Class was over.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2QvQ0gnFh
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjzvVkil6V
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqMIFe2NM9
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwt6QRIPBsA
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpN3N4KTHv
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX4SsUlmk9
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57Am2PZpyG
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFrRWx61Cr
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgoVA3Ct0s
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXX1Ojq70e
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRK3JKAZXC
Especially for her.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6jjhGb8zp
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfVQilLT3t
On top of that, she was mute.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEur5pzg4j6
That was pretty much rock bottom.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoPpdtmCd6
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPz3LKLeVS
Didn’t plan to help either.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRJ3l6XwIT
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqsYo7TNo6
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSJbCZJsLX
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGTXGfHvJw
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9uZPD5DwN
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq63fTIKD8O
No one could tell what she was thinking.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ba0yPlGCE
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjsp0EXFpx
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ287s3WlYEK
Actually, Jason liked reading.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjasoqRbRbi
He went to the slum library pretty often.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQUOl2ti2x
Even though there weren’t many books,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1DsU37u04
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wfiRT3gDl
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArX0hqTINA
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5ePMgTZDr
then saw the girl again.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBycnKVXVj1
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,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8yFmqDy2r
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3PRbA7ffS
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuMp8ekTes
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68PK5XwfDg
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGGSzHARX3
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeuhsVOBMj
patched up with layers of tape.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTn1M5Stpg
She didn’t answer.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukAS0A3zPS
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NKfGElHJ9
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH72ZCb0tRi
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkdwjCGTM8
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyYxEVOe9d
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7ZK5kf998
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC99iCZR9dK
That was his first meal of the day—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFfWmRQFUr
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYqvAMBnhS
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPlxY0YbAE
Turn around.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb06ATVmBz
Go back to his world—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHO5Igt6w4
trash piles, torn newspapers,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg5IlzaDHG
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrN64POSDy9
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXPcRDlucP
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XjkJOI8Ur
carefully hidden in her pocket—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wQ4201Cul
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwcNk4IkOf
maybe from the cold,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVPRdOgbLv
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymeipKoW7Q
his tone suspicious,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywh09quZTA
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgshaU5E4p
but they weren’t hesitant either.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsLAQeWuDt
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuXoe6qHCe
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKwvIUSlXC
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3obsg1ur4u
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuoskVdESo
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjiHeCa8Iz
where there were mountains of scrap metal,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgOOFrH75x
piles of old newspapers,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kDjlOePE5
expired magazines,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JN2mgl5K9
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7V5Cxx4Tkv
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRNODFAwMC
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6FLIbDddg
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXSCVmCzzf
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiVmhyiarw
And then—just for a second—110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLs2osnoY6
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJRj2655wi
Not bright.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fLQB9Hi0e
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3AzGI2OMm
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEd3NiX2e7
when the puppet turned into a boy.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68ksB4iw4b
When a lifeless stone began to shine,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwakQAv1qL
sparkling with color,110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6tFPPRMTa
marveling at the arrival of life.
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktQ9B2ilCS
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