You always noticed. It was an habit you had developed when it came to Tetsuro ever since you two became friends. A new cologne, the haircut, the slight disarray in his uniform. Nothing went past your eyes, and that just added to the feeling that had been growing in your chest.

To Tetsuro, you were only friends. The one he could turn to when he wanted support or a good laugh. It was purely platonic in his eyes. The time you two spent together weren't dates, they were hangouts. His gifts weren't romantic, they were just friendly details. The physical contact was worse, it didn't lingered, it presented itself with a laugh and just the faintest brush of it; a high-five, a nudge, a hand in your shoulder in encouragement.

But it was never more than that.

He came and went, squinted his eyes at you, leaned closer and spewed dumb jokes with hints of a flirtatious tone. But it was all platonic, because he always laughed after, ever so comfortable in the friendship between you both. As if you weren't feeling otherwise.

And you had to watch him, staying in the sidelines whenever his eyes strayed away towards someone else with a certain look in them that you knew would never be directed at you: romantic interest.

His eyes never looked more pretty, but it wouldn't be a look directed at you.