The scandal continues: see the beginning for all disclaimers.

~ * Part Fourteen: Enjoying the View (20/20 Hindsight) * ~

(I am so good. I'm absolutely perfect!)

Peppercat's self-congratulations continued as she made her way through the city the fastest way she knew how – from one raised surface to another, foregoing the sidewalks altogether. Her sky blue eyes gleamed cunningly, proudly.

It had been a surprisingly simple matter to convince Samantha to let her enjoy some time off while she was at school. It wasn't as if her medafighter was in danger of being challenged to a robattle right then and there: generally medabots weren't allowed to fight on school grounds. Even though the principal had gradually loosened restrictions at Riverview, allowing medabots to meet and hang out with their partners during lunch periods and after school, actual robattles were restricted.

Coach Mountain, needless to say, was very upset about the so-called medabot invasion. The body-builder-turned-teacher was always ready to pounce upon the slightest infraction of the new codes, punishing both partners alike. Apparently, the only thing he liked about the situation was now he could finally attempt to make medabots sweat.

At any rate, Samantha had been willing to let Peppercat go off on her own while she endured another long day at school – with some restrictions, of course. Her orders weren't that terrible, however: just that the CAT-type wasn't to do any fighting without her or risk damaging her meda-parts too badly. It was certainly understandable, and Peppercat wasn't about to go knocking herself offline anytime soon.

This arrangement was definitely more preferable than spending most of the day in the meda-watch. While she was still aware of what was happening while her medal was stored there, Peppercat still found it quite annoying. Sure, it beat only going online when she needed to robattle, but it got rather boring in there.

She paused on top of a telephone pole and stretched both arms above her head, letting the sunlight warm her metallic body. Peppercat purred peacefully.

(Yes, this is definitely better than spending most of my time in a meda-watch. Now if only I can think of something to convince Samantha for time off like this on the weekends…)

That would come later, however. Right now, Peppercat had more fun activities to attend to… Mainly, spending time with a certain Stag Beetle medabot who just happened to be her new boyfriend.

(…Pretend boyfriend, perhaps. But that will change…)

Peppercat's bright blue eyes shone with anticipation.

(Oh, yes, that will change…)

~ * ~

The sunrise had been beautiful that morning.

Crimson eyes remained fixated on the shifting sapphire skies overhead, glowing faintly as if still reflecting the sun's brilliant emergence. A pleasant breeze caressed everything in its flowing path, tugging at anything loose and light enough to become its plaything. This included Rokusho's cloak: the only part of the fabric that wasn't currently dancing with the wind was pressed against the smooth silvery metal of his standing body.

All in all, he made a very impressive figure standing at the very edge of the 24 Hop Mart's rooftop.

Peppercat flipped backward onto the roof and landed a fair distance away from him. The moment she laid eyes upon his regal form, it was all the CAT-type could do to keep from toppling right back over the edge.

Rokusho was just damn beautiful.

She stared, blue eyes filled with adoration, torn between wanting to start charming the KWG-type immediately and not breaking this moment in time. The mere sight of him there, sunlight lending his sleek metal body a heavenly glow, head tilted upwards in silent contemplation, cape fluttering in the gentle wind…

"Wonderful view…"

"Yes, isn't it?"

Rokusho turned to face her, and Peppercat froze, belatedly realizing she had murmured her thoughts aloud. Her face flamed briefly, but she quickly regained control, and silently hoped he hadn't been able to see her blush in the morning light.

"It's good to see you, Peppercat. I wasn't expecting to run into you until sometime after school."

"Yeah, well," Peppercat shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? Samantha decided I earned some time off."

(Only after I brought up the idea myself, but he doesn't need to know that, does he?)

"So, anyway, I figured that since I had some free time, I could come see you for a bit and…"

"Ah. I see," Rokusho nodded wisely. "Does this have anything to do with Metabee's request yesterday?"

"If that's how you want to look at it, yes."

Peppercat said that in a sardonic tone, but privately moaned and made a note to get her revenge on Metabee sometime later. She definitely hadn't appreciated the KBT-type's blunt approach to fulfilling her cunning plan: although it had worked, his method left a lot to be desired.

(At least he didn't completely blow my chances. If he had, so help me, Ikki would have needed a new partner…)

"And after all," she continued lightly, "I figured that you have a great deal of experience with the city during a typical weekday. If anyone knows the best things a single medabot can do during a day on the town, it's you."

"…Yes, I do know what it's like to be out on your own," Rokusho replied slowly.

The Stag Beetle medabot almost seemed to flinch as he said that, and Peppercat winced inwardly. She hadn't intended to sound the way she had.

(Apparently Metabee's not the only one having problems with words lately.)

The worst part about it was she knew what was most likely causing her sudden struggle with getting things to sound perfect. The main problem was standing there right in front of her, staring her in the face with those handsome ruby red eyes. It was all she could do to keep her entire face from glowing as crimson as most of her body, let alone coordinate her words to come out absolutely the way she wanted.

(I'm acting like some silly SLR-type with a hopeless crush!)

(Never mind that I do have a crush…)

"…If you want, I shall show you around the city," offered Rokusho.

Peppercat snapped back to reality and nodded.

"That sounds nice…"

(Damn… How hopeless can you get?!)

Thankfully, Rokusho failed to pick up on the stress in her voice, or perhaps merely failed to point it out. Instead, he motioned for her to follow, turned around, and sprang nimbly off the rooftop of the Hop Mart and to a nearby telephone pole.

Peppercat followed swiftly, struggling to concentrate entirely on following the KWG-type. Her body responded automatically, springing from foothold to foothold with a familiar ease, while her blue eyes remained riveted on Rokusho's back.

On the pair of proud purple horns that crowned his regal head…

On the deadly Chanbara sword mounted on his right gauntlet…

On the trailing edge of his cape…

On his sleek, shiny metal a…

The horns again!

Damn it all if she wasn't blushing again. Peppercat shook her head sharply, narrowing her eyes. This was hardly the time or place to lose herself in her fantasies! Not now, when she had a chance at possibly gaining something she's secretly wanted for a long time…

Nope, all she needed to focus on right now was following Rokusho. She just had to keep her full attention on where the Stag Beetle medabot was taking it.

It wasn't all that hard. All she had to do was watch that fascinating silver bo…

Weren't his horns just wonderful?! She could stare at them all day!

Just the horns. And the head. And the back of his firm chest. And that cape of his. And just beneath that…

But, really, weren't those horns of his fascinating?!

~ * ~

Rokusho wasn't exactly certain what his next move should be.

The Stag Beetle medabot had never imagined he would be put in such an unusual position: taking another medabot on tour of the city and showing them the sights.

Never mind the strangeness of the fact that the medabot he was showing around lived here. Or the fact that showing her the sights was pretty much the literal sense of the term.

Rokusho's idea of a good time was a far cry from, say, Metabee's idea of a good time. While the outgoing KBT-type enjoyed finding action, adventure and excitement, the KWG-type personally preferred finding a nice secluded vista point and taking in the view, basking in the serene solitude.

Solitude was something he had come to enjoy ever since the fire. Otherwise the sheer loneliness would have driven him mad.

Was it adaptation alone that attributed to his love of spending time isolated from others?

If the fire had never happened… If he had never lost the Professor…

It didn't warrant thinking about it. The past was unalterable, after all. Any speculation on what might have been was pointless. Better to concentrate on the here and now.

"Here."

Rokusho leapt from the wall he had been running along and landed neatly on the ground. Peppercat sprang from her own perch to land just behind him, and the CAT-type looked at the KWG-type curiously.

"What?" She looked around at their surroundings and saw little particularly eye-catching. "Why have we stopped here?"

Rokusho did not reply immediately. The Stag Beetle medabot simply strode forward, ruby eyes gazing straight ahead.

"I come here sometimes to… think."

"Think?" Peppercat tilted her head to one side. "What about?"

"…Many things."

He continued forward, and Peppercat followed, turning her head back and forth to study their surroundings. The two had touched down near the river, and the feline medabot found herself studying their reflections in the shallow sapphire waters. While Rokusho's soft lavender and silver body blended nicely with the clear liquid, her bright armor stood out bluntly, a slash of scarlet against the blue backdrop.

She wasn't exactly sure why, but the contrast hurt to see.

So Peppercat averted her gaze to her companion, who had stopped and was standing upon a sizable flat stone near the water's edge. His ruby eyes were fixated on the rippling surface of the water, and she wondered if he was able to glimpse something in the currents that she simply couldn't find.

(Probably…)

"So… What do you think about, when you're here by yourself?" she tried asking again, walking up to join him.

(If at first you don't succeed… pry, pry again.)

For some reason, she got a picture of her partner deadpanning that phrase in her mind, and the thought made Peppercat laugh softly. Rokusho shifted, then turned to glance at his companion, mildly curious.

"What is it?"

"Nothing… But you still haven't answered my question, you know."

Peppercat tilted her head to one side, blue eyes gleaming slyly. Rokusho stared at her for a long moment, then turned back to watch the flowing water ripple past.

"…Fate is like a river, Peppercat."

"…Huh?"

"The river follows an endless cycle, ever changing and repeating in a never-ending loop. It follows a path determined ages ago, slowly reshaping its boundaries only to remain trapped in its same course. Time may wear away at its banks, yet it never breaks them."

Peppercat just looked at Rokusho, hoping that the Stag Beetle couldn't tell how completely lost she was by the course of this conversation. She did think she recognized what he was driving at, vaguely… But for the most part she was utterly confused.

(Oh, so this is what he does all day… Sit around and come up with new philosophies to confuse everyone else…)

"So…what? Are you saying fate's inescapable?" she asked.

"Perhaps…"

The KWG-type's crimson eyes glowed faintly as he studied the shimmering currents. Peppercat followed his gaze to the river, then shook her head curtly.

"I'm not so sure I can buy into that," she admitted, tail lashing back and forth. "Fate seems like an excuse weak people buy into more than anything else, really. I mean, if you decide that everything's predetermined, it's basically saying that there's no point in having free will. Like you don't have any control over who you are and how you end up. That's… stupid."

Rokusho glanced back at the CAT-type, but didn't turn to face her, instead watching out of the corner of his eye as she went on.

"I say, if there's something you want, you should go for it," she declared firmly, placing her hands on her hips. "Trusting things to fate alone probably means you aren't going to end up with much of anything. You've got to work for it yourself, not sit back and wait for things to go the course without you."

"…And what if you thought that perhaps fate had others plans in mind than what you desired?" asked Rokusho gently.

Peppercat looked at him, a mischievous gleam in her bright blue eyes.

"Then I guess I'd fight the tide," she replied. "After all, anything worth having is worth fighting for."

Rokusho nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"I… suppose so."

"Right."

Peppercat nodded back, and abruptly the crimson medabot reached out to grab his arm. When Rokusho looked at her strangely, she merely tilted her head slightly to one side in a charming manner.

"C'mon, you," she ordered. "I say we go find something more interesting to spend our free time on then sitting and trading philosophy back and forth. There's got to be something a couple of medabots can do on their own…"

(Like finding more common ground. Like getting you to see my charms. Like making you fall in love with me.)

The KWG-type nodded slowly, once again uncertain of what his next action should be.

"Lead away, then."

The feline medabot nodded again, blue eyes lit up with pleasure. Rokusho watched them closely, hit by a stray thought.

(They're as blue as the sky usually is… I wonder if they have as many faces?)

Then Peppercat was tugging on his arm, and Rokusho followed, curious to see what exactly the CAT-type had in mind. Whatever it was, this day was promising to be a bit more interesting than most in recent memory… Without involving any sort of major threat against the world for once. That in itself was a refreshing change of pace…