Author's Note: Happy New Year everyone! Here I go with another update before school takes up most of my time again. And again, thank you, Aveza and crestoflight3 for reviewing!

Circuits

Culprit

A month had passed since Yuuko's passing, and though her children found the strength to move on, Susumu, on the other hand, still mourned.

Back at his apartment home, he gave orders to Matt without directly facing the robot, but Matt's expressionless face could still be pictured and the android's presence only sickened the man further. And now he could only watch as Tai and Kari's relationship with their robotic caregiver grew stronger which also fueled the anger in his heart.

At work, the memories of his wife played over and over again in his head like a broken record but each one ended with only one figure in mind:

Matt.

My wife is dead. He thought bitterly, ignoring the paperwork that was sprawled out on his desk, And now that…that…machine is taking her place!

Tai and Kari are getting too close to that monster. No, it's brainwashing them! I've got to end this before it's too late for the both of my children, for Yuuko's sake!

He stood up, quickly writing a note for his boss and left his office.

…

Before Tai and Kari left for school that morning, they ordered Matt to do the laundry and by noon, Matt had completed his task. While he was folding the dried clothes, Matt heard the door click open. When he arrived, the blonde cyborg saw Susumu, looming over him with a dark look.

"Mr. Kamiya," Matt said, "Did you leave something behind?"

"No." Susumu replied in a grim tone, "I came home for lunch. Now make me something."

Matt took a few steps toward the kitchen but stopped, and looked back at the older man. "What would you like to eat, sir?"

"JUST MAKE ME SOMETHING!" snapped Susumu, "I DON'T CARE!"

"Yes sir."

As Matt was cooking, Susumu tapped his fingers impatiently against the table, his resentment towards Matt steadily rising. Once the meal was ready, Matt gave it to Susumu who snatched out of the android's hands and began eating it in a rather greedy manner.

"Is there a real reason that you're here, Mr. Kamiya?" Matt asked.

Susumu stopped eating. "Yes," he answered, setting down his plate, "there is a real reason why I'm here. And it's you."

"Me, sir?"

"You were built to serve as a caregiver for my wife," Susumu stated, "When my children defended you that day, I had hoped that Yuuko would improve and stayed with us longer…but she didn't."

He narrowed his eyes at Matt into a twisted glare.

"You caused that."

"Mr. Kamiya," the blonde servant stated, "I wasn't programmed to commit murder."

"But you were programmed to take care of her. And that was an order." Susumu confirmed. "Is that correct?"

Matt turned his gaze away from his owner. "Yes sir, I was."

"It's your fault that Yuuko died!" Susumu shouted, "You were supposed to provide for her but she died anyway! You're the one responsible for her death, you're the culprit!"

He grabbed Matt by the sweater vest and pulled the robot close to his face, his black eyes seething with rage as he stared into Matt's calm blue eyes.

"Now you listen very carefully, Matt," Susumu warned, "You served your purpose now that my wife is dead and I want you to get out."

"What about your children?" the cyborg questioned, "Don't they need my help with their studies?"

"My children don't need you anymore."

Susumu gave Matt a hard shove backwards as he released his grip. Matt stumbled slightly before regaining balance.

"Get out." Susumu coldly repeated, pointing towards the apartment's opened door. "And if you ever come back, you won't be fit for anything but the scrapheap."

Matt briefly looked at Susumu's hateful expression before turning away again, hanging his head in silence.

As he walked past the older man, he said,

"Yes, Mr. Kamiya, I will leave."

…

The final school bell rang as students poured out of the building at a great pace. Kari, along with Davis and T.K., trailed behind, more focused on their test grades while her older brother caught up with them making their way through the main doors.

"Boy," Davis exclaimed, double-checking the grade on his paper, "I can't believe that I actually passed that math test with a C!"

Kari chuckled, "Oh Davis, it wasn't that bad. What did you make, T.K.?"

"I made a B-." replied the blonde, "I wish that I could've done better though."

"Yeah," added Davis, "Thanks to that robot-butler of yours, Kari, you and Tai keep getting straight As!"

"I wouldn't go that far," said Tai. "Kari and I don't completely rely on Matt when it comes to stuff like that."

T.K. took a brief glimpse at his watch.

"I better head on home, you guys," he said, "My mom's relatives are coming for a visit and I need to help her get things ready when they come. See you later."

As Davis watched the younger boy fade into the sea of people, his eyes caught another familiar sight.

"Hey Kari," he said, pointing, "Isn't that your robot?"

Kari and her brother stopped short and looked out towards where Davis was pointing to and caught a glimpse of golden blonde hair among all of the people passing by. However, Matt stood silently in place.

Puzzled by the android's behavior, the three quickly went through crowd until they had reached the domestic robot.

"Matt, what are you doing out here?" Kari asked.

While they waited for an answer, Davis heard a whistle blowing down at the soccer field nearby.

He gasped in sudden realization, "I forgot that soccer practice was today!"

The goggle head hastily apologized to the others and ran as fast as he could to the field.

"Well Matt," Tai started, "Why are you here? Is something wrong?"

"Your father believes that my presence is harmful and has ordered me to leave." Matt replied. "He also believes that I am responsible for your mother's death."

Tai couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Dad…seriously thinks that…?" he said, completely flabbergasted, "But Matt, it wasn't your fault; Mom was in the final stages of cancer when she died!"

"Tai's right, Matt," agreed Kari with a nod, "You must come back home with us."

The cyborg averted his gaze. "I can't."

"Why not?" Tai questioned, unconvinced by the robot's response.

Matt was silent.

And the conversation was ended.

…

Following a few unsuccessful attempts to make Matt explain why, Tai and Kari reluctantly left the cyborg behind as they headed back to their apartment home.

"Tai, how can we tell Dad that Matt didn't do it?"

"I don't know, Kari," Tai said, "but we'll think of something."

Upon entering the now empty apartment, a sudden thought popped in Kari's head.

"Tai," she said, "when Mom was first hospitalized for cancer, didn't she mention to us that she had it before?"

The older boy's eyes widened.

"You're right, Kari!" he exclaimed, "Mom did say that! And if she was first diagnosed then, maybe we could find medical records of her treatment!"

Kari's face beamed with hope as they continued on with their plan.

"I see! If we show Dad the records, then maybe he would understand!"

Later that evening, while they were eating supper, Susumu returned home in an unusually brighter mood than normal.

"I'm home, kids!"

"Hi Dad."

After setting his belongings aside, Susumu joined them in the kitchen to eat. Tai and Kari abruptly stopped and watched their father. They knew too well the reason behind his cheerfulness but were hesitant about bringing up the reason for it.

Then Susumu broke the growing silence.

"You two are probably wondering where Matt is?"

-To be continued…