And the surprise continues...

Chapter 26: Surprised by Friends

As soon as the entire family surprised Max on his birthday, Max became shocked to see not only his family there, but also his best friends from the MMA class come in for the party and that was just something he would never expect to happen and everyone shouted, "Happy birthday, Max!"

Max chuckled at this and he was just stunned to speak, but the look on his happy face spoke for itself as he found himself surrounded by friends and family and he said, "You guys are the best! I can't believe you're here on my birthday!"

"Believe it, dude! You'd think we would forget about your birthday?" asked best friend #1, fist-bumping him.

"Yeah, we can tell you're very surprised." Best friend #2 added, smiling.

"Were you surprised?" asked Samurai, smiling.

Max chuckled and he just nodded his head indicating that he's completely surprised and said, "I felt like my heart was gonna pop out of my chest."

"That would've been the icing on the cake." Tsunami said, snickering.

Soon enough, Akashi came by and puts on a birthday hat on his head and puts one on Max's head and he said, "How awesome is it being 12?"

"Now it feels great because I have the best friends and family there to celebrate it with me. That in itself is an awesome thing to have happen." Max added, smiling.

Most of Max's best friends knew that this would be the last birthday party they have with him because he's gonna leave the Valley of Peace soon, so they are determined to make the most of it as they will celebrate it like never before. All of them came over to give Max a group hug and as a special treat for him, they gathered around alongside Jason as they did some Chinese interpretive celebratory dance with a kick of martial arts as a token of appreciation for the lives Max has changed since he came to the MMA class as a student. A combination of tai chi, kung-fu and MMA was brought in and Max was being drawn into the whole celebratory farewell routine they worked on and that made Max feel so humbled to have such amazing friends like this.

They ended the routine with a wai pose and a bow for gratitude for Max and everyone applauded and cheered for that routine and Jason came to Max and said, "You truly are a remarkable student. And you inspired all these students to stay true to who they are. With a short time you have left here with us, we hope this special performance let you know how we feel about you."

"Thanks, Jason. All of you...for everything." Max said, happily.

"Now let's go dive in for some food!" Reiko shouted.

Everyone cheered as they made their way to the table as Max and Saori came in there holding hands and from what Akashi sees, he knew that they're meant to be together, but has to keep Max on his toes when it comes to his relationship with Saori in the future. But for now, he'll let that slide because it is Max's birthday and joins in with them.

More party coming soon!