And the afterglow of Yuki's ordeal makes a huge impact on Max and Saori...that they're having a hard time sleeping.

Concern for Yuki's Safety

2:15 AM

Max was already asleep on his bed and yet, he couldn't shake off the feeling of Yuki being beaten, abused and almost raped by that criminal person and the thought of it made it hard for him to sleep as he tossed and turned, just thinking about what would've happened if he had witnessed the horrific ordeal his daughter had to go through and see a completely different result on Yuki's fate.

For most of the night, Max was awake and just couldn't stop imagining all the pain she had to endure and it had been a very hard year for the Bushido-Akio family due to many confusions and worry as to what had happened to Yuki and how her injuries, scars, bruises, being withdrawn in fear and also her hiding the fact that she had been beaten by someone they had no idea who it was and why she didn't tell them right there and then really coarsed through Max's mind.

Max sighed heavily at this and as he turned to the side, he noticed one side of the bed was empty, wondering where Saori could be and he got out of bed with nothing but his tank top and underwear on and he puts on his robe and left the room to find where she could be in the middle of the night and a few minutes went by and he looked beyond the balcony and saw a familiar grey nightgown that's floating through the wind and that's when he knew; it was Saori.

Max slowly walked over towards the balcony behind her and stood beside her and asked, "Couldn't sleep, either?"

"No. Just the thought of our Yuki being beaten up by a criminal for a full year...I can't shake it off." Saori said, in a worried tone.

"I know. Neither could I. What upsets me more is that none of us saw it coming." Max answered.

Saori sighed heavily and just closed her eyes and couldn't even imagine the horror she had to go through and endure the suffering she had to face and it just reverted back to the same situation she had faced before when she was Yuki's age and it still gets to her, even though she has moved on from it since Max rescued her and once Max looked at her, he placed his hand on her paw for comfort and reassurance.

"We just have to keep an eye on her." Max added.

Saori nodded in agreement and she said, "I don't want to see our daughter suffer the way we had suffered."

"That's the number-one goal that we set as soon as our kids were born; that they don't go through the same thing we went through." Max agreed.

Saori sighed and she got really glossy-eyed as a few tears fell down her face and once Max noticed this, he placed her paw on his forehead for comfort and asked, "What's wrong?"

"If I had known, I would've stopped this. I just feel like I had failed as a mother." Saori said, with a sob.

"Don't say that. It's not all your fault. It's on both of us. We both should've known what was happening and why Yuki didn't tell us. You're a great mother, always have been and always will be. Never forget that." Max said, reassuring her as he nuzzled her softly.

Saori responded with a soft purr as she nuzzled Max back and she kissed him on the forehead and said, "You're such a good husband, Max. You always pick me back when I'm down."

"Come on, let's go back to bed. We'll talk to Yuki in the morning." Max said, holding her hand.

"Okay." Saori replied, as they both headed back to their room for some sleep and throughout the night, both Max and Saori slept with each other as they held each other closely and had a much needed sleep as they both have to help Yuki out on overcoming this hurdle.

Next chapter...Max and Saori talk to Yuki about the whole thing. Stay tuned!