Care to Dance?

Ayako watched the latter half of Kai's battle against Class 1-A. She liked the potential that she saw from everyone. Even though they had no experience fighting together, they knew how to use their powers and take advantage of the others' on an individual level. There was little coordinated teamwork, but that was to be expected right now. However, what she did see showed that there were already some good bonds between them. Deku and Yaoyorozu had done well there, each coming up with group tactics to wear their target down.

Still, she had some reasons to sigh. Mostly because of Kai. He had purposefully set things up to keep people out of the fight. Shoto's crowd control wasn't the only thing restricted by the mess Kai caused with his recklessness- Iida couldn't use his speed, Aoyama couldn't find a target most of the time, and some attacks were redirected into friendly fire.

Once the alarm went off, Ayako walked up to the class clapping slowly. Everyone had acted admirably, aside from Bakugo. He had sat back and watched, not wanting to work with anyone, and definitely not wanting to win only because of everyone else's efforts. He was content to watch as everyone broke themselves against Kai's defense.

Ayako really hated that. Her parents and Kai's mother had taught that the important thing is that the job gets done, not that you get personal glory. Her mom wasn't even really a hero. She had a hero's license to be able to rush into emergencies and act. Otherwise, she was just a doctor with a good healing Quirk.

Following her Quirk sense and her mother's teachings, she went through basic triage- checking everyone's injuries and gathering energy into them to accelerate healing. Luckily, nobody had taken too serious of damage. Kai had kept good control of his strength, and he didn't need her help with healing. The worst wound he had taken from the blow to the gut had already resolved itself.

Of course, at this point, it was hard to tell whether it was more his base Quirk, or Arachne's work.

"So, what do you think?" Kai asked Ayako.

"We've got some good people to work with! Most of them have good sense! The rest, I think we can work on," she said with approval.

Kai turned around to the class.

"In combat, the principles of strength are as I told you before- Strength, which allows you to gain Intelligence. With Intelligence, your efforts can give you Skills. And time spent applying your Skills will yield Experience. Experience outranks everything.

"Your Quirks already give you a foundation of strength. It would be difficult to work on that for all of you all at once today. So, we will discuss your battle intelligence.

"In my philosophy, the foundation of battle intelligence has two parts: sense and movement. Can anyone tell me why that is- and, not Yaoyorozu this time, she can't always be answering for you."

It was a moment before Deku raised his hand. He was thinking about the obstacle course from before.

"If you are in danger, you can only respond if you know it's coming and can move fast enough to do something."

"Exactly. The same goes for attacking as well. You can only hit your opponent if you know where they are and move fast enough to hit first."

Kai chuckled, thinking about how practice with his foster sisters had gone. Good times.

"Ayako has two little sisters. They are almost as good as me with this principle. Though, it was hard to teach them until I taught them the battle dance."

"What does dancing have to do with fighting or being a hero?" Jiro asked, puzzled.

"Ah, uh… hm…. it would be easier if we demonstrate." Kai waved Ayako over. "Take a seat, if you want."

Kai and Ayako bowed to each other in the style of two martial artists about to duel. When Kai raised his head, he had a goofy grin as he went into a ready stance.

"Care to dance, sister?"

"You are being too smug right now, so just prepare to get slapped!" came the energetic response. They hadn't sparred enough since moving here to Mustafu.

"Jiro, Yaoyorozu, since you two are musically inclined, if you would," Kai called out, clapping his hands together to set a rhythm.

With practiced movements, the two "siblings" began a series of strikes, blocks and dodges. Their attacks held to the steady, natural rhythm that Jiro and Yaoyorozu were clapping. Sharp, yet fluid, not a single movement was wasted as they attacked and defended.

In their minds, both Kai and Ayako kept time, occasionally breaking it for an advantageous attack, but always returning their movements to sync with the audience's timing. Watching, they could not deny, it was almost like they were dancing back and forth.

"All movement takes time," Kai said, taking a short break, circling Ayako and watching for an opening. "When a fight continues, the movements repeat. And repeating actions with time creates a rhythm. Allegro!"

After he set a faster timing for Jiro and Yaoyorozu, Kai and Ayako sped up their movements. However, neither stumbled as they accelerated. Freed to go faster, their movements also freed up, taking full advantage of the space given to them.

Once again, they held to the rhythm. This time, the rhythm changed back and forth in a way that was hard to discern for the audience. However, Kai and Ayako kept two words going back and forth in their minds with the changes.

"Waltz… Common... Waltz… Common…."

They knew each other well enough that they could maintain those musical timings even while working their hardest to make a meaningful strike against the other. They could be less predictable to each other to try for victory, but for this demonstration, it was better to highlight the "dance" within the battle.

So they kept time, dancing around each other as they looked for an opening to win the fight. After a minute, Kai backed off again, still keeping his movements in time with the current battle rhythm.

"When you know the rhythm of your opponents' attacks, you know when they are vulnerable. After all, part of an attack's time is recovery. A dodge or block will have the same window. You saw Deku approach this realm as he fought Bakago. Presto!"

"Really?" Ayako asked, incredulous. He'd just finished a 1v19 fight, and wanted to keep accelerating?

"Fine. Freestyle!"

With that shout, they abandoned the rhythm altogether. Now the rhythm almost lasted only the duration of single attacks before shifting. Nobody could sense it anymore.

Yet to Kai and Ayako, it was everything.

Every breath they took. Every move they made. Every step they took. All timed to minimize their vulnerability. Timed to be ready to strike. Timed to move. Always watching for an opportunity.

Of course, they weren't as perfect as that principle, but they were close enough to amaze.

For a long while, it wasn't clear who was going to win. It wasn't even clear what "winning" would mean for this sparring session. There had been several points where a grab should have ended it all, but Kai or Ayako would manage to break free and get back into their stance.

After another of those moments, they both stood at the ready, catching their breath and staring each other down.

"So… another draw?" Kai asked between breaths.

"… Yeah. I… think this has gone on… long enough…." Ayako was also tired.

With that, the tension left them and they both collapsed on the ground. They were both exhausted. Ayako had had the sensory advantage, her Quirk being able to tell her how Kai intended to move. Kai, on the other hand, had had speed and experience on his side.

Even with the jumps in ability that Arachne could give him, once Ayako had gained enough skill, it was difficult to get a clear win anymore. The sensory side of her Quirk made her the natural enemy to any organic thing.

It really was too bad the entrance exam was against her.

Kai coughed and looked to the class. They were abuzz, talking about what they had just witnessed.

"So there you have it. The constant battle of perception and movement. No matter the weapon or power, there will always be a pattern of time that will give you an advantage. I don't expect you to get to this level- our Quirks are just specialized for this. Besides, a real fight is hardly going to be this regular and predictable. However, I do expect you to be aware that there is more to being a hero than being powerful. More importantly, more ways to stay alive.

"I'm powerful, but not omnipotent or omniscient. Even if I was everywhere, I can't think everywhere. If you all were more isolated, there is no way I would be able to protect twenty people in twenty places at the same time. In the end, all of you will all need to protect yourselves. I will still try to protect you best as I can, but the more you need me, the less I will be able to do so.

"Learn to fight, that you may live, and the next time the League of Villains or anyone else comes to kill you, have the power to say, 'f**k you and all your ancestors back to that pig's ass you've taken your face from.'"

Ayako got up and stood beside her vulgar brother with a look of disapproval.

"Screw the tie, I'm calling it my win, jerk," she said, punctuating the latter half with smacks upside the back of his head.