“Hey, Yatsuhashi,” Fox sent.

“Fox! You must be close. I can see Carmine just ahead of me.” Yatsuhashi was glad he didn’t have to speak aloud. He was already breathing hard from running.

“I can see you, too. Turn around,” Fox sent.

Yatsu skidded to a halt and turned. Fox was approaching, moving much faster than Yatsuhashi could, and it was even more impressive because he had a heavy Huntsman on his shoulders. Edward wasn’t far behind him. His mind might be going, but he was still in peak physical form, even at his age.

When Fox reached Yatsuhashi, he tossed Bertilak at his feet. “I hate to ask, but this guy was a bastard to fight. Think you can take care of him?”

Edward stumbled over, panting. “What? After all this, you’re going to let him kill Bertilak?”

“Not kill.”

“I don’t know,” Yatsuhashi said.

“It’s not gonna hurt anything, Yatsuhashi. We can’t keep carrying him, and we can’t worry about him while we’re taking on Carmine.”

“While I’m taking on Carmine. You’re going to keep resting and get your strength back up,” Yatsuhashi said.

Yatsuhashi knelt by Bertilak, who was snoring loudly and coughing whenever he breathed in sand. Fox was right: He would probably wake up soon.

He touched his fingers to Bertilak’s temples. His hands trembled and he forced them to steady. He didn’t need to be in physical contact when using his Semblance, as he’d discovered all too often, and disastrously, as a kid. But it helped him focus, would make sure he didn’t accidentally wipe Fox’s and Edward’s memories, too.

He hated using his Semblance. His parents had seemed to forgive him for misusing it, but he had never forgiven himself. And unlike them, he remembered each and every incident. At Beacon Academy he had learned to control it, but even then he used it sparingly, and only in direct combat. In those rare instances, Yatsuhashi usually only erased a second or two of short-term memories to disorient his opponent and get the element of surprise.

Yatsuhashi looked at Fox. “How far back should I take him?”

Fox tipped his head back thoughtfully.

“How about a little before he dragged me into the desert?” Edward said.

“So, about a day,” Fox sent.

Yatsuhashi closed his eyes. “Forget,” he whispered. He pictured a black hole, a spinning mass of darkness, and nudged Bertilak’s mind just so to temporarily block his memories from the last day. The effect took the same amount of time he was taking away to wear off, so in a day those masked memories would come flooding back to Bertilak. No doubt, he would be pissed, but hopefully he would also be in police custody.

“Okay.” Yatsuhashi stood and brushed sand off his hands.

“I saw what you did,” Fox sent him privately. “It was like his consciousness dimmed for a second. And its shape is different. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like how Edward’s mind seems brighter right now.”

“Edward, keep an eye on Fox,” Yatsuhashi said. “I’m going after Carmine.”

- RWBY: After the Fall, Chapter 15