Class was over.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVvO0DB8cU
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.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHiGvgLNlE
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzZtwRdIZG
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrCHO26HUA
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNKaxwCu6X
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgkGq2560J
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvq0xl5MQbV
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj350NpTipS
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡid4ghHFS3J
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4Se6nyqXb
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.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOW66P2uhG
Especially for her.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpfv7ccV02
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzBjeQf0HU
On top of that, she was mute.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHXkuuXLTK
That was pretty much rock bottom.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLEZqdlCRH
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.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9M7p1KviCs
Didn’t plan to help either.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLsHFkZqpl
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnS22Zd0R7Y
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcpKwhyx4C
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ0YieQWss
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKne6pujYLa
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.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHq633A2an
No one could tell what she was thinking.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM76DxdpBAO
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHt0y8NiURI
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnJ9ryzVNy
Actually, Jason liked reading.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHi0OXQtAp
He went to the slum library pretty often.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUi3fpX97SX
Even though there weren’t many books,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqbnp1nKlM
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiz6PQ5VcMd
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuq0XY28kl
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQS7ZcebGed
then saw the girl again.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxgIdibecs
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,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeYEzfLggV
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdiHXaIt0r
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbV5En1T5b7
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MXVzmpbLt
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcznEvIYsJ
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjlz8RnB92
patched up with layers of tape.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTweQv9X4a
She didn’t answer.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubCaGupiXJ
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.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO2BTFxXfa
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lq4CBRtQA
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oW8eQEIdr
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxikjUYRhf
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGOirXZtxM
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.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5rSrymTjF
That was his first meal of the day—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCRSE5oQZv
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2HpzZhuXV
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ515wPaCnrE
Turn around.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEOOuvDWN7
Go back to his world—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeA3CYGIbfN
trash piles, torn newspapers,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHmO8nj2eA
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ014zlpOIQ
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbqlFl2Mns
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuvMCHBqRc
carefully hidden in her pocket—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8qbcBrSQ6
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQO3uaz1Fxw
maybe from the cold,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtR5ZTanhHp
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfkZpmutHq
his tone suspicious,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZZcnok05W
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQWFT9yrhY
but they weren’t hesitant either.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWR2MTIZtyQ
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYCqjiT7RW
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1I7iNkTW4
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7OMlxUdm7
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRZwzbL0pw
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOF9PvsHGfx
where there were mountains of scrap metal,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRE48Z99bw
piles of old newspapers,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VTx2PegJs
expired magazines,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2J9eZUuwwZ
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcS9QZdO1IG
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5bC9i4ARj
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7Xt2Qduz4
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXXkZ4V6Wl
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlRBuFy1ey
And then—just for a second—59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nXD27RIPM
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡji2VsJxmnE
Not bright.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiUvFjcdkQ
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQgyJqGXgm
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOk87YFEU9H
when the puppet turned into a boy.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKE5JzWzXzI
When a lifeless stone began to shine,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXgRiH777t
sparkling with color,59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82jf2ajgIW
marveling at the arrival of life.
59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXAGyF30Zm
