Class was over.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaQ9bQUzzK
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJaMi8t3FFN
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecHGfBUjrD
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPGGt6sinZ
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SlmJ5qiRo
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsq4fKek4f9
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmiXu874QQ
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7iORn863B
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaSir6133i
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveTNCsQydn
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyIjpgkeG9
Especially for her.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIp3h0l8Uwz
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAY0Xkh3tL
On top of that, she was mute.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5o24S05K7
That was pretty much rock bottom.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8rqQQzDAq
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytpwRHtVY2
Didn’t plan to help either.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNO8Gz2FzHJ
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XYQBJtZHq
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaRmjAlH32
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffFkn0UZCC
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowaQczqsks
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQCiTxQwcx
No one could tell what she was thinking.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoW1efE0NMn
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBzi6a4Q2I
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6FSM4RXqU
Actually, Jason liked reading.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4DPwL17Im
He went to the slum library pretty often.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEnlPFXlNC
Even though there weren’t many books,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkxeSjWKjY
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpq5mCdb38N
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBIe7ZsbUI
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBY9y4BPo5O
then saw the girl again.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfl3PV3uUby
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,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwwSmTIn2i
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2muQ7D4jt
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8Sy19dw3t
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1InhvV4F5
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0aKJHPHt3
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfjWP65SFU
patched up with layers of tape.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTeQJjQPQy
She didn’t answer.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyhzJZkAqf
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WN2IFPqrk
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWkIOlrMHb
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BCuEP2F0r
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrr8AJEx7IL
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkd6MH2VeDn
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJno7z3iFLT
That was his first meal of the day—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGi8PZUWqk
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0GUfIrCwI
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBve7OdKtz0
Turn around.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjUneHVCNV
Go back to his world—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetR5B18pHV
trash piles, torn newspapers,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigSmJbfBmw
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhHspTXkZx
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZgqUxvwep
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuj1SJ2hGdj
carefully hidden in her pocket—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuToga66LZU
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40TT0JpK5t
maybe from the cold,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcXErJwoqa
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcNglyqeNI
his tone suspicious,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GYbtzkCt9
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmQ9UQefbz
but they weren’t hesitant either.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBWjTT4qMp
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJmnuEt6AR
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhEriNBNST
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIpiMp1rtE
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1ZdhrcTsn
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnNWLWbKAA
where there were mountains of scrap metal,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VGCAIFKA4
piles of old newspapers,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTm8hTX2ZDM
expired magazines,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0vaV5tzQr
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwc4EMpei1
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2CbPmd3jA
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmf0erFWAWt
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJ9IRupuhg
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUJtCHDJZ3
And then—just for a second—132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcr3u6dv2g
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJRuj5ztc3
Not bright.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvcuowGerc
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kRmcOA1az
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvAvbQI0sh
when the puppet turned into a boy.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnTQVZi8dY
When a lifeless stone began to shine,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUl8g5ukh5J
sparkling with color,132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8h4fgFKWH
marveling at the arrival of life.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGKkeJz9y6
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