He's hardly surprised at her counterattack, though that doesn't do much for being able to avoid it. He grunts at the impact and circles, mindful of his feet, his followup strikes deflected by her. He's certainly going to have some bruises when all is said and done, but he's had way worse.

"You know about the Kobayashi Maru but not Vulcan?" That doesn't entirely make sense to him, but he knows from Ambassador Spock's somewhat leaky mind meld that the other Jim Kirk cheated on the test, too, and Nero wasn't there to screw things up for him.