Jane Arc, Daughter of Lily. (Red hair)

Some days just sucked worse than others. The sun didn't seem to shine as bright, everything was just a little bit louder, enough to go from normal to mildly irritating. She'd spilled her coffee in the morning - not all of it, but just enough to splash off the counter and mist her previously white shirt, forcing her to change.

Jane decided today was simply not her day. And she had to watch her little sister. Slapping herself with slightly more force than necessary, she let the sting of her cheeks serve as a focal point while she did her best to reset her mood. She let the intense feeling of irritation she'd been holding onto for the past few minutes slip away, refusing to let Jun know that the world wasn't entirely peaches and cream.

Well, she knew that already, but her enthusiastic and incredibly optimistic outlook wasn't something Jane was willing to even think about compromising.

The welcoming sight of a familiar lawn with the missing patch of grass in the corner and the worn but solid walls of the home that didn't quite feel like home appeared before her as her feet ate up the ground between her and it. Sure, her semblance could have gotten her there in the blink of an eye, but apparently, like unleashing the entirety of their aura, using their semblances without reason was frowned upon.

It didn't make much sense to her but she did strive to be a law-abiding citizen (for the most part). The red headed twin of the Arc family didn't really count the odd deliveries she did for the anonymous members of Vale's underground society to be 'illegal' per se. After all, she didn't know what was in the packages, and she never found out.

Not that she would ever be caught, anyway. Being able to teleport had its uses.

Shaking her head to clear the distractions away, she took out her key and opened the door, swiftly stepping inside the familiar entryway. Unexpectedly, it seemed Joan's shoes were already gone. Had the oldest Arc sister just left Jun unattended?

Technically the little one was old enough to be left alone, but she often acted more like her physical appearance of age rather than her actual number of years lived. Actually, wasn't Jaune supposed to be home too? But after his injuries was he fit to watch her? And wasn't he supposed to have amnesia?

All she knew was what Joan had seen fit to tell her, and it seemed the bare minimum was what she thought was necessary, something Jane was slightly irritated by now.

The sudden peal of laughter from upstairs caught her off-guard, and she swiftly turned to face the stairs. Two voices rang down, one the immediately recognizable high-pitched squealing of Jun, and another the recognizable yet not-quite the same as before voice of Jaune. "I won't let you get away with this betrayal! Get back here and accept your punishment at once little lady."

"You'll never catch me Oppa! Your tickle attacks won't work on me anymore, I've leveled up since the last time you tried that!"

Steps rapidly thumped across the ceiling above her, quickly followed by another heavier set of sounds as though chasing the other.

"Oh really? Your reaction from before tells me that's not quite the case, but if you want to prove your claims…"

The steps left whatever room they were in and thundered into the hallway above her, still out of sight.

"Nice try Oppa, that trick won't work on me! Take THIS!"

A loud THWACK emanated from the upper reaches of the home.

"Oh? So aggressive, little sister. And if we're resorting to using our semblances…"

The sudden silence seemed ominous to Jane.

"No! THAT'S CHEATING OPPA! STOP IT!"

Suddenly the footsteps multiplied into what sounded like a small army marching across the ceiling.

"HAHA! Your evil plan has failed! I AM FREE! I'm not getting tickled today!"

The pitter-patter of feet came closer to the landing of the stairs.

"Accept your defeat with grace, Jun! You can't escape from me!"

The little red headed ball of energy suddenly appeared, her hair disheveled and clothes rumpled. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Jane. "Onee-chan! Save me!"

With that said, she rocketed down the stairs and dove through Jane's legs, immediately standing and peaking around her side to watch the staircase like a hawk. The tumultuous army of steps appeared at the top of the stairs, in quick pursuit, finally revealing… Several knights made of wispy black and purple shadows?

There was even a weird lizard-man who was down on all fours, eyes gleaming with purple light. In fact, despite the creatures being clearly different races (the knights didn't have digitigrade legs) they seemed to be made of the exact same material, with purple glowing wisps of light where their eyes would be.

"Are you ok Jun?" She couldn't help but ask. It all seemed to be like good-natured fun, but she'd never seen anything that looked like the creatures before, outside of the Grimm. They lacked the traditional white masks and red eyes, however, so she didn't think that's what they were.

The beaming smile on her little sister's face also disinclined her to believe they were an actual threat. "Of course Onee-chan! I just used my semblance to get away from Oppa and so he used his to get me back. I still won though!" She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at the shadowy monsters.

The strange monsters suddenly parted and formed a path for what could only be Jaune to walk through with perfect synchronicity. "Oh? You think you've escaped from me so easily? No, dearest little sister, I've only allowed your escape that your hopes would rise up, only for me to destroy them once and for all in one fell swoop! Behold!"

Squealing laughter informed Jane that something had happened to Jun, causing her to swiftly turn around, only to find her being carried upside down, a shadowy hand gripping her about the ankle. The shadow knight, rather than moving away from them, instead began to vigorously dig its fingers into Jun's side, causing the already high-pitched noise to rise even higher as she started to gasp for breath, having laughed herself silly.

Jane let out a long sigh, before turning to face Jaune who had begun walking down the steps. "So Joan left the little one in your care? She have to leave early or something?"

Her little brother nodded and hummed in agreement. "Got called in or something. Jun and I were just playing some video games and things got a little… heated. There may or may not have been some name calling and accusations of cheating, but we've managed to resolve our differences amicably."

The elder red head turned to see her little sister, who had managed to get free, riding on the shoulders of the shadow knight, and was attempting to choke him out if the strained grip around its neck was any indication.

The knight merely shrugged at them, showing a rather remarkable indifference to the rather aggressive piece of Arc jewelry he was wearing.

"... I can see that." Deciding to ignore her sister, since she was obviously fine, she focused on Jaune. "And how are you Jaune? Joan explained some of what happened, but I couldn't get many details out of her. All I really know is that you have amnesia and don't really know any of us?"

Jaune let out a sigh before gesturing for her to follow and moving to sit down on a couch in the living room. Jane followed, curious as to how exactly he went from having amnesia to… All this. After all, the last time Jane had seen him, he'd seemed particularly upset at the utter lack of progress he'd made either convincing a family member to help him, or at accomplishing his goal of becoming a huntsman on his own.

He'd been so downcast, Jane had actually been worried he might do something stupid… And it turned out she was completely right. While she felt some level of guilt, she'd also tried her best without inciting the wrath of their parents, since she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to resist even one of them, let alone all three.

Maybe she could have done more? But it seemed to have worked out to some extent so… Ugh, her family was so fucking irritating sometimes! This is why she retired too… Huntresses and huntsmen were just too much. The games, the idiocy… She was so exhausted of losing and losing and never making any tangible progress against the Grimm.

The shadow knight that Jun was still attempting to murder sat down beside Jaune, his rider continuing her utmost to… Rip his head off? She wasn't sure what Jun's goal was anymore, but the tugging and pulling seemed to indicate something rather violent (more so than strangulation, anyway).

"To start, I retained basic knowledge at least. Enough to speak, write, all that good stuff, but basic history, any memories of our family… All gone. I sometimes get impressions, maybe, or leftover feelings that pop up, but nothing concrete. So yeah, for all intents and purposes I remember nothing. But, as I've told Joan and Jun, one thing I do know is that family is incredibly important, and I'm going to be happy getting to know all my sisters again. Plus I get to help with this little munchkin and make sure she doesn't eat up all of your free time either!"

With that he reached out and pinched Jun's cheek. "Oppa! Stop it!" She started flailing her hand to try and bat him away. He just laughed and gave her a fond look, throwing Jane for a loop with the unexpected warmth on display.

It wasn't that the sisters weren't close or anything, and all the siblings loved one another, it was more that Jaune of all people always had the most trouble showing it. He wanted to… Had wanted to prove himself, and being too cuddly with his sisters wasn't going to help him do that, especially the ones who refused to train him or help him in any meaningful way. Which was all of them.

Jun might have tried in her own way, but she was still too young to really make an impact, and Jaune had tolerated her because he understood that to some extent. But now… It was like despite utterly losing all of his memories, this new Jaune had completely lost his dream and instead been replaced with a family man. Jane had seen that very same look before, most often on her own face, Jean, her twin, or Joan. The three eldest sisters who had taken care of and watched all the others grow up. It was the look only an older sibling could have, as they watched over their younger one with care and love.

Again, it wasn't a surprise that Jaune loved his sisters, or Jun in particular, but showing that and just being happy to play around with them was so far outside of his character that it caused Jane to briefly shut down.

And though it wasn't something that she immediately identified, now that she was paying closer attention Jaune's entire body just screamed 'confidence' and 'assurance'. His steps before had been filled with a fluid grace only seasoned warriors had, the kind that was earned after fighting and proving one's mettle countless times and coming out on top despite overwhelming odds.

Perhaps it was her overactive imagination, but Jaune simply seemed… More. More present, more purposeful, more involved. More everything, really.

Less like a teen who'd lost most of their hope of ever doing the one thing they wanted, and more like a man who'd accomplished exactly what they wanted in life and was content to simply enjoy it.

Perhaps it was just her, but the difference seemed greater than if he had merely forgotten his family.

"I suppose I'll be glad for the help then. What's this about your semblance, as well? It seems a little odd…"

Jaune laughed at her question. "It is quite unique, from what I know. I have multiple types of shadows that I can call up, and that reside in my own shadow and can move through them as though they were solid ground. Quite useful for doing chores, too, it turns out. Their strength isn't anything to sneeze at, either. The very first ones I was able to summon, the ones that look like medieval knights, are already stronger than Jun, or at least roughly equivalent. Not as talented of fighters, though."

Briefly picturing the image of the shadowy soldiers doing something as mundane as washing dishes, or wearing a frilly apron and cooking, or casually vacuuming the house like they weren't tools of war forced a laugh out of her.

"Well it sounds like you got quite the useful semblance. In the interest of fairness, since you don't know it anymore, I can teleport myself and objects with my own. It's fast enough to be used in combat as well, making it quite deadly when it comes to surprise attacks."

Jaune nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I can see that! The one who holds the tactical advantage and element of surprise is often the victor in any fight. Strength disparity can only get you so far, after all."

It wasn't necessarily the fact that her little brother could say such a thing, as it wasn't a particularly difficult concept to grasp, but previously he'd been so hard-headed that acknowledging that anything outside of raw strength was important, or that it wasn't necessarily the most important thing to possess in a fight, was downright impossible. It was an obsession he seemed to pick up because it was the biggest thing he lacked - without his aura unlocked, and without training, he'd always been the 'weakest' of the family. In the physical sense, even attempting to arm-wrestle Jun would have been laughable because he would have lost - horribly.

Once again, Jane was forced to think about Jaune's changes and how unlike pure amnesia it was. If anything, it seemed like Jaune's memories had been deleted while simultaneously having his personality replaced by someone older, wiser, and more experienced.

It was quite strange, but the eldest redhead couldn't find it in herself to complain. Even if he was changed, their Jaune still loved his sisters and was doing his utmost to help them out. Not only that, but he was actually strong now - and while Jane was generally trusting of her siblings, it seemed nobody had nailed down exactly how strong or how many shadow's Jaune could summon or have out at once.

Once again, the old Jaune would have likely been spouting off all the cool things his power could do, trying to take on most of his siblings, and thoroughly touting how epic it was - the new Jaune, as far as she had been told, had simply said he'd 'found his semblance' and then started helping Jun practice fighting multiple opponents with it.

Not only that, but they had proof he could summon something other than the shadow knights, which defaulted to being as strong as Jun. Jun was still incredibly young, not even a teenager yet, and likely was no match for most adult hunters. But she wasn't weak by any definition either. In fact, the Arc's were somewhat known for the quality of huntresses and huntsman they produced, which most certainly included the littlest Arc.

Now, at a glance, that didn't seem particularly important. And maybe it wasn't.

But on the other hand, what if his semblance had a colossal amount of shadow's it could support at once? Quantity has a quality all of its own, as the Grimm had shown time and time again. Not only that, but they had no idea what else he could summon. What if there was stronger shadows?

Jane shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts - idle speculation on the newfound semblance of her younger brother wasn't going to get her anywhere. He was proving to be even more dedicated to the family than he was before, so if anything, it was a good thing. Hopefully his semblance was crazy powerful, that he could help protect Jun all the better with it.

Regardless of her stray thoughts and suspicions, Jane opted to simply enjoy the time they had together. They were there to watch Jun, after all, and she would get a much clearer image of Jaune as time passed and they were able to interact.

It wasn't that she was worried per se, but the changes in him were concerning. Jun and Joan were also literally the worst people to detect and either care or do anything about them as well. Jun, because while she was smart, possessed a blind spot a mile wide in concern to her only brother. Joan, because being the primary mother figure for most of their siblings and caring for them like her own to her own self-detriment had finally broken something inside of her somewhere along the line, and the lack of care or attention from their actual parents meant Jaune became her sole 'baby' that she needed to worry over.

That focus had become decidedly unhealthy at some point, but Jane wasn't entirely sure what that actually entailed or what would happen now that Jaune wasn't utterly helpless.

"Well, little brother, I look forward to spending some time with you. Maybe we can jostle a few memories loose, and if not, I suppose we'll just have to make some new ones, won't we?"

Jun, who finally decided trying to strangle something that didn't breathe was a losing proposition, hopped onto the couch and let out a loud exclamation of excitement. "Let's make all the memories! Starting now!"

She then immediately tackled Jaune from the side, causing him to animatedly and loudly fall to the side, his arms swinging above his head as he pretended to be taken out. "Oh no! I've been taken out by the most fearsome of foes!" Jun then tried to dig her fingers into his ribs in an attempt to tickle him, which he failed utterly to react to.

"Aha! You've left yourself open to a counterattack! TAKE THIS!" Jun's squeals and loud laughter once again rang throughout the house as Jaune brought his hands back down and began tickling her instead, to much greater effect than her earlier efforts.

Jane couldn't help but laugh and admire the scene before her. The sheer, unadulterated laughter and joy they were sharing was infectious, and she couldn't stop herself from joining in. Jun, who had almost freed herself from the clutches of her brother, found her only escape route blocked as her older sister's questing fingers found the soles of her feet and began a second tickling campaign against her.

They all laughed, for different reasons, and Jane couldn't help but think that maybe things would turn out alright at the end of the day.

Or, at least, that they would get better, despite the trauma they'd all gone through.

Was this hope? What a foreign feeling.