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"Can you make a gravestone for her? Otherwise, how am I supposed to find her when I come back someday?"
At first, Henry had no intention of indulging the child's request.
Being buried in this beautiful place and becoming part of nature was enough. Why announce to the world that someone had been laid to rest here?
But after thinking it over, he broke off two branches, stripped some bark, tied them into the shape of a cross, and planted it before the grave mound.
He didn't know whether Sky had been religious, but a simple cross was unlikely to be inappropriate.
As Henry prepared to carve her name into the horizontal branch with the shovel, he paused.
"Uh... how do you spell Sky?"
Although the brat looked annoyed, he still answered.
"S-K-Y-E."
As Henry carved the letters, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Skye?
That sounded an awful lot like a certain character.
Except that character wasn't Black.
And the girl in front of him was already dead.
So had the timeline changed?
Or was it simply a coincidence?
Abandoning the unrealistic idea of hunting for future superheroes, Henry returned his attention to the matter at hand.
Though he had unwillingly sent one child off on her final journey, his actual target was still standing right here.
The question was:
What should he do with this one?
It was something Henry had already spent a long time considering.
For the first time, he felt as though he understood the mindset of parents.
Not that he had ever had children in either of his lives.
He liked to think of himself as open-minded and willing to respect a child's choices.
But children lacked experience.
They often couldn't make the best decisions for themselves.
Then again, adults weren't much better. Otherwise, so many people wouldn't get scammed every day.
If he had remained uninvolved, if he had never known anything, then whoever suffered or got bullied would have had nothing to do with him.
The problem was that he had seen it.
And because of his so-called open-minded attitude, he had watched a child walk straight into the abyss.
The regret was unbearable.
Henry had no desire to experience it a second time.
Whether it was making amends or simply because the black girl had been unlucky, he suddenly turned to the brat who had been causing him trouble for weeks and said:
"If you don't have anywhere else to go, come with me."
---
One sentence instantly erased the boy's previous emotions.
He looked at Henry with open suspicion.
"Why?"
Sitting beside the grave, gazing out across the hillside scenery, Henry answered:
"At first, the reason I wanted to help that girl was because someone helped me after I came to this world.
"My benefactor is already dead. I can never repay him, and he wouldn't have wanted repayment anyway.
"So I figured I could pass that kindness on.
"The reason I chose her wasn't because I specifically looked for someone like her. I simply happened to meet her.
"But I missed that opportunity.
"And now I regret it.
"So when a second opportunity appears, there's no reason to make the same mistake twice."
The brat immediately replied,
"No thanks! Just send me back to the sewers. I'm doing perfectly fine there."
The truth was that they were standing in the middle of a wilderness.
The child had no confidence in finding his way out alone.
Otherwise, he probably would have run away already.
This time, Henry chose not to respect the child's wishes.
Before the brat could make a break for the forest, Henry simply grabbed him around the waist again and tucked him under one arm.
At the same time, he said:
"I know you have experience running away from home.
"I won't break your legs and lock you in a house.
"And I don't expect you to do anything for me now or in the future.
"All I'm doing is giving you a chance, as best I can.
"Whether you accept it or make use of it is entirely up to you.
"But right now, sorry, I'm not sending you back to the sewers.
"That isn't a place where a child should grow up."
The brat kicked and flailed wildly.
"I don't want your chance!
"I don't want any of it!
"Put me down!
"If taking me back to the sewers is too much trouble, then leave me here!
"I'd rather get eaten by wolves than go with you!"
Henry chuckled.
"There aren't any wolves around here.
"Mountain lions, maybe.
"But they don't eat stupid little brats, so save your breath."
Carrying the child under one arm and both shovels in the other hand, Henry activated his super-speed once more.
He first dropped the shovels off outside the Sheep Cave Valley Laboratory, where BB-2 could clean them up later.
Then he headed straight back to New York.
To Katherine Hepburn's home.
---
Despite experiencing super-speed again, the child remained so furious that he never stopped kicking, screaming, and thrashing.
Unlike the previous trip, he wasn't left vomiting afterward.
Since Henry had already arranged time off, the elderly actress was being looked after by her private nurse, Maria Thomson.
With BB assisting and lunch already prepared, the household's two women and one tiger were currently eating.
The sudden sound of the door opening—and a child yelling his lungs out—naturally attracted everyone's attention.
They looked up just in time to see Henry storming into the house while carrying a struggling child under his arm.
"Kate, can I borrow the bathroom?"
"The bathroom?"
The child froze briefly before struggling even harder.
"No! I don't want a bath!"
"I'm pretty sure you've never bathed since the day you were born. Your bare feet are dirtier than shoes, and you smell like something died. Even if you're used to it, spare the noses of the people you live with and learn some basic hygiene."
"I don't want to!
"If I want to stink to death, that's none of your business!
"Put me down!"
The pair disappeared into the bathroom.
Maria Thomson stared blankly for several seconds before turning to Katherine.
"Katherine... do you know who that child is?"
"Did I mention that a kid has been going around causing trouble for Henry and Katie lately?"
"Oh, that kid?"
Maria blinked.
"Then why did Henry bring the child home?"
"I have no idea."
The two women chatted casually like old friends.
Then—
A shriek suddenly erupted from the bathroom.
The pitch shot up nearly an octave.
It was loud enough to wake the entire building.
A moment later, Henry came stumbling out looking thoroughly flustered.
"Damn it!
"That kid's actually a girl!"
This revelation stunned both women.
Although Henry's X-ray vision had not yet returned, his hearing was still perfectly functional.
He could clearly tell that expecting the girl to bathe herself was impossible.
At that very moment, she was rummaging through the pieces of clothing that hadn't been torn apart by Kryptonian strength, trying to put them back on.
Could he ask Maria Thomson to help?
Given the girl's uncooperative attitude, that would only put the nurse in an awkward position.
At that moment, BB rolled up beside his feet.
Henry immediately pointed.
"BB, you're up.
"Katie Bath Mode."
The instant she heard those familiar words, Katie froze.
Then the tiger immediately jumped away and eyed BB warily.
She didn't even care about her lunch anymore.
Receiving its orders, the core robot promptly switched to its bathing attachments.
Several long scrub brushes and boar-bristle brushes rotated experimentally.
Then BB charged into the bathroom with great enthusiasm.
Click!
The door shut behind it.
Katie Bath Mode had never been designed to be gentle.
After all, its original target was a tiger.
And robots didn't understand concepts like moderation.
The bathroom instantly sounded like the opening battle of World War III.
Crashes, bangs, and bizarre screams echoed from inside.
At one point, the door burst open and a completely naked girl tried to make a desperate escape.
Unfortunately, after multiple upgrades, BB was capable of wrestling Katie the tiger to a standstill.
Handling a young girl was hardly difficult.
A spring-loaded tether shot out.
The winch activated.
And she was forcibly dragged back inside.
Watching this unfold, the bewildered Academy Award-winning actress finally asked:
"Henry... what exactly is happening right now?"
"Oh, don't worry, Kate."
Henry waved dismissively.
"Once they're done, I'll have BB clean the bathroom."
Katherine stared at him.
"...Was that what I was worried about?"
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