Page 8 of Prickly Romance

“Superhero?” Niko signs.

“She’s deaf and a great fighter.” I frown, slightly perturbed by their confusion. “You don’t know who Echo is?”

“No.”

“But she’s deaf.”

“Am I supposed to know all the deaf superheroes?” Sazuki fires back.

“Ido.” I lift my chin proudly. “I searched them all up. It was important to me that my sister see how capable she can be.”

“By introducing fictional characters to her?”

“You had better role models?”

“Chisato Minamimura. Ayumi Hamasaki.” He pauses. “Even Beethoven.”

“I actually recognize that one.”

Niko giggles.

The ghost smile on Sazuki’s face is fleeting. “We do not have to look to fictional creations for encouragement.”

“I disagree. I don’t think anyone should be limited by what’s already been done. When we look at fictional characters, they aren’t bound by physical rules or fear or even history. These heroes are the very essence of what someone can accomplish without limits.”

“These ‘heroes’ are also not real,” he insists.

“And Beethoven’s dead. What’s your point?”

“Yes, but he lived.”

“And who’s to say there’s not a deaf crime-fighting ninja out there, kicking the butts of drug lords and kingpins? We don’t know. Anything is possible.”

Niko giggles and shyly slides the comic book over to me.

“Last Game?” I read the name on the cover. It’s got a sketch of a couple holding hands. “This… wait, this looks like a romance.”

Niko signs something I don’t understand.

I scrunch my nose in confusion. “Can you say that again?”

She signs, “M-a-n-g-a.”

“Manga?”

Her little head bob is both quick and adorable.

“I’ve told her to stop reading that trash,” Sazuki mumbles.

Niko isn’t even looking at the screen when she signs, “My dad calls it trash, but it’s really good.”

“You are not dating until you are married,” Sazuki admonishes. “There is no need for such books.”

I exchange a look with Niko.

The little girl rolls her eyes like she was raised by a black woman.

“Niko will return the book tomorrow.” Sazuki lowers his head so both his eyes and mouth get caught on camera. “And you will apologize to Akira for making her worry.”

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