Izzy noticed things.
One time Tai's mother had forced him to go to the barber shop, insisting that he "tidied" his hair up a little. Tai had gotten no more than an eighth of an inch taken off, cringing as if in physical pain the entire time, but the next day, while walking to school, Izzy had asked if he got a new haircut and said it looked nice. Coming from most people, it would have sounded fake, but Izzy never said anything without thinking it through and confirming that he really meant it – unless, of course, he was backtracking so that Tai didn't get mad at him.
A few months back, Tai had been in danger of failing his trigonometry class. When the teacher announced that the midterm could potentially make or break his students' grades, all the while staring right at Tai, he had run as fast as he could to find Izzy. Izzy, of course, agreed to help Tai study, without even asking for something in return. Tai wondered if simply the pleasure of doing trigonometry was enough; Izzy had once mentioned how much fun it was.
When Tai got back his midterm, he got an 80, his highest grade for the year thus far. Izzy was the first person he told, but Tai wanted to throw him for a loop by seeming really disappointed before cheering about his grade. Of course, when Tai showed up putting on a great "discouraged" face (Matt told him it was, and not even sarcastically), Izzy turned and beamed, asking, "How high was it?" Somehow, Izzy had noticed the twinkle in Tai's eye.
Tai remembered that, when he first met Izzy, the younger boy hadn't noticed a thing outside of his computer. Now, even though it had been many years and Izzy had become much more outgoing, it still meant a lot to Tai whenever Izzy noticed something about him, just because of that.
Kari had once teasingly told Tai that, now that she was older and no longer sickly, Izzy had become her brother's new Achilles' heel. Despite the fact that Tai had always been a little hard on Izzy in their younger years, now the soccer-playing junior was soft as marshmallows in any situation that involved computer-whiz sophomore. Tai had acted it up, pretending to be annoyed and denying it all, but it was true; he did have a weak spot for Izzy. Maybe it was because Izzy was his best friend, or maybe because he was such an honest, genuine guy. He was fun to hang out with, too.
All of these thoughts were going through Tai's mind as he and Izzy walked through the wintry park, looking at all the newly fallen snow and bare branches of the trees. Neither boy had spoken for a few moments, but they were comfortable enough together that the silence was welcoming, not awkward, and neither felt the need to interrupt it.
Or, at least, Tai didn't.
"There's an animal over there," Izzy noted, subconsciously shifting over a little closer to Tai. Tai failed to hide his smile, remembering the day he first found out Izzy had been afraid of dogs.
(If Tai had known, he wouldn't have insisted to the dog, "Go get Izzy! Go get him, go get him!")
"It's a couple of squirrels," Tai said, wondering until he saw the tracks in the snow how Izzy had seen them from the other side of the park.
Izzy noticed things.
"Red squirrels…" Izzy mused. "They are indigenous to Hokkaido, the northern part of Japan. It's very peculiar to see them down here! I wonder if they moved south for climate or mating reasons…?" Tai stifled a laugh; Izzy could only possibly have been happier right now if he had a notebook to record all his musings in; or, better yet, his trusty Pineapple laptop.
That moment of realization was the oddest feeling in the world to describe: it was like finding out that your friends weren't avoiding you all day but planning you a surprise party, and, weirdly, like getting punched in the stomach at the same time. Tai could attest to it.
As he watched Izzy observing the squirrels and chattering logically, the wind ruffling his shaggy, rust-colored hair, his dark eyes alight with the prospect of new information, something inside Tai twisted up. That was when realization came knocking, and the facts that Tai liked being around Izzy, had such a weak spot for Izzy, liked that Izzy noticed things about him, came crashing down over him.
"Ah, I'm sorry, shall we go?" Izzy turned and smiled apologetically.
"Don't worry about it," Tai said, amazed that his own voice still worked. "Yeah, let's go." They continued walking along, but, at least for Tai, the silence was like a tremendous weight on top of him. He wanted to talk. He wanted to say something – anything – to Izzy. Tai turned his head stiffly to face Izzy and said, "I like doing stuff like this with you – going on walks and stuff."
Oh yeah, smooth.
If Tai had sounded completely ridiculous right then, Izzy made no sign of noticing (for once, Tai was relieved). He instead smiled up at Tai, who still had a good four inches on him. "I agree."
Way to keep the conversation going, Izzy.
"Yeah," Tai managed, knowing for sure that he sounded awkward this time. "Uh…I guess…I really like spending time with you."
"I like spending time with you, too," Izzy said patiently, though something flickered in his eyes that Tai could have sworn was amusement; it left too quickly for him to do a double-take.
"Yeah," Tai rambled on, kicking a rock that had been in his way on the path through the park. "Like…I don't know…I can talk to you, you know? I mean, usually." Tai was beyond just kicking himself in his mind; he was going full-out soccer mode.
"Do you love me?" Izzy asked, still in the same relaxed tone, as if he were asking about the weather. Tai almost froze, but kept walking beside his friend, though he did turn to gape at Izzy in shock. Izzy wasn't laughing, mocking, or teasing him; he was just smiling up at him, and, for once, Tai wondered if the light pink tinge on Izzy's cheeks wasn't just from the cold.
"I…I was getting to that part…" Tai stammered lamely, having mixed feelings about Izzy beating him to the punch. Izzy's eyes softened. "How did you…"
"I noticed."