#LetNaruCareForHisMonitors2k23

[dreams-of-kalopsia]

[Contains spoilers for Akumu no Sumu Ie]

In the manga it was just mentioned in passing that Naru and the others built a barricade of furniture in front of the full-length mirror, but in the novel they actually used the monitors from the base, too. So it got me wondering if Naru will worry about his monitors when it's time to start cleaning/packing up XD

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"Well then," Matsuzaki-san said, "what will we do with those?" She pointed at the heap of broken monitors by the full-length mirror.

By now most of the furniture used for the barricade had been returned to their proper places, and the chaos in the Agawas' residence had begun to wind down. All that remained to be organized were SPR's equipment. Half of it stayed miraculously safe within the base, while the other half was pushed to an unobstructive corner of the corridor.

"I don't mind cleaning up, but man..." Bou-san shook his head regretfully. "It kinda hurts seeing these high-quality monitors destroyed." He turned to Noll, who was leaning by the wall and overseeing the cleanup. "Sensei, are these insured?"

Noll shrugged. "They’re not so expensive as to qualify for insurance."

Mai interjected with a sideward tilt of her head, "But didn’t we use all of our monitors? Even if one monitor isn't expensive, wouldn’t twenty actually cost a lot?"

That gave him pause. She had a point.

"And didn't we upgrade to these monitors just before you went home?" she added. "Wouldn’t you get in trouble with SPR?" He saw the first signs of worry lining her face, and he couldn’t help frowning, too.

Again, she was correct.

While Noll had been fortunate enough to be awarded a research grant by the Londenberg Foundation, his balance was unfortunately not unlimited. Asking for more money as soon as he arrived in Japan and a mere few months after being given a generous special grant didn't seem feasible.

However, a potentially fatal situation called for emergency measures. Surely he could appeal to both reason and sympathy when he begged.

Slightly relieved by his conclusion, he replied, "Don't worry about it."

"Hah. You're awfully confident, aren't you?"

"I'm the most valuable asset of SPR, after all." Rather than a reply, it was more of a reminder to himself.

His team stared at him with thunderstruck expressions. Now that they'd uncovered his identity, they were also aware of his credentials. They wouldn't be able to refute him.

He smirked, even as he scrambled for a plan to report this to SPR in a way that would generate funds instead of reprimands.

————

This was in Naru's pov, but without his reasoning behind his replies everyone would be like

Mai, devastated: 'Y-You—! You narcissist!'

Bou-san, resigned: '...It's true and he has the right to say that... I guess...'

Ayako, blasé: 'What a narcissist.'

Masako, frsutrated: 'Why do I like this guy?!'

John, troubled: 'Shibuya-san...'

Lin, already suffering because he knows he'll be handling the paperwork: '...'

Anyway, what do you think? Will Naru worry about the monitors or is he too valuable an asset to care? Lmao!