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[Style]
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…
-Insert old west duel music-
"Seiji."
"Taka."
Both contestants stood meters apart, gazes narrowed, and faces scrunched in hostility.
Their fingers twitched as if itching to draw, despite having no pistols.
A lone cloud of dust drifted by between them, like something straight out of a desert showdown.
Then, Taka took his stance, and Seiji did the same.
"Your luck's up, old man," the edgy teenager declared, fingers curling like claws.
"Hah. Didn't you say the same thing yesterday? I recall you ended up on the floor after that." The blond man mocked, one hand on top of his head, the other on his butt, knees bent faintly, and tail wiggling enthusiastically. An immaculate imitation of the classic monkey scratching pose.
"How does that stance even work…?" Taka muttered, sweatdropping.
"By confusing amateurs like you, kid."
"I'm not confused, I just made you think I was, so YOU get confused."
"And I'm confusing you by making you believe I was confused by your confusion."
"SEIJI!"
"TAKA!"
With that bizarre exchange, the stand-off and the building tension ended—and soon, the two lunged at each other like hungry beasts.
Taka struck first, claw turning into a full-on fist, and aiming directly at Seiji's face.
—Swish!—
Unfortunately, his punch was fast, but Seiji was faster.
Moments before impact, Seiji spun mid-charge, dodging by centimeters, and then casually fixing his hair as he passed by the charging Taka.
The teenager stumbled forward after his fist met no target, clicking his tongue—
-Slap!-
—only to receive a smug tail-whack to the back of his head right the next instant.
Annoyed, he spun with a backfist.
Seiji ducked effortlessly, then used his tail to hook Taka's legs out from under him, slamming the kid to the ground.
—Thud!—
The fall did little physical damage, but it sure caused Taka a lot of emotional damage.
'This guy is aura farming an aura farmer…' Taka groaned inwardly, shooting Seiji a glare.
Then, he scrambled back up in no time and lunged again—this time opening with something new.
A flurry of blows, punches, and kicks combined, but switching unpredictably, hoping to overwhelm Seiji.
Sadly, without any stat-boosting, Taka was still far too slow.
Seiji merely hopped back, dodging each strike by making distance. Turning the duel into a chase in which Taka threw his attacks, and Seiji continued going reverse.
-Tack!-
"Ah?!"
Sadly, it all came to an end when, during one of Taka's attacks, Seiji grabbed his wrist, pulled Taka towards him, and then slammed a palm strike into his chin.
—Thud!—
The kid staggered back, his chin reddening, before collapsing onto his knees and falling flat with a groan.
"Dammit…"
Seiji snorted, hands in his pockets. "What did I tell you about chin strikes?"
"Never let them hit. Yeah, yeah, I know…" Taka clicked his tongue.
"At this rate, you'll barely qualify by the time U.A. starts," Seiji muttered, massaging his chin with a troubled expression.
Taka's eyebrow twitched.
Then, to top it off, Seiji waved at him dismissively before turning away. "Forget it, kid. I'm not feeling rusty anymore."
And like that, he began walking away.
'Shit,' Taka cursed inwardly.
He glanced at his status. His stats were fine—more than fine. He was over twice as strong as when they started training, and that was without aura boosting him.
So why the hell was he still getting clowned on by this guy?
Was it really just a stat issue?
No. That wasn't it—or maybe just partly.
He recalled the mission that had sparked this obsession of his with winning, how it had asked him to learn to dance, and to beat a more serious Seiji in combat.
He reminisced about Seiji's words.
'Fights are like a dance,' Taka repeated in his mind, his eyes narrowing in thought. 'It's a constant back-and-forth of predicting the other's movements until one side falls behind.'
With that definition in mind, Taka's mind went back to the fight they had just had. His face scrunching in distaste as he recalled how quickly they ended.
'In my case, there's a "back" but no "forth." I attack, he counters, but I never respond... I just end up on the floor.'
He thought about the tail sweep and the chin strike from earlier. Frown deepening.
'Like he said… predict the prediction of the prediction. But I'm not predicting anything, and I find it hard to do so when that guy moves so wildly... Meanwhile, he's predicting everything I'll do.'
With a frustrated slap to both cheeks, Taka snapped himself awake—earning a curious glance from Seiji.
'Focus, you dumbass. Remember what you said once? "I'm a God, and All Might is my errand boy." If I don't end this crap today, who the hell am I to say that?!'
Then, Taka did something that made Seiji pause.
He placed his palms on the ground—spun wildly—and pushed himself up into a clean landing, stance rising anew.
'Predicting him may still be a bit too much for now, but that doesn't mean I'm helpless. If I can't predict him, then all I gotta do is even the field.'
Right away, his stance began shifting; this time, no more martial artist-ish, instead, it seemed way more relaxed, but ready to snap at any minute.
'Hah… Now that I think about it, the mission itself made it pretty clear as to what the answer was. If the movements he's taught me are obviously easy for him to predict, then all I gotta do is use movements he hasn't taught me.'
He took a deep breath.
'Let's just hope all this practice was worth something.'
And so, with that resolve burning in him, Taka lifted a hand and beckoned.
"Come on, you son of a chimp. One last time."
Seiji's eye twitched.
"Haha, I was wondering what you were up to… Alright. I suppose there's still a little rust left to brush off."
Cracking his neck and knuckles, Seiji retook his stance, smirking confidently.
"Alright, come at me, little Taka."
Taka snorted, a confident grin tugging at his lips.
"No, you come at me."
Seiji raised an eyebrow but didn't move. "No, you come."
"Nah, you come."
Seiji shrugged. "Little kids first."
Taka shrugged back. "Elderly first."
Silence. Neither moved.
"What's wrong, Taka? Scared?" Seiji teased.
"You're the adult guy with twice my body weight and a supposedly successful hero career. You tell me."
"Oh-ho-ho… alright... alright..." Seiji chuckled.
—then snapped his eyes open and lunged forward without a shred of warning, his speed vertiginous.
"As you please!"
Taka barely had time to react before a punch shot toward him.
But instead of simply raising his guard like every other day—
"…?"
—he suddenly dropped to his knees at the last second, the punch cutting through empty air.
In slow motion, Seiji's eyes widened, following Taka down in disbelief.
Not just because it was unexpected—but because Taka had left himself horribly open for a follow-up. A knee strike from this angle would end the fight instantly.
'What is this kid doing?'
He already had Taka's torso in view; if the kid tried something frog-punch-like, he'd see it coming instantly.
But he didn't think the kid was so stupid to attempt something like that.
So then—what was—
"...?!"
His confusion only deepened as Taka's kneeling posture collapsed even lower—one leg threading between Seiji's, his back nearly brushing the ground, and palms planted firmly.
Then—
–THUD!–
Taka spun, his legs hooking around one of Seiji's in a tight clamp.
The monkey man yanked himself free with a sharp pirouette, escaping the entanglement by a hair.
But by the time he regained his footing and lifted his gaze—
Taka was already there, fist cocked and flying.
Seiji readied himself to sneak by his attack and reach Taka's weak point—
"Huh?"
—but once again, contrary to every expectation, Taka's punch vanished as he suddenly dropped mid-charge, sliding across the rough dirt.
No seasoned fighter would let someone slide between their legs, so Seiji lashed out with a kick to intercept—
—but Taka's hands slammed the ground, twisting his whole body in a wild, acrobatic spin.
–WHACK!–
A powerful heel smashed into Seiji's face, snapping his head sideways.
The counterkick he'd thrown missed by a breath.
With one last push of his arms, Taka launched himself backward, landing cleanly on his feet.
He exhaled a long, steady breath—then smirked.
"Still think I won't qualify?"
Seiji turned back toward him, rubbing the forming bruise on his cheek.
"That shit hurt," he hissed—then chuckled, eyes gleaming with new respect. "Looks like you finally figured something out, huh, kid?"
"Yeah. How about I show you a few more times?" Taka taunted, jumping in his spot, all fired up after that hit.
"Hahaha…"
Seiji laughed again. This time, though, his laugh carried something more than amusement.
"... You're seriously asking for a beating, kid."
Taka beckoned him with a cocky wave. "Let me help you confront reality. The future's now, old man."
Seiji shook his head. "Alright."
Then he charged again.
…
°
°
°
| Minutes later… |
…
Taka lay flat on the ground, bruises blooming across his face, dirt smeared over his clothes.
Seiji stood over him—tall, victorious, and grinning wide.
If only that grin wasn't framed by swollen cheeks and a fresh purple eye, he might have looked infinitely cooler.
"You're still a few decacillion years short of beating me, kid."
"Shut up."
Laughing, Seiji took out a cigarette and lit it up, puffing up a big one.
"Good spar, kid. Good spar."
With that, he turned and started walking off—occasionally letting out small, pained groans that betrayed his attempt at acting tough.
Taka watched him go, then let his gaze fall back to the sky with a defeated sigh.
"So I still lost, huh? What bullshit Quirk he has…"
Seriously—how did a monkey Quirk turn someone into that kind of monster? Taka would never understand.
He pushed himself up from the dirt, shaky but determined, and managed to get to his feet. The instant he stood, the dust coating his clothes vanished, as did the blood on his face and knuckles—Clean skill doing its job.
'I guess this is all I can do without using my aura against a guy with a Quirk like that.'
"Wha—? Oh. Right, that." He chuckled and opened the notification.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[COMPLETE!]
[You have finally taken notice of the mesmerizing art of dance. But you have yet to realize its true potential! Let the Aura Farmer within you bloom further as you open your mind to the wonders of corporeal expression.]
Quest Conditions:
▸ Learn a dance style to a skillful degree. ✔
▸ Reach a new level in martial skill by enduring a fight with a serious Seiji for one full minute—without enhancing yourself or using aura projection. ✔
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
<+500 Aura!>
<+Skill: [Let's dance!]>
"Right… it was a minute." Taka scratched his head, annoyed. He'd gotten so into the fight that he forgot that part of the requirement. And he must've tuned out the notification entirely.
"Well, all that ends well ends well."
He opened the new skill.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[Let's Dance!] (Passive)
Description: The Aura Farmer is unmatched, peerless, and unreachable. When conflict arises, he overwhelms opponents and shows them the true gap between their powers. Brute force is one way to establish superiority.
Style is the other.
Because if you beat someone up while still being stylish, what better way is there to prove the difference between you?
▸ Boosts battle IQ.
▸ Improves overall control over your body.
▸ Enhances improvisation, reflexes, and thinking speed when mixing dance with martial arts mid-combat.
▸ Pairs well with [My Theme].
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
"... Dancing mid-fight sounds kinda cringe, but I guess if I fight as I did against Seiji, it'll work," Taka muttered, before his eyes focused on the battle IQ boost and enhanced control over his body benefits, glistening with satisfaction. "And even without that… it is a nice boost eitherway."
Would this be enough to close the gap that there was this time, for the next spar that the two had?
Maybe.
Would it be enough to win?
'No idea.' Taka Shrugged.
Eitherway, that was future Taka's problem.
"I'm gonna go try unlocking my healing abilities now… ouch."
Still grumbling and sore, Taka shuffled toward the house, planning on practicing a lot. He didn't want to stay hurting, after all.
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: The final mission Taka had in store is done—save for unlocking healing, but that'll be covered in the next and last arc before U.A., which will be the last hurdle Taka will have to surpass before being fully ready to aura farm the heck out of the main cast.)