The next day at Dagobah Beach, the usual symphony of seagulls and crashing waves was replaced by Kacchan's grating voice echoing across the sand.

"Move faster, you damn nerd! If you don't want to die, you need to stop being useless!" he barked, standing with his arms crossed, watching me like a hawk.

I rolled my eyes as I dragged a rusted refrigerator toward the growing trash pile. My entire body was sore, my hands were blistered, and I was seriously considering letting the magical world implode just to spite him. Honestly, what did I care if Kacchan didn't survive this mess? The cat had already confirmed that only I could trigger transformations, which meant his ballerina days were entirely under my control. And oh, what a sweet, sweet revenge that was.

"Why am I even doing this?" I muttered, more to myself than to him, but Kacchan had ears like a hawk when it came to any hint of rebellion.

"What's that, Deku? Complaining already? Figures. You're as weak as ever." His smirk made me want to hurl the refrigerator at him, but alas, my noodle arms weren't quite there yet.

I dropped the fridge with a loud thud, turning to glare at him. "I'm doing this because you don't want to die. Let's not forget who decided to drag me out here to play trash Tetris on the beach."

"You think I want to be stuck with you?" he snapped, stepping closer like he was about to blow a gasket. "I don't! But if you don't get stronger, we're both screwed, and I'm not going down because of your incompetence!"

"Then why don't you train yourself, Kacchan?" I shot back, throwing my arms up. "Oh, wait—you don't need to because I can transform you whenever I feel like it. So really, the only person in danger here is me."

Kacchan's eye twitched, his hands sparking dangerously. "Don't push your luck, nerd."

I smirked, crossing my arms. "Or what? You'll blow me up? Go ahead. Let's see how well your little explosions work when you're twirling in a pink tutu."

That shut him up. For a moment, anyway. His glare could have melted steel, but I stood my ground, reveling in the rare moment of power. He might be stronger, faster, and louder, but I had something he didn't—a magical safety net that made all his threats feel hollow.

"Get back to work, Deku," he growled, turning away and kicking a stray soda can. "We're not leaving until this place is spotless."

I sighed, grabbing a broken microwave and dragging it toward the pile. As much as I hated Kacchan's attitude, I couldn't deny that the training was working. I wasn't exactly ripped, but I could lift more than I could last week, and my endurance was improving. Still, the thought of doing this every day for the foreseeable future made me want to scream.

By the time we called it a day, the beach looked slightly less like a landfill. Kacchan surveyed the scene with a critical eye, his scowl softening ever so slightly. "Not bad, Deku. For a weakling."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Kacchan. Your encouragement is so motivating."

"Don't get used to it," he snapped. "We're doing this again tomorrow."

I groaned, dragging my tired body toward the street. Kacchan could keep pushing me all he wanted, but at the end of the day, I held the real power. If he thought I was going to take this seriously, he had another thing coming. My plan was simple: train just enough to survive, transform Kacchan when necessary, and let him do all the heavy lifting. After all, he was the one who wanted to be a hero. I just wanted to live long enough to enjoy ruining his day.

As I trudged home, I couldn't help but smile to myself. For the first time in years, I felt like I had the upper hand. Kacchan might have bullied me for most of my life, but now? Now he was my pawn. And I was going to make sure he never forgot it.