Jantice's foreign language tutoring classes ended with what a teacher deemed as excellent results. The girl was the oldest in the class and had the weakest foundation, but she progressed the fastest.
Jason was proud, but he didn't want the girl to become arrogant. Despite her ability to listen, speak, read, and write without any problem, she still couldn't understand the meaning of most words.
It seemed like common knowledge, but she just couldn't comprehend it. However, Jason didn't see this as a problem for her, and he firmly believed in that.
"To celebrate your graduation from this tutoring class, is there anything you want or want to do? Whatever it is, I'll make it happen for you this time." Jason ruffled the girl's head affectionately from under his baseball cap, his tone gentle yet proud.
Jantice ignored his hand on her head and calmly said, "Take me out tonight."
Jason: ...
Jason: "No."
There was a hint of hurt in Jantice's eyes, as if she didn't believe him anymore, "Liar."
Jason coughed dryly, "Just not that, anything else is fine."
"Just this." Jantice was very stubborn. "You need it, and I can provide it."
Jason was equally stubborn, "I don't need it."
"You need it."
"I don't."
The two argued stubbornly like children in the street, and in the end, they both turned their heads away without looking at each other, neither willing to compromise.
Jason couldn't believe he was arguing with a ten-year-old like this. Since the incident where he almost ran away after being injured, Jantice had been wanting to go out with him for evening activities. But what he did was bloody and violent, completely unsuitable for her.
"If even these things require you to do them, then it shows my incompetence." Jason saw the girl turn her head away angrily, and he reached out to touch her head, making her turn back.
He squatted down and looked her in the eye, "How about this? When I go out at night, we'll keep in touch. If I'm in danger, I'll call you, okay?"
Jantice thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay."
Jason smiled. He would decide what kind of communication they would have. He naturally wouldn't call her.
With the crisis averted, Jason held her small hand and walked back, continuing to ask, "Nothing else you want?"
Jantice shook her head.
Jason could only sigh at how easy she was to please. Sometimes her stubbornness was just frustrating.
Jason: Sweet frustration.
Jason felt miserable. Raising a child was his own business, why did Batman have to interfere? Why didn't he deal with those kids in the East End who did anything to survive?!
Jason was furious, and then he got into a fight with Batman.
Both of them were in a sorry state, but it seemed like something had happened somewhere. Batman received a message, glanced deeply at the red hood, and then left.
Jason: Screw Batman!
His anger burned away the little rationality he had left. When he heard movement behind him, he glanced sideways and raised his hand to shoot, damn it... damn it! Why did that guy think he was more important than anything else...
He wanted to do something else to distract himself from his anger, to regain his composure, but he couldn't control his thoughts and remembered the day in Ethiopia...
"Jason." A soft, even voice sounded, like a clear spring nourishing the wanderer in the desert. She didn't know what had happened here, but she appeared at the right time.
Jason's throat was dry. He found his voice again. "What's wrong?"
"Try it," she said with childish words.
Jason chuckled suddenly. What a brat, "Do you think I'm lying to you?"
"You have before." Jantice's voice carried a hint of grievance.
Jason: ...The brat has a good memory.
"Go back, I'll bring you a midnight snack. What do you want to eat?"
"Cake."
"Eating cake at night will give you cavities." Jason said as he walked towards his motorcycle.
The child was unhappy and directly hung up the call.
Jason: ...She's actually angry.
Just as Jason was about to leave, another person's appearance made him stop in his tracks. He was vigilant, "Talia, aren't you afraid Batman will find out you're here?"
Batman was very wary of the League of Assassins, so Talia coming here must have some ulterior motive.
Talia smirked, "It seems you're not welcoming me."
Jason frowned, "What do you want?"
Talia knew he didn't want to say much and also knew what he wanted to do. She smiled with malice, "You're raising a child, a girl."
Jason became even more cautious. He gritted his teeth, "What do you want?"
She smiled, surveying the surroundings and taking in the devastation in the distance. The surveillance around had been destroyed, otherwise she wouldn't have appeared so openly. "I've seen that girl. She's quite talented, isn't she?"
"Is she part of the League of Assassins?" Jason furrowed his brow.
"I wish she was. She's truly a waste of talent out there, isn't she?" Talia sighed regretfully. "Unfortunately, when we tried to capture her, she managed to escape."
"Very impressive." Jason was starting to believe in her escape skills more and more. Escaping from the League of Assassins was no easy feat.
Talia squinted her eyes and said, "Hand her over to me."
"Not happening." Jason refused sternly. He would never hand Jantice over to a place like the League of Assassins. He couldn't imagine what she would become under their influence.
Talia looked at Jason steadily. The girl's abilities were indeed impressive, and training her would be a great asset to the League of Assassins. She believed they could mold the girl into perfection, but since she now had a bond with him, she might as well make the best of it.
"You know, I can't bring myself to be too harsh on you. Since you won't allow her to come to the League of Assassins, how about letting her come to me to learn?" Talia suggested.
Jason said, "No." The girl's character and values weren't set yet. If she were taught by people from the League of Assassins, he couldn't predict what she would become.
Talia sighed in resignation. "There's no need to reject so quickly. This offer will still be valid in the future."
She left quietly just like she came. Jason furrowed his brow. Was she just here to say that? At least for the time being, he didn't have to worry about the threat from the League of Assassins. Despite Talia's ruthlessness, she had a good reputation.
Riding his motorcycle, Jason headed towards the safe house. Beep. The voice of the girl came through the communication device, "Just now, there were a lot of people around."
Jason: ???
That guy Talia came to find him, indicating that they had already surrounded the safe house? If he had nodded back then, the girl would have been in danger.
"It's okay," he reassured her.
Jantice nodded and said, "They're gone."
Jason didn't tell her about the League of Assassins' interest in her. It might make her afraid and add unnecessary worries.
Jantice didn't seem affected by the incident. For now, she only thought they came for the Red Hood. She said, "Midnight snack, dessert, little cake."
Jason: "There's no cake at night."
Ever since she had candy that one time, her obsession with sweets had grown deeper.
"Eating dessert at night will give you cavities, and your teeth will fall out," Jason said, unapologetically scaring the child.
Damian knew his mother had gone to Gotham again, and his father was also in Gotham. As the young master of the League of Assassins, his family only consisted of his maternal grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, and his mother, Talia al Ghul. Since he could remember, he knew he would eventually inherit the League of Assassins and become the new Demon's Head.
Sometimes, Talia would mention his father to him, but more often than not, she would harshly teach him to be the heir she had worked so hard to obtain.
It was said that his father was a very powerful man, ruling over a city with extraordinary strength and intelligence, but Talia never told Damian who he was exactly.
Damian only knew that his father had black hair and blue eyes—his eyes were green, inherited from his mother's Middle Eastern bloodline.
As he grew older, nearing twelve years old, he became extremely curious about his father. He wanted to know what the man, revered by his grandfather, was like.
His mother had gone to Gotham again, presumably to see him. Damian heard that his mother's original target this time was a child, but she didn't bring the person back because of a man's obstruction. Was it his father?
Damian secretly investigated without telling Talia, and he also knew who she went to see—Jason Todd. The information satisfied him. Even if this guy wasn't his father, Jason Todd was still an outstanding warrior.
He also saw the girl his mother wanted to bring back but failed. There was only a photo and a comment—extremely talented.
Looking at the obviously sneaked photo, his mind went blank, and a strange, almost defined feeling of joy appeared, which he found very strange. But he didn't dislike this feeling. Something was off. Damian abruptly closed the file.
The League of Assassins was having problems. This wasn't something Damian, at his age, could intervene in. Talia planned to send Damian to his father to ensure his safety.
Talia said, "Damian, with your father, you'll learn the qualities and abilities you lack."
"Mother, I don't believe I lack anything." Damian said coldly.