Letter

"speech" 'thoughts'

8 - Letter

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I followed Tsuko and Kio, Nejire walking right beside me while humming in a carefree fashion, walking past multiple shops in the process. We were in a mall, well known for the quality of their products which was of the highest in Japan.

The clamoring of voices was constant all around us, despite the strict entry standards of this mall, there was a surprisingly good number of people here.

Eventually we reached a tailor shop, it didn't seem much different than any of the other tailor shops we passed along the way, but Tsuko said that there was more to it than meets the eye, the owner of the shop also being a close friend of Kio apparently.

As soon as we entered, we were immediately greeted with beverages presented by the clothiers and other workers of the shop, riches and power do have their merits.

We spent 50 minutes in the shop, getting our measurements taken, and choosing the material to be used for the suits took longer than it should've taken, mostly due to Nejire and Tsuko's differing opinions, the former leaning towards her own personal preference, while the latter tipped towards formality and objective criticisms.

And of course, I and Kio watched on the sidelines in silence, in these situations, it would be best to let them figure it out on their own. I chuckled at the thought, this situation gave me quite the dose of nostalgia.

As we walked out the door of the shop, Tsuko came forward and asked.

"Hyrus, do you want to go find more about the necklace now and talk to the owner, or should we go buy dresses for me and Nejire first?" She flashed a small smile.

After thinking for a few seconds, I responded. "I would like to go meet the owner of the shop first please, if Nejire and dad don't have a problem with it."

Tsuko turned her head to Kio and Nejire, silently asking for their opinion.

"Not a problem for me, we've already gotten our suits tailored after all."

"Nope! I'm okay with whatever you decide!" Nejire said, unperturbed as usual.

Tsuko turned back to me. "Well okay then, let's head to the shop. Follow m–"

"–Follow me!" Nejire jumped up and down in excitement as she started skipping ahead of us.

Watching Nejire, Kio let out a loud chuckle and Tsuko did too.

"You heard her, come on."

In the end, Tsuko ended up leading us anyway, Nejire got lost halfway through the journey, silly girl.

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I now sat in a small luxurious room, the office of the owner of this shop. Tsuko had called for the owner and was now outside with Kio and Nejire. You might think that leaving your 3 year kid alone in a room to meet a stranger is irresponsible and stupid, which isn't wrong in most cases, but in mine things were a little different.

While walking around the mall, I've noticed a lot of people discreetly following us, most likely hired protection that Kio and Tsuko ordered to protect us. My theory was reinforced when Tsuko was fine with leaving me alone in this room.

Anyways, I am about to get more information on the necklace, all I need to is just wait.

A few minutes later, a man opened the door to the room and went inside. His sweaty and tired appearance failed to mask his anxiousness, most likely rushing here once he heard that the CEO and COO of HypeTech were in his shop looking for him.

That aside, the man looks as flamboyant as they come, he had long blonde hair and yellow eyes, donning a white tailcoat with a light blue vest and pants, the man had quite the unique fashion sense.

He bowed and said. "G– Good afternoon Sir, I heard from Madam Hado that you had something you wanted to ask me?"

I stood up and greeted back. "Good afternoon, Sir..?" I asked for his name, as a formality of sorts.

"I– It's Pero, Sir Hyrus you can drop the formalities with me, I'd be in trouble if I made you call me sir." He said with a smile, though I could tell he was more than serious about the trouble he would face, but even if he did I wouldn't care that much.

"Good afternoon Pero, I just wanted to ask about this piece here." I said while pointing to the necklace hanging from my neck.

His eyes widened for a minute moment, not expecting me to be well-spoken. "A– Ah yes of course. Let me see." He focused his attention towards the necklace, observing it. "Yes, I know this one. If I'm not wrong, this is the necklace one of my employees told me that Madam Nejire and Madam Tsuko purchased about a week or two ago correct?"

I nodded. "Yes it is."

"I see, well what is it about this necklace that you want to know Sir Hyrus? I should have all the details about it in one of the drawers here in my office, I can get it for you if you'd like."

"Yes, if you kindly would." He then nodded and gestured for me to sit down, to which I did.

He went behind his desk and started searching for a few seconds, eventually he walked back to me and handed me a folder containing a hefty amount of paperwork.

"This should be all we have about this certain piece of jewelry Sir Hyrus, if you have any more questions, please, just ask."

I nodded in acknowledgement at his words, and started reading the contents of the folder. It was mostly irrelevant information and details I've already learned from Tsuko's certificate, but then I reached a page about the provider of the necklace.

Just like in the certificate, the provider was anonymous, only the location of where it was shipped from was stated about the supplier and nothing else.

However, at the end of the page, there was a note that read,

'If you have bought the necklace, please read the letter that came with the necklace.'

Looking back up at Pero, I inquired. "It says here that there should be a letter that came with the necklace, do you know where it is?"

"Yes Sir, it should be at the last page of the folder." He contemplated.

Flipping the pages over, I found a small blue envelope stuck to the last page.

Written on it in red ink was,

'If you are not the owner of the necklace, do not read this letter. We will find out if you read it, we have our means.'

I opened the envelope and took out the letter, unfolding its creases and straightened it out.

As I read the first words that was written in the letter, my eyed immediately widened in surprise and alarm.

It read,

'Hyrus Harber, Croxia, and Hado, you must have a lot of questions.'

So the necklace really did come from something otherworldly being, if it knew my previous name, a person or thing, that I did not know.

'I will not be able to answer all of them, but I hope to clear up any doubts you have.'

'Regarding your reincarnation, it was a few millennium ago that we started a program of sorts, a program to balance the beginning and end of the universe, that's all I can reveal to you now, but rest assured, the whole truth will be found by you in due time and nor will it be a problem to you. You were chosen for a reason.'

'As of now, I emplore you to live, to do what you want, there will be surprises, but worry not, the necklace will be with you the entire way, that alone will fulfill the purpose of the program. Once you stop something, the rest will start.'

'One last thing, your lovers are waiting, they might not know why currently, but they are alive and scattered, they know you will come. Do with this information what you will.'

'To Hyrus Harber, The Chosen, Hyrus Croxia, The Beast That Preys, The Apex, The Polar, The Stranger, The Hero, The Negative, etc, and to Hyrus Hado, The Unknown, The Variable.

'From I and Us, The First Pages.'

I reached the end of the short and cryptic letter, leaving me with a desire to know more, yet also a sense of fullness. Whoever wrote the letter said just enough, I learned what I needed to but not all I wanted to. The only thing I was really dissatisfied by, was that they made me remember all the edgy and corny nicknames I was given in my previous world, though there are some new ones I haven't heard of, like the ones I had in my 1st life and my current one.

The mysteries of my reincarnations expanded, I assume I am apart of this program they speak of, whatever it is, it seems they don't have any ill intentions towards me just yet, they spoke of surpises, but they could lie as easily as they hide.

What alarmed me the most was the segment about my lovers, Scattered where? What did they mean when they said that they are waiting? But at the very least, I knew that they were alive, and that's all it'll take for me to calm down for now, I married some very fine and capable women if I do say so myself.

I could try and rush everything forwards, but haste has never lead me to making it in time, only towards grim situations, the also letter said to live my life, I don't think rushing is the answer.

After my contemplation, I finally looked away from the letter and saw Pero standing there, he was sweating bullets, he must've seen my expressions while reading the letter.

"I– Is everything alright sir..?" He asked me nervously.

"Nothing is wrong Pero, though I want to know, have you or any of your employees read this letter before?" It would be trouble if they have, hopefully they heeded the warning written on the envelope.

"No sir, while we are one of the lesser known and less prestigious jewelry stores in this shopping center, I take pride in our ability to always follow the specifications of the customer and the providers. I assure you that no one has touched that letter since its arrival here."

I nodded and stood up, putting the letter back in the envelope and putting it in my pocket. "Well that was all I needed from you Pero, I hope you don't mind if I take this letter."

"Not at all Sir Hyrus, it was meant to be given to the buyer upon purchase anyways, I hope you don't take this error to heart." He said with a nervous smile.

"I won't. I'll be going now, I'll tell mom to compensate you well for your troubles." And I walked out the door.

Seeing as the store was empty, I went outside and saw Kio, Tsuko, and Nejire there, all eating a different flavor ice cream.

"Big Brother Hy! I saved this one for you." Nejire ran up to me and handed me a cone of Mint chocolate flavored ice cream.

"Thank you little Nejire." I said and patted her head with my other hand.

After going back to Kio and Tsuko, Tsuko asked me a question.

"Did you find out what you wanted to Hyrus?" I nodded to answer her.

"Alright then! Let's go and get dresses for me and Nejire."

"Follow m–"

"–Follow me!" Nejire interrupted her again, and with a spring in her step, started to skip towards the supposed direction of the women's section.

Tsuko sighed and started following her silently, a stark contrast to Kio, whose laughter was echoing throughout the mall unrestrained.

We then spent the rest of the day helping Tsuko and Nejire pick out dresses and outfits, to which the final amount could last them about a whole year. Even with the outrageous amount of money we had,Tsuko and Nejire still insisted on making us carry their purchases, it was quite the workout for my young body, at least enough to where I don't think I'll need to work out tonight.

I guess some things never do change, shopping with women is hell.