Class was over.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqfbvQiSd2
The teacher turned and left right away, as if she couldn’t stand being in the classroom for even one more second.
Jason—well, to be exact, little nine-year-old Jason Todd—watched the noisy classroom with a cool, steady gaze.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IPP9BLny0
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hs2XBrSWw
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpQduxhFoS
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZKbrNkTkl
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJHKKdY25H
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2x9ZkU8YKr
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTE5BZueTOb
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1QcPxqSjb
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3SfPC5z1E
Bullying happened all the time around here.
The girl picked up the torn sheets, put them back together, and kept on reading.
Jason thought, It’s not a puzzle.
But then again, that kind of bullying was normal.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z8A0wxryL
Especially for her.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSrEkhESd7
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ508OjovrZ7
On top of that, she was mute.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWI1u8Wpfi
That was pretty much rock bottom.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlGKcmcpml
Made having a drunk for a father seem… not so bad, Jason thought, a little bitterly.
He leaned against the doorway and glanced at her again.
She turned the patched-up pages so gently, like she was afraid of hurting something.
He didn’t say anything.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMH43779Beu
Didn’t plan to help either.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRL5qt1RXHw
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxtBM8JBRX
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjCE9RNpXX
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFl5eTTinm
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4CBAMQxxZ
see if there was any news about Robin or Batman.
Jason was lost in thought when he saw the girl in front of him.
Nana was standing there quietly.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKTXrs1ZpC
No one could tell what she was thinking.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqubPMpY4h
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97QkWwq4w4
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAuliBTQZ2
Actually, Jason liked reading.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgt1nHMdP0G
He went to the slum library pretty often.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZz035fS0Y
Even though there weren’t many books,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqF3kmJ1QR0
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡax0NisXw5e
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLWjRJcaax
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWBdCCjb0x
then saw the girl again.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPGzaVmKu1
She was spacing out.
Why is she always spacing out? Looks kind of dumb, he thought.
He walked past her and kept going toward his next stop.
The farther he got from her,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XUJgfTCMQ
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nWU8559N0
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgBq2sxrfY
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCMLkiLaZg
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpyDvxoP9d
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJSUodzPOY
patched up with layers of tape.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8DHideq79
She didn’t answer.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmpi0VV734
Just blinked, like she was thinking.
Jason waited for a bit, then clicked his tongue and took another bite of bread.
“I like Huckleberry Finn the most,” he mumbled through his chewing.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLc9fgzoS10
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTB0a5zSGCx
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUxIT2Fa3p
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycV3umvv4F
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5736VYGxh6
What am I even doing, he thought. It’s not like a mute girl can reply.
He looked down and licked the bread crumbs off his fingers.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKt7S855ra
That was his first meal of the day—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0xR92L0PL
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOk60GlYSFD
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSN2PaKDmhm
Turn around.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTynEpdLbCu
Go back to his world—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9v1nH1Mts
trash piles, torn newspapers,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ94R3T47I
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIlzPwGHOe
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXevokufNdi
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadwREIHHW1
carefully hidden in her pocket—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyopTJVBVZ
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjJHJmaUJk
maybe from the cold,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsPkLwGTCp
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYeDsvlrvq
his tone suspicious,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCyLBUjXvA
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSjIgLT3ii
but they weren’t hesitant either.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsz33yMGnfN
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaThxmQxGY
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkboElO4vgF
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVlVV3YUFJ
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUz497f8yrG
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgnCc5ojfJ
where there were mountains of scrap metal,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSkRwYkSCn
piles of old newspapers,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTdoYJbIxP
expired magazines,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUoP7lK1g5
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY53Kw3mNf0
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhi6RXbfWH
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hAHszMfDq
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEHlzMgNdh
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnhSNr8flZ
And then—just for a second—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmNx0FeZR1
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksJt1MKWm5
Not bright.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehrPGshECn
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2aDlmUFhA
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmfagYxCdb
when the puppet turned into a boy.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWAaGkgzGE
When a lifeless stone began to shine,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKkIBSUEZb
sparkling with color,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhlrHBfGwj
marveling at the arrival of life.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TgbX8QAya
