Class was over.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoirbcmhil9
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4soyy8vWeJ
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbJNXLB9oN
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEqywgIytA
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJC80kMQwb
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxrraOoFly
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnRd6uVvu8
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kS2KpYn17
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaopONsK8bV
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2rEaTl7Oa
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXizn55Jwp
Especially for her.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLLDOko9bq
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3voI2LNOtX
On top of that, she was mute.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz5Fu2mzmV
That was pretty much rock bottom.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1CzwS4Cnb
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSB44IiMzt
Didn’t plan to help either.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNY0oC91NlD
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25HtBr0B2n
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzvfPOXojj
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzuMvTWP13
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBUftgihE2
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0X7PqP6B5
No one could tell what she was thinking.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaCJu6bHHp
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKe8i4d0y9
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w4G8yAaKC
Actually, Jason liked reading.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ019KF4a4fy
He went to the slum library pretty often.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PX1JkmGfp
Even though there weren’t many books,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPCElQoE9f
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEo3WzlAeGs
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7dwBlH2AF
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc263FYW3lg
then saw the girl again.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhRqIEUffJ
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,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vo27vD6gI
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcTBG7hSs2
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6cU7gmeOP
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TJlqdBObO
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYy81lf4lEA
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLOX5X7qM1
patched up with layers of tape.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYs3VUIDqg
She didn’t answer.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuP2v92ienK
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qDiWw1Obz
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cpyxXowtS
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6Ki4RSWUE
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdyD4V9fe3
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeObi4F5OB2
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSO2yhXeYN
That was his first meal of the day—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vlr1MH9xd
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkqo9HYChV
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwp1u3M6jL
Turn around.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMHXYzCx0o
Go back to his world—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirlTuZiLI5
trash piles, torn newspapers,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQBqYkMN2y
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hIt3LPxjn
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB98b5NraOp
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuenns5OJxn
carefully hidden in her pocket—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6YDlIr3H8
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0dpwAZJ9n
maybe from the cold,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7nDfjQwpR
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBE8yPCqHD
his tone suspicious,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENZ9xCu49j
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfcLhWHjHe
but they weren’t hesitant either.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJ5beMHywT
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiLqI2dH0T
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffqForEtol
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5vtBRdnGv
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8T5jg37cbX
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAaCdGz3pU
where there were mountains of scrap metal,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3rGvivg77
piles of old newspapers,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpw81jYGfT
expired magazines,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6YvSZgLcT
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNTYfegddv
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0lIz8KSGS
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LNtOSWVe6
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwq7A8VDmH6
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqYmEbNvpu
And then—just for a second—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJYbWAqwHc
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5873EDhLyD
Not bright.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdC99NkHzKz
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhX5fdjGzE7
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQRiv1gcjc
when the puppet turned into a boy.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZPvFWm1Im
When a lifeless stone began to shine,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQImuvsJZVZ
sparkling with color,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgCEitPLXP
marveling at the arrival of life.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7hj7DdqYn
and then Add to home screen.