Class was over.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXihZbq3qyF
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnF6hBb23L0
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKahJCGWPUj
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoUgj942Bm
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvJl8aTkox
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDR3OnV9a1
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNTOc7s5l7
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepzeWZ9Nhc
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGhpY3qFJf
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfv2Jng5p6l
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMdlNcqByN
Especially for her.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUA0n7nr6fP
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1E5AZOHvwO
On top of that, she was mute.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPeN4Qwihl
That was pretty much rock bottom.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9OPhsz0D5
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixpd6nbkq8
Didn’t plan to help either.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLwAiF0O44
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFwVVRcLfL
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6aUjUwtSQ
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5Rsn3xFJZ
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3zHC81pfV
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgAi6BtoYH
No one could tell what she was thinking.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxjsSxVVeE
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8TLWobNhq
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GfRAU5CMY
Actually, Jason liked reading.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLpTACTjRm
He went to the slum library pretty often.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGwPzLzqs6
Even though there weren’t many books,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUI2tTqqCU
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDpbbUvKiy
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMmn2hnHNM
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsUprGjJBB
then saw the girl again.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKt6Nf7hZa
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,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovl0Mx6rca
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHxQtHcH7G
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcK5epcSvIS
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYmG8gvzQP
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMw5h9P8o4
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbhCloke0Z
patched up with layers of tape.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDQH3cB9hp
She didn’t answer.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjOVy6qeTx
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFs9bSaX74
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lc1QjCsXq
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLmkF5KIr6
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdkcIthDI4
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Q2d8dfPL3
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZA1e1FclO
That was his first meal of the day—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvloORvse8W
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbiFWG6Ehm
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3Zl0oNv6g
Turn around.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QCSibC2Mu
Go back to his world—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntpFabZX03
trash piles, torn newspapers,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JwvrweRi5
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4N5N7MfXQh
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTjBv92WWC
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOm6SXFIHLE
carefully hidden in her pocket—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78p0kZ4ce7
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnRFTYqvWK
maybe from the cold,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIPXc87Ph6
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpk1tNrMrt
his tone suspicious,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgKBVYG203
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nQq3jTV4V
but they weren’t hesitant either.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoGhWD7dLV
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOS7a0tflqN
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5o6efnhT8
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOT4QjNumTn
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh264UvoSOD
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBBeRXAHuz
where there were mountains of scrap metal,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaGWcBIwKi
piles of old newspapers,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPFqfGDNBb
expired magazines,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxImniO7ON7
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPoXd4rbYU
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduu60MaJrD
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEvLGLS9H0
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOx0IOC6ES
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxUWNpcSjK
And then—just for a second—44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtokjt9B06q
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSEl8eZp2I
Not bright.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaLcwAnpoO
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8kvzFaF2K
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybTr0IEM5J
when the puppet turned into a boy.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLe67lTZHo
When a lifeless stone began to shine,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXLvxEUKK7
sparkling with color,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJK4aNtDAVH
marveling at the arrival of life.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2HDxyBIx9
and then Add to home screen.