Class was over.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgGZwwG6Hf
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBL4ZQaGk7D
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9JN8Xewm0
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunNWon4EGN
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf99yWGitNW
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapSm9FKPV5
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6t8RBEzkss
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqR0Mx2OY1J
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MVCr9yYjs
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn9isyir3V
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxl3O5yTVfZ
Especially for her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEjTspqyNj
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvDeSaRpON
On top of that, she was mute.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxevtfhxRn
That was pretty much rock bottom.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBUUjLk2P9
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TyUsJvmxK
Didn’t plan to help either.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhY4Ocqu2U
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAsLTsKtmV
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFx91qGau56
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNEU09zhvV
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZs8IfgTGLs
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxd4oI39qPp
No one could tell what she was thinking.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVnPhKD5qC
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZ8Z3V8wwA
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ8ZXZIvjO
Actually, Jason liked reading.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2D4lMCFUU
He went to the slum library pretty often.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgAU0IiRte
Even though there weren’t many books,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaDaZAnqUX
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWND863loIg
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ojcakKJCU
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoC13FLvL7N
then saw the girl again.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7p0YtR01QY
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,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfb3WVKOMX
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFWi0jAP4X
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3umWVubXq1
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHz6f146uiF
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7N0iq93b1
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiw8aSsObB
patched up with layers of tape.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8BRyq0GQF
She didn’t answer.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcN9tJtsmDF
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwsv3oeZUG
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWo1FnoJ6O
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlOYLTvqBk
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaRsLX5uFd
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNeKXoO3lO
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xVEOqIULJ
That was his first meal of the day—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9T3UFt7S3
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7Rnn0hnzG
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMdOMjzVUK
Turn around.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIQpxZb7SK
Go back to his world—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WNEl8k2Ip
trash piles, torn newspapers,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNZHBAt12I
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCCdVweZfc
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6S7AGWkDn
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIU5p1Z3mz
carefully hidden in her pocket—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqboDbZoblj
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuCekn0dJJ
maybe from the cold,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWj9vNAeJQ
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgyTtKr3pA
his tone suspicious,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdtrxTSGvz
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIitrkSU2YM
but they weren’t hesitant either.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvm6Y0Bp6q
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhBZDOkiNn
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVfg7C3bSn
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eKFv6ZehI
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2fbx2fm4N
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMibRumlHps
where there were mountains of scrap metal,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgOj9kvVpp
piles of old newspapers,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3oZRNFpIv
expired magazines,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8Ulec9A04
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6J812JA8p
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKA0eTue8Hs
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7b7dZ6wN1
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45vA7dqjiZ
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxULGBVxb2
And then—just for a second—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMrJMVqjQA
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDQkChhi27
Not bright.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYWYKbzQGf
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k5Pxa4CNn
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTSVMy7Cyz
when the puppet turned into a boy.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGfYVsLqgy
When a lifeless stone began to shine,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lSzner1eL
sparkling with color,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqP2KzJ6xX
marveling at the arrival of life.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZB8nOcYa1
