, Kasumi explains to Beast Boy why Ryouga and Raven aren't necessarily good for each other.
“Soooo,” he drawled over his shoulder, “What do you think of Raven and Ryouga, eh?”
The sounds of an unidentified vegetable being diced by a razor sharp blade rang out in rapid succession behind him for several seconds before he received an answer.
“I think they would make a . . . cute couple.” The answer sounded sincere, and Kasumi certainly wouldn’t lie to him. “However, it takes more than that to make a relationship work.”
He’d had this conversation a few times with Cyborg, since his buddy seemed to be of the same mind as Kasumi on the subject, though he never really explained his reason for thinking so. Beast Boy actually paused his game this time and spun around to face the Tendo woman as she continued to prepare the day’s lunch.
“What makes you say that? They both seem to like each other a lot, not to mention they’re two of the gloomiest people I know, so they got a lot in common, to boot.”
With great care, Kasumi laid the gleaming knife on the counter and turned to face him. A weak smile still adorned her lips, but it didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes.
“Garfield, sometimes having things in common is a good thing, but not necessarily all of the time. Sometimes it is the differences between two people that draw them closer together.”
He scratched his head at that, not quite sure what she meant.
“Sooo, you’re saying that Raven and Ryouga being alike is a bad thing?”
Kasumi let out a weary sigh.
“No, nothing like that. I believe their common traits would let them be good friends, but I’m not sure that they could make each other truly happy in . . . that way.”
‘Ahhhh . . .’ He raised an inquisitive finger . . .
“Ahhhh . . . you lost me.”
The brunette stared at him for a moment, incomprehension in her eyes. Again, Kasumi abandoned her culinary efforts and joined him on the couch. This time she actually walked around the piece of furniture to sit directly beside him and took one his hands in her own.
“Garfield, don’t feel bad for being confused. I’m doing a very poor job of explaining things. I don’t exactly have a lot of experience myself. However, let me try to explain it a different way.”
He nodded dumbly, doing everything in his power to stop himself from blushing at the sensation of her hands on his. Again, the lovely Tendo woman regained her genuine, caring smile, tilting her head to the side slightly. She seemed to think about something for several moments, before finally beginning to speak.
“Now, Garfield, imagine there are two people that really love pie-“
“Done!” Hey, this was an explanation that he could really relate to.
Kasumi shook her head in amusement before continuing.
“Now, if these two people go to a restaurant and order pie together, they would both enjoy the pie equally, enjoying what they had in common; that would make them both very happy, right?”
He nodded frantically. Been there, done that.
“Now, say there are two people that really hate pie-“
“That’s impossible!”
This time she glared at him mildly, prompting him, politely, to shut his trap.
“Now, let’s say that these two people went to that same restaurant and ordered dinner and got pie for desert. They would both refuse to eat the pie, and be equally unhappy with receiving the pie. Tell me, would the fact that they have a dislike for pie, together, make them happy at all?”
He thought about that, long and hard, and the answer was blatantly obvious.
“No, probably not. They’d probably both be complaining about the pie so much, that they wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything else . . . whoa . . .”
Kasumi giggled lightly. “I hope my example wasn’t too silly, but I think you’re starting to understand what I mean. Having something nice in common can be a very good thing, but having something negative in common might not be. Sometimes we need people that are different from us, if only so they can help balance us out. After all, if someone that hates pie goes for dinner with someone that likes pie and that happened, what do you think would be the result?”
The changeling let out a bark of excited laughter. “Ha! That’s an easy one! The person that hates pie would give it to the person that likes pie. That way they’d both get something they wanted, one of them would get more pie, and one of them would probably get a peck on the cheek for being so nice.”
At that moment, Beast Boy completely and utterly lost his battle against blushing as Kasumi leaned in and gave him a playful peck on the cheek. Before he even had the chance to regain any semblance of normalcy, the lovely Tendo woman rose to her feet and started to make her way back to the kitchen, light hearted giggles trailing behind her.
“I don’t think I could have put it better myself. Now, I hope you understand my thoughts, if only a bit, and know that it most certainly isn’t anything personal.”
Beast Boy nodded enthusiastically and gave her a quick thumbs up. “Sure thing, Kasumi. Now all we gotta do is figure out if Ryouga hates pie or not, so we can figure out who he likes!”
Kasumi’s world weary sigh was cut off by the whisk of the elevator door sliding open yet again. The rectangular sheets of metal slid apart to reveal the unusually cheerful face of Ryouga Hibiki, who then proceeded to stride into the room with an unusual spring in his step. A little on edge by the fact that there were now two people acting slightly odd this morning, Beast Boy asked the first question that came to mind.
“Hey, Ryo! Do you hate pie?”
Ryouga stopped in mid-springy-step to stare at him. A look of utter confusion flashed across the other fanged boy’s face, only to be replaced by a look of sheer disbelief.
“What? How could anyone possibly hate pie, Beast Boy?”
Kasumi’s hand rose up, as if she was about to say something, but then the young woman simply shook her head in helpless amusement and returned back to her work.
