Then one day it had gone from funny to scary. Yatsuhashi’s mother had recently given birth to his little sister, Hiyoko, and he was jealous of all the attention the baby was getting. One morning, his sleep-deprived, stressedout mother had told him to go clean his room, one of his least favorite chores. So he decided to make her forget about it so he could go play instead. All it took was a little mental nudge, get her to think about something else, like the baby. That shouldn’t be too hard.

His mother lifted her coffee to her lips and then paused, blinking. Then she put the cup down without taking a sip. She glanced at Yatsuhashi with a glazed expression.

“Good morning, Yatsu. What was I saying?”

Yatsuhashi grinned. “Good morning! You told me to ‘run along and play.’ ”

She frowned. “I thought there was something else …” Then the fog passed. “Run along and play, then.” She smiled.

Yatsuhashi pulled on his shoes and was about to go outside, when Hiyoko started crying. He slid open the door, but he waited when his mother came out to the living room, looking confused.

“That sounds just like a baby,” she said.

Yatsuhashi froze. “It’s Hiyoko,” he said.

“Hiyoko? Do the neighbors have a new baby? I must have forgotten.”

“It’s Hiyoko,” Yatsuhashi repeated.

“That’s such a pretty name.”

Yatsuhashi was sweating now. “Your baby, Hiyoko. My sister.”

His mother laughed. “That’s a good one.”

All the while, Hiyoko kept crying.

“I do wish she’d stop crying,” his mother said. “Where are her parents?”

Yatsuhashi hurried into the nursery and picked up the red-faced girl. He cradled her against his chest, supporting her fragile neck, the way his parents had shown him. He’d only held her once, but he simply hadn’t been interested in more contact than that. It was bad enough that everyone else had been catering to her needs every moment of every day.

He was surprisingly touched at how she snuggled into his shoulder and how she had calmed down when he picked her up. She only did that for his mother and grandfather—and really made his dad work to soothe her—jiggling her up and down, rocking her, singing, until he or the baby or both of them was worn out.

She was so light and warm and she smelled nice.

Yatsuhashi went into the living room, where his mother was reading a book, something she hadn’t been able to do since she had come home from the hospital. Yatsuhashi had been annoyed that she didn’t have the time or energy to play with him anymore, but he’d missed the fact that she didn’t have any time for herself, either, including a moment to drink her morning coffee while paging through a book.

“Who’s this?” his mother asked.

“Hiyoko,” Yatsuhashi said, looking for even a slight glimmer of recognition. Nothing. Yatsu knew almost nothing about caring for a baby, but his grandfather and father were out fishing, so it all came down to Yatsuhashi.

“When did you start babysitting?” his mother asked. “That’s so sweet of you.”

“Just now, but I should have started a long time ago,” Yatsuhashi said.

Little Hiyoko wasn’t content resting in Yatsuhashi’s arms for long. When she started snuffling again, he checked her diaper—thankfully clean—and then got her a bottle of milk. He asked his mother to show him how to feed her.

“I haven’t done this since you were a baby,” she told Yatsuhashi, “but it feels like only yesterday.” He took over for her while she went to go get a shower. Then he played with Hiyoko for a little while, which mostly involved tickling her and making funny faces. When his mother came back, she still didn’t remember her daughter. Yatsuhashi was starting to get worried, but either she would remember or his dad would come home, and he could try to explain what had happened … maybe this time they would remember what he told them about his Semblance.

Yatsuhashi ended up spending the whole day with Hiyoko. When she wouldn’t go to sleep, he cradled her on his chest and she dropped right off, and so did he.

His mother woke him as she took the sleeping baby from his arms. It was dark outside.

“Thank goodness you were here, Yatsu,” she whispered. “I don’t know what happened. It was like I forgot about Hiyoko …” She was distraught.

“It was my fault,” Yatsuhashi said.

She gave him a puzzled look. When she had placed Hiyoko back in her crib, she found Yatsuhashi in the kitchen. He had been so busy with his sister, he hadn’t even eaten all day. He grabbed a slice of cake, and his mother didn’t question it.

He told her about his Semblance, what he had done. She was quiet when he finished, and there was a frightened look in her eyes that haunted him to this day.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this earlier?” she said.

“I have. You never remember it when I stop talking. So I stopped trying.”

She shook her head. “This explains a lot. We all noticed we were getting more forgetful, but we didn’t know why.

“This is an incredible discovery, Yatsu. You have an amazing ability.” She took a deep breath and looked at him warily. “But you know you have to stop using it on us.”

Yatsuhashi realized he was crying. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you forget about Hiyoko.”

She pulled him close, and her arms around him made him feel better. He stopped crying. He rested his head on her shoulder.

“Shhh. I know, sweetie. But you did the right thing to keep her safe. Thank you,” she said.

When his father and grandfather came home, Yatsuhashi went through the story again, with his mother’s help. This time, the news stuck in their memories.

- RWBY: After the Fall, Chapter 7