Class was over.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmX8myT5GLm
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qoVivd4Av
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gOustaxmS
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyaZRx4CcI
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcK2MfTeFsj
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixrpC4bVS3
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxMdk7kSrW
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOQ7sx9GJ4
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nPZvBs5cC
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaeqQtoVnJ
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtH6n1huVXc
Especially for her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKy8CfeNMsB
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzJaLc8ryc
On top of that, she was mute.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wB8BKaomk
That was pretty much rock bottom.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wjtNUmAno
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclyu7h4k9C
Didn’t plan to help either.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bgRqXvOfa
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhHhn7wINR
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oheHFYKdo
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCPzcvIE0u
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOprQBgrbv
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwryUHyKa1s
No one could tell what she was thinking.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMQgyAMPfD
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmnesf5t8Q
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MdRoYhEs2
Actually, Jason liked reading.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0XixIVJzo
He went to the slum library pretty often.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtn138BwDCW
Even though there weren’t many books,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvf28o7AzD0
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NEMseBTih
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPAlXeoKQk
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyf4H1ILzJ
then saw the girl again.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2nhePAF0U
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,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1y8UjNp9B
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dgos9nt1r
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlTJKaRRS3
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVK1RUSKda
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiTqe3ZprQ
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsJKdO4lfK
patched up with layers of tape.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjUNsn8Kgb
She didn’t answer.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqfAzaBS96
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJ2aHvaEwa
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOgCmsJtQE
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZVCkZOmT4
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKwmwaFsqr
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZiGum1iEm
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxubb3CWR3d
That was his first meal of the day—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1KdWXEuzD
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhv17xJx7os
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtaIGMKI7Q
Turn around.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMdhO9Shsl
Go back to his world—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6i9IXtsOx
trash piles, torn newspapers,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrp121V6mLt
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvpgP9YxiE
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkfOTmC6OF
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYQJt8nSPN
carefully hidden in her pocket—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZoh3tDEBO
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfBJ5vbV7x
maybe from the cold,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmJ8PQWF4n
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHM52WibsT
his tone suspicious,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfMtbnxeyQ
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9VwLuzQnk
but they weren’t hesitant either.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5jGzP21cf
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbezhTVJrH0
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSMFylGbP3
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7rvO64vFx
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUaBgI0mBg
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2IF6ZLGFG
where there were mountains of scrap metal,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQmzclU77d
piles of old newspapers,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiBDbfOLPm
expired magazines,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjK5PVBstfb
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ608nCoYZND
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFDOuVZLzo
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQjD00LmQq
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBLs6wpqlZ
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZy5BhIv3sB
And then—just for a second—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMTeAC09si
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBkYsgmuFk
Not bright.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIJSn2BQsE
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaoyfeIFck
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68Pi2KKUXT
when the puppet turned into a boy.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHIz4t79rm
When a lifeless stone began to shine,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CxdVbBL5b
sparkling with color,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooIbAEwzqG
marveling at the arrival of life.
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS84wuiDtyg
