Kagura of the Moonlight: The Immortal Bride and the Reincarnated Programmer
Sora Kagura had everything—until a single virus erased every line of code he'd ever written and dragged him into a world where the moon hangs three times too large and nothing follows the rules he knows.
Now he's stranded in a parallel world with no stamina, no combat skills, and no way home. His only lead: a torn nameplate reading "Yuzaki." His only guide: Kougetsu Kaguya, a masked girl in a black kimono who claims he carries the "blood of the moon" and that she needs his power.
But what powe
Kagura of the Moonlight: The Immortal Bride and the Reincarnated Programmer - The Remaining Code: Lost Memories and a Growing Family
Morning light spilled into the Yuzaki living room.
It filtered through the cracked window glass, shining mercilessly on the shattered fragments of the television and the charred remains of the microwave. The splinters scattered across the floor were pieces of the front door, blown apart in last night's battle. The air still hung heavy with the smell of burnt plastic and dust.
Kagura Sora sat with his back against the wall.
His breathing came in shallow pulls. The pain in his ribs was a little better than yesterday. But when he breathed too deep, something still made a dull sound deep in his chest.
(My body still moves.)
Sora glanced at the old digital watch on his left wrist. Seven-twelve in the morning.
(Morning, huh.)
In the corner of the living room, Yuzaki Nasa was on his hands and knees, gathering something up. His eyes behind his glasses were bloodshot, his black hair still a mess. Wearing work gloves, he carefully placed each shard of broken glass onto a sheet of newspaper, one by one.
"...Morning, Sora-kun."
Nasa spoke without looking up.
"Good morning. ...What are you doing?"
"Cleaning up. Though honestly, I don't know where to even start."
Nasa stopped his hands and looked around the living room.
"The front door's completely gone. Three window panes shattered. The TV and microwave are dead. The wiring's burnt all the way into the walls, so if you touch it wrong, you might get electrocuted."
"...That's a lot of damage."
"Yeah. But we've got no choice. This is my and Tsukasa-chan's home."
Nasa's voice had lost its usual cheerfulness.
But there was real determination in those words.
(This guy's fighting too.)
Sora thought that as he watched Nasa's back.
---
"...Huh."
Sora suddenly felt something off about his own memory.
(What did I do last night?)
Tsukikage no Shisha came, we fought, and then—
(Did we... win?)
A foggy sensation covered his mind.
(Right. I activated the program. Rewrote the world's rules and sealed the messenger's movements. Then Tsukasa-san cut off the messenger's arm with her blade—)
That far, he remembered. Then Sora realized there was a "hole" in his memory.
(Wait. What did I lose?)
The price of the program.
He had consumed part of his own past memories as computational resources.
(What did I lose?)
Sora desperately traced back through his memories.
Elementary school. Being laughed at for his name.
The name "Kagura Sora."
Being teased—"Sora, like the sky, flying through the air."
The frustration of that moment.
(...I remember this.)
Middle school. Getting absorbed in programming.
The first code he ever wrote.
That feeling when it first ran.
(...I remember this too.)
High school.
Winning the programming contest.
(...I won.)
(What happened after that?)
Sora furrowed his brow.
(A virus wiped my data.)
(...That's what happened.)
(But the feeling from that time—)
(I can't remember it.)
Sora looked at his hands.
His fingertips were trembling faintly.
(The pain of that defeat is gone.)
(It hurt so much.)
(It was so frustrating.)
(And yet just that "pain" has been plucked out entirely.)
"...Nn."
Sora unconsciously clutched at his chest.
His heart pounded like a hammer.
(I'm scared.)
(This is terrifying.)
(Did I erase my own past with my own hands?)
(Did I throw away part of myself with my own hands?)
The trembling in his hands wouldn't stop.
---
"Sora-kun?"
Nasa was peering at him with a worried expression.
"...You okay? You're white as a sheet."
"...I'm fine. Just... thinking."
Sora pressed his trembling hand down with his left.
(Calm down.)
(This isn't the time to panic.)
(There are people I need to protect.)
Sora took a deep breath.
His ribs ached. But it cleared his head, just a little.
"...Nasa-san, where's Kaguya?"
"She's sleeping in the guest room. She's had a high fever since yesterday."
"A high fever."
"Yeah. I think she used too much of the moon's blood. Tsukasa-chan's been looking after her the whole time."
Sora looked toward the guest room.
Beyond the closed sliding door.
(Kaguya.)
Sora slowly stood up.
---
When he opened the guest room's sliding door, damp air drifted out.
The room was dim.
The curtains were drawn tight, and on the futon lay Kougetsu Kaguya.
Her long black hair spread across the pillow. The collar of her black kimono was disheveled, and her pale skin looked even whiter than usual. Her obsidian eyes were closed, and now and then she furrowed her brow in pain.
Beside her sat Yuzaki Tsukasa.
Tsukasa was gently replacing the wet towel on Kaguya's forehead. Her long black hair was gathered at the back, and a deerskin barrette glinted faintly in the dim room.
"...Sora-san."
Tsukasa turned around.
"Good morning. How's Kaguya?"
"Her fever won't come down. She used the moon's blood to its limit. Her body needs time to recover."
Tsukasa's voice was quiet.
But her eyes wavered with concern for Kaguya.
"...I could share my blood with her."
Tsukasa murmured.
"My blood has the power to heal. But Kaguya's condition isn't a wound. Using too much of the moon's blood is like burning up from the inside. My blood won't solve the root cause."
"I see."
Sora knelt beside the futon.
He looked at Kaguya's sleeping face.
A girl with no expression.
But now, pain was etched across her features.
(It's my fault.)
(I used Kaguya's moon blood to activate the program.)
(My decision pushed her this far.)
"...Sora-san."
Tsukasa peered into Sora's face.
"You don't look well. Are your wounds from last night still hurting?"
"...No. The wounds are fine."
"But—"
Tsukasa started to say something.
Then slowly closed her mouth.
Her large, clear black eyes gazed steadily at Sora.
(This person has noticed.)
(That I've lost something.)
(But she won't force me to talk about it.)
"...Tsukasa-san."
Sora steeled himself and spoke.
"I think part of my memory is gone. The price of the program. ...I don't know exactly what I lost. But something is definitely missing."
Tsukasa listened silently.
"...I'm scared. That my own past is disappearing by my own hand. If I lose more, I don't know if I'll still be me."
Sora's voice trembled.
"...Sora-san."
Tsukasa spoke quietly.
"I too lost many precious things long ago. My family, my friends, the people I loved—all of them left me behind and passed on before me. Over 1400 years, again and again."
Tsukasa's voice was matter-of-fact.
But beneath it, a deep sorrow lay submerged.
"So I understand your fear, at least a little. The terror of losing—I know it well."
"...Tsukasa-san."
"But, Sora-san."
Tsukasa looked straight into Sora's eyes.
"Losing something isn't the end. The fact that you stood here and protected us—even if it vanishes from your memory, it will remain in mine forever. In Nasa-kun's memory, and in Kaguya's. So even if you forget, we will remember."
Sora caught his breath.
"...Is that... enough?"
"Yes. That's enough."
Tsukasa smiled softly.
That smile looked, just barely, warm in the dim room.
---
Past noon.
Sora was helping clean up the living room.
Nasa was checking the wiring inside the walls. Sora was sorting the wreckage of the scattered electronics by type.
"...Hey, Sora-kun."
Nasa poked his head out from the wall.
"That power of yours—rewriting the world's rules. How does it actually work?"
"...Honestly, I can't fully explain it myself. I just... perceive this world's physical laws and causality as code, and rewrite them. That's the feeling. Activating it requires enormous computational resources, and the price is my memories."
"Your memories get consumed."
Nasa furrowed his brow.
"Isn't that insanely dangerous? You're basically burning your own brain like fuel, aren't you?"
"...Well, yes. That's about right."
"Stop it. That kind of thing."
Nasa spoke firmly.
"Your memories belong to you. Shaving yourself down to protect someone—that's wrong."
"...But at the time, there was no other way. If I hadn't used it, Tsukasa-san would have been taken."
"Even so—"
"Nasa-san."
Sora looked into Nasa's eyes.
"I used it by my own will. I don't regret it. ...I'm just scared. That next time, I might lose something even more precious. That's what frightens me."
Nasa was silent for a while.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
"...Got it. If that's what you've decided, I won't stop you. But promise me. Next time you use it, tell me first. I might come up with something in your place."
"...Understood."
Sora gave a small nod.
(This guy's worried about me too.)
(I'm not just someone to be protected. I'm allowed to be here too.)
That thought made something deep in his chest feel a little warmer.
---
Evening.
Sora was in the guest room, tending to Kaguya.
Tsukasa was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Nasa was outside doing emergency repairs on the front door.
Kaguya was still asleep.
Now and then she let out a small, pained moan.
"...Sora."
Suddenly, Kaguya opened her eyes.
"Kaguya. You're awake."
"...You've been here the whole time."
Kaguya's voice was hoarse.
"Yeah. Taking turns with Tsukasa-san. How's your body?"
"...The fever's still there. My head is foggy. The moon's blood is running wild."
Kaguya slowly lifted her hand.
The crescent-shaped mark on the back of her right hand glowed faintly pale blue in the dim room.
"...The moon is stirring."
"The moon?"
"Yes. The main force's presence is drawing closer, little by little. Just as that messenger said—there's no time left."
Sora bit his lip.
(No time.)
(And I still haven't completed the program.)
"...Don't rush."
Kaguya spoke as if reading Sora's mind.
"Your program did stop the messenger. That was real power. If you complete it, it should work against the main force too."
"...But the price—"
"We can investigate the price more thoroughly from now on. I'll help too. So—"
Kaguya gently touched Sora's hand.
It was hot.
From the fever, her palm burned like fire.
"...I need your power. From now on, too."
Kaguya stopped there.
She started to say something, then swallowed the words that would have followed.
"...Kaguya?"
"...It's nothing. I'll sleep a little."
Kaguya closed her eyes.
Sora gently returned her hand beneath the covers.
(What was she about to say?)
(The words after "from now on, too.")
Sora gazed at Kaguya's sleeping face.
A girl with no expression.
But now her cheeks were flushed red with fever.
(I still don't know anything about her.)
(About the moon's blood. About the past when her mother was taken. About her ties to the moon people.)
(So many things I don't know.)
(But even so—)
(As long as she says she needs my power—)
(I'll be here.)
---
Night.
A figure appeared before the Yuzaki house.
Sora was in the living room, gripping the chip from the broken smartphone.
Then he sensed a presence outside the front door.
"...Nn."
Sora stood up.
Nasa looked up from the emergency repairs at the entrance.
"Sora-kun?"
"...They're here."
Sora's voice dropped low.
"There's someone outside. This presence—"
"No way."
Nasa went pale.
The two of them braced themselves.
But the other side didn't attack.
"...Come out. You don't need to be so frightened. I won't do anything today."
A voice came from outside.
A voice like ice at the bottom of a well, polite in tone.
Tsukikage no Shisha.
"...Don't go out, Sora-kun."
Nasa grabbed Sora's arm.
"But hiding here won't change anything. If that guy gets serious, he could blow up this whole house."
"Even so—"
"It's fine. If he just came to talk, I'll hear him out."
Sora shook off Nasa's hand and headed for the entrance.
---
Tsukikage no Shisha stood before the Yuzaki house.
His long silver hair gleamed coldly in the moonlight. His golden eyes had vertical pupils, announcing at a glance that he was not human.
His right arm was gone from the elbow down.
The arm Tsukasa had severed last night.
But the messenger seemed utterly unconcerned by the loss.
If anyt
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