The Tourist || Kiribaku

The Main Character

Kirishima Eijirou was bored out of his mind. The train ride to Venice was much longer than expected and he, regrettably, brought only one book with him, which was slowly but surely coming to its end. Faintly, he heard the automatic train doors open, but he chose not to tear his eyes away from his half-read spy novel. Not until he heard a noise maybe too close for comfort and he realized there is someone sitting right in front of him. And a very good looking someone at that.

"I'm sorry," Eijirou blurted out without thinking and set his book aside. The man in front of him was eyeing him with a natural expression, loose strands of blond hair hanging around his eyes.

"What for?" he asked with a surprisingly deep voice.

What was he supposed to answer? Eijirou himself wasn't sure why he said that. So, he just sat there, flustered at the fact that this hot guy in a perfectly fitted suit is talking to him, him, some random tourist in cargo shorts and embarrassingly red crocs. Give him a break, he is going on a vacation to Venice. Had he expected to meet a guy like this, of course he would have prepared more, but too late-

"An interesting book you've got there." The deep voice interrupted his thoughts once more as the man nodded in the direction of Eijirou's hands, still clutching the half-read novel.

"Do you know it?" Eijirou asked, eager to continue the conversation.

"You could say that," he replied mysteriously and leaned his head on the window, chin resting on his palm. They spend the next few minutes in silence, both looking out the window. Just before Eijirou started to consider returning back to his book, the man spoke once more. "I'm Bakugou," he murmured so lowly, Eijirou almost didn't catch it.

"Kirishima," he replied right away.

Bakugou snickered and looked back at him. "That's a fucking awful name."

He laughed at that, grateful the unfamiliar tension between them had disappeared. "It's the only one I've got."

"Fuck that, I'll find you another." Bakugou's red eyes glinted as he stared straight into Eijirou's.

All that Eijirou was able to reply to that was a simple "Okay." Then, silence fell upon them once more. But Kirishima was eager to find out more about this man. After a few more minutes, he gathered enough courage to ask "So, what brings you to Venice?"

Before replying, Bakugou looked him up and down, his gaze again stopping at the book in the other man's hands. "You read spy novels. I'm a mysterious guy on a train. You tell me what my story is."

That was an answer Eijirou did not expect. He stopped for a second and contemplated his response. "You are a writer who's been suffering from a lack of inspiration for the past three years so you travel around the world and talk to random strangers on trains in a desperate need for ideas. And now you are headed to Venice, hoping there is something waiting for you."

The other man hummed at that. "And what kind of shit is waiting for me?"

"Probably trouble," Eijirou looked out the window once more, eyes unfocused as the world passed them by. "It's not a proper spy novel if the main character doesn't encounter some trouble."

"I like that," Bakugou smirked. "Being the main character in your book." Their eyes met once more.

"Invite me to dinner, Kirishima."

If at that moment Eijirou was drinking, he would have definitely spat out his drink. Thankfully, he was saved from that. Instead, eyes wide and eyebrows knitted together in confusion, he uttered "What?"

The other man just raised an eyebrow, expecting him to comply.

"Erm..." Eijirou felt unsure for a moment but managed to gather up courage once more and indeed asked "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

"I don't like questions."

"Okay, then... Join me for dinner."

"Too demanding."

"Join me for dinner?"

Bakugou simply rolled his eyes. Eijirou realized he'd just asked another question.

Leaning back into his chair, he thought of other ways to word the invitation. "I'm having dinner," he started again, determined. "It would be nice if you would join me."

"You're damn bad at this, you know that?"

And yet, somehow, some time later in the food cart, Kirishima ended up having dinner with this mysterious man. They talked some more - he found out that Bakugou is visiting Venice to meet up with an old friend but not much more. He seemed like the kind of man that is hesitant to disclose much information about him. Eijirou didn't mind however. At the very least, the sixteen hour train ride definitely didn't bore him anymore.

"Writer?" Bakugou asked. He shook his head. The blond's been trying to guess Eijirou's occupation for a while now, unsuccessfully. Kirishima found it amusing how Bakugou grew more and more frustrated with each question.

"I'm a kindergarten teacher," Eijirou finally revealed.

Bakugou snickered. "Well, poor fucking children."

He couldn't help but laugh. The way Bakugou spoke did not reflect his appearance at all. When he first saw him, Eijirou thought he would be some stuck up businessman. He's glad he made the wrong assumption. Just as he was about to ask about Bakugou's job, Kirishima noticed two suspicious looking men in suits looking at them from the back of the food cart. One of them had a phone in his hand, but Kirishima could see his eyes kept wandering towards him and Bakugou.

"I have a strange feeling that those two guys are watching us," he said to Bakugou and prayed to the heavens he wouldn't laugh at him.

Instead, the blond raised an eyebrow but casually looked around. "You might be right."

They looked at each other for a second, Kirishima concerned, Bakugou's expression neutral.

Then, the other man sneered and shook his head. "A paranoid kindergarten teacher."

Eijirou laughed awkwardly, palm at the back of his neck. Yeah, maybe he was being paranoid. Why would anyone be watching them? Those spy novels are definitely getting to him.

"So, what's a kindergarten teacher doing alone on a train to Venice?" Bakugou, once again, snapped him back to reality.

"Well, originally I didn't plan on going alone..." Palm still resting on the nape of his neck, Eijirou averted his eyes at the painful memory. "We broke up and I didn't want the money to go to waste."

Now it was time for Bakugou to turn his gaze at the window as he muttered quietly "That sucks."

Just as Kirishima was preparing to reply, a robotic female voice resonated from the speakers. "Attention all passengers, the train will arrive at the Venezia Santa Lucia station in ten minutes. End of the line."

"Uhm, I guess I should go get my suitcase." Standing up, Eijirou looked at Bakugou, who was still gazing out the window. Properly looked at him. After all, they will probably never see each other again. "Goodbye, Bakugou. And... thank you."

At that, Bakugou just nodded and Kirishima decided it was time to leave.