Free Vampire Hunter D Volume 13: Twin-Shadowed Knight Parts 1 and 2 Page B

Even my brain is sweltering.
    No sooner did she start to open her eyes than sweat coursed into them. Her bangs drooped down over her eyes. As she gave her head a desperate shake, her eyes caught the exquisite face of the man lying on the ground.
    â€œD . . .”
    From nowhere at all, strength welled up in her. Strength intended not for her own salvation, but to save another.
    â€œThat’s it! Good! Lift me up. Perfect!”
    The left hand reached out into empty space, and then suddenly disappeared.
    Vertigo assailed her.
    â€œYou did great, Mia,” a hoarse but satisfied voice remarked, but the second it entered Mia’s ears, she dropped to the ground.
    -
    Descending marble stairs, Mia came to a bath surrounded by bizarre stones. It was a natural hot spring that’d been modified for the Nobility’s exclusive use. Dropping the towel that’d covered her from the chest to the crotch, she showered, and then got into the water. It seemed to purify her sweat-soaked body. Letting out a deep breath, she looked all around as steam rose like clouds from the rocks beneath the domed ceiling.
    Who would’ve thought this was the interior of an impregnable dome capable of withstanding a direct hit from a nuclear weapon?
    More than thirty minutes had passed since Mia regained consciousness. According to the left hand, it’d gone inside and got D some of the Nobility’s metabolism-stabilizing drugs, and the Hunter had brought Mia in. Although she didn’t find it particularly strange that the limb had become part of D again somewhere along the line, she was delighted by the hitherto unheard calmness in its voice as it drew her attention to a map of the dome projected into thin air and suggested, “Why don’t you have a hot soak?”
    She melted away into a peaceful state of mind. But from deep in her heart, an anxiety rose that threatened to crush her sense of satisfaction and harmony. The other D—who or what was he? And what was this unprecedented crisis her mother was predicting that would change the whole world? What was she supposed to do, anyway? And how about D?
    It came to her in a flash. The dashing Hunter was clearly the only person alive who could avert the disaster in that vision. However, from what Mia had seen, he was ready to depart this area, leaving her with his frosty rejection and indifference as her only mementos. And once he’d abandoned her, what could she do on her own?
    A feeling of loneliness more painful than anyone should recall closed tightly around her heart.
    â€œMom, I’m scared,” Mia said, cradling herself in the hot water. But its warmth felt as empty as an illusion. “I’m not like you, Mom. What am I supposed to do? I can’t do anything!”
    Her body trembled a bit. That hadn’t happened in years. Tears slipped from beneath her closed lids and rolled down her cheeks.
    Just then, she sensed someone standing over her. Arriving without warning, they had appeared all of a sudden. And this told her who it had to be.
    â€œD?” she called out, only then sliding down in the warm water up to her chin. “I could just die! What are you doing in here?”
    The one she sensed didn’t reply. Wondering if he was looking at her, Mia felt as if her body was withering with shame. But at the same time, something about this—just the tiniest bit—made her heart race.
    â€œFor the love of all that’s holy, get out of here already!”
    â€œCome out of there.”
    The second Mia realized that remark wasn’t aimed at her, her body no longer felt the warmth of the hot spring. A human shape rose from the bath ten feet ahead of her. Though droplets rained from him, they did nothing to hide his face or form. It was D. But which one?
    The D in the bath grinned mischievously. The water came up to his waist. From the elbow down, both his arms were underwater.
    â€œI’m here on business,” he