Yatsuhashi stirred. He lifted his head and blinked blearily, turning back and forth in confusion. Jax saw the moment he realized he was trapped. Then the younger man locked eyes with Jax, pure rage etched in his face.

Even as Jax hated everything about Yatsuhashi, he envied his strength. He might be weak in his commitment to his home—he wasn’t even from Vale originally, so what was he doing attending Beacon?—but he was an impressive physical specimen. He was big and strong, and Jax had seen him fight. He was all the things Jax had wished he could be, the version of himself that could have been if his sister hadn’t robbed him of his future along with most of his Aura. Jax had envied her Semblance, too, until he discovered he had a powerful one of his own.

Yatsuhashi also had a powerful Semblance, and a dangerous one. It rivaled Jax’s, because he could manipulate memory, and it seemed this disrupted Jax’s psychic hold over others. If he couldn’t be turned to Jax’s side, he would have to be destroyed.

“You’re awake,” Jax said.

“You’re the Crown,” Yatsuhashi countered. He strained at the chains binding him, muscles bulging, face red from the effort. Such strength in him!

“How did you free Rumpole from my power of suggestion?” Jax asked.

“I don’t know,” Yatsuhashi said.

“But you did it twice more. Once to free your teammate Velvet Scarlatina, and again to free your friend Sun Wukong.”

“I don’t know,” Yatsuhashi repeated.

“Either you’re lying, or you really don’t know how your Semblance works. Interesting. Your file says that you are constantly holding back your strength, afraid that you will accidentally hurt others. Perhaps that holds true of your Semblance as well. Perhaps, if you wanted to, you could wipe anyone’s mind clean.”

Yatsuhashi grimaced. So he was all too aware of his potential. He was truly holding himself back. Jax wanted him in his army.

“I could use someone like you,” Jax mused.

“I’m sure you could,” Yatsuhashi said. “Come closer and free me from these chains, and I’ll show you what my Semblance can do.”

Jax laughed. Then Yatsuhashi roared and the chains splintered apart, and Jax stopped laughing.

- RWBY: Before the Dawn, Chapter 15