Class was over.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBohvRcNOj
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGw4E4jpcjP
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7zsCEVXGz
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCVXGCMwDu
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwOkWlkcGk
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEV6buVT5U
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLMk2TnT4d
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2w1IFRU2Cj
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMy1XvQf8nv
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecd1cwhqqg
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGdatsQzC6
Especially for her.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Qbq69lklk
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XI3uPTpeB
On top of that, she was mute.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3wlwSjRLo
That was pretty much rock bottom.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkm1TL3GHC
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6fcA1X6lp
Didn’t plan to help either.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZrBqNqXiP
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitQmRm22bT
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaaZqqZ3DX
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfbH6nkuRa
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxnOCAQOYh
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZLIlyINwF
No one could tell what she was thinking.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5Q1kQAU0t
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDUJrGLBgQ
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpERUrFuPzM
Actually, Jason liked reading.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMv5qgVWsHi
He went to the slum library pretty often.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ804snhWqWS
Even though there weren’t many books,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrY9W9fSOF
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDASwM7cwK
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPF1mul3TP
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqAyOrLnw1
then saw the girl again.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bpJqp64CJ
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,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb33zLEFv80
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCP6t8h20eK
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1p9vq3cFNZ
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnjzvrKD2u
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIrGEMI3qa
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoAeaRrahF
patched up with layers of tape.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCCwwZMZKx
She didn’t answer.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRDaOKaFgD
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcbRHloT5y
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1dJpyS3Dx
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDX9t0XNy3x
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvi5j59v3f
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0a4ASEL5p7
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8igJYis5B
That was his first meal of the day—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn08sfbK6Mr
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPYwOFhs2R
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKMqeRMFtN
Turn around.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4wQq6AwTM
Go back to his world—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgw4jaRMLc
trash piles, torn newspapers,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVenzvi367
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRQXHL8x7c
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlMhsJbW8C
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8tB8pYfnb
carefully hidden in her pocket—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4tazHztmR
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLX52sMrnQ0
maybe from the cold,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9gm0FuHux
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcfG4EdHgN
his tone suspicious,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZIc9aCBmg
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrph1lvC1l
but they weren’t hesitant either.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4Lv9CelQ7
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2wohNiM4n
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8M8r7BT28
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtk7RG9588L
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8hDHz7vun
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbdKT1dG4a
where there were mountains of scrap metal,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDlfXkZFul
piles of old newspapers,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlObPnLaMA
expired magazines,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDtWSt5F2w
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLb9hNZNDOd
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE84KaHN7fZ
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7QtM7xWlI
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXoxZEa04k
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugU6Un5JgE
And then—just for a second—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIe71G0Q4k
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4z1CJ9zl3m
Not bright.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFrMrC9pFn
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3kmiKzMiI
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTpOefOQDR
when the puppet turned into a boy.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlBhKNyNw2
When a lifeless stone began to shine,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPfKVJigZv
sparkling with color,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhwfKhjCZW
marveling at the arrival of life.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcKPDxSh94
