A Lost Creation

Stat Farming

You nod, listening intently to what he had to say, finding the lack of reaction he had to your quirk fascinating.

"Do it again." He orders, raising to his full height once more.

You reach for him, more confidently this time, only for him to move out of the way swiftly. You frown, reaching for him again, only for him to take a step back far enough away from you to stop you from being able to reach him easily.
You're about to voice a complaint when he beckons you towards him. You eagerly comply, under the impression that he may finally let you do what he asked this time.
Except he doesn't.
The second you get close enough to touch him, he leaps back, a giant grin on his face.

"Stop!" You whine, beginning to feel embarrassed that he was evading you so easily in front of Spinner.

"I never said I'd make it easy." Shigaraki grins. "Gotta raise your stats."

You make a noise of confusion, raising your arms in exasperation and looking over at Spinner for a translation.

"He means he wants you to learn to be quicker, maybe a little stronger. More observant." Spinner explains, smiling gently at you.

Shigaraki is still standing in place, waiting for you to move towards him again.
You think about what Spinner just told you. You weren't confident that you would ever be faster than Shigaraki. He was pretty quick, even from what little you'd seen. You were a little clunky on your feet at the minute, something Dabi put down to a 'growth spurt'. You definitely wouldn't be stronger than Shigaraki too now that he was carrying a little more weight. So you'd have to be observant, and work around your physical shortfalls.

You hatch a plan relatively quickly, wasting no time in pretending to lunge for Shigaraki again, being a little quicker this time.
As expected, he slips away from your touch, clearly having expected you to try to be faster after what Spinner had said. But he doesn't expect you to 'trip' and fall to the floor, giving a false yelp of pain.
Spinner is by your side before Shigaraki is, his arm wrapped around you as he worries over you, asking what's wrong.

You whimper until you see Shigaraki's red sneakers in your line of sight, your hand flying out to make contact with his leg, your eyes shining with pride when you activate your quirk with an annoyed hiss from Shigaraki.

"Got you!" You announce, looking up at him with shining eyes.

"Star!" Spinner exclaims in shock before laughing and rubbing your arm.

You deactivate your quirk, still kneeling on the floor and looking up at Shigaraki with a smug grin. He grins back down at you, crouching and scratching your scalp gently with three fingers.

"Stealthy. Good work." He praises, holding his fist out for a fist bump.

You bump his fist, beaming with pride now and getting up onto your feet in sync with him.

"You know 'tag'?" He asks, tilting his head.

You shake your head. "What's a tag?"

Spinner looks saddened by your response, but Shigaraki seems unphased, humming thoughtfully and scratching at his neck a couple times before dropping his hand to his side.

"Tag is when you chase someone and try to touch them to 'tag' them." He explains. "I want you to play tag with me and Spinner. Only you'll be turning your quirk on and off. Does that make sense?"

"But..." You look at Spinner anxiously.

Shigaraki was used to being sick, but not Spinner. And you didn't want to make him sick. You didn't like making anyone sick, but knowing Shigaraki could deal with it better than the others made you feel a little better training with him.
Spinner smiles at you reassuringly.