Osaka, Japan -- December 8th, 1941
The sirens wailed like ghost mourning the dead, echoing through the broken alleys of Osaka. Smoke licked the sky, painting it gray, as if the heavens themselves had begun to cry. Inside a crumbling tailor shop tucked behind a once-bustling street, Kio stood barefoot on cold wooden floors, her silk nightgown torn at the hem, blood dried beneath her feet.
She didn't flinch at the sound of glass cracking in the distance. She barely blinked.
Her mother, Camilla, had pressed a trembling kiss to her forehead moments before running into the chaos to find Kade--her rebellious older brother who had vanished the night before with a whisper of defiance and a knife hidden in his coat. Yuka, his twin, had locked the doors behind their mother and sat in silence by the window, her face a mirror of calm-- but her hands clutched the prayer beads of a faith she no longer believed in.
Kio didn't cr. She hadn't since the first time her father, Colonel Haru, lined them up like soldiers and declared they would survive this war even if it broke them into pieces.
She stepped forward, fingers brushing the edge of her mother's sewing table, where scraps of Italian lace and Japanese silk were scattered like remnants of a forgotten peace. There, tucked between folded fabric, was a half-stitched dress Kio was meant to wear for her 16th birthday---the same day the world outside decided to burn.
The floorboards creaked. Yuka's voice broke the silence.
"Do you think Mom will be back?"
Kio stared at the dress. Her voice was soft but sharp.
"No."
A beat of silence passed
"Then what do we do?" Yuka whispered.
Kio turned to her sister, eyes cold, lips pale. "We run."
"But dad--"
"He made us soldiers. Now we survive like them."
The girls packed nothing but the dress and the beads. Kio tied her long black hair into a braid with a thread of crimson silk--her mother's favorite color. Then, with flames curling on the horizon and the sound of death marching through the streets, Kio and Yuka slipped into the night.
They didn't know yet that across the sea, in Italy, a boy whose family whispered of violence and honor would one day offer Kio more than survival--he'd offer love. But for now, The Silent Fate had begun, and all they had was each other... and a path paved in ashes.