryosuke Takahashi who had been following from a distance to study Takumi's driving suddenly found himself heading straight into the wreck.

Two cars. Tight road. No warning.

But Ryosuke didn't panic. With perfect timing, he downshifted, counter-steered, and swung the rear of his Mazda RX-7 FC3S in a flawless drift threading the narrow space between the guardrail and Nakazato's GT-R with barely an inch to spare.

It was flawless. effortless.

Male readers were floored. Female fans fell head over heels for him.

Ryosuke's popularity exploded, rivaling even Takumi's.

"Ryosuke is my new husband," one fan posted. "Honestly, I kind of hope he beats Takumi."

Many female readers who had only followed Natsume got pulled into Initial D because of Ryosuke's cool factor. Now, they weren't just Natsume fans they were full-blown Ryosuke stans.

Compared to that, news about the seiyuu shake-up for 5 Centimeters per Second and Voices of a Distant Star barely caused a ripple.

Most fans just shrugged. "Rin Shiraishi and Rina Nanami quit? Just replace them."

But Haruki and Kazuya weren't so relaxed. Who exactly were they supposed to replace them with?

Kazuya might've had good connections, but this wasn't a major production. With only a few short episodes and limited budget, many veteran seiyuu politely declined. It wasn't that they didn't care it was just low priority.

That's why, when Haruki saw him, Kazuya wasn't his usual upbeat self.

"still stressed over the casting?" Haruki asked.

Kazuya sighed. "Yeah. Most of the top names are already booked. Unless we get lucky or someone clears up their schedule last minute, we're stuck."

Haruki frowned. "You're thinking of using Kazanami's name?"

"If we can't solve this in the next two days, I might have to. I'll ask the higher-ups for permission to pull from the agency roster directly."

"No." Haruki shook his head.

Kazuya didn't argue. "If I had more time, I could still find someone. But we're too close to the deadline."

Haruki fell silent, feeling responsible. He couldn't offer much help he only knew one voice actor in the entire industry.

Ryuko Mei.

Wait.

Ryuko.

Haruki's eyes lit up.

"What do you think about Ryuko?" he asked. "She voiced Meiko in Anohana."

Kazuya tilted his head. "Ryuko, huh…"

"She started off rough, but she improved fast. The audience response to Meiko proves it her voice brought that character to life."

"She's expressive, adaptable. During the dub, she nailed multiple personality shifts. Same voice, different moods, completely different feels."

"Rin and Rina were supposed to voice Takaki, Akari, and Mizuki. But based on Ryuko's work… I think she might be able to cover all three."

Haruki raised an eyebrow. "She's that good? Why didn't you think of her earlier?"

"She's still a newcomer," Kazuya said. "Just because she nailed one role doesn't mean she can handle three. Normally I wouldn't take that risk unless we had room to experiment. But we don't. These roles are too important."

"And besides, would she even be willing? It's a lot to ask."

"That's true," Haruki nodded.

He thought for a moment. "Still… I'll give her a call."

"If she's open to it, we can set up a voice test," Kazuya said.

"Honestly, I doubt it. But—"

"It's worth asking."

Haruki dialed her number.

The call connected quickly.

"Haruki?" Ryuko's voice was bright. "Didn't expect to hear from you today. It's not the weekend. Planning to drive again?"

"Actually…" Haruki hesitated. "We're short three female leads for 5 Centimeters per Second and Voices of a Distant Star. I was wondering if you'd be interested."

"If you say yes, there's a chance you'll be voicing three different roles."

Ryuko paused for a moment. "That's… a lot. Yeah, I saw the news going around."

"You already know?" Haruki blinked.

"Word gets around," she said simply. "And to be honest… I was hoping you'd call."

Haruki straightened a little. "Then I'll keep it simple. If you're not comfortable—"

"I'm in," she said, before he could finish.

(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 50+ advanced chapters)