It wasn’t until five minutes after Mirio had coolly exited Stark Building did he realized that he had forgotten there was no place for him to stay.
With no money to his name, Mirio cursed the gods for his stupidity in trying to look cool in front of his new boss – Happy Hogan.
“Sigh… Mirio… you just had to go for the cool exit?” He complained aloud “Why couldn’t you exit like a normal person… a normal exit would have been fine… even a professional exit would have been better… You could have even moon-walked outside but you just had to look cool…”
Mirio pulled out a map from his pocket and started to scan for forested areas that could be used as a campsite.
Unlike Deku and the other students, he was in his final year on the UA campus so he was taught survival techniques and all other survival-necessary skills.
Tracing his fingers to plot a detailed course on the map, his finger briefly paused when he noticed that Metro-General Hospital was exactly a straight shot for about two miles from his current location.
Earlier he had spent so much time trying to become lost that he pretty much just prolonged a journey that should have taken a couple of minutes at most.
“Dr Christina Palmer did say I could ask her for help if need be…” he mused and began running without thinking too deeply into the topic.
After all, he required all the help he could get to navigate this unusual world where only one person in the entirety of America had a quirk.
....................
Dr Christina Palmer (Metro-General Hospital, Signing Off)
“You’re signing off pretty early today…” Dr Strange commented, seeing that Christina, the usually late worker, was unpacking her locker to leave early.
“I helped someone today and I feel pretty good about it so I’m heading home to take a few drinks…” Christina joked happily though she was entirely serious.
Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow arrogantly “How about you join me at that new expensive restaurant downtown for a little pirouette?”
“Which restaurant is that?” Christina asked half-interestingly.
She was currently in the romance phase with Dr. Strange and though none of them would admit it, there was some sexual tension between them.
However, Dr. Strange is as arrogant as he is brilliant and Christina is reserved when it comes to personal relationships. Two personalities that didn’t mesh very well.
“Any restaurant you want… that’s the beauty of being rich and a lifesaver…” Dr Strange shrugged, walking to his own locker which was much larger than all the others “Nobody wants to offend me because they could one day be lying on my surgical table…”
Christina ceased her flirtatious attitude and exited the locker room without a word.
She could tell that Dr. Strange really cared about those he treated but she also had to admit that his arrogance was as obnoxious as it was cute.
“Hey, you didn’t give me an answer…” Dr Strange shouted, running out of the locker room in a hurry.
Christina laughed happily since he made the effort to chase after her but she wouldn’t give in so easily “I wouldn’t want the Great Stephen Strange to waste his time on this lowly nurse…”
With one last laugh, Christina was inside the elevator watching a wryly smiling Dr. Strange re-enter the locker room in defeat.
---------------
Christina felt like she was walking on clouds as she exited the elevator and made her way through the hospital’s entrance.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
At least, it was all clouds and rainbows until she stepped outside and found a very dishevelled Mirio sleeping between two partitions near the entrance.
She hesitated at first but ultimately decided to check on this recent patient of hers “Hey… hey… wake up Mirio…”
Mirio hopped to his feet and glanced around wearily until he confirmed that Christina was alone “Of course, I knew you were next to me thanks to my awesome heroic senses...” he joked, earning a few small giggles from Christina.
“So what’s wrong… are you out of pills or something?” Christina asked a bit disappointed, thinking that her patient was a junky.
“No, I am not!” Mirio responded swiftly, noticing the change in the atmosphere “I am seeking accommodations and you said that you can assist me where necessary…”
“Oh… easy…” Christina sighed, pulling Mirio along as they hopped into her vehicle nearby “I know some great hotels around the place… really affordable too so just tell me your budget…”
Mirio frowned, digging around in his pockets a bit before answering “Are there any boarding schools or free hotels here? Maybe even comfortable park benches will be enough…”
Christina sighed realizing the issue “Why didn’t you just say you wanted to stay with me in the first place?”
“I was hoping that you’d offer before I embarrassed myself…” Mirio replied honestly “But… It will only be for a brief period of two weeks. I got a job and I will be able to pay rent before moving out…”
Christina hesitated “Mirio… I don’t know you that well and-” but she paused and remembered that her devil of a niece would be staying at her house for the next month “Well… I think I have someone you can be friends with at my house so sure… why not?”
Mirio frowned, not expecting Christina to agree so easily but he was grateful nonetheless “Thank you… It’s only for a month and I will pay my dues…”
Christin nodded, holding back a small smile “Yeah… only for a month and free of charge…” she said, but her mind thought ‘If you even manage to last that long…’
....................................
20 Minutes Later (Christina’s Apartment Complex) ------------
Christina popped open the car door after parking and guided Mirio to the elevator.
Mirio eyed the huge apartment complex suspiciously “Are you perhaps… rich?”
“I work at one of the most prestigious medical institutions in the country as a nurse second to only two men with inflated egos… I have contributed to several new medical techniques… what do you think?”
“So you are rich?” Mirio clarified, now in the elevator with Christina as she pressed the button for the highest floor.
Christina smirked “Almost filthy…”
Mirio shook his head in disappointment “I don’t think I’d be able to afford sleeping on the stairs, let alone in a room you provide…”
Christina shrugged “I am not too concerned about the money… I have a feisty little critter in my home so as long as you can exorcise it… or at the very least tame it, then I can have you live with me indefinitely…”
Mirio laughed happily at the thought of getting to stay in such a fancy place for free “Lucky for you, us Japanese are experts when it comes to slaying demons and exorcising spirits…”
‘I really hope so…’ Christina thought as the elevator came to a stop and she escorted Mirio to one of the only two doors on the entire floor.
The moment the door was pushed open…
Bang
Mirio barely managed to catch a dish tossed towards his face with the strength of a baseball pitcher.
Christina walked into the house as if nothing happened, paying no attention to the girl sprawled over the kitchen table looking as if she was suffering from starvation.
“Chrissy… now I know why you never had kids…” The girl complained, too lazy to move a muscle “It wasn’t because of menopause like I thought… It’s because you’d forget to feed them right?”
Christina’s mouth twitched hearing the familiarity with which her niece referred to her “I may have spoiled you just a bit too much growing up…”
Before the niece could make a snarky reply, Mirio had already subtly appeared at her side, axe-chopping her in the head causing her tongue to suffer a self-inflicted wound.
“It is dangerous to throw things at people…” Mirio chastised, surprising both Christina and her niece.
“You motherfuc-”
Just as the niece was about to curse Mirio to the high heavens, she slipped while leaning the table a bit too much forward and went head first towards the ground.
Mirio reacted quickly, spinning around while ducking, generating enough momentum to catch the niece and hop to his feet, holding her in a bridal carry like the true gentleman he was.
With her face so close to Mirio, the niece couldn’t help but notice his handsome features and stuttered a bit incoherently before deciding it was best not to appear too unladylike in front of someone so obviously kind.
“Are you okay?” Mirio asked, directing a brilliantly shining smile at the niece who looked kind of smug to Christina.
‘He tamed her so quickly? Where is the headstrong, foulmouthed, sly, and mischievous girl I know?’ Christina thought in a daze, expecting at least a little fistfight “Mirio… I would like you to meet my 15-YEAR-OLD niece Jessica Jones…” Christina placed great emphasis on Jessica’s age as a warning to Mirio “And Jessica I would like you to meet Mirio Togata… how old are you again Mirio?”
“Seventeen years old… but eighteen in a few months…” Mirio replied while unhurriedly placing Jessica onto her feet.
‘Fuck! The age cap is nearly negligible…’ Christina cursed inside her mind wondering if she had just brought a lion into a lioness’s home.