The wagon thumped loudly, jostling Psycho awake.
She glanced outside the canopy as the wagon, pulled by Proto, rattled frantically back and forth. Nothing but dense, gloomy forest.
“It was a dream…”
I must be feeling pretty sappy these days, Psycho realized, dreaming about the past like this. But she already knew the reason for it. It was time to wake up and face reality.
“I haven’t been very useful lately, have I…?” she muttered softly, her face listless. No one heard her.
“What’s wrong, Psycho? Carriage-sick?” Homura asked. Homura had already recovered from her own motion sickness by throwing her guts up.
“Look who’s talking,” Psycho said, but she didn’t sound like her usual scathing self. There was barely any oomph in her comeback at all. “I’ve got big thoughts on my mind, that’s all…”
As she spoke, Psycho turned to stare out of the wagon again. Her voice was soft.
“I never thought I’d see the great Psycho down in the dumps… What’s next, will pigs start flying…?”
It wasn’t like Psycho to act so meek. Homura quickly checked the sky…but there didn’t seem to be any sign of hogs on the horizon.
“Seeing you all depressed like this is honestly throwing me for a loop…”
Where had Psycho’s energetic spirit gone? Without their usual back-and-forth, Homura wasn’t sure how to react.
“Leave her alone. Whatever she’s thinking, you know it’s despicable,” Jin said sharply, not even bothering to glance their way.
“That’s right, don’t let Psycho trick you into feeling sorry for her,” Proto added, as hard-hearted as Jin.
“You’re right, I forgot who we were talking about here! Psycho is the last person to be going through something!” Homura said, piling on.
“Well, excuse me for having feelings, you nitwit!” Psycho shouted, full of piss and vinegar again. The atmosphere in the wagon was finally back to normal! Although Psycho looked like she was about ready to shoot laser beams from her eyes.
“There’s the Psycho we know and love! Try to keep it together, please. It’s no fun in here without our usual fights!”
“Why should I have to ‘keep it together’ for your sake?!”
“Admit it—when I have fun you feel better, too. See, just look at how much better you’re feeling already.”
“Oh yeah, much better. I think I’m about to blow a gasket from all this fun!”
Psycho grabbed Homura’s jaw and began squeezing it like a vise.
“Nrrggghhh—!”
Once Homura’s jaw had let out a satisfying creak, Psycho finally let go. Even after Psycho released her, however, Homura’s jaw continued to berate her for her stupidity.
“Ow, that hurt…” Homura rubbed the side of her face. “I really was worried about you, though. You usually don’t hold back with the insults. That wasn’t like you.”
Once the pain in her jaw had finally receded, Homura got to the point.
“Is…something wrong…?”
Having calmed down once more, Psycho stared uncertainly out the wagon again.
“Yeah…”
Psycho wasn’t sure if she should say anything, but she couldn’t take them all staring at her like this. She wound up spitting it all out.
“I was trying to think of some way to get strong like the rest of you,” she muttered, her eyes still fixed on the trees outside. Her face, visible in profile, grew a little pink. Homura realized with surprise that Psycho was embarrassed.
“Psycho…”
Psycho the mad scientist, envious of others? Psycho, the self-professed genius extraordinaire?
Although, come to think of it, the first time the girls all took a bath together, Psycho had mentioned being jealous of the size of Homura’s breasts…but that was neither here nor there!
Unlike that time in the bath, Psycho seemed genuinely embarrassed at the moment. She hadn’t even wanted to tell them what was bothering her at first. For once, she wasn’t using her big mouth to distract them, either. Homura realized now probably wasn’t the time for jokes.
“Why? What do you need to get stronger for?”
Homura wasn’t just trying to make Psycho feel better. She really didn’t see the need for it.
“Your healing magic is amazing enough as is. None of us can use magic to heal people like you can. What is it they say in Galdorssia? That those with power have a responsibility to serve as a shield for those without? Why not just focus on what you have and what you do best?”
Even without being stronger, Psycho had already saved their asses countless times. Why fix what wasn’t broken? However, Psycho still seemed a little crestfallen.
“That’s not the problem. I already know I’m plenty of help to you guys. I’m not sure how to put it, but…it just feels like I’m relying on you guys too much,” Psycho said. “Healing doesn’t come into play until everything’s already over and done with. Yeah, I can do that one thing, but I still have to leave the fighting up to all of you. Do you see what I’m saying…? When I do try to fight, it’s not like I can do much good with my little knife other than to take out a few small-time bozos anyway. Most of the time when I fight, it’s against opponents who have already been weakened by Tsutsumi’s poison. I can’t dominate the battlefield on my own like you guys all can.”
“You make those creatures out of corpses, though, don’t you? You know, the gross, creepy ones?”
“Again, that’s only after you guys have already killed something for me first,” Psycho complained. She didn’t sound envious now, just resigned.
For some reason, it seemed like Psycho just didn’t like the idea of relying on others for anything. But something about the way she was acting started to rub Homura the wrong way.
“What is your deal…?”
Why shouldn’t Psycho rely on them? They were a team!