Class was over.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oj9tLnLIG
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2cpqWksQw
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYh2uGV21nC
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzj7ORhfZc7
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dS39MRQT8
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGSnpRJeEV
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtq24Iqsw8A
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGEDjvu7sO
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Qq6qVWvfc
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVq5ykLkqr8
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSS2zCaBbB
Especially for her.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQV2iIK5bL
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡID08Z82ZUR
On top of that, she was mute.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNXecmAFf6
That was pretty much rock bottom.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQha3BwZQC0
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbWwqZTmCQ
Didn’t plan to help either.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQe9i4ngVeo
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8ZfGvzLo8
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOvAlRoobQ
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFdAIZNn7U
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LsuCOMoNv
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlPs0um6T9
No one could tell what she was thinking.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyG3KyLLEq
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtm2DOKvMfv
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgXYa2LWYi
Actually, Jason liked reading.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0MzpcKvhz
He went to the slum library pretty often.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uRAlot5dr
Even though there weren’t many books,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJt0juoscMy
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkR0sHOENn
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxizphJyJ7
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7cYolVtp5
then saw the girl again.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTUFu3dxMC
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,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPPKKJ33YN
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnyVwIbRjf
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsGgRqAZ3U
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JkrPMsixc
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcJPuGIn4X
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1Y98jCOWx
patched up with layers of tape.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoMgPKfR1T
She didn’t answer.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKMbqMOoW7
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZBzu7wnNa
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTq0YCucUhl
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ928zjLG8iQ
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdXZjyrial
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9r2KD88ZSs
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡre718ypRT8
That was his first meal of the day—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvcjkrZuhD
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLYXflWeKF
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpltpTSzUC1
Turn around.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMuoUlWzTk
Go back to his world—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhbO0pP0e2
trash piles, torn newspapers,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKPTIn6LqJ
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWo7UD4miqj
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLF0nXZt72
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXYwEJuCh5
carefully hidden in her pocket—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvg8Fkb2N7z
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVimtT5WtL
maybe from the cold,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU12LCgMufb
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOavY4QziR
his tone suspicious,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhu4joY4VS
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5atgR9hTZb
but they weren’t hesitant either.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxfb8Id1xH
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJ30ILtJdV
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8us0HZXxn6
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDuaPIgELt
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4Fnus6fFy
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLwxM6VtNF
where there were mountains of scrap metal,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX5SAsQctX
piles of old newspapers,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvIOGumgPW
expired magazines,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIzLfWmrHd
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7kPLXr71U
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvvG6c9Msr
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5tZ1qU4GU
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtYBMZmF8Z
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCb4JrNKlI
And then—just for a second—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gdIPoaFCb
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviSeSl2gQE
Not bright.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9CSmsbj2C
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKOKhTuC9o
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ1aImi7ja
when the puppet turned into a boy.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuJBPnHnwB
When a lifeless stone began to shine,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgU2kiQH2wb
sparkling with color,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXEAKrSuEp
marveling at the arrival of life.
23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRlcOk4JgI
and then Add to home screen.