Eternally Lurking?

*Friends with benefits**

They don’t figure it out until years down the line when they’re helping to plan Pearl or Trucy’s wedding and realize that this is actually an entirely new experience for them.

Phoenix: B-but we must at least be legally married, right? I remember going to the courthouse with you.

Maya: Nick, we go to the courthouse all the time. That’s our job.

Kids: Wait, Mommy, you hit Daddy in the head with a pipe?

Maya: Only ‘cause I knew he could take it!

It’ll scare off all those weirdo antis who think hating ships is a way to stay morally pure

It’ll make me, a Narumayo shipper, happy

Naruto = A ramen topping

Mayonnaise = A hamburger topping

Naruto + Mayonnaise = Narumayo

I was originally gonna post this as a twitter thread, but it started getting really long and that toxic sludgepit doesn’t deserve that kind of effort. Get yourself a snack or something, it’s gonna get rambly.

I think people who go out of their way to shut down the possibility that there could be any romantic attraction between Nick and Maya are missing out on a really cool aspect of their platonic relationship.

There’s a lot to be said about the many facets of the Narumayo friendship, from their bonding through shared trauma, to their building a found family with Pearl, to their effortless ability to trade off being the straight man of their comedic duo. But I think a lot of people miss how much of their friendship is informed by the fact that they both kinda want to kiss each other.

First off, Maya is constantly teasing Phoenix, and often in a weirdly flirty way. Just a few examples off the top of my head. She says Max is dreamy with stars on his face and immediately suggests Nick put stars on his face. She acts like a spurned lover when Phoenix is talking to Adrian, specifically in an attempt to get him flustered. She explicitly compares Phoenix rescuing her from being kidnapped to the DeLites’ love story. 

There’s quite a few moments like this throughout the games, and coupled with a lot of Maya’s actions and reactions, I get the sense that we’re supposed to believe that she has a thing for Nick. Maybe that’s just the shipping goggles talking, but it really does feel like the intended subtext. I mean, look at that what she instinctively drew when she was in 

(You’re probably wondering when the platonic part comes in. We’ll get there.)

But even if Maya does have a crush on Phoenix, does he return it? Obviously she’s very important to him, but is that really as a romantic interest? We often see him get flustered or stunned into silence whenever people assume he and Maya are dating(which happens a lot), but I feel like that can easily just be read as him being uncomfortable with people assuming he’s in a relationship with his assistant.

In general, Phoenix’s feelings for Maya are fairly ambiguous and probably not something that he’s thought through too much himself. That is, of course, until the waitress scene. That scene, in my opinion, is the single hardest thing to justify if you’re trying to deny any romantic tension within Narumayo. I’ve seen people say that it’s just Phoenix giving a compliment to his best friend/sister figure, but is that really the tone that’s being conveyed there? 

That initial comment on her voice. The pregnant pause when he sees her. The weird pick-up line that probably just came out of his mouth without any thought. That’s not the actions of a guy innocently complimenting his friend, that’s the reaction of a guy who just realized that he finds his friend hot. I’d argue that the case can’t even proceed the way it does unless Phoenix thinks Maya is attractive, because that’s what gives him the idea to try to get her to seduce information out of Kudo.

So between Maya and Phoenix we have two best friends with a lot of chemistry who are probably into each other, and whose friends definitely think are already togeyhet, but we never actually see them take that step into romance. And you know what? It fucking works!

(See, told you we’d get into the platonic stuff eventually.)

One of my favorite movies of all time is When Harry Met Sally, and while the titular couple does get together in the end, most of the film is about the two of them navigating being best friends while obviously having romantic feelings for each other. It’s a beautiful story of these two people building a wonderful platonic relationship and then very nearly ruining it when they try to turn it romantic. 

That’s the dynamic I see between Phoenix and Maya. They love each other and are probably in love with each other, but they insist on keeping things strictly platonic because to change that could mean to destroy what they’ve spent years building up. It’s an underlying tension that underscores a lot of their actions.

It’s the dynamic that the two of them still have almost a decade later in SoJ, where they find immense comfort just being in each other’s presence, investigating cases like old times. And no matter how much Phoenix gawks at Maya like a sun fish, no matter how many times Maya teases Nick while they’re investigating a wedding-based case, no matter how much they may or may not want to kiss, they’re so happy just to be friends.

(Not that I’d be mad if they did end up kissing…)

Obviously there’s nothing wrong at all with seeing Narumayo as siblings or as purely platonic friends who would never in their wildest dreams be romantically interested in each other, but I do feel like something is lost in that interpretation. 

Like, I’m not the biggest fan of romantic Narumitsu, but I don’t think you can truly appreciate their friendship while ignoring that those guys have a weird pseudo-romantic tension going on. Without it they’re just two dudes who used to be friends and don’t have a whole lot of chemistry but would still for some reason die for each other. Once you acknowledge that “oh, they’re kinda in love, aren’t they” it all makes perfect sense.

Miss Trucy really wanted to see the big ball on TV, and she wasn’t going to go to sleep until she did. Mr. Nick kept trying to tell her that she was too young to stay up that late, but Trucy wouldn’t change her mind, so he and Mystic Maya finally agreed to let them stay up. 

Pearl really admired how Miss Trucy could talk like that to her father. Her mother would never let her stay up late, even if she really wanted to, even if Mystic Maya promised that she’d take care of her. Sometimes she’d get in trouble just for asking, so Pearl never asked. 

Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya weren’t like her mother, though Pearl knew that. They never yelled at her for doing things wrong or for talking too loudly when she wasn’t supposed to. But she still didn’t feel comfortable asking them to stay up for the fireworks because she knew they would want some ‘alone time’ and she didn’t want to get in the way.

She was okay with just hearing Mystic Maya tell stories about New Years in the big city, picturing the beautiful fireworks and the big ball on the TV in her head. And of course she pictured Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick kissing right when the New Year came, because that was what people in love did.

But now that she thought about it, Pearl was so happy that Miss Trucy asked to stay up, because the night had been so fun so far. They played hide-and-seek and ate a lot of ice cream and watched all of her and Trucy’s favorite movies. She especially loved the one with the princess with the long hair, because she reminded Pearl of Mystic Maya, and the cool thief who rescues the princess from her tower reminded her of Mr. Nick. And whenever it got to the part of the movie with all the lanterns, Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick would sing along like they were the princess and the thief. It made Pearl’s heart leap.

And it was so fun to stay up with Miss Trucy, because she would always think of something new to do, like make up some game for them all to play, or pass notes back and forth with Pearl about how Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya kept looking at each other all night. Looking at Miss Trucy now, Pearl frowned a bit. It looked like she was about to fall asleep. Pearl couldn’t have that. Trucy had to stay up to see the big ball like she wanted.

“How much longer, Mystic Maya?”

“Just a few minutes, Pearly.”

Pearl could see her cousin looking over at Mr. Nick again. She’d been doing that a lot lately, even more than usual, and Pearl thought she could see something in her eyes that wasn’t there before. Could it be that they’d fallen even more deeply in love? Pearl’s heart skipped a beat at the thought.

“Hey Maya, don’t you think we should start pouring the grape juice for the New Year?” said Mr. Nick, causing Miss Trucy to spring awake. Pearl smiled and bounced a little in Mystic Maya’s lap. Trucy loved grape juice. Mr. Nick knew just how to wake her up.

“You mean the juice in the kitchen?” Mystic Maya replied. Pearl looked back and forth between the two adults. They were talking kind of funny. Could they be making plans for a little ‘alone time’?

“Yeah, do you think you can give me a hand pouring it while the girls wait patiently in the living room?”

Pearl’s breath hitched. It was true! They wanted to be alone together in the kitchen!

“Sure, Nick. Do you girls think you can hold down the fort while we’re in there?”

Pearl quickly gave an excited nod, prompting Trucy to make a salute. Mystic Maya laughed happily and she and Mr. Nick got up.

“Remember to let us know when the countdown gets close to zero, okay?”

“You got it, Daddy!”

After the adults disappeared into the kitchen, Pearl locked eyes with Miss Trucy, who was smiling wide.

“I didn’t know we were getting grape juice!”

Pearl nodded. “It’s a tradition. Only Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick get a kind of juice that we’re not supposed to drink.”

Trucy frowned a bit, apparently not liking the idea of juice that she couldn’t drink, but she quickly went back to smiling and scooched herself next to Pearl on the couch. On the TV the people were getting super excited. The numbers above the big ball were getting really low.

“It’s almost time!” Trucy exclaimed.

Pearl couldn’t help but eye the kitchen door, wondering what Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick were doing in there. She heard some laughing and a little talking. Or were they…kissing?

“What’s taking them so long? It’s almost time!” Trucy said with her arms folded and her legs bouncing.

“Uh, maybe they spilled the juice? Mr. Nick can be clumsy sometimes.”

Trucy jumped off the couch in response.

“Daddy said to tell him when the countdown’s almost done. I’m gonna tell him now.”

Pearl gasped. She didn’t want Miss Trucy to interrupt any ‘private moments’. She put herself in her friend’s way.

“Wait, I can do it! I, uh, can help clean up if they spilled!” Pearl bit her thumb, hoping Miss Trucy believed her.

“Okay!” she chirped. Pearl breathed a sigh of relief and rushed to the kitchen door, slowly opening it up a crack. 

Her eyes went wide. Mystic Maya had her arms around Mr. Nick and was reaching up to obviously give him a kiss. It was happening! They were in love! Without even thinking, Pearl let loose an excited squeal.

“I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it!”