More than meets the eye (10 July 2007)

Author's note

Hi everyone, first of all I want to thank you for your reviews and support. Please bear in mind that I'm actually not a car enthusiast, so my technical descriptions may not be accurate and I hope you don't take too much offence to it. Also bear in mind that I live in Asia, where most car driver's seat are right handed (OK, for those countries who are former British colonies like Malaysia, which is where I live). We also use petrol oil rather than gasoline, so we actually call the gas pedal, the oil pedal in Malaysia.

I pray that you all continue to enjoy this.

Chapter 3: Freedom on the open road

It was 1pm when Kasumi crept into the house. All was quiet for once. Ranma and Akane seemed to have gone out and the fathers were playing Shogi in the living room as usual. Despite being gone for most of the morning, she was not missed as she sometimes visited Dr. Tofu to have a chat, although such visits had ceased since she decided that the good doctor simply could not control himself in her presence. She quietly walked up the stairs only to come face to face with Nabiki.

Fortunately, Kasumi had resumed her persona of clueless housewife so she merely greeted her sister with a smile without any hint of surprise. "Hello Nabiki, how are you today?" she asked.

Nabiki's eyes narrowed at the state of Kasumi's clothes. "Fine sis. What in the world happened to you? You just looked like you emerged from a car accident."

Seizing on the conveniently provided excuse, she said, "Oh my, I found a car that was in trouble and helped the owner to repair it." This was stretching the truth a little but Kasumi reasoned that whoever the owner of Bumblebee was, she was helping him/her out by servicing it.

"Geez sis, why do you have to go through all that trouble for a stranger? You've got your own family to take care of you know, we've all been waiting for lunch for an hour now!" Nabiki chided Kasumi. She found it hard to believe that Kasumi was helping someone repair a car but the grease and oil marks on Kasumi's body more or less confirmed her story.

"Oh my, I'll get on it soon. After I've taken a good long soak at the furo," she said as she walked around Nabiki and into her room.

She waited a few minutes before she finally blew a sigh of relief. "Whew, that was close. Sorry Nabiki, I know you won't betray my secrets but I just want to keep this one to myself for once." She reached into her bag and pulled out the Automobile Repairs for Dummies book and put it into her drawer. She also extracted a driver's manual which she borrowed from the local library and then locked both books in her drawer.

Kasumi extracted a towel and a clean dress and proceeded to the bathroom. Five minutes later, she gave a sigh of comfort as she lay in the furo filled with hot water. "Ahhhhhh, this is the life," she said.

All of a sudden, she was startled out of her half slumber by someone rapping loudly on the furo door. "Kasumi, Kasumi, come out quick!" she heard Akane shouting. Despite her urgent tone, Kasumi didn't panic, having grown used to Ranma needing emergency medical treatment but she did hurry and dry herself before wrapping herself in her towel and exiting the bathroom.

Instead of seeing a bruised and bleeding Ranma however, she found her entire family assembled at the front porch where a Dr. Tofu stood, stiffly dressed in a tuxedo and looking twice as nervous as he usually did. But this time, she saw sanity in his eyes and he did not appear to be doing anything strange at the moment. But what struck her was the single of rose in his hand.

A rose in full bloom. I love you, please marry me. Her heart nearly stopped and then she was suddenly aware of her state of undress and blushed furiously. Ranma himself had to pinch his nose to stop a nosebleed from seeing Kasumi in a towel and Akane growled at Ranma, promising pain and suffering AFTER this event.

"Oh my, Dr. Tofu what brings you to our house today?" she asked while unconsciously holding on to her towel.

The nervous doctor who was actually sweating despite the rather cool autumn weather stepped forward. "K-K-K-Kas- Kas- umi, I am-am-am-am he-he-he-he-he-re to a-a-a-a-a-a-ask for your hand in marriage," he stuttered.

Kasumi was utterly shocked. Never in her life did she expect anyone to propose to her, not even Dr. Tofu who could never think straight in her presence. She knew he had a crush on her and that he had always helped the family in the past with free medical bills and advice but she had yet to even have a proper conversation with him to date.

"I-I realise this-this is ra-ra-rather unexpected for you. I-I-I ho-ho-hope you will grant me this-this chance to-to court you," he finally finished. His eyes were an odd combination of his usual blundering as well as sanity, as though the two had mashed into an entirely new personality which defied her understanding.

"Doc-doc-doctor Tofu," she trembled, for once all pretence fading away. "I don't know what to say….?"

"Isn't it obvious? Both of you must go on a romantic date. Tomorrow evening," Soun announced. Before Kasumi could say anything else, her two sisters had each grabbed her arm and promptly dragged her to her room to start planning her big date on Sunday.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

By the time she managed to get her sisters out of the room, it was nearly 7pm. She closed the door and leaned against it in exhaustion. It had been a hectic afternoon and evening that consisted primarily of her two sisters going through her entire wardrobe and making Kasumi try wearing everything in it. Kasumi somehow found her mind unable to function and could do little more than strip and wear again and again as her sister made comments and fashion judgements that she could not even comprehend. In the end, Nabiki decided that her entire wardrobe was inadequate and that the next day, they would go to Shibuya and shop for new clothes.

Fortunately she didn't have to cook dinner. Her father had decide to take out a luxurious sushi dinner to commemorate the coming event. Even Ranma and his father did not lack food although as usual, Genma tried to steal from Ranma's plate. It exasperated her but the afternoon's events still left her dazed and she had no energy to try stop it.

She couldn't stand it anymore and ran to the window to let in the cool autumn air and started breathing heavily. She felt like she had been holding her breath the entire afternoon and felt dreadfully sick. The whole thing seemed to have happened too fast for her.

Oh my, is this what happens to you all the time Ranma? she thought, remembering the times when fiancées would just drop by his doorstep every week, or the times when he was pulled apart by at least four girls during special occasions, or even Christmas when every single women seemed to go all out to give him a present. And the poor boy didn't even ask to be in that situation but he just couldn't do anything about it.

Correction, he could have done something about it but that boy is just too honourable and kind hearted for his own good, Kasumi thought.

She then realised that the whole of tomorrow afternoon would be spent shopping for the night's date and she wouldn't get a chance to learn how to drive Bumblebee.

She reached into her dress pocket and took out a set of keys that she always carried with her everywhere. It contained the house keys, the keys to her desk drawers as well as the keys to a small jewellery box that her mother had given to her as a gift shortly before she died. It also held the keys to Bumblebee. She unlocked the drawer where she had stored the driving manual previously and took it out.

Guess it's now or never, she thought.

Normally Kasumi would not dream of going out alone at night but today wasn't a normal day. She wanted to get out and do something on her own again, something that wasn't dictated by her family. Unfortunately for her, the only something that she had was a certain yellow car in an abandoned junkyard. So she took the driving manual and decided to quietly sneak out of the window, away from her family. She did not want to meet anyone at the moment.

Unfortunately for Kasumi, her martial arts skills were quite lacking in the physical area in spite of her well trained chi-senses. As she crept down the roof so that she could jump at the lowest end to the ground, she tripped over a loose brick and yelped as she dived headfirst into the ground.

At that exact moment, Ranma who had exited the house to walk and work down the food, looked up and beheld the sight of Kasumi falling down on him.

"YIPES!" he cried and quickly jumped and grabbed Kasumi before she fell to the floor. The poor girl was scared stiff and had her hands on her eyes, not daring to see her fall.

"Uh, Kasumi you can look now. We're on the ground," Ranma said. She opened her hands and eyes and found herself being held by Ranma.

"Oh my," both of them said and they hurriedly moved away from each other, both suddenly finding the floor very interesting to look at.

"Oh man, I am so dead, Kasumi is going to think I'm a pervert, Akane is going to kill me, mum's going to hack my remains, my dad is going to panda meat…" Ranma continued to rant in this manner while Kasumi listened.

Oh the poor boy, he can't even rescue a girl without fearing some sort of reprisal, Kasumi thought. She pitied the boy and then turned to address him with a real smile.

"Ranma-kun, thank you for saving me. If you weren't there, I would have been seriously hurt. I'm in your debt Ranma," she said and gave a formal Japanese bow.

This wasn't what he was expecting. He was expecting Kasumi to clobber him or worse, give him the eyes and subsequently a big smooch to claim him as her fiancé. A simple thank you was certainly out of his range of logic.

"Uhhhh, ummmmm.." he said intelligently.

Kasumi sighed and decided to get straight to the point. It was no use leaving subtle hints with Ranma, the guy was as subtle as a brick.

"Ranma, I'm not going to ask to marry you. All I'm doing is thanking you for saving me when I was trying to climb down the roof. Now why don't you go and have fun? I'm going out for awhile so don't wait up for me," she said.

Her words took away his fears in an instant. A wave of relief swept over him and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"OK Kasumi, I will," he said as he walked back to the house. Kasumi then quietly crept to the door.

"Hey Kasumi, why were you climbing down the roof anyway?" Ranma suddenly frowned, realising that it didn't make sense for Kasumi to climb down the roof when she could have easily taken the stairs.

Kasumi sighed. Of all the times for Ranma to use his brain, it had to be now, she thought. She decided that with Ranma, honesty was the best policy.

"I need to go out for awhile Ranma. I have to relieve a bit of stress after today. Please understand that I want to be alone for awhile. Don't tell anyone I left. I'll be back shortly," she said quietly and sadly.

Ranma was struck dumb. He may be daft in many things but he knew a sad person when he heard one and Kasumi's voice definitely fit the criteria.

"Kasumi please, are you feeling alright? I thought you would be happy after the Doc proposed to you," he said.

He saw her stiffened and grimaced, expecting a mallet anytime soon.

"Let's just say I know how you feel like when an unwanted fiancée comes along Ranma. Goodnight and please don't follow me if you want me to be happy," she said as she ran into the night, leaving a confused Ranma behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The streets were empty but well lit as Kasumi ran towards the junk yard. She stopped at the gate, always making sure that nobody saw her when she entered the junk yard. For the second time that day, she entered the hangar and went to Bumblebee, who was still covered with the green car cover.

She reached into the toolbox and pulled out the battery operated work light. Bumblebee's indoor car light was too weak and she wanted to illuminate the inside of the car. She then uncovered Bumblebee.

Yeoh bro, whatcha doing back here?

For once, Bumblebee did not spout a song and seemed to be using a movie line. The accent seemed to sound like an African American.

She didn't say anything but opened the driver's door and went into the car. Once inside she curled into a ball, with her knees to her chest and her feet of the floor. For a long time she sat that way before the radio crackled with music again.

and you say if I fall I will
fall straight into your arms
should I trip over my feet
and if I start to slip I will
slip right onto my knees
into the center of your hands

cause maybe
someday I can learn to trust you
and just stop thinking with my head
cause maybe
someday I could learn to let go
I lose control but tell me what is wrong with that

Kasumi sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if control is really an illusion. We all think we control our destinies but not once have I seen anyone in my family making their own choice, everything is always pushed to them. I'm bound by my duty to serve my family, Ranma and Akane is bound by honour to marry each other, Shampoo and Cologne are bound by their law to bring Ranma into the Amazon tribe no matter the cost. And not one of us chose to be that way, at least not at first. Maybe there is no such thing as choice."

She took a deep breath. "Dr. Tofu asked me to marry him today."

By the long silence after that, Kasumi assumed that she had shocked Bumblebee speechless. In fact, it was a good ten minutes before the radio sounded again.

What'cha gonna do
When you can't say no
When her feelings start to show
Boy I really need to know
And how you gonna act
How you gonna handle that

"I don't know, I mean, I like him as a friend but to marry him, spend the rest of my life with someone I haven't even dated properly. It's not like he's a bad person, I just… don't love him," she finally said.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, this isn't why I came here at all. I promised that I would drive you tomorrow but it seems that I'm going to be busy shopping for clothes. So if there's ever a time to learn how to drive you, now's the time," she said as she took the keys from her pocket, pushed it into the ignition and turned it.

The car started with a song again.

Baby baby don't you ever let go
More and more until we both overflow
Got a feeling that my heart's never known
I found love
Tender kisses and I'm floating on air
You can have me anytime, anywhere
When you need me I will always be there
I found love

And our love goes round and round
Way up high, a joyride
We can touch the stars above
We found love
And our love was heaven sent
From the day we first met
We've got something they can't touch
We found love

The elder Tendo daughter felt her eyes tearing up. Despite the lyrics being more of the romantic type, to her it was just an expression of eternal friendship that Bumblebee, a car of all things, seemed to be offering her. She stepped on the crutch and shifted it to first gear. "I hope you'll still love me after I put a few dents on you due to my horrendous driving," she said.

Fortunately, there was enough space in the junk yard to drive around the car. During the next few hours, Kasumi slowly learned to drive Bumblebee around and round the yard, going around obstacles, practising reversing, parking, three point turning, there was even a slight hill where she could practise going over it. For someone who had never driven a car before, Kasumi did remarkably well, always being cool-headed and following the instructions of the diver's manual without deviation. Of course she couldn't go fast in the limited space but at the moment, she relished driving the car with her own hands and feet. She wasn't a seasoned mechanic despite spending the entire day servicing the car but to her, everything was perfect. The brakes were sharp, the engine ran smoothly, the steering was sensitive and not sluggish.

Eventually she did everything she thought she could do in the limited space of the junk yard. At that moment she felt on top of the world. She had done something nobody in her family had done. If that wasn't something to be proud of, she didn't know what was.

From the radio, came an applause that filled the entire car. But what shocked her was when the radio said a line from the Oscar Awards show:

"And the winner is…"

The radio suddenly started sounding a series of strange noises, a mix of radio static, beeps and bloops. As Kasumi listened closer, she realised that it almost sounded like a very old man who was struggling to speak. And true enough, eventually a voice which sounded like someone on his death bed spoke.

"……. Kasumi."

Not for the first time, Kasumi wondered about the nature of the car. She had pretty much accepted that the car seems to have a mind of its own and she was curious of its origins. But she didn't ask the car. If the car was truly alive, it would tell her sooner or later. It wasn't her place to question Bumblebee anyway, she didn't even legally owned the car.

Her hand touched the strange symbol on the horn. It still looked like a little robot to her but she quickly dismissed the idea. She had gone through servicing the entire car and as far as she could ascertain, there was nothing to indicate anything other than Bumblebee being an old car that was now in prime condition thanks to Kasumi.

"Thanks Bumblebee. You know, I wish we could still see each other but after tomorrow, I'm not too sure. Knowing my family, they will probably start planning my wedding right after one date," she said sadly.

"I wish just for tonight, I could be free from everything. Free from family, free from fiancés, free from all troubles," she whispered into the full moon.

All of a sudden Bumblebee begins to move on its own. Kasumi looked in alarm as the steering wheel, clutch, break gas and gear started moving on its own volition. The car moved towards the gate leading to the market. The gate is closed but is not latched and can be easily opened by a push.

The car's engine roared as the gas moved a few times whilst the gear was in neutral. Kasumi gulped and gripped her safety belt tightly.

"Bumblebee, what are THINKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"

With a roar, the car accelerated towards the narrow gate.

Oh my God, we're gonna crash! Kasumi screamed in her head as the gate was definitely not wide enough to let Bumblebee through. Suddenly she felt a violent jerk and she was suddenly leaning towards her right as the car's entire left side bounced off the ground, resulting in the car tilting diagonally and running only on the two wheels at the driver's side. It was in this position that the car pushed the gate opened and exited the junk yard into the market road.

Kasumi thought her heart was going to leap out of her mouth when the car finally dropped on all four wheels but it wasn't the end. The next moment they were on the move again and Kasumi was alarmed to see all the shops and then the neighbourhood zoomed by as the car accelerated. Seventy kilometres per hour, then eighty, then ninety, then one hundred. But it didn't stop there, Kasumi shrieked as the speedometer continued to climb even as they turned and manoeuvred around the streets of Nerima ward. Several times Bumblebee made sharp ninety degree turns which nearly made Kasumi die of fright as they narrowly miss walls, shops and even other cars as they raced through the night.

And then all of a sudden, there were no more turnings. Kasumi who had become half scared to death during the journey, had closed her eyes with her hands. When there were no more jerking, no more surprises, she lifted her hands to see the open road ahead of them.

She and Bumblebee were out of Nerima Ward, Tokyo altogether and were now on the freeway. The car was driving at a more moderate speed at seventy kilometres an hour.

Slowly recovering from her shock, Kasumi was amazed at the empty road ahead, with nothing except a few cars and road lamps. And then there was the star filled sky, a clear sky with nothing to hinder the beauty of the heavens. Away from the city, the skies looked even more beautiful than when gazing at them from the roof of the Tendo house.

She lifted her head out of the window and revelled at the wind that blew in her face. The ribbon that always held her hair became loose and was blown off, freeing her hair and letting it flow behind her. It felt like freedom for her, freedom from the trappings of life, with nothing to hold her back and nowhere to go except the open road in front of her.

The car accelerated a little and a song burst from the radio.

You got the touch
You got the power

After all is said and done
You've never walked, you've never run,
You're a winner

You got the moves, you know the streets
Break the rules, take the heat
You're nobody's fool

You're at your best when the goin' gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough

You got the touch
You got the power

When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm

You got the heart
You got the motion

You know that when things get too tough
You got the touch

You never bend, you never break
You seem to know just what it takes
You're a fighter

It's in the blood, it's in the will
It's in the mighty hands of steel
When you're standin' your ground

And you never get hit when your back's to the wall
Gonna fight to the end and you're takin' it all

You got the touch
You got the power

When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm

You got the heart
You got the motion

You know that when things get too tough
You got the touch

You're fightin' fire with fire
You know you got the touch

You're at your best when when the road gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough

You got the touch
You got the power

You got the touch
You got the power

YEAH!

With that last "Yeah", Bumblebee slowed down and went off the freeway. They were now in the countryside and there was no sign of civilisation around. The car slowly drove through a field and eventually came to a stop.

Kasumi stepped out of the car and looked at the field. Then she looked at the heavens and saw the stars twinkling. For a moment, it looked as though every constellation in the star was smiling at her. Encouraging her somehow. But to do what?

She sat on the hood and after awhile, lay flat on it, with her arms behind her head, enjoying the fresh air and the brief feeling of freedom she had experienced. The car had dimmed the headlights to a soft glow, almost romantic if there wasn't anyone to share it with.

Well actually there was but Kasumi still had a hard time accepting that Bumblebee might be a car that's alive.

All of a sudden she started laughing. "Oh Bumblebee, I've truly been an idiot. I've been imagining this whole situation like it's my inescapable death sentence. It's not like I'm already engaged to Dr. Tofu, I'm just going to go on a date with him. I'm not bound in any way to accept his engagement. I'm just making my ownself miserable, imagining myself in a situation that does not exist.

The annoying song from earlier in the morning came on again:

Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
What did I say
Dare to be stupid
Tell me, what did I say
Dare to be stupid
It's alright
Dare to be stupid
We can be stupid all right

She laughed and slapped the hood a little. "Yes Bumblebee, stupid I was about the whole situation. Makes me wonder how much of Ranma's troubles is imagined by himself." Her smile dampened a little as she thought about the tormented boy. Come to think of it, his troubles WERE worse than hers. She at least was not bound by anyone through honour or law. Ranma was bound by the Tendo-Saotome honour, Amazon honour and laws, Ukyo's honour and God knows how many more unknown engagements made by Genma in the past.

"You know what Bumblebee? How would you like to meet Ranma? If I decide that Tofu is really nice and spend more time with him, I could get him to keep you company."

The whole car suddenly jerked and Kasumi quickly slid off the hood. She looked at the car who seemed to be jerking from side to side, almost like it was shaking its head. Then it drove forward until it was just touching the hem of her dress.

Kasumi smiled as she walked and ran her hand through the length of the car. "I know Bumblebee, I want to be your friend all the time too, and if I had it my way, I'll spend everyday driving you. There's so many secrets you've yet to reveal to me and I eagerly wait for you to reveal it to me bit by bit. But all I'm saying that if you are truly alone and I'm not there, Ranma can help out. He's not the brightest boy in the world outside of martial arts but he's loyal and honourable, and would take good care of you if I can't be there."

I don't want no scrub
a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me
hanging out the passenger side
of his best friend's ride
trying to holler at me

Kasumi sighed. "Ranma's hardly a scrub but I understand. I mean, I haven't even spent two days with you and I'm already looking for a replacement. Sorry Bumblebee, it was inconsiderate of me." She looked at the heavens once more.

"Thank you Bumblebee. This is the best night of my life. I won't forget it," she whispered as she entered the driver's seat. Bumblebee's response was the same as the previous afternoon.

I want to thank you
for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you
is having the best day of my life

The journey home was quiet, with Bumblebee adhering to speed limits to avoid attention. The only time when the car did something crazy was when it repeated its car tilting trick to get into the junk yard once again. Once it was in the junk yard however, it left Kasumi the task of parking the car, which she did without a hitch, reverse parking the car snugly behind the ruined tank.

Not knowing what came over her, she kissed the steering wheel, which resulted in the headlights becoming extra bright for a second and she giggled, thinking that perhaps, this was Bumblebee blushing.

"Goodnight Bumblebee," she said as she covered the car with the canvas like material.

To be continued:

Disclaimers: Don't own the following songs in order of appearance:

"What's wrong with that" by Lighthouse

"Whatcha gonna do" by Mya

"Joyride" by Mariah Carey

"The Touch" by Stan Bush

"Dare to be stupid" by Weird Al Yankovic

"No Scrubbs" by TLC

"Thank you" by Dido