Six Devils

Prologue

     I stared blankly at the missing poster sitting on the dinner table. It had my childhood friend's cheerful face plastered above text stating his Mother's contact information. I had a million emotions whirling through my mind like a hurricane, most of them being synonyms for anger. My Mom stared down at me with her lips set in a tight line, trying not to show how they were quivering. It was a competition of who could keep composed the longest, and lucky for me, my Mom broke first. Her fingernails dug into the table as the tears her eyes were holding onto so desperately tumbled out. I sprung to my feet and wrapped my arms around her tightly, my calm facade crumbling as well.

"I should have taken him seriously." I whimpered into my Mom's tear streaked shoulder. After a short silence my Mom pulled away with a look of worry.

"Took what seriously?" Her voice grew more and more quiet with each word and I could clearly see that she already knew the answer to her own question.

"Lately he's been telling me that he's going to run away and that I should go with him. I thought he was joking so I just laughed at it, but now he's gone." My hands clapped over my mouth after the last word, and I had to drag in a deep breath to keep from bursting into angry tears again. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling hot tears leaving trails down my face. I felt my Mom's forehead press against mine and her hands gently wrapped around my wrists.

"Katsuki..." I don't know if she was going to say anything more than my name, but she lost her chance when the door swung open and we heard my Dad's heavy footfalls coming toward us. Mom released my wrists and turned to my Dad with a sad look.

"I just heard the news.' My Dad gasped like he had run all the way home from work. I could hear rain pounding against the windows, but I didn't need to hear that to know it was pouring out as he was completely drenched. I could hear the thunder cackling at my situation as I sat back down at the dinner table. I felt my Dad's large and calloused hand land on my shoulder and give it a squeeze, but I had drifted away. Drifted back to the last time I saw Izuku and his mop of green hair, and his freckles, and his bright green eyes. I grasped at my memory of him, desperately trying to memorize it, because I was almost certain I would never see Izuku Midoriya again.