Class was over.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUnenE54Dw
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMykofvfxIy
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgJF8eXEkP
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMPKnGPdQp
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKE1pXLecVH
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBuFMxHEHc
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3c1Hjvv3hz
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CbCHCJf3I
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mywzsbXAQ
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEVEMxmf7N
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSAx1wJqwV
Especially for her.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIlvwMJkKJ
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgIOkZ4Bps
On top of that, she was mute.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CNzl5zS8Z
That was pretty much rock bottom.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmOoTP7x1r
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQHr6scaXl
Didn’t plan to help either.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZh8V9kdmRh
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEE68omoSs
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVxZSck2BL
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOs9YmJ8Tor
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWtgV85cQA
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCFM2KMadt
No one could tell what she was thinking.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7xwgKi1nE
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxRYWu9S8f
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpe8u5S48g8
Actually, Jason liked reading.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q4aHJf1H1
He went to the slum library pretty often.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdv4FNTqS6
Even though there weren’t many books,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1QV4DIy2n
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dtSIX6FAP
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQIyYGw38h
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAQoNUpssj
then saw the girl again.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqe7KdLnXu
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,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwHz7Cs7qk
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzJESB7Jo0
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxptlKFixZT
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDBDCekvW3
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXq1HTuDxQE
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ikRN2mPZm
patched up with layers of tape.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjw9V04oOu
She didn’t answer.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx3hlwvBA3
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2CiykME3U
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1rnc6QJpV
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYgEUCWaqa
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9AaICVldA
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuERicOvZZG
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.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgekc5FOVQD
That was his first meal of the day—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RiGBevm60
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6w0SH5D3Lm
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckeox3aPvQ
Turn around.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvpFlBkUhC
Go back to his world—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgD52JpAfs
trash piles, torn newspapers,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUowBW3at1
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6cD8ea7AJ
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3xLR0dJ6J
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2yUumVETi
carefully hidden in her pocket—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwADarkQ9e
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHLsjxWk7k
maybe from the cold,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4EiBmRnoa
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUanx3Wcxb
his tone suspicious,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUJkzus3R2
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rGo1yvYu0
but they weren’t hesitant either.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymA846dhmd
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xr0i3MhUv
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDFAyaYJvt
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxOkRdIi6Z
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvob2GsYfcD
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBNlhA6iQ2
where there were mountains of scrap metal,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjHthXFxHx
piles of old newspapers,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGuv5BsYpt
expired magazines,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgtTV3X9Z2
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkI98A5uTp
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsufqMDeSQw
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxHITUZVVR
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmip21ZbJ6
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhT0HjGvZ9H
And then—just for a second—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzD7OvdtCmN
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GlhTRdchy
Not bright.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQguCuedFqg
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRPAQ88Uoc
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29KgE4GnIX
when the puppet turned into a boy.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF42dlakIGc
When a lifeless stone began to shine,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYWsEoTJZm
sparkling with color,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLHL8AKnL0
marveling at the arrival of life.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5vby5Galu
and then Add to home screen.