~BNHA~ The Echoes of Silence

Untitled Part 11

Early morning light seeped through the curtains of Katsuki Bakugou's bedroom, casting a pale glow across the disarray of clothes and personal items strewn about. The chaotic scene mirrored the turmoil in Katsuki's mind as he prepared for a confrontation that could alter the course of his friendship with Izuku.

With each restless movement around the room, Katsuki's actions were sharp yet punctuated by moments of hesitation. His thoughts repeatedly drifted to a day spent with Izuku before the tragedy of Ibarra's death—a day that had symbolized a breakthrough in their complex relationship, now overshadowed by doubt and suspicion.

The shrill ring of the phone sliced through the room's silence, snapping Katsuki back to reality. It was his father on the line, his voice laden with concern. "Katsuki, are you sure about this? You don't need to face this alone."

"I have to, Dad. I need to know the truth from him, directly," Katsuki replied, his voice terse as he paced the room, the weight of the impending meeting heavy on his shoulders.

"Keep your GPS on, and call me if anything feels off," his father insisted, the worry palpable in his tone.

"Yeah, I will," Katsuki muttered, eager to end the call and focus on what lay ahead. The call concluded with a soft click, leaving him in a brief, contemplative silence.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Katsuki approached his desk, cluttered with evidence and notes that now demanded his attention. He retrieved the photos he'd secretly taken at the police station—grainy images that haunted him with their implications. Laying them out, he scrutinized each one under the harsh light of his desk lamp, seeking clues in the eerie calm of the staged crime scenes.

The killer depicted Ibarra in the community garden, holding an olive branch in her hand, arranging her body with unsettling care. And Katsuki found Nana wrapped in ribbons, propped against a fountain in a park under renovation, with each element of the scene meticulously crafted.

"Laid out like a macabre art display," Katsuki murmured, tracing the outline of the olive branch in Ibarra's photo. The symbol, traditionally one of peace, here seemed to mock its own meaning. "An olive branch... is it peace, or something darker?" he pondered, his mind racing with possibilities.

The killer was clearly communicating through these symbols, staging each murder as part of a twisted narrative. "Who are you trying to reach with this message?" Katsuki spoke into the silence of his room, his tone a mix of frustration and determination. He knew unraveling the symbolism was crucial to understanding the killer's motives and, ultimately, their identity.

As he scribbled down another note, his phone buzzed sharply against the wooden surface of the desk, breaking his concentration. He glanced at the caller ID—Inasa. Bracing himself for more unsettling details, he picked up the phone.

"Katsuki, we've got some updates from the lab," Inasa's voice came through, heavy with both exhaustion and urgency. "They found non-native plant traces on Ibarra's clothing and an unexplained bite mark on her calf. We're not sure yet if the bite happened before or after her death."

Katsuki's brow furrowed as he absorbed the information from Inasa. "What about the ribbons with Nana? Anything similar there?"

"No, nothing. It seems like each crime scene... each victim is personalized somehow," Inasa replied, his voice laden with fatigue.

Katsuki pinned the locations of related crimes on a large map on his wall, connecting them with strings. "It sounds like the killer is deliberately staging these murders. Are they trying to tell us something with these personal touches?"