Tom woke up to white.

This time, there was pain everywhere. Almost immediately he closed his eyes again as the light made it hurt. The wolf just took a deep breath. The pain felt familiar. His hands still hurt, as did his chest. However, it felt soft, unlike the harsh pain from before. It felt different.

Slowly, he opened his eyes again. Everything was blurry for the first few seconds before slowly, almost painfully, focusing into vision. Even then, he could still make out the blurry lines. He looked around; there was white everywhere. It felt cold, even under his blanket. Someone left the lamp on. A clock above the television showed almost 4 in the morning.

There was someone beside him. That someone was… brown. Brown-furred. A canine. The smell then caught up with him. Max?

Tom wanted to sit up but held back. He was alive, wasn't he? Well, there was pain, so he must be still alive. Instead, he stared at the ceilings. When his thoughts caught up with him, he smiled bitterly. Yeah, I went into a fight. I survived. I went to the hospital to recover. I was blind.

I was blind…?

Wasn't he blind? Why could he see? He lifted his hand and touched his face. He put his hand in the air in front of him and looked at it, flipping it over and moving his fingers.

He could see, even though his vision was rather blurry.

Oh, right. I had surgery.

…weren't his eyes supposed to be bandaged after surgery? How much time had passed anyway? Had it been long enough until the bandages were opened?

His head hurt a little and he cringed. Maybe no overthinking for now.

Tom looked at his side. Max was sleeping peacefully while sitting. The dog looked so peaceful, though the wolf knew that it would ache later. The wolf reached out and stroked the dog's ear slowly. Max grunted a bit, then moved a little and sighed.

Tom chuckled; Max looked so cute.

Thanks for waiting for me. I'm sorry.

He took another deep breath and looked back at the ceilings.

I'm sorry.

Red.

Tom stared at the mirror in front of him. His eyes were red, almost blood red.

He looked at his friends, then back at the mirror. Doctor told him before that his eyes were red and there was nothing to be done to return them to the colour they were before, but he had no idea it would be like this. Like his right one when it was blind, except it was now both.

He scrutinised his reflection. The iris, while red, still had the usual patterns. It was like his old eyes, but instead of having a brownish or bluish tint, they were reddish. There were some scars on the side of his muzzle, but they looked like they were on the way to recovery. His fluff was very dirty.

Putting the mirror down, he looked back at his friends. Octo was still smiling softly at him as if his eye colour didn't bother him in the slightest. Lucy and the canines looked amazed while James and Ellie looked uncomfortable.

“I…" he said. “I look like a cyborg. A badarse one at that."

Many chuckled.

Lain laughed. “I'm gonna walk around and you can't stop me!"

“Nice way to keep people away, heh?" Tom replied to the laughter inwardly, then smirked a little and made a gesture to Octo to take James' hand and bring him closer. The panther did so and with a yelp, the tiger found himself looking straight at Tom.

“I am death."

James almost screamed.

They all laughed.

“Funny, huh?" the tiger shuddered. “I mean, he looks like death itself."

“I am death." Tom repeated, trying to hold back his laugh.

“What, he calls himself a tiger?"

Octo shifted closer. “Well, whatever the color is, I'm glad you can see again, Tom." He stroked the wolf's hand. “Your eyes aren't sore, right? Is there any difference you notice compared to your previous vision?"

“They're fine. It's still a bit blurry and doesn't look exactly the same just yet. Doctor did say it would take a while for the cornea to heal." He then furrowed his brows. “Wait, it doesn't look exactly the same just yet."

“Loup! Bad puns are mine!"

“Come up with something good, then!"

“Uh… your eyes look colourful."

They went quiet.

“That's a cringy one, but somehow perfect at the same time." Tom said.

Martin's bushy tail wiggled. “You try to come up with one!"

“I just did." He chuckled.

The door then opened and the doctor went inside with a tray in her hands. “It's lively here."

They moved to give her the way to put the tray on the table. The doctor looked at Tom and smiled.

Tom smiled back. Lain grinned.

“Still no pain or discomfort?" She asked him.

The wolf tried refocusing his vision, but his eyes didn't respond. “No, but it's still blurry."

“It's normal. Give them a month or two. Now lie back down for a moment, please." She said, Tom complied. “Your eyes still look beautiful."

The wolf's smile turned bashful. “T-thank you."

She then administered two drops of eye drops into the wolf's eyes. “Now blink rapidly."

“Ah, how long until he can go home?" Octo asked her when she was done and Tom was blinking rapidly.

“He should be fine in a day or two. It's been two weeks since the operation." She said, then turned to Tom. “Don't forget to take the eyedrops once every hour, Mr Purnama. I'm going back for a while, if you need any help, press the button, okay."

“Okay, doc. Thank you very much."

“You're welcome, Mr Purnama. Ladies and gentlemen." Nodding a bit to them, she then went away.

Tom took a deep breath, then sat back up. “How… how long was I out?"

“After the surgery, you were unconscious for almost two weeks. Max took your diploma, so it's no problem." Octo said, “At first we were worried, but the doctor said there was nothing wrong with your body, but simply it was up to you to wake up. Even when the bandages were opened a week ago, you didn't wake up."

“Oh…"

Kevin nudged his feet and smirked. “Nice of you to finally join the land of the living again, dude."

Despite himself, Tom chuckled. “Oh no I saw Kevin's grin. I should leave the land of the living again."

The bigger wolf laughed. “You won't just see my grin, I can tell."

“Shush!" Vilkas shoved the red wolf.

“Ouch, what the fuck! Lighten up, dude!"

The husky then pulled the wolf's ear and whispered to him, although Tom could still hear what he said. “Can't you see Max's almost crying?!"

“Eh, right. Look at your sheppie."

The grey wolf looked at Max. The dog was looking at him, and he could see his blue eyes were getting wet. However, Max did not move, so Tom smiled at him and beckoned him to come closer. “Max."

The dog looked surprised, then came closer. Octo stood up and let Max sit down on the chair.

“Max," he started, taking hold of the shepherd's hand. It was big. “You're still as handsome as when we first met."

The others laughed, while Max turned red and looked away. “Fuck, Tom!"

“Should I leave you two lovedogs?"

“Shush." “Hehe, but really." He let go of the hands and reached out to the dog's muzzle. “I'm here. I'm awake. Don't worry."

Looking back at him, Max wiped his tears. “Y-yeah." He forced himself to smile. “I-I'm sorry... for everything. Doctor told me you're going to survive, that you're not going to die, but… I couldn't do anything."

“Don't be sorry. Whatever happened, happened."

The dog tried to smile back at him. “Yeah. Whatever happened, happened."

Someone then opened the door and a certain high-spirited lion went inside with a box of cake in his hand. “G'day, ye wankers! Hey, thou wake up! Good morning, Tom!"

Tom just chuckled at the said lion.

“Yo then, let's get the party started!" He said as he put the box on the berth.

Sometimes, Andy is what we need, Tom thought as he looked at the lion amusedly. The lion ignored the others' protest—and Octo's very, veeery sharp words—and laughed.

Well, his laughter didn't last long. Before Andy could even open the package, Octo took the lion's tail and dragged him back outside. Tom flinched, that must hurt a lot.

Everything was silent. He didn't mind it, not when it brought stillness.

Tom looked outside. The city looked like what it had always been, crowded, lively, colourful. The room he was in, instead, was white. It was starting to bore him, but he welcomed it. The silence was most welcome.

Doctor told him not to do any strenuous activity for at least two months. She also said there were some bullets lodged in his body which very fortunately didn't hit any of his vital organs. Tom was sure he could withstand the recovery, but anything could go wrong. Even as he was standing right now, he was in a considerable amount of pain but decided to ignore it.

Doctor also told him not to overthink too much. He had no plan to, anyway, his time here had depleted his mind of anything to think about. He couldn't promise that he wasn't going to do anything, though. Like before, a small scar such as this wasn't stopping him from recovering and going on with his life. One of the perks of being a wolf, he guessed, his fur was thick to cover the scars on his skin.

He was done with university. Max had taken his diploma on his behalf and would give it later when he was home. As for the surgery cost, apparently his friends managed to pay the remaining fee. Tom kept insisting that he would pay them back but they strongly refused it.

It left him with nothing, and for the first time since in a very, very long while, he felt peace. There was nothing to think about, not even his thoughts and feelings, not even Lain. There was only silence to accompany him.

It was the first time in a very, very long while he had time to just sit down.

And that was what he did.

Letting out a sigh, Tom closed his eyes. The berth was already made earlier, but he reckoned they wouldn't mind if he sat here. Looking down at the bedcover, he softly ran his paw on it, smiling a little as he did so. It was soft to his rough paw pads, almost like silk.

For someone who was almost constantly on guard, this silence felt strange and comforting at the same time. Usually, when he went into the hospital, the first thing he did after getting clearance was whether he could keep himself hidden or not or whether could go back or not. This time, he had friends outside, he had a home to return to, and… well, he was still keeping most things to himself, but he was still learning to trust people.

Trust.

After all this time of being able to only trust himself, he was slowly learning to trust people. Being a lone wolf was surely not easy to do, whether becoming one, being one, or stopping becoming one. For the longest time, he did not—could not trust other than himself. Not even the psychiatrists with whom he spent sessions. They were just doing their job and he was just looking for respite.

Had he been living in the dark all this time? Or was he still in the same box, merely in one section? No matter how long he walked, they all acted the same and he was again and again forced to only trust himself.

The wolf took a deep sigh and turned back to the window. The city was very much alive, yet somehow, he didn't know whether he was a part of it or not. What if Max were a second too late from calling the ambulance? What if that bullet were a little bit more to the left? What if there were a traffic jam on the way to the hospital? What if his adrenaline weren't enough to keep him alive?

He wasn't being unthankful, far from it. He was only trying to find out whether he really deserved yet another chance of… of what, exactly?

Well, so much for not overthinking. His head started to hurt a little.

He was going home later. Martin already packed his stuff, which fortunately wasn't much. Max and Octo said they'd cleaned his flat, of which he was very thankful. Kevin and Andy were already here waiting for him to take him home. The rest were either at work or had something else to take care of.

He… really had people he could trust now.

Martin was going home in a week, and so were Lucy and James. It pained him; good thing James' home was just one province away. Martin and Lucy were instead going home overseas. While Max...

They already planned to throw a post-graduation and a goodbye party next week at Andy's. He smiled a little; Andy really liked parties.

His ear turned when he heard the door open. “Tom? Let's go."

“Ya," he sighed again, “in a bit. I'll go there when I'm ready."

“Okay." Then the door was closed.

The wolf closed his eyes, enjoying the soft breeze. Time to get back to life, he thought. At least with what he did, he should be safe from the mafia for perhaps a year or two. He didn't see any news about the incident, not even in the newspaper. He was sure that they made the scene look like a slaughterhouse, blood and corpses here and there, guns all over the place.

Whatever happened, he was glad that it was over.

It was over.

“So what now?"

“I don't know…" He took a deep breath as he stood up. Now he had to make his own way, as he had always done before. “Just… go like usual, I think… keep making our own way like we've always done."

Lain huffed fondly. “Cliché."

“So, you wanna take the first step?"

“I'll be behind you like usual. I'm just a voice inside your head, after all." Lain put his hand on his shoulder. “I'll be here when you need me."

Smiling fondly, the wolf closed the window, then walked away. He took one last glance at the white silence of the room, then turned around and closed the door.

Andy and Kevin were on the floor information centre, chatting with the nurses. Although it looked like they were flirting with them, they were keeping a respectful distance and talking about normal things. Tom saw some of the nurses were red in the face and he just huffed amusedly.

“Kev, Di, let's go." He said when he was close enough.

“Oh, there you are!" Kevin put his arm around his neck, his tail wagging. The action made him stumble a bit and cringe as pain shot up his spine. “See? He looks a hundred times more badass than before! Just look at him, who dares to mess with this guy?"

“W-well… he does look more dangerous."

Andy laughed “I know right! Not even the police want to mess with him."

Tom just smiled bashfully and tried to push the bigger wolf away, but the red wolf kept embracing him. Sometimes, he was glad of Kevin's touches, but other times, not so much.

After a few more minutes, Tom received the medicines and they walked away.

“You feeling okay, wolf?" Kevin asked him.

“Yeah, mate, I'm fine." He answered as they exited the lift. “No headaches."

“Your chest hurts?"

“No. I'm all fine."

“Thank God."

They opened the door and exited the hospital. “Don't worry, this is a usual thing for me. Don't worry about it."

Kevin looked at him and raised his eyebrow. “Being in hospital?"

“Being beaten up. So don't worry."

Andy opened the door of the car when they were in the parking space. “Seriously? Thou get beaten up?"

“It was back in high school, but it's no big deal. In the end, I beat them up." He said with a small laugh.

Kevin got in the car and eyed him from top to bottom. “…honestly, I won't really be surprised if you managed to beat them."

Tom puffed his chest proudly, even if that hurt a bit.

They chatted on the way back home. Kevin still tried to flirt with him, but it made him laugh instead. Maybe this was his way of making him more at ease; if that were the case, then it was working.

Today was pretty hot. Tom saw the forecast and found it was almost 20 degrees outside. The sky was clear, so the sun was free to radiate its heat on the earth.

It also made Andy cranky, apparently. Tom just chuckled in the backseat as he listened to the lion's chatter.

“I swear, the mane's great and all but when it comes to summer I swear I wanna cut it instead." He protested. “It's really hot, really. Imagine wearing a winter jacket in the midst of summer, that's what it feels like."

“The weather's surely made you cranky, ya kan, Di?" Tom laughed.

“Besides it's not 'winter jacket' hot, lion. You weren't bitching about it during last year's summer festival." Kevin pointed out.

“I trimmed it back then! Ye notice not it's longer today?"

Both wolves shrugged.

“Anyway, too bad we missed the summer festival this year." The grey wolf said.

“Not really, I mean we went to it last year. I went to it the year before. Nothing's changed much."

“Tell me about it. I've been living here my whole life and I know what's there. Sure, it's festival and all but missing one isn't the end of the world."

“I think thou mean 'it's festive and all'."

“Shut up, Tom, I already graduated college."

Tom shrugged. “Thou make the impression that thou haven't."

“The fuck?!"

The wolves laughed.

Andy looked at Kevin, then at Tom. “Anyway, ye wolves don't feel hot?"

Kevin leered. “I'm hot. I know that."

“Like five thousand degrees hot?" Tom chimed in.

“Sure am!"

“Want to be our sun?"

“Hell yes! Don't worry, I can share."

“Then get back 150 million kilometres away from us."

Andy laughed; Kevin looked at the grey wolf in offence. “The fuck?!"

“Five thousand degrees is the temperature on the surface of the sun. Also, want to be the sun? Get back 150 million kilometres away." Tom said smugly.

Kevin sighed dramatically and facepalmed. “Can't believe I fell into that."

“Rad, Tom."

“It's literally your first day out of the hospital and you're already roasting me?! Not cool, wolf, not cool."

“Not cool? So, hot?"

“…I'm not gonna fall into that one."

Tom laughed.

“Hey ye answer not my question! Y' wolves feel hot with those fluff 'n stuff?"

The grey wolf shrugged. “Not really. I never noticed."

“Yeah. Wolf fluff may be thick but it's not that hot, I think. Really depends on the coat, though. Summer coat is thinner than winter coat." Kevin added.

“Really? Ah right, the coats. But still, not hot with that length? My mane stops on the upper shoulder, just before the blades and it already feels kinda hot."

“My fluff reaches my upper back, and no not that hot. How 'bout you, Tom?"

“Still not hot. Mine reaches my mid-back. It does feel warm when I'm sleeping." he shrugged. “It makes scratching my upper back a pain, though."

“When does summer end anyway?"

“Y'know, we're already going to autumn. It's already September."

“September is tomorrow, Kev."

They kept chatting until they reached his flat complex. The lion parked the car, then they got out of the car and went inside the building. Tom was thankful that Kevin carried his bag.

Just when they were about to get inside his flat, the delivery man came and gave them their order.

“Thou ordered some food, Di?" Tom asked Andy as they went inside.

“Yep, kinda forgot to buy one when we were on our way to the hospital, so just decided to order an Over and deliver it here."

“Why buy it not after we leave the hospital?"

“So we can get home faster, yeh." The lion threw himself onto the sofa and put the food on the table. “Let's eat!"

Kevin put his hand on the smaller wolf's shoulder. “You're okay with eating those, right?"

“Well, the doctor said nothing about food prohibition."

“I got us lasagne!"

The red wolf chuckled and took his jacket off. “Go wash up, Tom. I'll make sure Andy's not eating all of 'em. Y' gonna be okay?"

“Ya, I should be okay."

“Cool. Howl if you need me."

Tom felt glad they stuck around for the day. He tried his best to ignore the pain but still ended up cringing now and then, so he was glad they were here when he felt like his bag weighed a ton. Now, he just needed to tell Max and Octo that he was home, safe and sound. Andy said they would come here after Octo was done with work and Max was done with cleaning his dorm.

They all had their responsibilities now, and like Octo and Lucas, Tom needed to find a job. The company where he had his internship was interested in recruiting him, so he took it into consideration.

All in all, everything was well for now, and he was thankful for it.

Big Boss slammed his fist to the table. “What?!"

Everyone in the room flinched. Richard didn't say it again; he was not in charge of the operation yet for some reason they chose him to be the one reporting about it. No one wanted to upset Big Boss.

“Say it again!"

“O-Operation R-Red Wolf... failed." He said again, almost trembling. “There is n-no survivor."

“What the fuck?! What are we dealing with here?! A cop?! A fucking serial killer?!" Big Boss slammed his fists again, then leant forward and put his face on his hands. “We just lost 15 men."

Lucia put her hand on the bear's shoulder. “Easy there, Ludwig."

“We just fucking lost 15 men, Lucia! How do you expect me to take it easy?!"

The smaller bear didn't answer, instead turned to the hyena. “Has the crime scene been cleaned up?"

“Y-yes. We didn't find all of them. Rodrigo and Alberto were missing." The cougar closed his eyes, not wanting to remember what the scene looked like. “Some were… not in one piece."

Looking at Richard almost incredulously, Lucia narrowed her eyes. “You're joking."

“I w-wish I were."

“Have the cops taken care of the scene?"

The hyena took a deep breath. “Yes. The area was closed, although it's undocumented. As of right now, there's no news articles or news reports about it."

The smaller bear nodded. “Good."

Big Boss then growled. “I will kill that Red Wolf myself!"

“Don't make rash decisions, Ludwig."

“That bastard killed 15 of our men! I will kill that Red Wolf myself! His time of being a liability has ended!" he turned to Lucia. “You plan for this. I don't care if it takes a month or a year, I will kill him myself."

“Ludwig, don—"

“Dismissed." Big Boss said to the others.

Everyone left the room. Richard had a feeling that Big Boss was really going to kill Red Wolf himself.