Kung Fu Panda 1. Bigger Family

New Max/Saori story coming in! This time...they're expanding the family a little bit! Dedicated to Master of Stories and we're gonna focus on the family dynamics as they get older and it takes place three years after Maximus II was born. Enjoy!

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Triple Cubs

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Bigger Family

It had been three years since Max and Saori had given birth to Maximus II and since then, it's been nothing but joy and love and sometimes a little bit overwhelming since then, but the two tiger parents couldn't have it any other way and some of Maximus II's older siblings have grown to like him a little...not to mention that they've grown up at an alarming rate. Max and Saori would definitely have more children, but at some point...it would just have to put an end to it now that both of them have reached their peak with their mating.

But they know that they can't resist coming as one and it wouldn't hurt to have at least one more baby in the wings and both of them are almost out of their 30's and are reaching to their 40's soon, but to them...it's still young but mature and plus...Saori definitely loves their intimate moments with Max and it's a lot more enticing than ever before.

One day, the kids were just hanging out at the house and a few of the older sibs were in their teen years while Mason was reaching towards adulthood and just needed to adjust to being 18. but so far, he's taking that pretty well while the others have some catching up...and some growing up to do; including Seto. Even though he's 16, he still has that 12-year old mentality in him and has a little bit of bravadoness in him, which always annoys the younger ones, but amuses Mason.

"Man, I can't wait to take Auntie Akami's place as the leader of the Tora Okami clan. They need a guy to lead the charge." Seto responded.

"You do realize that Yuki's up for the title, right?" asked Mason, raising his eyebrow.

Once Mason mentioned that little tidbit, Seto turned to Mason with a stern look in his face and he said, "Dude...she's the second contender. I'm the first contender. When Uncle Akashi said that one of us will be capable of leading the Tora clan...since you dropped out of that choice...I believe Akashi said that I should be capabale of leading the clan. Plus...you gave up the title."

"First of all, I didn't give up the title. I decided not to pursue that position. And secondly, did you forget that mom was the leader of the Tora clan?" Mason asked, folding his arms.

"Yeah, we know that mom was the leader of the clan. But don't you think guys should be more than willing to rule more than girls?" asked Seto.

"Don't pull into the whole 'guys can lead while girls serve us' crap. Remember when you almost got in trouble with mom, dad and Uncle Akashi last time you made a statement like that?" asked Mason.

Seto froze for a second and lets out a small growl at Mason and said, "You were sworn to never tell."

"No one asked me to keep it a secret. Uncle Akashi told me everything." Mason replied.

Just then, Yuki walked downstairs to see Mason and Seto opposing views again and it's starting to get on her nerves and she said, "If you guys are arguing about your underwear, keep me out of it."

"We're not talking about that, Yuki. Tell Mason that I'm the top contender of getting the leader throne over you." Seto stated.

Then, once Yuki finally figured that this was the subject, she chuckled softly and said, "Wrong. You know for a fact that I'm the top contender of being the next leader of the Tora clan."

Seto groans in dusgust for that response and said, "Why should the girls run the world over us?"

"Because we have the maturity, skills, brains, strength and the mentality to do whatever we want...way better than some guys." Yuki answered.

"Well, I have plenty more maturity than you. So ha!" Seto exclaimed, rubbing it at her face.

Yuki scoffs at that and said, "You're not that mature."

"Hey, I'm 16 years old and you're 14. Only one person's the mature one." Seto argued.

Yuki nods her head at that and said, "You're right. There is one of us that's more mature...and that's me."

"No fair!" Seto groans.

Mason scoffs and shook his head at that response and he turned to Seto and asked, "Hey, isn't it your day to babysit Lil' Maximus II?"

Seto growls at this and he wanted anything more than babysit their little brother and he said, "Why am I stuck with babysitting the little twerp?"

"Dad said so on the days of duties schedule as to taking care of Lil' Maxie II. I took care of him this morning." Mason replied.

"Why don't you let Yuki do it?" asked Seto.

"I took care of him yesterday." Yuki answered.

Seto groans in frustration at this and Mason said, "And no excuses."

"I hate those rules." Seto grumbled to himself as he stomped upstairs to babysit Maximus II.

"That's not our fault." Mason replied, with a smirk.

Seto turned to Mason with a serious look in his face and said, "If he pees on me again, you guys are gonna get your payback."

As soon as Seto left, Mason looked at Yuki and he said, "I think you'd make a better leader."

"Thank you, Mason." Yuki said, with a smile.

With that, Mason took his satchel and heads out of the door and said, "Gotta head to work. Should be back in time for dinner."

"Okay. See ya, Mason." Yuki said, happily.

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That's the start! We don't see Akashi yet until later in the story! Stay tuned for more!

**Voice of Seto: Josh Keaton**

**Voice of Mason: Josh Peck**

**Voice of Yuki: Ashley Johnson**


	2. Work at the Shop

We follow Mason as we see him heading to work...for Akashi.

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Chapter 2: Work at the Shop

As Mason was on his way to work, he managed to get a little quick bite at the bakery and as he walked in, he saw Aunt Miyo baking some bread there and he said, "Smells pretty good here."

Miyo looks up and she sees her nephew standing there, waving at her and she waved back and comes to him and asked, "Hello, Mason. The usual?"

"Yeah, with extra honey, please." Mason replied.

"You're in luck. Just baked these fresh this morning." Miyo replied, bringing in some whole-grain loaves of bread with a little bit of honey spread and raisins and she sliced a couple of slices for Mason and as soon as Mason received them, he gave her a few coins and 4 yuan as well.

"So...how have you been doing?" asked Miyo.

"I'm pretty good. Just have to ship in a couple of boxes for my dad and then there's my job at Akashi's shop." Mason replied.

"Has he been treating you good?" asked Miyo, raising her eyebrow.

"For the most part." Mason replied.

Once Miyo heard 'for the most part', it really indicates that Akashi's keeping some of his immaturity while working, but he knows his own intentions of making sure that Akashi's keeping his oldest nephew straight and she said, "All righty. That's good to hear. How are your parents?"

"Mom and dad are doing pretty good. You know, they've been talking about the possibility of having a new baby. I mean...it had been three years since Maximus II was born." Mason answered.

That literally surprised Miyo to know that both Max and Saori are making more children and she said, "They've been keeping busy, huh? That sounds just like me and Akashi."

Mason chuckled softly at this and he said, "Very true. But it would be cool to have a new little brother again...or a sister. Either way, I'm cool with it."

"Glad to hear. Just going with the flow?" asked Miyo.

"Yep. Just go with whatever." Mason said, chuckling.

Miyo nods her head and looked at Mason for a second and he said, "You're all grown up, Mase. You look just like your father when he was your age."

"I try not to." Mason added.

"And so modest too. Your dad's always been so modest and humble and keeps himself grounded." Miyo responded.

"Yeah, I know. Well, I should head onto work...otherwise Akashi might track me down." Mason added.

"Right, of course. I'll see you later, Mason." Miyo stated.

"Bye, Aunt Miyo." Mason said, as he walked off with his breakfast.

Minutes later

Mason carried a few boxes full of wood, carving daggers and rags to take to his father's workshop and by the time he walked to the workshop, he knocked on the door and heard someone say, "Come in."

Mason opened the door and saw his father just tinkering away with some wooden sword-handler and he said, "Hey, dad."

Max looked up and sees Mason standing there with a few boxes and he said, "Hey, son."

"Someone delievered you these packages." Mason replied.

"Oh, perfect. They're here." Max said, coming in to receive the packages and Mason helped him out and once they opened it, both tigers set in some wood figurines, wood, carving daggers and a few rags where they're supposed to be in and afterwards, Mason looked up and said, "That's everything."

"Yep. Thanks, son." Max said, happily.

"Anytime, dad. Anyways, I gotta get going. Don't want Akashi to have a cow on me when I'm late." Mason replied.

"Good point." Max agreed.

With that, Max gave his son a few yuan for his service and Mason thankfully appreciated the tip and went on his way to work, leaving Max alone to resume his wood carving. Max couldn't help but think that the minute he looked at his oldest, he could see a little bit of himself in his son and that lets him know that he's growing into a young man.

Later that morning

Mason finally makes it to Akashi's workshop and he braced himself for hearing whatever Akashi's gonna say and the minute he stepped in, he saw Akashi standing there and he said, "You're late."

"I had to deliever a few packages for my dad." Mason replied.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. But still...you're late." Akashi stated.

Mason sighed at this and he brought in his apron and he asked, "So...just get to work?"

"Yeah, can you go and sweep up the bathroom, please? And after that, you can begin making your bo staff." Akashi replied.

"All righty." Mason answered.

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Stay tuned for more coming up soon! BTW, Max is 38 years old and Mason is 18.

**Voice of Miyo: Sumalee Montano**

**Voice of Max: Johnny Yong Bosch**

**Voice of Akashi: Christopher Sabat**


	3. Breaking the News

And here's where a little lunch date turns into wonderful news.

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Chapter 3: Breaking the News

Noon comes by and Max was cleaning up the shop to make sure nothing else gets overlooked or missed as he's sweeping, dusting and all those things to keep it maintained and fresh and soon enough, he can smell the aroma of delicious food behind him and once he turned around, he sees Saori coming in with some chinese and japanese food and Max knew some of the familiar aromas that he recognized that some of those are his favorites.

"Hi, Maximus. Ready for our lunch date?" asked Saori.

Max nods his head as he comes closer to her and he said, "I've been looking forward to this in so long."

Both tigers walked in and placed the food onto the table and both of them sat down and engorged in some egg rolls, sushi, fried rice, sashimi, lo mein, sweet and sour chicken and unagi and both of them were just enjoying their lunch date and savoring every morsel and moment they could ever get and for both of them, it's like having their first date revisited for the first time.

"I'm so glad you could take this time to come over to have a little lunch date." Max said, very pleased.

"I'm even happier that you could spend lunch break with me." Saori said, smiling.

Max ate some egg rolls, spicy sashimi, tempura and lo mein and it was like everything he could ever enjoy and with the time with Saori, it's even more better than ever and they talked about pretty much everything; from whatever happened with the kids, home, work and Akashi and they often talked about their love for each other by recalling childhood and teenage memories and they were a little excited about what the future will be in store for them.

After eating, Saori was really nervous and just fidgeted her fingers a little bit because there was something she wanted to tell him about and when Max looked at her, he noticed that she was anxious about something and he said, "Are you okay?"

Saori looked up with a fake smile and she said, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You seem kinda upset about something." Max replied.

Max quickly stood up and walked beside her and placed his knees on the ground to give her some comfort and just rubbed her forehead and Saori wasn't sure how Max would take it and she said, "There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" asked Max.

Saori took a deep breath and she looked at Max in the eye and asked, "Remember the night we last mated?"

Max recalled his memory very perfectly and he could remember that night and said, "Yeah, I do. It's one of the best moments we've had."

"Well...it ended up with something." Saori added.

"Saori...just tell me." Max said, in a gentle voice.

Saori took another deep breath and looked at him in the eye again and said, "I'm pregnant."

That didn't come as a surprise for Max and he was completely thrilled with being a dad again and he lets out a smile and said, "This is the best news of my life."

"I had thought you wouldn't want another one because we've got our hands full with our nine kids." Saori said, a little worried.

Max gently placed his thumb and finger under Saori's chin and he said, "I'm always happy with whatever we have and how many we'll get. I love being a father...just as much I love being your husband."

It really made Saori feel at ease now and she's gonna embrace being a mother again and they both hugged each other and kissed each other on the lips very tenderly and after the kiss, Max looked deeply into Saori's eyes and she did the same as well and she said, "I'm so grateful that I'm your wife."

"And I'm grateful to have you as my mate." Max said, tenderly.

Soon enough, in comes Max's mentor coming in the room, not realizing that Saori's here and once he looked up, he could kinda see that he had accidentally disturbed a moment and said, "Uh...whoa. Hey, did I interrupt something?"

"No, sir." Max replied.

"Okay. Um...I just came here to tell you that Akashi's on his way to have his sword sharpened." Max's mentor replied.

"Okay. Thanks." Max answered.

The mentor slowly walked out of the room and Max sighed heavily and he said, "Guess I better get back to work. But thanks for coming for the wonderful dinner and the wonderful news."

"You're welcome, Max." Saori replied.

"Now the only thing is...how do we keep this from Akashi?" asked Max.

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That would be proven a challenge...but Akashi will always know. Stay tuned!

**Voice of Saori: Mae Whitman**

**Voice of Max's mentor: Kevin Michael Richardson**


	4. Aura Sense

Max is of course Akashi's personal sword sharpener and polisher and of course...Akashi already knew about the news.

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Chapter 4: Aura Sense

A few minutes went by and Max waited for Akashi to come over and polish his sword for him and after Saori left the workshop after the lunch break and after finding out that she's pregnant again, the hardest thing for him to do was keeping it on the down low because he always knew that Akashi's aura could dig up the most kept secrets inside of themselves, but he wasn't gonna let that get in the way of the happy news.

Finally, Akashi showed up to the workshop and Max said, "Hey, Akashi. What swords you want me to sharpen or polish today?"

Akashi got out his black katana and places it on the table and he said, "Needs some good sharpening and polishing, Max."

"No probs." Max replied, taking the sword.

Max got down to business as he sat down and began sharpening Akashi's sword and it took a huge amount of concentration as he's sharpening with this metal rolling rock that's shaped like an 'O' that turns around and around to get that sharpening feeling on the sides and on the tip of the sword. Meanwhile, Akashi sat around, twiddling his thumbs as he's waiting around and he knows that it takes a huge amount of concentration on what it takes to sharpen up a sword like that.

Max looked at the black katana and analyzed it to see if it needs more sharpening or if there's little scratches in it to make sure it's in mint condition. After a few analyzing looks, he resumed sharpening to make sure it looks 10 times as better. After only 12 minutes, the sword looks complete and all that's left to do is to polish it.

Akashi sees Max make his way over to the table as he brings the sword over for some polishing, but Akashi has to first see what it looks like and gives it the sharpening test to see if it's sharp enough to cut something and he picks up a piece of ribbon and throws it up in the air and he jumps up and slices it up, resulting in the ribbon sliced off in pieces and it confirms that it's in sharp condition.

Akashi turns to Max for a second and he said, "Pretty good. Now it's sharper than ever."

"Cool. A few polishing and you're good to go." Max replied.

Akashi then gave back the sword to Max and began polishing on it and while Max is polishing, Akashi couldn't help but look at Max for a second and he has this very sly smirk on his face like he already knows something that he's keeping from him. Akashi then asked, "So...how's life?"

"Pretty good. All the kids are growing up a little bit. And Maximus II...he's been nothing but a pure joy and delight to us. Just this morning, he got out of the crib all by himself." Max answered.

"Did he really?" asked Akashi.

"Yep. I think he's ready for a big boy bed now." Max answered.

Akashi nodded his head at that and he said, "That's impressive. Speaking of babies...you're having another one, aren't you?"

Suddenly, Max stopped polishing and looked up at Akashi in shock as he did not know that that part was coming in so quickly and unexpectedly at that rate and Max was still in the middle of being taking the news in and he looked at Akashi in the eye and he could tell from that smirk that he already figured that out immediately.

"Trust me, I could yours and Saori's auras on my way here. You guys have really got to stop making more kids." Akashi stated.

"We adopted one. That doesn't count." Max explained.

"But still...how long are you guys gonna keep mating?" asked Akashi.

Max glared at Akashi for that question almost as if it's just too personal and replied, "How long are you gonna stop spying on girls and end up getting beaten up by Miyo?"

That counter question seemed like an immediate fireball towards Akashi and he couldn't think of an answer to respond to that and just left it at that and Max responded with a counter smirk and continued polishing and Akashi asked, "So...is it gonna be a boy or a girl?"

"We don't know yet, Akashi. You have to ask Saori because she broke the news to me." Max answered.

"I'll do more than ask her." Akashi responded.

"Can you at least let me and Saori explain this to the kids?" asked Max.

Akashi rolled his eyes at that request and he thought it would be best to let the kids know before Akashi opens his mouth about it and he said, "All right. But I'm gonna be there when you announce it."

"Like when you nearly spoiled Yuki's surprise birthday party?" asked Max.

"Seriously, are we still talking about that?" asked Akashi, growling in frustration.

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Akashi is a big mouth, bottom line. Now who's next to break the news; the kids. How will they react? Find out next!


	5. Adolescent Cubs

Now we get to see the other cubs and some of them are a little older.

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Chapter 5: Adolescence Cubs

Back at home, most of the cubs that were in the teenage or pre-teen stage were trying to get used to the fact that they're getting a lot older and Kaiba was a little bit excited and also nervous about getting older and what would it be like when he's a grown-up and as he walked around the house, he saw Seto's face with huge amount of grumpiness and Kaiba asked, "Did someone have a bad day today?"

"Shut...up." Seto replied, with a snarl.

Kaiba could tell that Seto was getting completely ticked about babysitting Maximus II and he figured that he might need a break from that and in part of this afternoon, it would be his turn to babysit and he said, "Seto."

"What?" asked Seto.

"Want me to babysit Maximus II?" asked Kaiba.

Seto turns around and wants to know if he heard it right and once Kaiba asked it, he immediately responded, "Please babysit him! I need someone else to do this position."

Kaiba was definitely aware of Seto's annoyance with Maximus II, mostly due in part of the fact that he's stuck with babysitting him twice a week and it could be pretty frustrating for him and Kaiba was more than willing to babysit the baby brother of the bunch and he walked into little Maximus' room and he was picking him up and looking after him.

Just looking at how Kaiba treats little Maximus made Seto a little envious that the little one's gained so much attention from mostly the sibs and his parents and he just felt like he's being pushed aside for some reason and he just walked away without a sound, unaware that he walked past Sapphire and Serenity. Serenity scoffed at this and asked, "What's his problem?"

"Beats me. Probably girl trouble." Sapphire answered.

"What girl would date Seto?" asked Serenity.

Soon enough, Yuki made it back to the house after a rigorous amount of ribbon-dance training and she needed just a well-deserved rest and Serenity looks at her and asked, "How'd it go?"

"Exhausting. I'm gonna take a nap. Let me know when dinner's coming." Yuki replied.

"Okay. You know mom and dad's gonna come home late, right?" asked Sapphire.

By the time Sapphire turned around, Yuki was already in her room and the two just walked by and Sapphire saw Jason running around the house and she said, "What are you doing, Jason?"

"Playing hide and seek with Marcus." Jason replied, before taking off.

Sapphire chuckled at this and she wasn't gonna let Jason have all the fun and she exclaimed, "Wait for me!"

Serenity looks and sees her sister play with Jason to join in on hide and seek and there was a part of her that wanted to play with them and almost immediately, Serenity joined in and wasn't gonna let the younger ones have all the fun.

Meanwhile, Mason made his way back in the house and walked towards the kitchen, taking his sandals off and just walked around barefoot to get himself a snack and found some bananas and apples and ate a few of those and he sat down on the chair and looks up at the ceiling for a few short minutes and soon enough, he spots Kaiba coming downstairs with Maximus II in arm and he said, "Kaiba?"

"Hey, Mason." Kaiba replied.

"Why are you babysitting Lil' Max?" asked Mason.

"Well...the schedule said that Seto can watch him half a day and I can babysit Maxim." Kaiba replied.

Then he also realize the half-day schedules in between who's babysitting Maximus II and said, "Got it."

Kaiba looked at Mason for a second as he's laying on the couch and he said, "You don't look so good."

"Exhausted, Kai. I just need to rest for a while." Mason answered.

Kaiba thought it was best to just let Mason rest for a while and he walked back upstairs with little Maximus II and by the minute he walked back up, he saw Jason, Serenity and Sapphire chasing after Marcus and that pretty much gives an indication of dealing with older siblings and playing with them and he tells little Maximus, "Don't worry, they're not usually that hyper."

An hour had passed by and all of a sudden, Max comes in with Saori and Akashi and they need to announce something to the kids and he said, "Kids, family conference!"

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Family conference time! Wonder what that will be this time? Stay tuned!

**Voice of Kaiba: Ben Diskin**

**Voice of Sapphire: Tara Strong**

**Voice of Serenity: Alyson Stoner**

**Voice of Jason: Aiden Gallagher**


	6. Family Conference

And now news of how the cubs will take the news of having yet another sibling.

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Chapter 6: Family Conference

Soon enough, all the kids gathered around the family room where they see their parents and uncle Akashi and from the minute they saw Akashi there, they could already tell it's one of the family conference meetings and Mason asked, "What's going on, guys?"

"There's something that we all need to talk about." Max answered.

"Is there a slight change for the schedule on who's gonna babysit little Maximus? If so, can we let Yuki handle them?" asked Seto.

Yuki lets out a very stern snarl at this and elbowed him slightly, signaling him to just 'shut up' and Saori replied, "No changes for the schedule, Seto. Not anytime soon."

Seto groans in response to that and Akashi was keeping a sharp eye on Seto in case he acts up again and Akashi told him, "Listen to what they're gonna say, Seto. That goes for all of you too."

"We're listening, Uncle Akashi." Serenity stated.

Max took a few deep breaths to get his anxiety out from breaking the news to the cubs and he's willing to get this out and discuss this as a family and he said, "Well...you guys all know that you're pure joy and blessings in our lives. You guys are getting a lot older now and you've taken in some roles of responsibilities around the house and with each other as well."

"So much so that we've become a huge family." Saori chimed in.

The kids were a little anxious to get to the announcement across and Saori could feel the tense inside of her and Max held her hand for some support and he turned to the kids and said, "We've been blessed to have 9 of you guys in our lives."

"How do you guys feel about having another one?" asked Saori.

It suddenly dawned on them...

"Your mom is pregnant...for the 9th time." Akashi finished out.

Saori glared at Akashi for breaking the news for them and then she looked at her kids again and most of their reactions were completely mixed and it took a few minutes for them to process it until Mason spoke up and said, "That's awesome, guys."

It was comforting to hear Mason's words and Max said, "Thanks, son."

"Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?" asked Sapphire.

"We're not quite sure yet, but we'll let you guys know soon." Saori replied.

Yuki and Serenity were elated by the news while Jason, Kaiba and Sapphire take it all in and Kaiba looked at little Maximus and said, "Dude, you're gonna be a big brother."

"Yay!" Little Maximus cheered.

Max walked by as Kaiba gave little Maximus to his dad and looked at him and said, "You're gonna have a little brother or sister. And you know...it's time for you to have your own big boy bed."

"I'm a big boy!" Little Maximus cheered.

Saori was a little hesitant about that because she's always used to having little Maximus on the crib near the bed because she still sees him as her little baby and she wasn't really ready for that move yet, but at the same time...he does need to let go for a little bit because he's only three years of age now. It might take some time for her to adjust that, but she'll try her best to hold onto Maximus.

"What will you guys name him?" asked Yuki.

"After we had little Maximus...we figured that if we were gonna have another baby and if it'll be another boy, we'll name him after your uncle." Max answered.

Most of them were surprised that the new baby will be named after their uncle Akashi, but the one person that's more surprised and also touched by that was Akashi himself. He was overwhelmed with happiness, joy and tears after that news broke out and he left the room in silence and Saori could tell that Akashi was choked up by this and she thought it was best to check on him while Max was explaining about the new baby and didn't even notice Saori was gone until he heard the door close and he turned to the kids and said, "Family conference dismissed."

* * *

And of course...that's all you guys need to know about the baby. But there will be a twist in it. The new baby's name will the Akashi. Stay tuned!


	7. Overwhelming Joy

We see Akashi in overwhelming happiness about the fact that they're gonna name the new cub after him. Let's see how it ends.

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Chapter 7: Overwhelming Joy

Saori walked across the room and her ears perked up when she heard someone sobbing in her bedroom and as the sound got closer and closer, she stepped into the room and saw Akashi sitting on the edge of the bed, just crying and she was really concerned for her brother because she wasn't sure if the name of their newborn baby left him either happy or sad and she asked, "Are you okay, Akashi?"

Akashi sobbed a few times and lets out a few sniffles and he replied, "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" Saori asked, sitting next to him.

Akashi slowly rose his head open with tears all over his eyes and he wiped them away and replied, "I'm sure. I'm just...I'm happy."

That widened her eyes a lot and she didn't expect that answer to come out of her brother and she asked, "You're happy?"

"Yes. I'm just really touched and honored that you and Max would name your new baby after me." Akashi answered, smiling.

A huge sigh of relief came to Saori because she thought that Akashi would've been upset about that and to hear that he's actually happy with that gave her a little peace of mind that he's fully happy with that and she said, "We had said to ourselves after Maximus II was born that when and if we have another cub, we'll name him after you...like a second coming of Akashi. I was a little guilty that I didn't think of it on our last baby."

"Don't be guilty, sis. I'm sure Max was honored to have that little guy named about him as you were. I had just hoped that it could be named after me." Akashi answered.

"We just wanted to wait until little Max was a little older to have another cub and if it was a boy, we'd name him after you." Saori answered.

Akashi lets out a tearful smile and just felt so happy that he's gonna have a nephew named after him and he said, "That's just the best gift you and Max have ever given me."

"You're welcome." Saori said.

Soon enough, Max comes in the room and sees Saori and Akashi happy about something and he walked over to both of them, with Max sitting beside Saori and Akashi smiled at both of them and said, "You guys have made this the best day of my life."

"By how?" asked Max.

"Tell me that I'm gonna have a nephew named after me. That's a huge honor for me." Akashi responded.

"Thanks. But we don't really know if it's gonna be a boy or a girl. If it's a boy, we'll name him after you." Max stated.

"But if it's a girl, you'll name her after my daughter, right?" asked Akashi.

Max and Saori were a little surprised to hear that question pop out of Akashi's mouth, then turned to each other and back to Akashi and Saori said, "We never thought about that before."

"But you might, right?" asked Akashi.

"Not sure what to tell you, Akashi. But we'll find out whether we have a son or daughter." Max added.

"We're gonna head to the doctor's office tomorrow and see what will happen and we'll tell everyone a little later." Saori stated.

Akashi nodded his head in understanding and he patted both of them and said, "That's fine. But you know for a fact that I'll find out for myself."

"How?" asked Max.

Akashi snickered at this and he said, "My aura, remember?"

Max nods his head and facepalms himself after asking that question and said, "Of course."

* * *

So...now the clan is a buzz with excitement! Stay tuned for more!


	8. Big Boy Maximus

With the joys of having a new baby, Saori is now faced with something more challenging; Maximus II is three years old and is now a little older, which is kind of a hard pill to swallow. Here's the result;

* * *

Chapter 8: Big Boy Maximus

A few moments have went by and Saori was looking at Maximus II and realized that he's growing up a little bit, but a part of her wants him to stay a baby forever because she's always been used to having him in his crib near their bed and if needed, sleeping with both parents on their bed and she would always make him feel safe and comfortable through those three years and then to know that Maximus II would go from the crib to a big boy, it was a little much for her to grasp.

She lets out a deep sigh and just didn't really think that little Maximus II was ready for a big boy bed yet, but at the same time...she knows that she can't keep him a baby for long and with the fact that she's pregnant already, she has to make a few adjustments about this and once Maximus II crawls towards his mother and says 'mama', it literally melted her heart as well as breaking it because he's gonna sleep in his own bed and she grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

She kept hugging him and carrying him by the waist and she said, "Your daddy says that you're ready for a big boy bed, but mommy wants you to still be my little baby."

As soon as Max came back in, he saw Saori still carrying Maximus II around and he knows for a fact that things will be different and he said, "Saori...you know we have to place little Maxie in a bed, right?"

"I know. But it's just so hard to come to terms with it. It's like...three years have gone by so fast and already he's growing to be a big boy. Soon, it starts with the big bed, then he eats by himself, dresses by himself and then he'll get older, move out, have family and kids. He'll never visit or write! Max, we're losing our baby!" Saori exclaimed.

Max clears his throat at this and he said, "Saori...you're losing it. I understand it's hard for you. It's hard for me too, but we know for a fact that he can't stay a baby forever and when we have our new baby, we'll place him or her in that crib until it's old enough to have a bed."

Saori sighed deeply at this because she knew for a fact that Max was right and she looked at little Maximus for a second and nuzzled him softly and she said, "It's gonna take me some time to get used to it."

"It will. It gets better." Max said, with a reassuring smile.

The moment Max made that smile is giving Saori a little bit of comfort, but still hard to accept the fact that Maximus II is growing up a little bit and Saori asked, "Promise?"

"Saori...our new baby will be a blessing and Maximus II will become a big brother and it's time that he can learn some responsibility." Max stated.

"You're right, Max. I'll try my best to get used to it." Saori added.

Max nods his head with a smile and to reassure the case, he kissed her on the forehead for comfort and looks at little Maximus and said, "You're gonna be a big boy now and soon, you'll have to sleep in your own bed soon until the new baby comes."

Even though it'll get easier for little Max, it's still gonna be hard for Saori to accept that, but she'll try her best to make it a good thing for him.

* * *

Kind of on the fence. We'll see how it works out.


	9. The Wait is Over

Max and Saori come to the doctor to see what they baby is gonna be and the news...it's gonna be more than what they were expecting.

* * *

Chapter 9: The Wait is Over

By the next day, Max and Saori were on their way to the doctor's office to find out if they're gonna have another boy or another girl and it's a huge toss-up for both of them and they're hoping for the best and as Max held Saori's hand, they're coming in with a nervous but hopeful look as they enter and soon enough, they were immediately greeted by the doctor who saw them come in first and brought them over to the office to check on the baby to see how healthy he or she is.

Minutes went by as the doctor began to check on the baby and ran a few tests to see how they've been doing since the last baby and sure enough, Max was feeling a little bit nervous to see what the outcome is whether he's gonna have another son or a daughter and he seemed a little bit anxious than Saori is and that's a rare thing because Max barely gets nervous about things like this, but this one was completely different.

Finally, after many minutes of testing...the doctor comes back to see them with big news and the doctor said, "Well...as usual, you and the baby are much more healthier and stronger than ever."

"That's good news." Max said, smiling.

"Or should I say...babies?" the doctor added.

Suddenly, they were surprised to hear 'babies' pop out of the doctor's mouth and they realized that they might be having more than just one baby and Saori was shocked to hear this and said, "Babies?"

"Yes. You and Max are having triplets." the doctor replied.

That was a huge bonus for both of them because they did not expect that news to come in so fast and so suddenly and Saori was excited about this and she said, "Triplets?"

"Yes. Two boys and one girl." the doctor added.

It seems as though they got their wish and that this is way better news that they have expected to have before and Max was jaw-dropped by the news and he was completely in awe that they're gonna have triplets and he said, "This is the best news we've had in a while."

"Even more so." Saori added.

The doctor could tell that this is really a happy moment between the two of them and she said to both of them, "Congratulations."

"Thank you, doctor." Saori replied.

"I'm guessing that I'll see you sometime soon then." the doctor asked.

Max chuckled softly at this and figured that the doctor's saying that they'll come back with another baby and he said, "I think it might be the last trip here."

"Unless Saori thinks otherwise." the doctor added.

Saori chuckled at this and she looked at Max in the eye and said, "We'll see."

With that, handshakes and hugs were given to them and multiple thanks as well and they both left the doctor's office with so much happiness and joy all over them that it was difficult to contain and they want to spread the news to everyone and then...it hit them. They're having triplets.

"Three babies. That's a lot." Max added.

"I know. You think we can do this?" asked Saori.

"We've raised 9 cubs and adopted one. Why not three more?" asked Max, with a reassuring smile.

* * *

TRIPLETS! Who knew?! The news will come as a shock to everyone around! Find out more soon!

**Voice of the doctor: Raven-Symone**


	10. Make Up Akashi

I thought up of an idea of Akashi's younger nieces to play a little trick on him...by making him pretty.

* * *

Chapter 10: Make-Up Akashi

Back at the house, Akashi was taking a nap around the couch after a full day of babysitting the younger cubs, Serenity and Sapphire thought it was time to play a little joke on their uncle and they decided the best way possible was to pretty him up and they got some make-up from their mother's room and crept downstairs to where Akashi's sleeping and Serenity placed in a time-freeze power so that Akashi won't have to wake up and know what's going on because that could give way to the plan and remained as discreet as possible.

"You ready?" asked Serenity.

"Very ready." Sapphire answered.

Serenity brought out the lipsticks and mascara with blushes while Sapphire brought in the nail polish, perfume and nail clippers to pretty him up and Serenity went forward with putting lipstick on Akashi's lips while Serenity clips Akashi's pawnails as well as his toenails and then she smells his foot and looked disgusted.

"His feet stinks." Sapphire whispered.

"Like Seto's." Serenity pointed out.

Sapphire giggled in response as she clipped Akashi's toenails a little bit and she went ahead and polished his toenails with pink, purple and red all around the claws while Serenity puts in some mascara around her uncle and a few blushes as well on the cheeks and face. Serenity looks at this and figured that it's missing something and she realized that it needs a little flower to place above his head in between the ears and she placed it there and she said, "Perfect."

Meanwhile, Sapphire polished her uncle's fingerclaws and added some perfume all over him and once she smelled it, she immediately fell in love with that and then decided to put some perfume on his feet and the toes as well to add that pretty smell.

"Why did you put perfume on his feet?" asked Serenity.

"So that his feet doesn't smell so stinky." Sapphire answered.

Serenity nodded her head because that would somehow make a little bit of sense and as the two girls looked at their work, they were really proud of themselves on pranking their uncle in surrounding by makeup and they high-fived each other and immediately ran back upstairs to put their mother's make-up back up and after that, Serenity unfroze time as they sit abck and watch Akashi's reaction to him being all made-up.

"Think we should've put the earrings in?" Sapphire whispered.

"It's too late for that now." Serenity whispered back.

Just then, they silently crept down the stairs and sees Akashi waking up from his nap and he stretched his legs and hands and as he walked around the house and walked past a mirror, he didn't notice something different about himself and the smell was so strong that he couldn't help but figure out what that was and once he smelled himself, he smelled perfume and as soon as he looked into the mirror, he was horrified on what he saw...his entire face filled with make-up.

"What the heck?!" Akashi shouted.

Then, he looked at his nails and sees that they're been polished and painted and the same went for his toes and he was completely embarrassed and mortified that he's been girlie-fied and he lets out a little snarl and said, "Who did this to me?!"

Serenity and Sapphire quietly walked out while still snickering to themselves and both of these girls ended up fist-bumping each other for a job well done.

"GIRLS!" Akashi roared.

* * *

BUSTED! Stay tuned to see how it'll come around!


	11. Busted!

Once Akashi realized he got pranked by his nieces, he's not gonna take it lying down.

* * *

Chapter 11: Busted!

Serenity and Sapphire were running around the hallway to avoid getting caught by Akashi as they heard his footsteps charging his way through and he always had a sense on where they're hiding and he's gonna use up every ounce of his aura to find them because he knows how much these girls are willing to underestimate him so that he can't find them.

"Sapphire! Serenity! I know you're in here somewhere!" Akashi exclaimed.

Akashi was completely fuming a little bit because of the girls' random prank against him for putting on a lot of make-up all over him and that doesn't bode well for his looks, especially when it comes to being pranked by his own nieces and this was next-level way too fardom at its finest and he walks all over the hallways to find them.

"I'm not gonna go after you. I just wanna talk." Akashi said, innocently with the face of his vein throbbing through his forehead.

Both girls were still on the loose, hiding from rooms to rooms to outmaneuver Akashi by any means necessary and while Akashi was searching for them upstairs, they were gonna slide downstairs so they wouldn't be found and they popped their heads out as Akashi's searching for them and looked at the huge spiral downstairs on the house that leads them back to the living room and almost immediately, they slid all the way down from the banister and immediately landed on the ground.

Then, they made a run for it as they ran around the house, hoping that Akashi can't find them and as they were going around the house, they ran past Mason and didn't know that their brother was here and they stopped and looked at Mason and they recognized Mason's preplexed face and Mason asked, "What's going on?"

"Played a prank on Akashi." Serenity answered.

Mason slouched his arms low after that response, folded his arms and asked, "What did you guys do this time?"

"Well...let's just say we made him up a little bit." Sapphire replied.

Mason raised his eyebrow at that answer and he asked, "Meaning...?"

"Sapphire! Serenity!" Akashi shouted, from a distance.

The girls were stunned to hear Akashi coming downstairs and they were gonna be on the loose and Serenity looked at Mason and said, "You saw no one."

They immediately ran and that left Mason still confused and a little bit suspicious as to what his sisters did to Akashi and as soon as he turned around, he saw his uncle standing there, seething and out of breath and once Akashi faced Mason, Mason was completely wide-eyed at what his sisters were talking about, seeing Akashi's face all full of make-up and polish. He snickered just a little bit as he was looking at his face and tried not to laugh, but the urge prevented him from keeping a straight face. In response to that, Akashi lets out a serious growl directly at Mason and said, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I can't tell. I think you look purdy." Mason said, snickering.

"Where are your sisters?" asked Akashi.

"Don't know. They could be anywhere." Mason responded.

Akashi was not convinced by that answer and glared at him and said, "Nice try, Mason. I know they were just here a minute ago."

"Well, I didn't see them." Mason replied.

"Yes, you have." Akashi added, before walking out to find the girls.

"By the way...you're gonna attract a lot of guys with that make-up." Mason called out.

Akashi laughed sarcastically mixed in with a snarl directly at Mason and he said, "Very funny, Mason."

Afterwards, Akashi walked over towards the other side of the house to find the girls somewhere and he kept his ears open and sharp if he hears anything and soon enough, his ears perked up as he hears one of them giggling from a further distance and he lets out a huge smirk on his face and as the sound gets closer and closer, he comes over and jumps in, catches them in the backroom shouting, "AHA!"

Both Sapphire and Serenity turned around with a shocked gasp as they saw Akashi standing there and they didn't know what to do next and Akashi got them right where they want them and Akashi said, "Thought you were gonna get away with it, weren't you?"

"Yes." they said, in unison.

"You girls know better than to put makeup on your uncle when he's asleep." Akashi replied.

"We thought that you would look cute after all the times you pulled pranks on us." Serenity added.

"So this is a little bit of payback." Sapphire stated.

Akashi huffed in response to that and figured that this is a bit of fun payback directed at the times Akashi did prank them and he said, "This means war."

"Anytime, uncle. Or should I say...auntie Akashi?" asked Serenity.

Sapphire giggled at the thought of Akashi being an 'aunt' while that annoyed Akashi a lot and he lets out a little frustrated grunt at this and he said, "Can't believe I got pranked by my two nieces. I gotta become more vigilant."

Just then, Akashi turned around and saw Max and Saori coming in and saw their reaction with the makeup on Akashi's face and Max was the more surprised to see that and he jokingly asked, "Excuse me, ma'am. Have you seen Akashi?"

Saori giggled in response to that question and Akashi rolled his eyes at that and he said, "Max...this is Akashi. And may I point out...I am not the lady of the house."

"Sorry, ma'am." Max said, snickering.

Akashi rolled his eyes in frustration on that one and Saori said, "I finally have a big sister!"

"Saori!" Akashi exclaimed.

Saori laughed at this and said, "I'm so sorry. I can't help it."

"I'm gonna guess on a limb that my daughters had something to do with this." Max added.

Akashi was a little surprised that he knew that it was Sapphire and Serenity's handiwork that did this and asked, "You knew it was them?"

"Yep. They did the same thing to me once." Max replied.

That surprised Akashi the most to find that Serenity and Sapphire did the same thing to Max some time ago and he asked, "What did you do?"

"I laughed it off. Besides, it's not the first time that my daughters made me pretty." Max added.

Akashi hinted at the fact that he allowed them to make him pretty sometime before and didn't really know what else to say about it other than just remain speechless and Max continued saying, "It's just a way of saying 'I'm willing to spend time with my daughters more' and even if it means getting your nails painted, face made up and all dressed up, it's worth it."

"And Max does look good in pink." Saori stated.

"Really good." Max answered, smiling.

Akashi didn't know what else to say after that and Saori told him, "Have they been on my makeup?"

"It looks like it. Who else would you dark cherry-red lipstick?" asked Akashi.

Saori sighed at this and she shook her head at this and said, "I'm gonna talk to Serenity and Sapphire about that."

"Speaking of that, Akashi...can you bring the family over here? Another family meeting about the baby." Max asked.

Soon enough, Akashi could see that this is gonna be something huge and he said, "All right. I gotta take off the makeup first."

* * *

Akashi with make-up...hilarious. Stay tuned for more!


	12. Big Baby Surprise

Now it's time for Saori and Max to spill the beans about the new baby...or babies, I should say.

* * *

Chapter 12: Big Baby Surprise

5 minutes later

Max and Saori were waiting for Akashi and the kids to come by to hear the news about the baby and Saori was very anxious to see if they're gonna handle it, but Max held her hand with so much comfort that it made her forget all of her worries and just focus on the moment that they're gonna bring another baby to the world and before long, here they come.

"Uncle, can we make it fast? I still got some training to do." Seto said.

"You'll have plenty of time to practice. Can you at least give this five minutes?" asked Akashi.

Seto groans in exasperation over this and sighed impatiently and said, "All right, fine. But if I miss my routine where the girls come by to see me train and flex my muscles, I'm blaming you."

"Muscles? Yeah, right." Yuki scoffed.

"It's true!" Seto responded, showing Yuki parts of his muscular arms.

Yuki sighed at this and shook her head at Seto's ego and said, "Doesn't look real. Kinda looks like something you could inflate a balloon with."

Seto snarled at that response and Max clears his throat to end this petty argument and said, "Seto, Yuki, that's quite enough."

"Thanks, dad. You tell her!" Seto said, with a smirk.

Max glares at Seto for that and said, "How many times have me and your mother told you to not act like one of those cocky warriors who think they're better than everyone else?"

"1,000. But dad...I'm like a boss. That's what my friends say about me. That puts me in the upper coolness percentage of 25%." Seto explains.

"Maybe so, but the other 75% of you needs to mature a little bit and head back down to earth." Max answered.

"And stay there." Yuki added.

Seto sighed at this and turns to Yuki and asked, "Must you always pick on me?"

"All right, kids. Settle down. This is very serious." Max said, a little stricter.

All the kids and Akashi sat down for this one and Max took a few deep breaths and looked at every single one of them and said to them, "I know that we told you guys about our new baby and some of you were anxious to know whether or not if it's a boy or a girl."

"Please let it be a girl." Yuki said, hopeful.

Seto scoffs at that and said, "Yuki...oh, ye of little mind. It's obvious that it's gonna be another boy."

"We've had enough boys as it is. It's time for a girl." Yuki argued.

"We've got too much girls; you, Serenity and Sapphire." Seto pointed out.

Akashi broke up the argument by grabbing both of their tails and he asked, "Want me to switch you guys up again?"

"No!" they exclaimed.

"Then, quit arguing and let your parents tell you what you guys are gonna have." Akashi said, in a stern voice.

It got them to shut each other up eventually and Max lets out a deep sigh and now that they got their attention, he told them, "Now, me and Saori have been to the doctor's office this morning to determine what our baby will be. We've found out just this morning that we're having than what we expected."

"How much?" asked Yuki.

"Your mother...is having triplets." Max replied.

The reaction alone widened their eyes with shock, awe and excitement, even Akashi couldn't believe what he was hearing. Mason blinked his eyes a few times and asked, "Triplets?"

"Yep. Three babies." Saori replied.

That even shocked Jason the most to know that his mother is carrying three babies and he asked, "Can that happen?"

"Yep." Akashi replied.

"How did you make three babies?" asked Jason.

And that was a question that really surprised everyone around the room and it brought in nervous looks from Max and Saori because they weren't expecting Jason to ask that question so suddenly and Seto answered, "Well, how it happens is when mom and dad..."

"Delivered it! They send someone a message asking if they can make a baby and then they send it to the stork and the stork flies all over and delivers the babies to all the moms and dads all over." Yuki answered quickly.

Jason widened his eyes at this and asked, "Really?"

"Yep. You came from a stork, I came from a stork, Seto came from a stork, we all came from storks." Yuki answered.

Seto was confused on that part and he was gonna diffuse that answer, but Yuki gave him the hand to shut up and Jason asked, "Is that true, mommy?"

Saori blinked her eyes and looked at Jason in the eye and said, "Yes. You came from a beautiful stork."

"And we were lucky that the stork brought all of you guys here." Max answered.

Seto did not believe that for one second and tried to argue the matter further into what it really means, but Akashi immediately stomped his tail to keep him from filling all those unsweet moments in Jason's head and Max continued on saying, "Now...I know what you guys are gonna ask; are they all boys or girls?"

"We hope it's all girls." Serenity stated.

"Actually, it's one girl and two boys." Saori replied.

Most of their reactions were very mixed because some were hoping for two girls and one boy or at least all boys or all girls, but the fact that it's just one girl and two boys was a little disappointing for most of the girls, but happier for the boys. Mason, however...was cool with whatever and he's not bothered by the outcome.

"That's pretty awesome." Mason said, smiling.

Seto took that as a huge offense that Mason isn't bothered by this and asked, "You're actually accepting this?"

"Yep." Mason replied.

"Serious?" asked Seto, hoping he's joking.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I accept it?" asked Mason.

Akashi was really awestruck by Mason's reaction to that and turned to Seto and asked, "Why can't you be more like Mason?"

Amongst all of that, they were really happy with the outcome and Lil' Maximus II comes over to his dad and asked, "Am I gonna be a big brother?"

"Yes, you are. You're gonna be a big boy." Max said, holding Maximus II.

Saori was a little nervous about little Maximus II growing up and she's still reluctant to place him in a big boy bed and Akashi looked at her for a second and noticed something that was concerning her and asked her to talk to him in private for a while and she agreed as she walked out of the room without the others noticing.

* * *

A happy moment turns to a bittersweet moment for Saori. Next up, brother to sister talk!


	13. Difficulty Letting Go

Now Saori explains to Akashi about letting Maximus II grow up a little bit.

* * *

Chapter 13: Difficulty Letting Go

Akashi and Saori walked out of the family room for a second and Saori looked at her brother straight in the eye and she lets out an uneasy sigh and said, "Akashi...I'm not sure if I'm really ready for this."

"The new babies?" asked Akashi, raising an eyebrow.

"No, that's not it. I meant about Maximus II. I know that he's gonna be a big brother and all and that he is growing to be a big boy. That's just the problem...Maximus II is growing up so fast." Saori replied.

Suddenly, Akashi figured out that it was about Maximus II being a big boy at age three and even though it's a sign that he's growing, Saori still sees him as her little baby cub and isn't really ready for that yet and he said, "It is time anyway."

"I know. But I just thought that he'd still be my baby no matter what." Saori added.

"Saori...how come this is bothering you?" asked Akashi.

"I still see him as my little baby cub and I just don't know if he's ready to grow up yet. Max told me that he's ready for a big boy bed and I know that it's time, but I just don't think he's ready for that. I mean...what if he still needs me?" asked Saori, worriedly.

"Saori...I know it's hard for you to see little Maximus II grow up, but how is he gonna learn if we don't teach him?" asked Akashi.

Saori lets out a deep sigh and she just couldn't imagine what would happen if she stopped Maximus II from getting older, but she also knows that it's time that he should learn responsibility because he's gonna be a big brother soon and that Saori's carrying three babies now and it'll be too late for think second thoughts about it and she said, "I guess you got a point. I've been so used to having Maximus II sleeping his crib next to our bed that I wish that he'd stay there forever. But I know that he'll have to grow out of it eventually. Might as well be now."

"Maximus II will always be your baby...no matter what." Akashi added.

Saori nodded in agreement for that and she said, "That's what Max said to me."

"Has Max ever been wrong before?" asked Akashi.

"No. He hasn't. He's always so wise with a gentle and loving appeal...even when I don't want to hear it." Saori stated.

Akashi nodded at this and he said to her, "Me and Ryosuke are gonna build a bed for Maximus II and he'll sleep in Jason's room and that way, you can have your three babies in the crib so they can feel safe with you guys until they get older...unless you want to have more cubs."

Saori elbowed Akashi in the shoulder and said to him, "Our triplets will be enough...at least for right now."

"You guys are getting older. When will you guys stop making children?" asked Akashi.

Saori looked at Akashi in the eye and replied, "We were thinking about stopping when we're in our 40's..maybe 45. But honestly...I don't want it to end because I love it when Max mates me. It's just so...beautiful."

"I'd perfer to stop while you're at it." Akashi added.

Soon enough, in comes Max in the middle of the conversation and he seemed a little surprised and curious about what Saori just said and asked, "You think so?"

Saori and Akashi turned around and saw Max there and both of them were completely shocked that Max heard it and Saori asked, "How much did you hear?"

"From when you said you love it when I mate you to you don't want it to end." Max replied.

"Max, you guys have got enough kids and you guys are close to 40, so it's time for you guys to slow down." Akashi commented.

"Maybe it doesn't have to end. After our triplets get born, maybe we can arrange for something." Max added.

Saori loved the sound of that and she smiled at him and said, "I'm so happy that you're my husband."

"And I'm grateful you're my wife." Max said, smiling.

Akashi shook his head at this and knew that these two will never stop mating and said, "I've set the worst example for you guys when it comes to mating."

"Says so for the person that got his butt kicked by many girls that accused you of spying." Saori stated.

Akashi growled in frustration over that and said, "Just had to throw it in there?"

* * *

Stay tuned to see what else happens!


	14. Struggling to be Special

We take the focus on one of the kids as the oldest cub has been harboring a personal secret; to find what makes him unique and his struggle to find that something special about him.

* * *

Chapter 14: Struggling to be Special

Later that day, Mason walks around the upstairs part of the house and made it to what he calls his 'personal sanctuary' to escape from life, dealing with family and Akashi as well and as he walked by, all he could feel was the wind blowing through the breeze, flowing through his fur and it always soothed him down many times over the years and it's the only place that he can feel at peace and give him time to think things through. In this particular occasion, he looks up at the sunset and starts thinking about what's really special about him or how special he is.

He's been told throughout his life that there's something special about him or something that stands out as unique about him and he's never known what this is yet and as he thinks about it, he's still searching for that certain something that means a lot for him. He lets out a huge sigh and said to himself, "What's special about me? I know I've heard that my entire life...but I don't know what that is."

Ever since he got older, he's always asking what's really special about him because many people have told him that there's something special about him that will apply into his life. He knows he's special, but he didn't really see that certain something about him and as he felt the wind blowing through his whiskers, he's struggling to find that term and what it really means.

Unlike his parents and siblings, he's trying to find out who he is and what's really special about him and that's the one thing that really bothers him; he doesn't know the answer to that. It's kinda unusual for an 18 year old white tiger to question what's special about him, but in Mason's case, it's always been a huge question mark because often times, he's always not too sure of himself or what he's meant to do.

That's the one part that he's hidden from his parents, siblings and even Akashi and even if he could tell Akashi, he could already know that his uncle would figure it out all by himself with his strong aura and he could never hera the end of it.

"I gotta find something special about myself." Mason said.

"There you are. I figured I'd find you here."

Soon enough, Mason turns around and sees his dad coming in and he said, "Hey, dad."

"Hey, son." Max said, coming over towards his oldest.

Mason blinked his eyes for a few minutes and said, "Dad...do you still think there's something special about me?"

"Mason...of course there's something special about you. Why do you keep questioning it?" asked Max.

"It's just...I don't know. I've always been told by you guys that I'm something special or something unique about me and I'm still searching for what my destiny is." Mason answered.

"Mase...for as long as you've been on this earth, something special about you is not out there. It's in your heart. You just haven't looked for it yet." Max replied.

"How will I know if I find it?" asked Mason.

"You'll just know...if you allow yourself to find it in you." Max replied.

Max ended up mussing Mason's fur and walked out of there and said, "Dinner's gonna be ready in a few."

"I'll catch up." Mason replied.

* * *

So...will he find something special? Stay tuned and you'll find out!


	15. Plans for the Newborns

And of course with the new baby, you gotta have adjustments to the house. And a little appearance with Po.

* * *

Chapter 15: Plans for the Newborns

Mason made his way to the dinner table and sits in between Kaiba and his mother and soon enough, in comes Po bringing in the dinner with Max from behind and Mason was actually surprised to see his uncle Po coming in and he was happy to see him and he said, "Hey, Po."

"Mason! What's up, buddy?" Po said, happily.

"You staying for dinner?" asked Mason.

Po chuckled softly and replied, "I came to help Max with some dinner, but you know your panda uncle. Who would turn down a dinner invite?"

"Along with everything else." Seto muttered.

Mason elbowed Seto's arm based on that comment and Seto looked at him and said, "Dude..."

"Be nice." Mason said, lowering his voice.

"Well, you're more than welcome to join us for dinner, Po." Saori said, very inviting.

Po knew that he couldn't resist as he sat in between Akashi and Max and just couldn't wait for eating and once Max said dig in, Po completely brought in every single food to his plate and Akashi stopped him for a sec and said, "Po...there's enough food for everyone, you know."

"Right." Po added.

As everyone else got a plate of food on them, everyone's just talking and enjoying the food and it was definitely a good time to tell Po about the news and Max said, "Hey, Po...we've got some good news."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Po, still eating.

"Me and Saori are gonna have a baby." Max replied.

That didn't really surprise Po much because he knows that Max got more kids and another coming in wasn't anything new for him and said, "That's awesome. I've already seen it coming."

"You have?" asked Max.

"Yeah, Tigress always told me that you guys have a baby like...every two years or so and when there's a new one, it doesn't really surprise me at all." Po answered, slurping some noodles.

"I didn't expect that. But I'm glad you have our support." Saori spoke out.

"Always. So...is it gonna be a boy or a girl?" asked Po.

"Actually, it's gonna be two boys and one girl because we're having triplets." Max answered.

And that answered made Po choke his noodles in shock and he coughed so hard over this that it felt like the wind had knocked him out of his lungs and fell out of his chair, still coughing while punching his stomach and out pops some chewed up noodles and once he regained his breath, he panted heavily and stood up for a second to catch his breath, puts his chair back up, sits back down and give a minute to get over the shock and then looks at Max and Saori and asked, "Triplets?"

"Yeah. Crazy, huh?" asked Max.

"I did not expect that news." Po said.

"We didn't expect your reaction to that either." Akashi stated.

Seto chuckled at this and said, "But that was pretty funny though."

Max glared at Seto with a serious half growl look on his face telling Seto not to push it and that shut Seto up for a second and Max said to him, "Show respect."

"Sorry, dad. Sorry, Uncle Po." Seto responded.

"Don't worry about it. I've been laughed at more worse." Po replied.

With that said, Max had told the cubs, "I want all of you guys to help your mom out in any way you can. Just get some things for her, clean the house up a little bit and just check on her every now and then."

"So...extra chores?" asked Seto.

"Yes, Seto. Extra chores." Max replied.

Seto whined in response to that and he said, "Dad...you know that me and extra chores don't mesh well together."

"Seto...you're gonna have to help out a little bit. There's gonna be some days where you have to be less lazy and more helpful." Max stated.

"But Uncle Akashi's always lazy." Seto stated.

"That may be true, but I don't always sit on my butt all the time...even though I'd like to. Besides that, I always got a million and one things to do every day; work, train, teach, keep my family safe and happy, looking after the Okami kingdom and many others. I have my own lazy days when I can, but I'm always on the move." Akashi explains.

"Your uncle's right. You have to help out your own mom because I don't have the condition to do so." Saori added.

"And one of those things on the list is to build a bed for Maximus II and he's gonna share a room with one of you guys." Max stated.

Seto seemed mortified to hear that there might be a possible chance that Maximus II will be in his room until he gets older and that was never gonna happen and he said, "It's not my room, is it? The last thing I want is to share my room with a baby cub."

"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Maximus II exclaimed.

"Yes, you are." Seto argued.

"I am not! I'm only three!" Maximus II stated.

"You're still a baby cub." Seto said, with a smirk.

"That's enough! Seto, you and Little Maximus have got to stop bickering with each other!" Max exclaimed.

"Dad, I'm not gonna let this little runt take over my room!" Seto exclaimed.

"Your mother and I haven't made a choice on who's gonna share a room with Maximus II yet." Max stated.

Po could tell that this was a little tense and bit his lip nervously and said, "I'm guessing this is bad time to ask for dessert?"

"Not quite." Max said, calming down.

Soon enough, Kaiba immediately said, "I wouldn't mind sharing my room with Maximus II."

Max did not expect Kaiba responding to this and he noticed that Kaiba and Maximus II are very tight with each other and he said, "You would?"

"Yeah. I shared my room with Jason before and I think we'll be very tight together. Marcus and I are roomies so...it's no biggie." Kaiba replied.

"That would be something." Saori added.

"I think me and Saori will talk about this and take it from there." Max added.

Just then, they heard a certain fart coming from the table and Saori looked up at Po and said, "Was that you?"

"Uh...that wasn't Po." Akashi said, raising his paw in embarrassment.

Just then, everyone looked up at Akashi and realized that it was Akashi that passed gas at the dinner table and Akashi's only response was, "Excuse me."

* * *

Did Akashi just fart? Just thought to put it there for humorous purposes. Stay tuned for more!

**Voice of Po: Mick Wingert**


	16. Who Would Room with Maximus II?

Now...with Maximus II out of the crib, which sibling would Maximus II stay with?

* * *

Chapter 16: Who Could Room with Maximus II?

Max and Saori were sitting in the room, thinking about who can share a room with Maximus II until he's old enough to have his room and though Saori's a little reluctant to let Maximus II have his own bed, she's willing to put that to the side and just focus on the baby cubs and where Maximus II will be in and Saori said, "You think Maximus II will share Mason's room?"

"Probably so, but by the time Mason gets older, he'll find his own place to live soon." Max answered.

Saori figured that much because Mason's transitioning to adulthood soon and will one day move out of the house to venture off on his own soon and she said, "Maybe we can let little Maximus share a room with Jason because they're both younger."

"You think so?" asked Max.

"I don't know, but it'll be good for them because that way, little Max can play with Jason and bond together." Saori replied.

Max nods his head at that and agreed with it, but he couldn't help but think about Kaiba's generous suggestion for Maximus II to share his room and he said, "What if we put Maximus II with Kaiba?"

Saori looked up at Max and wasn't quite sure of that choice and said, "You really think Maximus II would share a room with Kaiba?"

"Yeah, he shared a room with Marcus once before and it'll be no problem for Maximus II to share Kaiba's room." Max answered.

Saori wasn't quite about that choice because Kaiba's 12 years old and sometimes...most 12 year olds want nothing to do with a 3 year old sibling because things might make a mess when they mesh together and thought that Maximus II would be better suited to share Jason's room because he's in the age range, but at the same time...she knows that Kaiba's been a big help to Maximus II and got along so well and that he spends a lot of time with him than anyone else.

"They are kinda like best friends." Saori stated.

"Maybe we can give this a shot and see what happens." Max added, in reassurance.

Saori nodded her head as she went onboard with it and she said, "Bring Kaiba and Maximus II in the room."

* * *

Sounds like this will be an amaze-balls decision! Stay tuned to see the decision!


	17. Decision Time

Now the answer will be who shares a room with Maximus II!

* * *

Chapter 17: Decision Time

A couple of minutes have gone by and Saori was thinking about that decision for Maximus II to live in Kaiba's room and she's thinking that she might've made the right decision because Kaiba's much older and Maximus II is younger and sometimes when two siblings have different ages, sometimes they might clash together and might not be comfortable with them being in the same room together and she doesn't want both of them to have a major fallout.

Often times, she's a little overprotective over Maximus II and the thought of him moving out his parent's bedroom still bugs her and she just wasn't ready for that yet, but at the same time...she's got her triplets to think about and wants to do what's best for them. It might take some time for her to get used to that, but she still sees Maximus II as her baby.

Soon enough, in comes Max bringing in Kaiba and Maximus II with them and Saori has never felt this anxious before, but she didn't want them to know about it and neither would Max and she got herself up and stood on Max's side with a little help from her husband.

"So...why'd you call us here?" asked Kaiba.

"Your mom and I have been talking about who Maximus II should room with and this decision was not the easiest task we've done." Max replied.

"I'm not gonna room with Seto, am I?" Maximus II asked, very innocently.

"No, sweetie. You're not gonna share a room with Seto." Saori said, sweetly while rubbing his head.

"We actually decided to take in Kaiba's idea and that Maximus II can stay in Kaiba's room." Max replied.

Just then, pure joy and amazement seeped into Kaiba because he's always been good with Maximus II whenever he gets a chance to babysit him and they're like best friends in many ways and he couldn't stop smiling about it and he said, "Thank you guys so much!"

"I'm glad you're happy about this, Kaiba." Saori said.

Maximus II couldn't be any happier as well and he hugs Kaiba as well and they just high-fived each other and hugged Kaiba as well and Saori could see that Maximus II is very happy with this and she's happy for him and whatever makes him happy, she's happy too.

"Of course, since you guys are gonna share a room together, you have to respect each other's stuff, space and above all...don't drive each other crazy. Maximus II, you have to do whatever Kaiba tells you to." Max said.

"Okay, baba." Maximus II replied.

"And Kaiba, keep a close eye on him and also...try to make sure he behaves himself." Max replied.

"Sure thing, dad." Kaiba said.

"All right. Tomorrow, we're gonna do some changes in your room so that Maximus II can fit in there." Max added.

"Okay." Kaiba replied.

"You can tell us what to change and what not to change about your room if we can move them over." Max added.

Kaiba nodded his head in agreement with that and soon enough, Maximus II was happy with this and after this, Kaiba got down on all fours and Maximus II hopped on his back and Kaiba piggy-backed rode him through the house in pure happiness and both Max and Saori smiled at this and this will definitely bring them closer and he rubbed her belly for support.

* * *

Looks like Kaiba's cool with sharing a room with little Maximus II! Stay tuned to see how that turns out! Next up, Akashi and Mason work at Ryosuke's place...where Ryosuke puts Akashi to work. You'll see.


	18. Morning Work

And we switch to Akashi and Mason doing some work for Ryosuke...and Akashi receives his own curveball.

* * *

Chapter 18: Morning Work

By the next morning, Mason had already left the house to meet up with Akashi for some work at Ryosuke's house and as he was walking, he's still thinking about what is special about him because he's still struggling to find that certain something that makes him completely unique, despite being told over and over again that there really is something special about him. But often times, he's still looking because he still doesn't know yet.

For today, he's gonna try to shake it off of his mind and just focus completely on work and as he walks towards the town, he sees Akashi standing around on Miyo's bakery shop while eating some banana nut bread and makes his way over to him and Mason could see Akashi was still eating and he said, "Hey, Akashi."

"Morning, Mason." Akashi said, his mouth full.

"So...what are we doing?" asked Mason.

"We're heading over to Ryosuke's house for some work outside. For some reason, Ryosuke said that he's gonna put us to work this time and he's in charge of this task. And when I say us, I mean you." Akashi responded.

"So...you're saying all of this is on me?" asked Mason, a little confused.

"Well...more or less." Akashi responded.

Miyo comes out with a few loaves of bread and puts them in Akashi's knapsack and then, she sees Mason there and brings in a few loaves into his knapsack...which was plenty more bread than what she gave to Akashi...which made Akashi a little stunned and somewhat envious as he pouted his lips in response.

"Thanks, Auntie Miyo." Mason replied.

"Have a good day, boys. Especially you, Akashi." Miyo said, sweetly.

She leans over to give Akashi a kiss on the cheek and Akashi responded with a smile and as he was walking out, he receives a slap in the butt by Miyo and yelps in response and he turns around with a sly look on her face and Akashi responded with a smile and said, "Can you do that to me again tonight?"

"We'll see." Miyo said, winking.

Afterwards, Akashi and Mason made it to Ryosuke's house and as they entered in, they see Ryosuke walking towards both of them and Akashi said, "Morning, Ryosuke."

"Morning, Akashi. Morning, Mason." Ryosuke replied.

"Morning, Ryosuke." Mason responded.

"All right. I'm gonna put both of you guys to work today...and of course, when I say you two, I mean you, Akashi." Ryosuke stated.

Mason was surprised that Ryosuke's giving Akashi a whole lot of work and figured that what he mentioned earlier was a way to get out of it so he can do all of Akashi's work while he lays around watching Mason work and Akashi said, "How much?"

Ryosuke responded by giving him a scroll and once Akashi opened it, the scroll falls down and out rolls a full wide scroll listed with many tasks and it scroll keeps going until it reaches Ryosuke's feet and Akashi was mortified that he's got all of this to do and Ryosuke gave Mason another scroll with a few tasks, but this particular scroll was a lot less than what Akashi had.

"I'll be supervising you guys during these tasks and make sure you guys get these tasks done." Ryosuke added.

"Wait, if I'm doing all of this...what are you gonna do?" asked Akashi.

"Help out my mate, take care of my kids and train my son." Ryosuke answered.

Akashi scoffed at this and said, "And you're not even gonna help?"

Ryosuke chuckled softly and said, "Actually, I'll help out Mason."

Akashi grunts in frustration and muttered to himself slightly and muttered, "Should've stayed in bed all day."

* * *

Ryosuke's little payback. Stay tuned for more!

**Voice of Ryosuke: Steven Blum**


	19. Adjusting Room

Now...we see the actual process of Maximus II sharing Kaiba's room.

* * *

Chapter 19: Adjusting Room

Later that morning, Max, Marcus and Kaiba were making a few changes and spaces to readjust Kaiba's room and build in a bed and in comes Arizona and Musaki bringing in their older sons; Takashi and Jacob to help out as well and while Takashi, Musaki and Arizona assisted in building a bed for Maximus II, Jacob, Max and Marcus shifted some room all around Kaiba's room by moving furniture around all while Kaiba helps pick out what stays and what moves.

So far, Kaiba's giving up half of the space for his room because it had started off with a bigger space, which would've been suited for two people to share one room and Kaiba picked up some stuff as well by helping his dad move the drawer chest into the other side of the wall and placing his treasure chest close to the bed. Max lets out a loud exhale and asked, "What do you have on that treasure chest, son?"

"Comic books." Kaiba replied.

Max had that look on his face that seemed shocking and a little disgruntled that he's got many comic books in that treasure chest and could not believe it and just didn't really know how to react to that and only asked, "That's all?"

"Nah, I also got some kendo bo staffs and nunchuks that Uncle Akashi gave me for my 10th birthday." Kaiba replied.

Max sighed in response to that and shook his head at the fact that Akashi gave him some weapons and said, "I'm gonna talk to your uncle about this."

"Aw, dad..." Kaiba said.

Meanwhile, Tadashi, Musaki and Arizona were hard at work building up the bed to fit Maximus II's size as they hammer, screw and assemble the pieces to put together and the guys were so hard at work that they avoided the daily exhaustion to help out with this and all the while, Saori walks around carrying Maximus II and saw the progress they're making with the bed and she said, "Look, Maximus...this is gonna be your own bed."

"Big boy bed!" Maximus II exclaimed.

"Yes...your own big boy bed." Saori said, almost enthusiastic.

Arizona wiped his brow and panted heavily and said, "We're almost done putting it together. All we need is a mattress to fit it in."

"I've got Takashi's old mattress that I wanted to give away for many years, but never really got a chance to." Musaki replied.

Takashi was surprised to hear that coming from his dad and asked, "You still have it?"

"Yeah, I do. You always used to love that old mattress." Musaki said, chuckling.

Takashi rolled his eyes at his dad for that particular reason and said, "Come on, dad...I've already dealt with mom bringing up all the stuff I did as a baby. It's not that cool anymore."

"Every story your mom told me were always funny and cute...and I know that I was a witness to all the stuff you used to do." Arizona stated.

"Uncle Arizona, please..." Takashi said, in an embarrassed voice.

"What does the mattress look like?" asked Saori.

"It fits any three year old's size regarding on how they sleep. It's a little old, but it's still usable." Musaki added.

Saori wasn't quite so sure about that and assumed that it might have some old filth inside of that mattress and that Maximus II wouldn't be subject to that and he said, "As soon as we put the bed set in the room, me and Arizona will get the mattress...that's if Summer is ready to let us part with it."

"She's still holding onto the mattress?" asked Arizona.

"Yep. She said it still has 'sentimental potential' for it, but come on...it's like past 20 years old." Musaki stated.

"I think it's time to let go of it." Takashi stated.

Several minutes have passed and the three managed to put the bed on the other side of Kaiba's room and once it's set in the perfect position, Arizona and Musaki went out to fetch the old mattress while Max, Marcus, Saori and Kaiba took a look at it and Max decided to add a few finishing touches to it by placing a drawer on two sides of the bed where he can store his toys and books on either side.

Kaiba loved that idea where those two drawers can be to store his stuff so he wouldn't worry about a mess and Max said, "I think you'll love it, Maximus."

"Can I lay in it now?" asked Maximus II.

"Not yet. We gotta have a mattress and a few blankets first." Max added, rubbing his baby son's head.

"I have my blankie and my teddy." Maximus II responded.

A few minutes later, Arizona and Musaki came in with the mattress and Saori was surprised by the condition it is...like it's been freshly new for the first time and they placed it on the mattress and Arizona brought in some blankets and pillows and as they assembled it together, it looks like an actual big boy bed and Maximus II was so excited by this.

"Can I lay on it now?" asked Maximus II.

"Now you can lay on it." Max replied, happily.

Maximus II immediately leaped onto the bed and once he landed there, he just sighed happily and he said, "This is so soft..."

Max chuckled softly at this and said, "I think he likes it."

"Thank you!" Maximus II said, happily.

Once Saori saw how happy Maximus II looks, it made her happy as well and she can finally let go and let Maximus II become a big boy and that was satisfying for her to see and Max looked at Saori and asked, "You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Saori replied, happily.

* * *

Looks like Maximus II is happy to share a room with Kaiba. Stay tuned and see how Akashi feels after putting huge load of work that Ryosuke made him do!

**Voice of Takashi: Drake Bell**

**Voice of Jacob: Dylan Sprouse**

**Voice of Musaki: Samuel Vincent**

**Voice of Arizona: Christopher Sabat**


	20. Working Hard

Now we check on Akashi and see how he's coping with working with Ryosuke and a little bonding between Ryosuke and Mason.

* * *

Chapter 20: Working Hard

Back at Ryosuke's house, Mason was working on helping Ryosuke stack some wood and maintaining the house as well polishing his weapons and other outdoor activities while Akashi was doing the hundreds of chores and extra chores Ryosuke had asked him on the list and it began to take its toll on Akashi as he was worked to the bone like crazy. Akashi panted heavily and he was not used to that kind of work, even more than usual.

After Akashi put in 5 and a half hours of serious labor, he was gonna find a place to rest and he opened the door to a nearby getaway shed and felt the sweat all over and he closed the door, took off all of his clothes and just slept down on the floor, feeling the cool breeze flowing through his fur and he lets out a relaxed sigh and loosened himself up and said, "I'm gonna rest here until sundown."

Meanwhile, Mason was still busy working with Ryosuke and as they were working, Mason had a mutual respect for him and completed some of the tasks from the list and Ryosuke looked at it in review and said, "So far, you've done some of the things I asked."

"Yep." Mason replied.

"If there's one word to describe you; hell of a hard worker." Ryosuke stated.

Mason chuckled softly at this and he said, "Thanks."

Before long, Ryosuke and Mason thought its best to take a little break for lunch and Ryosuke brought in some sushi, tempura and sashimi while Mason brought in some noodles, chow mein and dumplings and as they were eating, Ryosuke asked, "So...what do you think about working with Akashi?"

"It's okay. He gives me so many tasks though." Mason added.

"I bet he works you hard." Ryosuke added.

Mason nodded his head in response and said, "Yeah, I mean...some of them are simple and I can knock them out quick, but he gives me a lot more than I thought I'd do. His tasks become mine."

Ryosuke scoffed in response to that and said, "Figures...he's so lazy that he makes you do all the work while he sits on his butt."

"He helps out sometimes." Mason responded.

Ryosuke nodded at that and Mason wasn't sure if he can tell Ryosuke his personal struggle that's been bugging him and he said, "This might come as a stupid question, but through my life...I've been told that I'm something special. The only problem...I don't know what it is. So...what's special about me? I know I'm special for something, but I'm still looking."

That actually surprised Ryosuke to hear that and he said, "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want to know what makes me unique." Mason answered.

"Only thing I could tell you is that you're half wolf." Ryosuke answered.

That was one answer Ryosuke didn't expect to say to Mason because through his whole life, he's been a full-fledged white tiger like his parents and he knew his uncle is a wolf, but knowing that he's half wolf...it kinda made it hard for him to sink in. He asked, "I am? How?"

"Your tail is most wider than most tigers. And also...your grandfather's a wolf too." Ryosuke responded.

"How come I've never seen him or knew him? I've heard a lot about him, but never really got to see him." Mason asked.

"He died almost a few months after your mother was born." Ryosuke replied.

Mason blinked his eyes a little bit and after that piece of information, he was both shocked and still curious about this and he said, "I wanna know more about my grandfather."

"You can ask your mom or Akashi about it and you'll get your answer from there." Ryosuke said.

"Speaking of Akashi...think he's still working?" asked Mason.

Ryosuke chuckled softly and he said, "Knowing him...he might've taken a nap. But he had better not slack up on my account."

30 minutes later

Ryosuke and Mason walked over towards the shed and the minute they stepped in, Ryosuke was stunned and disgusted by the sight of Akashi's bare butt sticking out in the air until Akashi turns and Ryosuke had the displeasure of seeing Akashi's legs open up and just left the room and Mason followed suit and Ryosuke said, "And I thought things I saw in my nightmares was horrible."

* * *

So...what's Ryosuke gonna do? You'll see!


	21. Slacker Wolf

Ryosuke's payback with Akashi...

* * *

Chapter 21: Slacker Wolf

It was time to head back to work again and Ryosuke thought it was best to wake up Akashi in the most unorthodox way possible and as he walked over to the side, he grabbed the mat and it made Akashi fall out of the bed, waking him up. Akashi looked up and saw Ryosuke standing there and asked, "Seriously?"

"Glad you're up." Ryosuke said, with a smirk.

Just then, Akashi looked down and realized he's still naked and and with a hint of shock and embarrassment, he swiped the blanket away from Ryosuke and covered himself with it, much to Ryosuke's annoyance and humor and Ryosuke asked, "Just can't stop being lazy, can ya?"

"Hey, I've done every single part of what you told me to do on your list!" Akashi exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah? Let me see what you did so far." Ryosuke said, smirking.

Akashi brought in the list of chores Ryosuke made and of those mounds of chores, Akashi only completed 56 of them and Ryosuke nodded his head in a half-approval and said, "Looks like you've done what I asked."

"Please tell me that's all I have to do today." Akashi said, almost in a pleading fashion.

Ryosuke lets out a little mischevious smirk directly at Akashi, knowing fully intent that there's a lot more coming in and he replied, "I'd be lying to you if I told you there's one more to do."

Akashi immediately read Ryosuke's aura and got the actual confirmed number of more chores and asked, "There's more, is there?"

"98 more to go." Ryosuke added.

That literally made Akashi go completely insane, knowing that he has to do 98 more chores on the list and he asked, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"You can start by cleaning up the shed here." Ryosuke answered.

Akashi looked up and noticed that he's gonna clean the entire shed...as long and huge as it is and it's gonna be the most hardest work he's ever done and Akashi responded with a puppy whine and he said, "I'm supposed to work you until your bones fall apart."

"That was when were training. Now...you're in my house and the tables have turned on you, old friend. And one more thing...put some clothes on." Ryosuke added, as he walks out of the shed.

Akashi grumbled to himself as he puts on just his underwear and pants and finds some cleaning supplies to clean up the whole shed and during the duration of cleaning, he was just complaining and grumbling through it all.

* * *

Sounds like Ryosuke's getting back at Akashi. I bet Akashi's getting worked up. Stay tuned!


	22. Big Changes

And the whole family's together for some huge changes...news for Mason.

* * *

Chapter 22: Big Changes

It's almost sunset and Mason was heading back home with a very exhausted Akashi following behind him and Mason looked at his tired uncle and he couldn't help but see him look so worn out and he asked, "You wanna sleep in our place?"

"Please..." Akashi replied, with a pathetic whine.

"We're almost there." Mason said.

Akashi was so tired of walking that he can't go any other step and he said, "Mason...can you carry me?"

Mason was actually stunned to hear that come out of his uncle's mouth that he wants to be carried and said, "You're joking, right? You probably weigh like 2,000 pounds."

"Carry your uncle!" Akashi exclaimed.

Mason immediately carried him and they were in close proximity of the house and by the time they came in the house, he was greeted by Yuki and Seto and they were completely freaked out by Mason carrying their uncle and Mason looked at them and said, "Don't ask."

"Hi, Uncle Akashi." Yuki said.

"Hey, guys." Akashi said, sluggishly.

Soon enough, Mason sets Akashi down to the couch to let him sleep and started snoring as Yuki and Seto were about to leave the living room and Mason went upstairs to check on his mom and see how she's doing and as he came upstairs, he noticed Maximus II laying on his own bed and enters Kaiba's room and he can only notice one thing: Maximus II is sharing Kaiba's room today.

"Hey, little bro. You got a new bed?" asked Mason.

"Yep. It's really awesome to have a big boy bed." Maximus II replied, happily.

Mason chuckled softly at that response and patted his head and said to him with a smile, "I hope you and Kaiba don't get on each other's nerves."

Maximus II responded with a giggle and hugs Mason tightly and Mason accepts the hug as hugs him back and Maximus II purred softly and Mason asked, "Where's mom?"

"I don't know. I just woke up from my nap." Maximus II replied.

A few seconds later, Mason left the room, then took off his sandals, dropped them off on his room and continued walking towards the hallway and saw his mom standing on the balcony with his dad and he said, "Hey, guys."

Max and Saori turned around and saw Mason coming in and Max said, "Hey, son. How was work?"

"Work was work, dad." Mason answered.

Max chuckled softly at that and he said, "I bet your uncle worked hard on ya, huh?"

"Actually, Uncle Ryosuke worked Akashi hard today. He had like 100+ plus to do around the house and I had just a few." Mason answered.

That literally surprised both of them and Saori asked, "Ryosuke worked him to death?"

"Sorta. He's asleep downstairs now." Mason replied.

"He's here?" asked Max.

Not a few seconds later did Mason, Max and Saori come downstairs to the living room did they see Akashi sleep naked once again and Mason groaned in response and Saori just covered her eyes and Max said, "Again?"

"How many times does he have to sleep naked when he's sweating?" asked Saori.

"I wish I knew the answer to that one." Mason replied.

* * *

I thought to add in a little bit of funny to Akashi. Can you imagine having a big wolf like Akashi carry you when he's tired? Stay tuned for more!


	23. Prepping for the Baby

Now we take a huge focus on Saori's pregnancy and how the family will pitch in.

* * *

Chapter 23: Prepping for the Baby

As the next few months went by, Saori's belly started to grow a little bigger as her babies are developing inside of her and she received a lot of help and support from Max in which she appreciates the most because he's been her rock through it all; from morning sickness, fatigue, mood swings and the whole nine yards. Meanwhile, the kids were pretty much all help to their mom...most of them at least.

Kaiba, Marcus and Yuki were doing some chores around the house while Sapphire and Serenity tended to their mother by making sure she has what they need and even being their support system by giving them loads of love and they're just excited to see the babies soon and Maximus II laid beside his mom, nuzzling her and that was pretty much all Saori needed from him and Saori purred affectionately towards him and she said, "My little man."

Jason comes in the room, joining in with his sibs and their mother and Jason asked, "Are you okay, mommy?"

"I'll be fine." Saori replied.

"How excited are you to have two baby brothers and one baby sister?" asked Serenity.

"As long as I don't have to share my toys with my new baby sister." Jason replied.

Saori laughs in response to that and Serenity rolled her eyes at Jason's comment and she said, "So you'll share them with your baby brothers?"

"Yeah." Jason replied, with a nod.

"Mommy...will we be forgotten when the babies come?" Maximus II asked.

Saori leans over and kisses Maximus II in the forehead and rubs his head and replied, "No, sweetie. You will never be forgotten. All of you...you all mean a lot to me and I would never play favorites with any of you. I love you all just the same."

Maximus II giggles in response and he said, "Oh, that's good. Because Seto said that we'll be forgotten."

Saori sighed at that response and knows that it is just typical Seto; trying to fill their younger siblings' heads full of straight-up nonsense and she said, "You shouldn't listen to anything Seto says and whatever he thinks is true, just say 'mommy doesn't think so' and if he tries to annoy you, send him over to me or your father or uncle Akashi."

"Okay." Maximus II replied.

"We can do that." Sapphire answered.

Sometime later, Mason came back home a little early and noticed that the house is pretty much clean and spot on and he blinked his eyes a few times and he was deeply impressed with this and soon enough, he sees Yuki come downstairs with a basketfull of laundry and he said, "Hey, Yuki."

"Hey, Mason." Yuki said, still carrying.

Mason couldn't help but notice Kaiba and Marcus doing some cleaning as well and Kaiba said, "Hey, Mason...take off your sandals, dude. We just cleaned here."

Maosn took off his sandals and placed them down on the floor, but Kaiba stopped him and said, "We just cleaned the rug."

"So...what's going on here?" asked Mason.

"Mason...you know that mom's pregnant, so we have to pitch in and help out with chores." Yuki answered.

"Oh...right. Sorry. I just got back home from working with Uncle Akashi." Mason replied.

Marcus went over and swept parts of the floors and said, "You must be exhausted."

"Yeah. I just need to rest a little bit before my kendo training." Mason answered.

"You're still doing kendo training?" asked Yuki.

"Yeah, I just gotta stay limber and strong and well-prepared for whatever comes our way. Helps with my kung-fu." Mason replied.

With that mindset, Mason went upstairs and headed to his room to take a little nap before heading for kendo training and Yuki was still surprised at how much tasks Mason has to do, but she knows that he's always one to accomplish these tasks without fail and she always appreciates her older brother just for that sheer enthusiasm.

Minutes later, out comes Seto as he heads downstairs and Kaiba said, "Look who finally woke up from his nap."

"Hey, Seto. You know it's your turn to pitch in and help, right?" asked Yuki.

Seto scoffs at this and asked, "Why should I?"

"Mom said so. It's on the list of things you have to do." Yuki replied, showing Seto the list.

"Do I have to do all these chores? It's very complicated. Besides, I got training to do." Seto replied.

Yuki clears her throat in response and she said, "Last I checked, your training isn't for another two hours. You got plenty of time to help out."

Seto groans and said, "I don't wanna do the chores!"

"SETO ZIAHONG AKUBA BUSHIDO-AKIO OKAMI! DO YOUR CHORES THIS INSTANT!" Saori exclaimed, from a distance.

Once Seto heard his mom, he knew that there's no turning back on this one and Seto growled in frustration and just began his chores without a sound and Yuki smirked at him and said, "You can start by cleaning your room. It smells like Uncle Po left a permanent stink in there."

"Shut up." Seto replied.

* * *

I decided to throw in Seto's full name for fun. Don't mess with Saori when she's mad. Stay tuned for more!


	24. Kendo Training

We now focus on Mason as he does some kendo training...and in this case, he has to deal with one hot-tempered student with a lot of jealousy towards Mason.

* * *

Chapter 24: Kendo Training

Later that afternoon, Mason was gearing up for his kendo training session as he puts on his ironbands on his wrists, puts his kendo headband on his forehead, wrapped a white and orange striped belt around his waist and brought forth his trusty kendo staff and he walks over towards the training grounds where he stood face to face with his opponent; a 16 year old male black panther, standing at about 5'10, weighing only about 194 pounds, silver orange eyes, wearing the exact same outfit only in all black and holding a bo staff; and he had that mentality to finally take down Mason and from looking at his game face, it's pretty clear that they're more than just opponents.

"Mason, Brutus...focus. I want to see you both do your very best. Brutus...do not take your loss as a personal thing this time." the kendo instructed said.

Brutus didn't really care much for listening to whatever the master said because all he wants to do is focus on beating Mason and never get underestimated by him because he's completely sick of it and wants a personal payback for all the times he's lost out to Mason. However, Brutus was deeply focused and is gonna do whatever it takes to be the opposite of a 'hot-headed opponent'.

Once the gong rang, Brutus immediately went forward and did an uppercut punch towards Mason, but Mason dodged it with pure finesse as he slid backwards and came out the other side and that made Brutus furious and he refused to let Mason win this thing this time and they both clacked their staffs together and as they sparred with each other.

Mason remained focus on getting the job done and he continued increasing his strength and abilities to spar with Brutus and he showed off some flips, kicks and many amounts of kung-fu/ninja movements to go along with the kendo moves and Brutus wasn't gonna have it. Brutus immediately went towards a brutal approach by bashing him with the stick and viciously attacking him out of spite, which is a foul.

Mason immediately slid down underneath him and got back, refusing to take the violent approach and he asked, "Do we have to do this now?"

"Just fight me!" Brutus shouted.

Mason still got his staff, but he knows a lot better than that and he doesn't want to cause major bodily harm during training and the sparring continued on and Mason ducked all the leg swings Brutus brought in, but one thing that Mason could do...is to completely distract him from the defensive attack without any physical harm as he did a little backwards anti-gravity lean move and that immediately got him on the edge.

Brutus growled angrily and he immediately charged at him, but Mason ducked down quick with a perfect split, causing Brutus to lose his balance and fall down on the ground. Once Brutus fell down, he couldn't take the loss and just kept fighting him and Mason noticed that Brutus' fighting skills were not only unorthodox, but also very much on the revenge side as well.

"Scared now, Mason? Maybe you'll see how I felt when I lose to you time and time again!" Brutus said, whacking a staff on the ground.

Suddenly, the room became a little tense there and Mason remained calm through it all and the last thing he would want is to have a huge spat involved while they're training and Mason said, "This is not the time nor the place for this."

"I don't care!" Brutus screamed.

The instructor then banged the gong, fiercely ending the round before things got out of hand and he said, "Brutus, that's enough!"

"This is between me and Mason." Brutus snarled.

"I said that's enough! Each day I pair you two, it's always the same thing. You get angry at Mason like you have something against him!" the instructor exclaimed.

"I'm sick of him being first in class! Shouldn't I have some validation?! I worked harder than he did!" Brutus shouted.

"This is not a competition." Mason stated, calmly.

"Yes, it is! I want to win! Losing is not an option! I refuse to lose to you!" Brutus screamed.

The instructor could tell that this is getting too much and he said, "Okay, take a five minute break, everyone. Wait, on second thought...take a 25 minute break."

Once the students took an extended break, Mason just didn't expect Brutus to have such a personal grudge against him and he knew that there was something up with him, but he didn't know it would be like that and Mason carefully followed the teenage panther and once he caught up with him, he saw Brutus punching the punchbag to get all of his fury out and Mason took a deep breath as he waited for the right time to talk to him; depending if he's calmed down or if he's still furious.

Brutus' ears perked and once he turned around and saw Mason, his initial reaction was to attack him, but all he could do is ask, "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk." Mason answered.

"I don't wanna talk to you." Brutus said, with a growl.

Mason blinked his eyes and he's been nothing but patient with the furious panther student and he said, "I just want to say that I had nothing against you, man. I have a lot of respect for you and your skills. It's just that...I don't want to waste my energy to be involved in an unnecessary fight, even if it's personal or whatever."

"I don't need your sympathy. Just leave me alone!" Brutus snapped.

Mason sighed heavily and silently walked out of there, hoping that there will come a point where Brutus can't let jealousy get in the way of this all while Brutus kept punching the bag hard and once he stopped, he lets out a defeated sigh and said to himself, "Why am I so angry?"

* * *

Looks like Brutus has a hidden sadness underneath that rage. We'll get more on this soon!

**Voice of Brutus: Carlos Pena, Jr.**

**Voice of instructor: Jackie Chan**


	25. False Alarms

And of course...when there's pregnancies, there's always false alarms. These kids came prepared.

* * *

Chapter 25: False Alarms

Back at home, Seto begrudgingly did a few chores around the house and even went over to his room to clean it up and the only way he knows how is to put some of the stuff in the closet and forget about it and soon enough, as he was cleaning, he noticed Mason coming in the room and he said, "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning my room." Seto replied.

Mason saw Seto's way of cleaning up the house and he shook his head at that and knew that this was the lazy way and he said, "Dude...you seriously need to do better than that."

"Like what? What's wrong with what I'm doing?" asked Seto, raising an eyebrow while piling up the closet.

Mason looked at the amount of dirty clothes and such piled nearly sky-high to the closet and said, "That's not gonna hold."

"Yeah, it will. This is how I do." Seto responded.

Once Seto placed a few more things in the closet, the piles immediately came down and created a much messier mess to his room and Mason looked at Seto like an 'I told you so' kind of look and Seto glared at him and said, "I'm gonna need a bigger closet."

"Or...you could wash them. They're like dirty and smells like wet dog." Mason added.

Marcus cleared his throat from behind because of the term wet dog and Mason turned around and saw a very annoyed Marcus folding his arms at that, assuming that he's referencing him and Mason said, "Not you, Marcus. Like...no offense."

"None taken, dude. Seto's room smells like a stink bomb went off and the remains of the smell stayed there for like 10,000 years." Marcus replied.

"10,000? Smells more like 100,000." Mason added.

Marcus laughed at that and so did Mason, but that really annoyed Seto a lot and he said, "I wear these clothes whenever I want to, okay?"

"Dude, you need some new clothes. And clean them." Mason added.

Seto rolled his eyes at this and grumbled as he picked up some of the clothes and Yuki came in the room and said, "Seto, when's the last time you cleaned this place?"

"What is this; an anarchy of people telling me my room stinks?" asked Seto.

"To say your room stinks is an understatement." Yuki responded.

Soon enough, they heard their mother scream in sharp pain and they figure that she's in trouble, so they immediately sprinted over to their mother's room alongside the younger kids and as soon as they entered in the room, they were completely certain that the babies are gonna be born any minute. Yuki immediately said, "Mason, you and Marcus get some warm wet towels. Seto, boil some water! Sapphire, you, Jason, Serenity and Kaiba make sure that mom's okay."

While each of them did the task, Yuki stayed right by her mother's side and as did the younger ones and Kaiba said, "Are you gonna have the baby now?"

"Hold my hand, Kaiba!" Saori screamed.

Kaiba grabbed ahold of his mother's hand and once she held it, Kaiba felt a very strong grip that feels like it could swell and Kaiba yowled in pain after that and some of the kids were panicking a little because they don't know what's going on and Maximus II was worried for his mother and just under 5 minutes, the pain stopped and Saori sighed in relief and said, "False alarm."

"False alarm again?" asked Yuki.

"Yes. I'm sorry." Saori replied.

Yuki gave her mom a kiss and she said, "It's okay."

"But I'm glad you guys were well-prepared." Saori added.

Just then, Mason, Marcus and Seto got back to check on her and soon enough, Yuki told them that it was just a false alarm and all three were relieved, though Seto was completely annoyed by that and he said, "Seriously? I boiled some water for nothing?"

"You were well prepared, Seto." Saori added.

Seto sighed at that and despite the compliment about that, he said, "Let me know if the baby really comes out."

Saori glared at her son and he said, "You know how long I've spent in labor with you? 39 hours."

"39 hours?" asked the siblings.

"Yes. I felt like you would never come out." Saori added.

Mason was pretty interested to hear this and so did Yuki and she said, "I wanna hear this story."

* * *

Wow...39 hours that Saori was in labor with Seto? That's a long time. Stay tuned for more!


	26. Names for the Triplets

Now...the cubs can participate in helping who should name the triplets.

* * *

Chapter 26: Names for the Triplets

That same evening, the entire family gathered around together to help out what they want to name the triplets and so far, Saori and Max already made a choice on having to name one of the two boys after Akashi and the reaction from the kids were pretty much mixed. Mason, Kaiba, Maximus II and Jason were totally accepting it while Sapphire, Serenity, Marcus and Yuki weren't so sure about it and only Seto was dead set against that idea and Saori was quite surprised by Seto's strong reaction to that and she said, "Why would you react this way?"

"It's bad enough we have to deal with our uncle Akashi, but why should we have to name one of our brothers after him?" asked Seto.

"Your uncle wanted us to name Maximus II after him, but your mom had a better idea to name him after me. And if we were to have another son, we'd name him after your uncle." Max answered.

"But why?" asked Seto.

"It's not an opinion on whether or not we should name him." Max replied.

Seto was not getting used to this, but he can't push the issue further than that and just sat back down without any form of argument whatsoever and Mason said, "I'm cool with that name."

"Yeah, it sounds pretty cool to have our brother named after our uncle." Kaiba agreed.

"I hope he doesn't become bossy and pushy when he gets older." Yuki added.

Saori chuckled at this gave them a little sense of calm towards them and she said, "Don't worry. He won't be like your uncle."

"And even if he does, we'll try our best not to emulate Akashi." Max said, chuckling.

Mason nods and chuckles softly in response and he said to the cubs, "Okay...all in favor?"

So far, Mason, Max, Saori, Maximus II, Jason, Marcus, Sapphire and Serenity voted in favor of that name and Yuki reluctantly raised her hand in agreement for that and that definitely helped out and Mason said, "Any opposed?"

Seto's hand was up and that left him the only one who was opposed to that and Mason said, "Looks like you've been outvoted."

"All righty then. Now for the second brother...boys, what do you guys think?" asked Max.

"I'll name him Sashimi." Seto replied.

Mason seemed weirded out by the admission and said, "You're gonna name our brother after sushi?"

"Why not?" asked Seto.

Soon enough, the boys came up with different types of names like Zing, Goku, Raditz, Mokuba, Guren, Sosuke, Sai and many others...but for some reason, Kaiba had a bright idea that might stand out amongst all names and he snapped his finger and said, "I got one! You can name him after one of my cousins, Shinoda?"

Soon enough, that immediately clicked in Max and he said, "Yeah...that's an awesome idea, Kaiba. Saori?"

"It sounds like a wonderful name." Saori agreed.

"I can just imagine it...Shinoda Saiko Bushido-Akio Okami." Max said, happily.

Now that they've got the first two boys names, they're gonna get to the sister and almost immediately, Yuki, Sapphire and Serenity suggested several girls names and most of them were pretty cool like Aki, Diamond, Kiki, Miyo, Shine, etc. Saori was amazed by the suggestions of girls names that it seemed hard to pick one and Saori said, "It's gotta be something that is meaningful."

"I think it should be Daisy." Sapphire suggested.

Yuki looked at Sapphire and she seemed a little weirded out by that name and she said, "Too formal."

"Sparkle?" asked Sapphire.

"So lame." Serenity replied.

"Well, do you guys have a better option?" asked Sapphire.

Yuki immediately responded, "Ginger!"

"Ginger?" asked Sapphire.

"That is the best name you could ever think of!" Saori exclaimed.

"Ginger Aki Miyoko Bushido-Akio Okami. I love it." Max said.

All of the kids felt really good about their choices of names for the triplets and the best part of that is that they get to pick it together as a family and they're excited for the babies to come over to the family.

* * *

Stay tuned to see if those names will come in later in the story!


	27. Mason's 'Rival'

Mason tells his family about his 'rival' at kendo training.

* * *

Chapter 27: Mason's 'Rival'

A couple of hours later, Max, Saori and the rest of the clan took a little visit to Akashi's home and see the family and by the time they arrived, Akashi smiled and greeted them in and Saori couldn't help but smell something around there and she asked, "Is Miyo cooking something?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Akami and Takahiro are helping out in the kitchen too." Akashi replied.

Soon enough, they gathered around the main living room as they sat down and just talked with each other and of course, asking about Saori's pregnancy to which she responded, "I'm coming along fine."

"Was she doing good, Max?" asked Akashi.

"Yeah, she's been a great sport through it all and she's very strong. We couldn't be happier." Max answered.

Akashi nodded his head at that and he looked at the kids and asked, "Have you guys been helping your mom out a lot?"

"Yep." half of the kids replied.

"We've been helping mom out, but we had to talk Seto into helping mom out because he's been a little bit lazy." Yuki added.

Seto responded with a simple snarl towards his sister and Akashi glared at him for a second and he asked, "Don't you think you should help your mom a bit?"

"Why should I? You know I hate chores so much." Seto responded.

Saori clears her throat at this and she stared at Seto and said, "I don't ask for much, Seto. You know that I need a lot of help because I'm carrying my triplets. I just wish you can set an example for your future siblings."

"It's just that...everytime you and dad have a new baby, it just feels like I'm gonna be forgotten and a lot of responsibility has been thrown at me too much. That's why I'm always not gonna be mature regardless." Seto responded.

"Seto...you'll never be forgotten. We've told you this at least 1,000 times before. But you have to grow up just a little bit and accept some responsibility. We do this because we love you." Max added.

Seto nodded his head at that particular answer and he said, "I guess so."

"In some ways, you remind me of your uncle. He always backs out of work." Saori said, giggling.

Akashi scoffed at this as he folded his arms and said, "Really, Saori? You had to go there?"

A few minutes later

Everyone was sitting at the table, just eating and talking and while they were talking, Akami asked Mason, "So...you're learning kendo?"

"Yep. My uncle Samurai taught me some pointers on kendo early on and I liked it so much that I thought I should consider training it for myself." Mason replied.

"You know that Samurai had opened several amazing kendo training facilities all throughout China and Japan, right?" asked Max.

"He did?" asked Mason.

"Yep. Samurai had always said he wanted to give kids and those who were streetfighters a chance to learn a lot more about kendo in an attempt to understand themselves and learn a few things about themselves that they never even knew about. He's always got such a great heart." Max replied.

"You think Uncle Samurai likes being a prince?" asked Kaiba.

"He actually doesn't care much for being royal nor does he require royal treatment." Max answered.

Akami then asked Mason, "How's kendo coming?"

"It's pretty good, actually. The only downside of that is my rival, Brutus." Mason answered.

"Who's Brutus?" asked Kaiba.

"He's this orphan panther with a lot of anger issues and each time the instructor teams us up, Brutus has this personal issue against me and all he wants is to see me get defeated and rub it in my face. but often times, he just focuses on beating me." Mason answered.

"How so?" asked Seto.

"Well...for some reason, the instructor tended to favor more of my training skills, cooperation, focus and determination to keep going and Brutus sees me as a threat because in his mind, he'll be left out again and he's scared that he'll be forgotten and that I'll be favored more. I wasn't sure what his problem was with me and I tried to talk to him, but he would often either try to start a fight with me or just ignore me." Mason answered.

"Well, you should've finished the fight anyway." Seto added.

"Seto, it's not in my nature to do that. If I do fight back, I'll be no different than Brutus." Mason answered.

"That sounds very serious." Saori replied.

"But I'm really glad you made the choice not to fight back. I know what it feels like, son. How many times have your Auntie Tigress and I had been in a tiff when I was a cub?" asked Max.

"Okay, how about this; I might show up for your kendo training as a volunteer trainer and I might talk to this Brutus person." Akashi added.

"You think it'll help? Because his temper is very huge." Mason added.

"That makes two of us." Akashi answered.

"You won't do anything to make it worse, can you?" asked Miyo.

"Miyo, when have I ever made anything worse?" asked Akashi.

* * *

I'm sure Akashi might have a response to that. Stay tuned to see more!


	28. Substitute Master

And of course...Akashi made good on his promise to substitute the kendo class...to see what Mason does and meet Brutus for the first time.

* * *

Chapter 28: Substitute Master

One week later, Mason went back to his kendo class where he got himself ready for more training along with a one-on-one session with some of the student trainers and as he puts on his headband and his trusty staff, he heard Brutus' footsteps coming from behind him and as he turned around, he saw the angry black panther walking past him, but not before glaring at him with a furious growl and said, "Stay out of my way."

"Nice talking to you, too." Mason replied.

Brutus then got into Mason's face and said, "Never look me in the eye, otherwise every part of your vocal chords will be ravaged. I can make that happen, you know."

Afterwards, Brutus just walked out with a whole lot of anger, but that didn't make Mason flinch because he didn't want to cause a confrontation and at the same time, he doesn't want to make enemies to him because he'll be the same as he is and he knows better than that and he'll try his best to befriend him no matter what.

Mason then went towards the main training section as he met up with one of the student trainer; a 21-year old black panther (unrelated to Brutus), wearing just silk grey pants and some iron wrist bands and began doing some staff training where Mason had to be one with the staff and the two started some sparring lessons on how to defend yourself when being threatened or defending close friends and Mason broke out some amazing moves to go along with it, which impressed the student trainer.

Meanwhile, Brutus looked over in fury and agony watching Mason excel and there was nothing more he'd love to do than maul him for revenge after being second place as a student and he growled lowly in deep anger and it made it hard for him to sit there and hold his temper in.

"He is not a better student than me..." Brutus growled.

Just then, some of the instructors walked over to the podium and he said to the students and student teachers, "Our instructor's a little under the weather and will be out for a week, but in the meantime, we've got a volunteer to fill in for him."

"Who's the substitute?" asked one student.

"I'm the substitute."

Mason was immediately familiar with that voice and once he turned around to see who it was, he was both surprised and a little bit shocked to see who's filling in. Mason was definitely familiarized with not only that voice, but the white fur and that's when it hit him; his Uncle Akashi was volunteering.

"Students, my name is Akashi Okami and I've been asked to fill in for your instructor that had a really bad cold and I'll be there to see what you guys have got and I'll teach you some stuff along the way. Now...just so you know, I don't take excuses from anyone and whatever I say goes. Understood?" Akashi asked.

"Yes, master." everyone replied.

Akashi took one solid look at his nephew and he gives him a smile and Mason gave out an uneasy smile and one of the student trainers asked, "You know this guy?"

"We just met." Mason answered.

A few minutes later on, Brutus was gonna face off against Mason again and this time, the angry panther is definitely gonna take a huge amount of revenge to go at him and even before the gong sounded, Akashi could read Brutus' aura to see what his intent is and from reading his aura, he's taking his rage against Mason for feeling like second class and wants personal revenge against him and he needs to address the situation immediately after this session.

Finally, the gong sounds and Brutus immediately attacked Mason violently, but Mason managed to avoid it by staying calm and not resorting to any sense of violence whatsoever and he did spar him fairly with his staff, but Brutus wasn't gonna take it laying down and he resorted to punching, slamming, throwing him around and viciously beating him up, but Mason dodged it all.

Frustrated that Mason didn't get hit, Brutus went on a tidal rampage to attack Mason by any costs, but he immediately got stopped by Akashi by just yanking his tail and that intensified his anger and knocked Akashi down and said to him, "Stay out of this!"

Akashi wasn't gonna take that lying down as he got himself up and stopped him by attacking him and pinning him down to the ground and growled, "Enough!"

The gong sounded to stop this whole thing and afterwards, Akashi released Brutus, but glared at him angrily and he said, "I'd like to have a word with you right now."

"I ain't got time for you, old man." Brutus sneered.

"NOW!" Akashi roared.

Brutus grumbled as he followed Akashi over to the other room and he received a couple of stares from the class and he told them, "Take a 30-minute break."

* * *

Next up...Akashi gives Brutus a huge talking to. Wonder what he'll say to him.


	29. Strict Talking To

Now...this is what happens between Akashi and Brutus. You don't mess with him...Akashi, of course.

* * *

Chapter 29: Strict Talking To

Akashi went ahead and brought Brutus into the locker room and after witnessing what just occured, Akashi was seething like it was no one's business and just completely went ballistic and said, "You had absoultely no right to do that to Mason!"

"Well, he deserves it." Brutus replied, in a cold tone.

That was not a good enough answer for Akashi and he said to the panther, "And what has he done to you to make you act like a mad cat?"

Brutus growled at Akashi after that response and he said, "I am not a mad cat!"

"You nearly killed my nephew in front of everyone. How can you justify that?" asked Akashi.

"Why is he a top student? Why should he get all the accolades? Why should he train better than me?!" Brutus shouted.

"How long have you been a student here?" asked Akashi, sternly.

"How the heck should I know?! Like, a year or two?" asked Brutus, getting annoyed.

Akashi stared at him deeply and responded, "More like just a year. Mason's been here longer than you have."

"I don't care. It still counts." Brutus snarled.

"What do you have against him anyway? And I can tell that you're jealous of him." Akashi responded.

Brutus didn't expect Akashi to know that much detail about him and he had a gut feeling he was right, but his pride just keeps taking the show from there and he said, "That is so ridiculous. I'm not jealous of him."

"Oh, no? Then why are you really angry?" asked Akashi.

Brutus could tell that this is getting both personal and annoying at the same time and he said, "I don't have time for this."

Brutus got up to leave, but Akashi pushed him back down on his seat, further angering the panther even further and Akashi said, "Listen, Brutus...when you mess with my nephew, you're dealing with me. Now I'm gonna ask you the same question; what is it about Brutus that you hate?"

"Hate? Are you crazy?! I HAVE NO HATE!" Brutus roared.

Akashi didn't even flinch for a minute and he looked deep into Brutus' eyes and he said, "Something's bugging you and you're not going anywhere until I find out more. So far, you've been having a lot of aggression and you don't know how to manage or handle your anger because you're an orphan."

Brutus felt like Akashi was tearing up every single part of his guarded pride and exposed his flaws and true sadness that he's tried to shove inside of himself for so long because he knew that he was right the whole time as Akashi's aura penetrated deep into his soul.

"And the only reason that you're so jealous of my nephew is that he's good it pretty good and you had your uncontrollable anger and took it out in dangerous and stupid ways; from streetfighting to causing so much harm to many people because you've been abandoned and left behind by your parents." Akashi continued.

And that completely brought Brutus down to his boiling point because it's a very touchy subject that just provoked utter emotions breaking into him and he just lunged at Akashi, pinning him to the wall and shouts, "I HAVE NO PARENTS! I don't give a damn about them!"

"I know what it's like to feel like you're alone in this world, but you're not." Akashi said.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me!" Brutus roared.

Once Akashi looked straight into Brutus' eyes, he could see tears streaming down his face and it's like Akashi got him right where he wants him and asked, "I know more about you than you have. Why are you always so angry all the time?"

Soon enough, the tears keep falling out of Brutus' eyes and he lowers his head down and released Akashi and said, "Just leave me alone."

From the look of Brutus' face, it looks as if there was more to him than he thought and he hopes that he can help him, even if Brutus doesn't need it.

* * *

Rage, anger, confusion...it's all Brutus knows. But the effects on Akashi's words hit home for Brutus. You'll see what I mean in the next chapter.


	30. The Real Brutus

Now we see Brutus...his past catching up to him.

* * *

Chapter 30: The Real Brutus

After Akashi left the room, Brutus was just still standing in that locker room, feeling a huge array of anger mixed in with sadness inside of him because after that confrontation with Akashi regarding his attitude towards Mason and it was like every facet of his facade had just been shattered to pieces due to Akashi bringing everything he tried to hide out of the open and he knew for a fact that Akashi was right.

All the memories of his childhood started playing in his head and it was like every single part of him is catching up to him and he does not want to deal with that nor face the reality of being an orphan because it's like he had been through so much that he can't cope with it. He placed his head against the lockers and just closed his eyes to ignore all the hardness that he had suffered through, but it grew even more impossible to shake off.

"Why is this coming back to me?" Brutus asked.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he found himself in a room full of darkness and despair that he's surrounded with; the demons of being an orphan and a troublemaker with so much anger, rage and aggression that he's been carrying all his life because his parents abandoned him at an orphanage and has been dealt with so much unspeakable things that a cub shouldn't have to deal with; being scolded harshly, confronted, accused of many things he had no part of and being isolated all while being picked on by many kids.

Brutus looked at himself in the mirror and sees something that he shouldn't face...his own self as a cub who's been dealt with the hand he's been dealing with and being picked on many times and the more he looked at it, the more hurt he feels and he just wants nothing more than to run away from it, but the one thing he can't run from is his past.

And soon enough, he's faced with his own self as an uncontrollable bully and menace of all the things that he did to everyone else that he harmed; random people and some that tried to control him, but his headstrong self has always shown in the most destructive ways imaginable. All the things that he had done that were seen back in his eyes to see and it shows the furious panther he had been; destruction of property, losing control of his temper and taking it out on people that didn't even deserve it.

Suddenly, his current state of jealousy has taken center stage when he feels like he's been ignored and the fear of being abandoned has come to haunt him and the only way to prevent that fear was to lash out at people and threaten them with violence and even in the sense of losing control of his anger, he actually goes through with it, leaving others with injuries and multiple scars he caused and his cold-hearted demeanor is seen by the eyes of many.

Every facet of him has surrounded him and it's like he's being confined to look at his own self and everywhere he turns, he always sees the 'monster panther' from within that just can't be controlled or tamed.

The voices of many people coming at him just consumed him and he just couldn't take much more of it and every single ounce of it swept his tough nature to a terrified person who's haunted by his actions and he just screamed to the top of his lungs and wanted to get out of it and he just roared loudly and punched the living crap out of a mirror really hard that glass were shattering all over the place and screamed, "WHY?!"

Soon afterwards, Brutus opened his eyes and sees himself standing in the same place he stood and panted heavily as he looked around and that he's still in the locker room with a few pieces of glass all over the floor because he punched a mirror so hard and he backed himself away and just curled himself up, crying uncontrollably.

He just let everything out...years of pent-up sadness that he kept to himself and he just kept crying and crying and he was unaware that someone was looking at him the whole time, but he didn't even care to see who it was and somehow, he felt someone's paw on his shoulder and he said, "I don't deserve to be forgiven."

"You do."

Just then, he slowly looks up and sees Mason standing there and quickly turned away from him and he asked, "Why would you come here? After all the pain I caused you...and everyone else?"

"I wanted to let you know that I never had anything against you. I just wanted to be your friend." Mason replied.

"Your friend? Why me?" asked Brutus, tearfully.

"Because you need one." Mason replied.

Mason immediately gave Brutus a hug and Brutus didn't know why Mason would do that, but the impact of the hug just took over him and hugged him back while he was crying and said sorry to him many times and for Brutus, it was a huge breakthrough for him.

They were unaware that Akashi was watching the whole time and he smiled at both felines after witnessing that the ice has been broken and in the duration of his time at the training school, Akashi needs to help Brutus out some more, but this is a good start so far.

* * *

And that's the last we see of Brutus. Next up, the countdown to Saori giving birth.


	31. Support of the Triplets

baby shower for Saori!

* * *

Chapter 31: Support of the Triplets

As the weeks went by, Saori was looking forward to bring the triplets to the world and as she walks around the house a little bit to get some air and almost immediately, Yuki helped her down the stairs and once they got there, she noticed Miyo, Sierra, Nanami, Summer, Nya, Makoto and plenty others standing there, exclaiming, "SURPRISE!"

Saori did not expect that to happen and she was thrilled to have them come over to the house with baby toys, clothes and all things babies to commemorate the coming of Saori's triplets and they're just there to show them love and support and she was so happy to see this and she said, "You guys came over!"

"Yep, Miyo told us you're gonna have triplets. You and Max must've really kept yourself busy a lot. You guys having so many babies a lot...I couldn't even keep up with more than four kids." Nanami said.

"Well...we didn't really plan of having that many, but when you're around someone like Max who gives you the most beautiful moments, you don't want it to end." Saori answered.

"I wish me and Ryosuke can have more than two cubs like you guys do." Nanami responded.

Saori laughed in response to that and said, "It's not easy having to raise 9 cubs. But me and Max make every moment worthwhile with them."

"Well, we brought in some amazing gifts for you for your new babies. Two boys and a girl?" asked Summer.

"Yes, that's right." asked Saori.

"Did you think of the names?" asked Nya.

"Yes. For the boys, I'm naming one of them after my brother and another one will be Shinoda." Saori replied.

Nya and Nanami were surprised to hear that Saori's gonna name one of the boys after Akashi, given of the history that they had with Akashi's stupidity in their younger years when it comes to girls and Nya asked, "Second coming?"

"Yeah. I just thought it would only be fair to have a second coming of my brother." Saori answered.

"That's cool." Summer answered.

"What about the girl?" asked Sierra.

"The girl will be a surprise...especially with Miyo." Saori said, smiling.

Miyo was actually surprised about what Saori's got under her sleeve about her niece's name and asked, "Not even a hint?"

"You'll know when the baby girl is born." Saori replied.

Yuki came in with a couple of snacks to appease everyone for this unexpected baby shower and most of the women were spending most of the day just doling out some motherly advice and showing them unstoppable support and that made Saori feel good that she got all these gifts; from blankets, baby toys, books and everything else.

"And you know what's the good thing about it? Akashi's not invited." Sierra added.

"Yeah, Ryosuke's been working him like a dog these past couple of weeks. Don't know why, but I think he's got control of him." Nanami said, sipping her green tea.

"I hope he doesn't work him too hard. My brother hates too much work." Saori stated.

"Between me and Nya, I think we know someone else that likes to see that and she's always wanted to get Akashi back after all the times he spied on us in the past." Nanami said, looking at Makoto.

Makoto smiled at this and said, "I would love to see what Akashi's feeling right now."

* * *

Ryosuke's house

Akashi panted heavily as he laid down on the grass, exhausted from all the extra work Ryosuke had him doing and Ryosuke stood over to him and said, "Break time's over."

Akashi responded with a whine and said, "But Ryosuke..."

"No buts, Akashi." Ryosuke said, sternly.

Akashi looked up and saw 23 stacks of bricks that were gonna be stacked into another shed and Akashi responded with a huge puppy-like whine and said, "I don't wanna do it!"

"I'll make it 30." Ryosuke added.

"Darn it." Akashi said, whining.

* * *

The birth is coming soon! Stay tuned!


	32. It's Time!

Saori's ready to give birth!

* * *

Chapter 32: It's Time!

A week went by and one evening, Max was walking back to the house after a long day at the workshop and the first thing he wants to do is go to bed and snuggle with his pregnant wife and as he entered in the room, he saw that Saori was already in her bed, but not fully asleep and he silently walked towards the bed, kissing her forehead and looked at her as she's waking up.

"You okay?" asked Max.

Saori smiled at him and she said, "I'm fine."

Max sat next to her and Saori tried to sit up and he nuzzled her gently and said to her, "How are you holding up?"

"I've been better. Just carrying our triplets." Saori replied, holding her stomach.

Max gently rubs on her belly and Saori responded with just a purr and she felt like she's very comforted towards him and he said to him, "I really can't wait to see them being born. We've been very fortunate to have 9 terrific kids in 18 years and it's been nothing but an absolute pleasure to have it with you."

"You always said we wanted a big family." Saori chuckled.

Max nodded at that and he had to admit that their intimate moments together were some of the best ones they had so far and wouldn't want to trade them in and said, "Yeah, I did. I guess I was accustomed to that, you know...since I was adopted to a bigger one. And mostly because I love sharing whatever moment we had with each other."

"You're so sweet, my handsome tiger." Saori said, smiling, rubbing Max's cheek.

Max chuckled softly at that and said, "And you're my beautiful tigress."

"If I wasn't fat." Saori added.

Max saw past that and just loved her for who she is and said, "I love you for whoever you are. Always."

"Why do you always like to see past every single wrong thing in everyone?" asked Saori.

"I've always been like that when I was a cub and I always see the good in everyone and everything. That never changes." Max added.

"And that's why I love you, Max." Saori said, smiling.

Both tigers went over towards each other and kissed on the lips very tenderly and within a matter of 10 seconds, it went from sweet and tender to full-on passion with their tongues around each other's mouths and Max kissed her neck as Saori breathed deeply and a few minutes into their intimate moment, Saori lets out a very sharp groan and almost immediately, Max stopped and looked at Saori aand asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Max..." Saori said, brathlessly, but then she groaned in deep pain.

Max blinked his eyes and wondered what was going on with her and he said, "It's okay. I'm here."

"Max! It's time!" Saori exclaimed.

Just then, Max widened his eyes in deep shock that it's coming this time and said, "Right now?"

"Right now!" Saori roared.

"I thought it was only 3 more weeks left!" Max exclaimed.

"Well, it looks like the triplets wanted to come in early!" Saori answered.

* * *

The full-on birth of the triplets is coming soon! Stay tuned!


	33. The Baby's Coming!

Now the kids are super prepared!

* * *

Chapter 33: The Baby's Coming!

Soon enough, all the kids immediately went towards their mother's room and noticed that she was in a lot of pain and Maosn immediately stepped in and said, "Mom, are you okay?"

"Mason...you and your father take me to the hospital!" Saori said, sweating.

"Help me up, son." Max said, grabbing her hand, hoping that she doesn't squash it when there's sharp pains coming in.

Mason grabbed her by the other hand and pulled her up and Mason saw everyone else standing there, not knowing what to do and he exclaimed, "Don't just stand there! Do something!"

"What do we have to do?" asked Kaiba.

"Kaiba, you, Maximus II, Serenity and Sapphire bring some clothes for her! Jason, you come with us. Yuki, you and Seto have to go to Akashi's place and tell them that mom's gonna give birth!" Mason exclaimed.

"Right away!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Hold on! Why should I go with her? It's another false alarm!" Seto exclaimed, in protest.

Saori yowled in sharp pain, which completely shocked everyone except for Max and Max then turned to Seto and asked, "Does that sound like a false alarm to you?"

"Let's go, doofus!" Yuki said, pulling Seto's arm out.

Several minutes went by and the family immediately made their way to the hospital and soon enough, they saw the same nurse that birthed all 8 of their cubs and the nurse came over and said, "Max, Saori! I was expecting you guys here in three weeks."

"Well, the triplets didn't want to wait until then." Max replied.

"How are the contractions coming?" asked the nurse.

Saori breathed heavily and just had a few shaken breaths and Max said, "She can barely speak, nurse. They're coming too further."

"Well, don't you worry. We'll do everything we can in our power to make sure things go well." the nurse added.

Jason tugged on the nurse' gown and noticed that she went down his level and he asked, "Can you make my mommy feel all better?"

The nurse chuckled in response and rubbed his head and said, "We will try. Your mommy will be just fine."

The nurse looked at all the kids and she said to them, "They've grown up so much."

"Yeah, they have. Happy and healthy as always." Max added.

Saori looked up at the younger kids and she smiled at them and said, "Mommy will okay, guys. You'll see the new babies in no time."

Jason and Maximus II went ahead and hugged their mother tightly before she goes to give birth to the babies, but Maximus II held onto his mother a little tighter and Saori kissed Maximus II's forehead and patted his head and Maximus II said, "I love you, mommy."

"I love you too, sweetie." Saori said.

With that, Maximus II lets go and Saori went to the emergency room with Max and as soon as they were gone, Mason walked towards Maximus II, got on his level and lifted his chin and said, "Don't worry, buddy. Everything's gonna be okay."

"You promise?" asked Maximus II.

"I promise. You're gonna have two new baby brothers and one baby sister. You're gonna be a big brother." Mason said, trying to cheer him up.

Mason patted Maximus II's head and hugged him a little bit and it made Maximus II feel a little bit better, but he's still worried about his mom and Mason thought it was best to just tickle him and almost immediately, Maximus II started giggling as Mason was tickling him and a few minutes later, in comes Musaki, Summer and their cubs, Arizona, Sierra and their cubs, Akashi, Miyo, Akami, Takamoto, Marceline, Ryosuke, Nanami and her cubs and all of Akashi's friends coming by to check on Max and Saori, but not before saying hi to all of the kids.

"Hey, guys. What brings you over?" asked Mason, looking at them.

"Yuki and Seto told us to come to the hospital to check on Saori, but I already knew that she's gonna give birth to the triplets so we gathered everyone else as quickly as we could along the way." Akashi answered.

Just then, Yuki and Seto came behind them and Seto immediately say down, panting heavily and said, "I need some sleep."

Seto laid down on the couch and said, "Wake me when the triplets are born."

Akashi looked at Seto and just sighed heavily at him while shaking his head and said, "This guy is like super lazy."

"Yeah, I can't imagine where he got that habit from." Nya said, looking at Akashi with a smirk.

Akashi mocked smirked her back and said, "Whatever."

Musaki and Summer were heading over with Arizona and Sierra with their cubs as they headed their way to see Saori and Musaki looked at all the kids and said, "We're gonna check on Auntie Saori and see how she's doing so we want all of you guys to stay right there until we let you know, okay?"

"Okay." all the cubs replied.

"And Saka...no wandering off." Musaki said, looking at his baby panda cub.

"Aw, dad..." Saka whined.

"Saka..." Musaki said, in a stern voice.

"Okay." Saka replied.

With that, everyone headed their way to the emergency room while the others stayed put and waited and Saka came to Mason and said, "What are they gonna do with Auntie Saori?"

"They're gonna help her with the babies, Saka." Mason replied.

"Will there be blood all over the place? Cousin Seto said so." Saka replied.

That comment caught Seto's attention and woke him up and noticed a glare from Mason and Seto muttered, "Big mouth."

"You shouldn't fill a little boy's head with your weird ideas." Mason stated.

"Whatever." Seto added.

Takashi and Jacob looked at this and Takasi said, "Saka spends too much time with both Seto and Akashi."

"No kidding." Jacob agreed.

* * *

Next up...the triplets are here! Stay tuned!


	34. The Triplets Are Here!

The moment has arrived!

* * *

Chapter 34: The Triplets Are Here!

During the time in the emergency room, Saori was breathing heavily and Max was by her side, holding her paw through the whole thing and he told her, "You're gonna be okay, Saori. We've been through this before with our kids."

"I know we have. And each one of those periods were so painful." Saori said, shuddering.

"Don't talk like that. We've been blessed to have 8 beautiful, healthy cubs for all those years and it'll all be worth it in the end. I promise you that." Max said, in the most genuine way possible.

Saori knew that he had a point there and she has been blessed to be a mother and she couldn't think of anyone else to have a family with other than Max and she looks up at him and said, "You're right. You've always said it'll all be worth it through those 18 years. After all of this, I think it'll be it."

"Until we make another one." Max said, with a chuckle.

Saori smiled at that and she said, "Always got a sense of humor, even in the face of something so difficult."

"That's the only choice we have whenever something is in our way. We smile through it." Max replied, stroking her forehead.

"I'm so glad that you're my husband." Saori said, smiling.

Max replied with a kiss on the cheek and said, "And I'm glad that you're my wife."

Seconds later, in comes Musaki, Arizona, Summer, Sierra, Akashi, Miyo, Tigress, Taiga, Ryosuke, Nanami, Nya, Naomi, Takeshi, Makoto and some of Akashi's friends and members of the Crimson Wolf coming in to give Saori and Max their support and that even surprised Max as well and he said, "You guys are here? I can't believe this!"

"We heard that your mate is gonna give birth any minute. We had to be there for this event." Sierra replied.

"I really want to see the triplets." Arizona added.

"You'll have a chance to see them after they're born." Saori said, reassuring them.

"After these triplets are born, that'll be the end, right?" asked Akashi.

Saori looks at her brother in the eye and told him, "We'll see."

Akashi immediately read her aura and with a semi-grim and exhausted look on his face, he said, "There's gonna be more, will there?"

"Only after one of us turns 45." Saori replied.

"Won't that be too old?" asked Summer.

"Not for us." Max stated, with a sly look on his face.

Soon enough, the nurse came over to the emergency room and sees the throngs of loved ones all around the room and she said, "One heck of a gathering, huh?"

"Hello, nurse." Max said.

Just then, the nurse recognizes Arizona, Sierra, Musaki and Summer there and she said to them, "HOw are you all?"

"Doing fine, nurse." they responded.

She then asked them, "How are all your children?"

"Happy, healthy and just all around wonderful." Sierra replied.

"Ours too." Summer agreed.

Max was surprised that they knw the nurse and he asked them, "You guys know her?"

"Yeah, Max. She helped give birth to our wives' cubs." Musaki replied.

Max widened his eyes at that revelation and he said, "I never would've guessed we all have the same nurse."

"Funny, huh?" asked Arizona.

The nurse looked at everyone and said, "Nice to see you all here. However, I'm gonna have to ask you guys to wait in the hallway until this is done."

Afterwards, everyone gave their love and support to both Saori and Max as they left the room and after that, Saori took a deep breath as she held onto Max's hand for extra needed stability because she's definitely gonna need it.

* * *

Meanwhile

Everyone else is anxiously waiting on the arrival of their new members of the family and everyone's in a mixed bag of emotions; excited, nervous, anxious, joyful and every other feeling imaginable, especially little Maximus II...who's not only excited about the new siblings, but also a little anxious about his mother. Yuki looked at her little brother and sees that he's completely worried about his mother and she told him to lay down with her and Maximus II came to her side and laid on her knees as he falls asleep and she rubbed his head, hoping that he'll sleep better.

But she could relate to what Maximus II is feeling because she hopes that her mother is gonna be okay and shares the same worry he has, but knowing her mother...she knows that she'll pull through to the best of her ability.

Just then, she was unaware that a certain young brown wolf was watching and sat next to her and he seemed quite taken with not only her care for her brother, but herself as well and the minute Yuki turned around and looked at him, there was a little sense of a spark, but she sorta shook it off and said, "Hello."

"Hi. Is that your little brother?" asked the young brown wolf.

Yuki looks down and replied, "Yeah, that's Maximus II."

"Maximus II?" asked the wolf.

"He's named after my father." Yuki responded.

The young brown wolf was intrigued by that revelation and he looked at him for a second and said, "How old is this little guy?"

"He just turned three." Yuki answered.

The young wolf chuckled softly as he looked at him and said, "He looks so cute."

'Not as cute as you are.' Yuki thought to herself, looking at him.

Yuki nodded in agreement over that and she asked, "What's your name?"

"Ikuto Yashida. What's yours?" asked the wolf.

"I'm Yuki."

"Yuki...that's a beautiful name." Ikuto replied, very amazed.

Yuki responded with a little blush because she did not expect that to come out of the young wolf's mouth, which made Ikuto a little shocked that he actually said that in front of her and Yuki said, "Thank you."

'Did I seriously just say that? She's gonna think I'm an idiot because I said it's a beautiful name.' Ikuto thought to himself.

"That's really nice of you to say." Yuki added.

Ikuto nodded his head in response, totally unaware that Akami and Serenity were sitting from the sidelines and noticed a little bit of a spark between the two and Serenity said, "I think Yuki's gonna get her first actual boyfriend."

"They're totally meant to be, for sure." Akami agreed.

"So...who are you with?" asked Yuki.

"Um...no one. I don't have anyone with me right now. I'm single." Ikuto responded.

Yuki giggled at that answer and said, "I meant, like your mom, dad, brother, sister. Like anyone in your family."

Ikuto then felt totally embarrassed after Yuki cleared that up and just giggled nervously and replied, "Oh...just me and my parents and some of the Crimson Wolf members. So, yeah."

'Way to go, Ikuto. She'll never go out with you if you keep embarrassing yourself.' Ikuto thought.

'He's so cute when he blushes.' Yuki thought to herself.

"Do you have any brothers and sisters?" asked Yuki.

"No, I'm an only child. It gets kinda lonely now and then, but at least I have my family." Ikuto responded.

As Yuki and Ikuto were conversing with each other, Mason looked over and saw his sister and he had somewhat of a good feeling between the two of them and he smiled and figured that they're simply meant to be. Just then, Akashi walked over to Mason and he asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Yuki talking to that guy." Mason replied.

Akashi looked over and saw Yuki talking to that young wolf and asked, "Ikuto?"

"That's his name?" asked Mason.

"Yeah. He's actually working to be an apprentice for Crimson Wolf." Akashi answered.

Mason chuckled at that position and replied, "That's awesome. You should enroll Marcus in there."

Akashi chuckled at that and rolled his eyes sarcastically and Mason went on to say, "They look like they're the same age."

"He's 15 and she's 14. They can't date." Akashi responded.

"How can they date if they just met?" asked Mason.

Akashi was gonna respond to that, but he had no need to because Mason had a valid point across and he said nothing afterwards and just walks out without saying a word and sits down in between Takashi and Takamoto with a huge sigh and said to Takamoto, "Am I good dad?"

"You're always a good dad." Takamoto replied.

Akashi smiled as he rubbed his son's head and said, "Thank you."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the emergency room, Saori was still pushing and as the nurse begins to help deliver the baby, Saori just winced and then started screaming because of the pain inside of her and all Max can do is encourage her through this ordeal as she kept on pushing harder than ever while the nurse encourages her to keep going and Saori felt like she can't go through with it, but Max's firm yet gentle grip on her hand helped her push through the whole thing.

"That's it! Keep pushing!" the nurse exclaimed.

"Keep going! I believe in you!" Max exclaimed.

"I can see the head!" the nurse responded.

Just then, Saori kept pushing harder and harder until they hear the baby cry and just then, one of the three came out and Saori panted heavily and the nurse said, "It's a boy!"

Not long after a minute of the first one's birth, another baby is coming out of there and soon enough, Saori kept pushing harder than ever to get the other one out and she kept pushing and pushing until another baby started crying and the nurse carried the other cub out of her and said, "Another boy!"

Saori thought that this was the end of it, but soon enough...the nurse said, "There's one more. Can you pull through one more?"

"I don't know if I can do this." Saori said, panting.

"You can. We've been through this before with only one cub. You can pull through." Max said, encouraging her.

She knew that Max had a point there and she's willing to hold it out and then she began breathing and started pushing on and as she kept pushing, she started screaming and screaming and afterwards, the nurse said, "I see the third head! Keep pushing!"

The baby started crying afterwards and with one last push, the baby was finally out and the nurse said, "It's a girl!"

After all of that, Saori could finally breathe easy now that all three of their new babies have been born and all Max and Saori can do is savor the moment and Max patted her hand and said, "You did good, Saori."

"All thanks to you." Saori said, smiling.

A few minutes later, Saori was holding their first two cubs while Max was holding the third and both of them were completely happy and joyful about bringing three beautiful, healthy cubs into the world and Saori said, "We are so fortunate and blessed to have these new babies into our lives."

"Yeah, we are. I want to savor each and every waking moment with this moment." Max said, holding his little daughter.

Saori looked at the first two boys and she said, "One of them got your nose and the other has your smile."

"And she's got your ears too." Max added.

Saori looked at the baby girl and noticed a little similarity with the ears and she smiled and said, "She does have them."

And Max looked at the little boys and they do have a few of their dad's features and smiled at them and said, "I hope they don't have my birthmark."

Just then, they heard a few knocks on the door and Akashi popped his head in and said, "You guys feel like visitors coming in?"

"Of course. Come on in, everyone." Saori said, happily.

* * *

The babies are finally born! One more chapter left to go!

**Voice of Ikuto: Ryan Potter**

**Voice of Takamoto: Diego Velazquez**


	35. Welcome to the Family

The moment we've all been waiting for...the introduction of the triplets!

* * *

Chapter 35: Welcome to the Family

Soon enough, Akashi, Miyo, Musaki, Arizona, Summer, Sierra, Taiga, Tigress, most of the Furious Five, Po and all of the cubs, members of Crimson Wolf walked in and when they saw the triplets for the first time, everyone said, "Aw..."

Maximus II sprinted towards his mother and nuzzled her softly and sees the triplets for the first time and he was infatuated with all three of them and said, "They're so cute."

"Right?" asked Saori, nuzzling Maximus II.

"Can you say 'hi' to the family?" asked Max, looking at the triplets, waving for them.

"Hey, we're your uncles." Arizona said, standing between Musaki and Akashi, in a baby voice.

Yuki looked at the baby girl and she wanted to hold her and Saori gave her to Yuki and once she held her, she felt so happy to see her new baby sister and said, "Hey, baby sis. I'm your big sister."

Saori and Max looked at this and they see that Yuki's happy to meet her and they noticed the boys are happier to meet their new baby brothers for the first time and the entire room was surrounded by nothing but love and joy all around them and they could feel it too and Kaiba said, "These little guys are so cute."

"Aren't they?" asked Serenity.

"These guys look so much alike. How can you tell them apart?" asked Takashi.

"You could always put some makeup on their backs. That's how I did it with my sibs." Jacob replied.

Most of Jacob's siblings were looking at him in a completely disturbed manner and one of them said, "Jake...don't get us started."

"So...what are you guys gonna name them?" asked Tigress.

Max took a look at the first boy and both he and Saori agreed on the one name that will be an inspiration second coming for the family and Saori said, "Max and I decided to name our first triplet after my brother. His name will be Akashi Shinobi Bushido-Akio Okami."

Akashi was deeply overwhelmed with so much emotion that one of the triplets is named after him and he was trying so hard not to cry, but that honor just made it hard to fight back the tears and he said, "Can I hold him?"

Saori gladly accepts the request as he gave him to Akashi and once he looked at his nephew, he couldn't help the overwhelming happy feeling he has and he said, "Hey, little Akashi. I'm your uncle."

"Akashi Shinobi Bushido-Akio Okami II." the nurse said, writing it down.

"The second coming...I like it." Arizona added.

"What about the other boy? What are you gonna name him?" asked Po.

"I picked Shinoda after one of my brothers, so this little guy is Shinoda Saiko Bushido-Akio Okami." Max replied.

"That's an awesome name, Max!" Po exclaimed.

Everyone else agreed with that and it's proven a fitting name for the family and finally, they turned their attention to the girl and Saori picked her up and thought up of a different name than what Yuki helped picked out and she said, "I'm gonna name this one...Aurora."

"Aurora? What happened to Ginger?" asked Yuki, very surprised-like.

"We can still use it as a nickname because her eyes are as bright and beautiful like ginger and aurora." Saori replied.

"That's a beautiful name." Max said, happily.

"Aurora Aki Miyoko Bushido-Akio Okami." Saori added.

Miyo was both shocked and emotional when she heard that her newborn niece has one of the names named after her and she felt deeply honored and she said, "You gave her my name?"

"I thought it would be a better fitting for her middle name." Max replied.

"As an inspiration." Saori agreed.

Miyo smiled at this and she looked at Aurora and said, "I'll treasure this."

As everyone was in the hospital room, they never wanted the moment to end and as they watch these triplets be born, everyone realized that life is just so precious after seeing them born into the world and it brought everyone closer together.

"Hey, am I late?"

Everyone turned around to see Marcus coming in and Akashi said, "Just in time."

Marcus looked over and saw the triplets for the first time and he was so happy that it wouldn't stop making his tail wag in joy and he said, "That's so awesome."

"Meet your new addition; Akashi II, Shinoda and Aurora." Saori replied.

"Hi, guys." Marcus said, happily.

And everyone knows that this is one beautiful family moment that they will never forget and will cherish it for the rest of their lives.

* * *

And that's the end of the story! But hold on, there's a bonus one up ahead!


	36. Bonus Chapter

One bonus chapter comes up about the cubs and what they were like as little cubs.

* * *

Bonus Chapter

Several days later, after the birth of Akashi II, Shinoda and Aurora, Saori and Max were finally heading back home along with the kids and several of their family and friends coming in and as soon as they got there, there was this feeling of so much love, happiness and joy all mixed in together at this one moment and for the entire clan, it was one they can savor for life.

A few minutes later, Saori had already set the babies to sleep and during that period, she came downstairs and sat down on the couch with Max and both tigers couldn't stop glowing afterwards and Akashi could sense why...because they brought in three beautiful cubs in the world and he said, "You guys definitely got your hands full."

"We'll try our best to make sure they're loved." Saori added.

"You know, this reminds me of the time when all of you were born and how much a blessing all of you brought into our lives." Max said.

"We always wanted to know what we were like when we were babies." Kaiba replied.

Marcus was definitely interested to hear about how his adopted siblings were like when they were cubs and learn a few things about them that may surprise him and Max started by saying, "You guys want to know?"

"Yeah." Yuki replied.

"I bet Seto or Yuki started off like they are now." Mason stated.

Yuki and Seto received annoyed glares to their older brother and just felt like that was unaccounted for and Seto said, "Really, dude? Did you have to go there?"

"Yeah, that's just wrong." Yuki agreed.

Max chuckled softly with the cubs and he replied, "Actually, Mason...you were somewhat of a troublemaker as a baby cub."

Mason seemed very surprised by that response while it completely took most of the younger ones by surprise, including Yuki and Seto as they had just found a little bit of dirt on their oldest brother and Mason said, "Me?"

"Yes. When we had you as a baby, you were the cutest thing. But sometimes...you just kept crying nonstop after you were born." Saori replied.

"As I recall, it was about 5 weeks after Mason was born that he cried nonstop and it made both of us very frustrated and gave us a whole lot of sleepness nights." Max stated.

"Oh, yeah...I remember that. Mason, you were uncontrollable with the crying and there were times that you were very picky and fussy that your mom spent a lot of nights herself crying." Akashi stated.

"I did?" asked Mason.

Akashi unveiled a little mirror where it shows proof that Mason was a troublemaker in more ways than one from when he was a baby that he just kept crying nonstop after the first 5 weeks of his birth and in many cases as a baby, he just kept crying and crying and it made both Max and Saori very frustrated and exhausted in dealing with it and in some reasons...frustrated with each other over their son's nonstop crying. And as Mason looked at it, he did not realize that it nearly caused a friction between them because of his crying.

Then, another moment where Max had to change Mason's diaper for the first time and as everyone watched it, they saw Max's reaction after he took off Mason's diaper and almost fainted or puked afterwards and watching the memory mirror made Max cringe after seeing that and he said, "I still felt like I was scarred when I smelled your diaper, son."

"And I think you said something to the effect that said, 'This will be Akashi's job when he's babysitting Mason' after that." Saori responded.

That made Akashi a little bit disturbed looking back at it and he said, "I thought dealing with Akami's diaper change was more horrifying."

"Dad!" Akami said, whining.

Then, a few more memories of Mason as a kid surfaced when he was a complete picky eater, professing his dislike of vegetables and egg rolls and some sushi and often times would swipe the plate to the floor to digging under his diaper and taking out his poop and threw it across any room possible and everyone exclaimed in complete disgust while Mason looked completely embarrassed.

"Mason! You pig!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"I wished I would've been the firstborn cub and saw that happening." Yuki pointed out.

Then, it shows Mason flinging his poop out of his diaper and smeared it on his father's face and on Akashi's face and that made Mason cringe after seeing that and seeing Akashi's shocked and grossed out reaction when he got smeared poop on his face brought back some memories and Akashi said, "Miyo did not want any piece of my face that day when I came home."

"I had thought you did that yourself." Miyo stated.

And more proof has been revealed that Mason has been a little bit of a troublemaker in more ways than one, but was never destructive at all towards his parents regardless. However, towards his uncle Akashi, he had been flailing his arms and merely swiped his face with his claws and drove him exactly nuts by screaming and crying so loudly that Akashi banged his head against the wall in complete frustration and whenever he'd see Max or Saori coming to pick him up, he'd get on his knees in relief saying 'I'm so glad you're here'.

"You looked like you were begging us to bring him back home." Saori pointed out.

And one last memory was when Akashi picked him up after his birth that Mason urinated his uncle and it caused all of the kids to laugh hysterically...except for Akashi and Mason and it was like the most craziest thing that they've seen and Mason was dead embarrassed inside that this was been in Akashi's memory for so long.

"Was I that bad?" asked Mason.

"Somewhat. Everytime you had a first, we had a first together." Max replied.

"And I thought I was the troublemaker of the family." Seto said, laughing.

Mason blinked his eyes at that and realized that everything he did as a baby was completely unusual and he said, "I don't know what else to say other than I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, Mason. You were only a baby. You behaved a lot better when Seto reached his terrible two's and you were well-behaved since then." Max added.

"Now, Seto...that was a different story. He became such a huge troublemaker that it makes Mason's behavior look well-mannered." Akashi stated.

"Excuse me?" asked Seto, looking a little offended.

"This I have to hear." Yuki responded.

As the mirror memory keeps going forward, they see Seto as a cub and he was a troublemaker in every way possible; from writing on the walls, peeing on Akashi, Miyo, Hayate and on his dad, screaming and crying, banging his head on the wall, throwing things and throwing fits if he doesn't get his way and testing his parents' patience as well as picking on his big brother and his little sister Yuki.

It also revealed Seto urinating on Yuki while she was asleep and that literally put everyone in shock...including Yuki herself. Yuki turned to Seto and growled at him softly and whispered, "That was you?"

"We had thought she peed on herself." Saori said, in surprise.

"Wow...I was even cool back then." Seto said, acknowledging his prank.

From Seto as a cub to Yuki as a cub, they all looked and saw little Yuki as they see her at her cutest and sweetest as a baby cub and always have that flower on her head and she completely made everyone stop and take notice and say that she's so cute. Yuki completely looked at herself and smiled and said, "I looked so cute as a baby."

"Yeah...until you got old." Seto stated.

Yuki glared at Seto's remark for a quick second and said, "I'm not old. I'm becoming a young woman."

"I used to be the cute one until you came along." Seto replied.

"You were anything but cute, Seto." Mason added.

Ikuto looked at Yuki as a baby cub and then looking at her now, he could see that the beauty hasn't changed at all and each time he's looking at her, it's like he couldn't take his eyes off of her and has got a little bit of a crush on her and just sighed silently as he's looking at her.

Meanwhile, Saori said, "And to this day, Yuki had become a beautiful young woman."

"Who still looks like a baby." Seto added.

"Seto...be nice." Max said, in a stern voice.

Next up...is Kaiba as a young cub and although he's a little mischevious, he didn't reach the level that Mason and Seto had before and all the pranks he pulls and when he's in a little bit of trouble with his parents, he would always pull off an innocent smile or giggle, even though the evidence of his works is in front or behind him.

Kaiba's reaction was just pure silence as he was watching this one and he received a glaring stare from his father and he said, "You always tried to get away with things, Kai."

"Yeah, you might've fooled your parents, but when it comes to me...I'm not one to be fooled with. I always knew your little tricks like the back of my head." Akashi said, staring at Kaiba.

It also shows Kaiba playing a few tricks on both Seto and Yuki, simply by either scaring them with a fake mask or pouring water on their pants and most of the others were laughing except for Seto and Yuki and they looked at Kaiba for a quick second before Kaiba said, "I had to learn a few tricks from somewhere."

Akashi was even laughing as well, which also received a few glares from not just Seto and Yuki, but from Saori, Max and Miyo and Akashi's only response was, "You gotta admit, the kid's a natural pranker...just like his uncle."

"Used to be." Kaiba added.

Yet despite Kaiba's pranking nature, he's always been a sweet cub...mostly towards his mother and a little helper with his father and just a playful cub when he hangs with his cousins as well as Mason and Auntie Miyo and being referred to as the sweet cub of the group and also a little laid-back and easy forgiver, just like his father.

"You've grown to be such a young man, Kaiba. Becoming even more like your father any minute." Saori stated.

"Really?" asked Kaiba.

"Yes. You still got a little bit of your dad in you." Max replied.

Kaiba responded with a smile and nods his head in response and just greatly appreciates that compliment and as it drags on, they showed memories of Serenity, Sapphire, Jason and Maximus II as babies and they were looking back at those cute memories and some not so cute and as Marcus was looking at them, he learned a few things about his adopted siblings, but a little letdown when he's not mentioned in one of those.

Jason noticed that and he looks at the black wolf and asked, "Are you okay, Marcus? You don't look happy."

"Nothing. It's just...seeing you guys as cubs and how you guys came to be as you are. I just wish I knew what I was like as a baby cub." Marcus answered.

"Marcus...I know that we've adopted you a few years back, but that doesn't mean you're not special. You're special because you're you and you're part of the family. Nothing will ever change that." Max said.

"Even though you're different from us, you are family." Saori added.

That little hindsight made him realize how special he is and as he looks at everyone around him, he can tell that he's the luckiest cub in the world to have family all by his side, despite the different species and with the new triplets, it put himself at ease and he smiled and just appreciated every waking moment with them and he said, "I love you guys."

* * *

And now that's the end of the story! Thank you guys for reading and reviewing and a huge thank you to Master of Stories (as always) for letting me use his characters in the story! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it! I might take a little hiatus from KFP fics for a while, but I might post a few more. Until then, AniUniverse is out!


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Kung Fu Panda, Family