Okay, so after many revisions, I am reposting episode 2. I wanted to change a few things around and I was thinking like my own betareaders while working on this chapter so I hope you all enjoy this version. Any of my OCs catch your eye? I know it's early but still. I hope you enjoy and please read and review.

2. New Heroes

Hanako Kamiya was trying to study in her room while listening to music because it helped her concentrate better, legs crossed as she leaned back against the headboard. She insisted on being called 'Hana', because being in her opinion, her full name was ridiculous. Seriously, why did her mother have to name her something so girly? She was the eldest daughter of Tai and Mimi Kamiya, and school really wasn't her thing. But her parents had been rather concerned when she failed most of her subjects. Her mother had even decided to limit her soccer and for once, her dad had actually agreed with her. If there was one thing she didn't want to lose, it was playing soccer. Soccer was so freeing like nothing was tying her down and restricting her like school felt sometimes.

"Neechan!" Taysuke Kamiya's interrupted her mid-thought. Speaking of brother…her nine-year-old little brother had come inside her room.

"What is it, Tay?" Hana asked dryly, not looking up from her book.

"Makoto gave me a new video game!" Tay said happily, the new game clutched in his hand. "Will you play it with me?"

"I have a test tomorrow, Tay," Hana said frowning. "Go over to Makoto's and play with him, ok?"

Tay pouted. "Mom won't let me go. It's raining and Dad's at work so he can't drop me off there."

"Well then, call him over," Hana said pausing her song in irritation. It had been one of her favourite ones too. "I'm busy." Seriously, she needed to study. If she failed, well…her parents would try to be supportive, but she wasn't stupid, she caught the looks they would give each other when she looked away. Those two weren't exactly known for their subtlety.

Tay bit his lip, hands nervously moving over the game. "Makoto's parents aren't like ours, Neesan. He can't just leave the house like that. Please play with me Neesan! Just a few games please! Please!"

"Tay! I said no!" Hana snapped harsher than she intended. Tay's lower lip quivered, and he burst into tears. Crap. Before she could even try to calm her brother down and tell him she'd play one game just to shut him up, their mother heard crying and came inside the bedroom.

Mimi's expression morphed into a frown as she saw what was going on. "Hanako, sweetie, you shouldn't yell at your brother. He just wants to spend some time with you."

"Don't call me that!" Hana snapped, temper flaring at the use of that horrid name. "My name's Hana! It's not my fault he's such a crybaby!" Of course, that just made Tay cry even harder. She didn't mean it like that, but Tay was so frustrating at times and their mother spoiling him didn't make it any better. Then again, I am the screw-up of the family.

Mimi's lips pursed. "Hana, don't treat your brother like that!"

But Hana wasn't going to stand for this.

"Fine! Take his side like you always do!" Hana snapped heatedly storming out of the house, not caring that it was raining and headed to the one place where she always felt free from the burdens of her house. She didn't respond to her mother calling out her name and kept running. The rain splattering on her face felt comforting. She didn't feel cold. She felt calmer now that she was away from her biased mother and her annoying brother. Sometimes, she felt as if she were adopted or that her mother didn't love her. Why else would she always take Tay's side over mine if she loved me just as much? Tears filled her eyes and for once she let them fall. Even if someone saw her, they'd confuse it with her face being wet from the rain. Still, there was a small urge to push away the tears, to push away this sign of how weak she was but she didn't. She didn't know how long she stood there until an umbrella came over her head and a warm, strong arm wrapped around her. Her chocolate brown eyes moved upwards to see her father Tai holding her close.

"D-Dad?" Hana managed to get out.

"Hey there, Champ," Tai said gently. "Something upsetting you?"

Hana turned, burying her face into her father's chest, the only person she ever showed weakness around. "Why doesn't Mom love me, Dad? Why is she always taking Tay's side?"

Tai kissed her forehead gently. "Your mother loves you a lot." At her derisive snort, he simply chuckled. "I'm not just saying that. She just wants you and your brother to get along. She wanted to run after you, but I asked her to let me come find you. Tay's worried about you as well. He's the one who called me and told me you had run away. We both love you a lot, kiddo."

"If he loves me so much, why is he always getting me into trouble?" Hana said frowning. "It's not like I make him cry on purpose. Mom spoiling him has made him too sensitive."

Tai sighed. "I know sweetie. Tay is very sensitive but he's also three years younger than you. You and Tay will be okay I know that."

Hana bit her lower lip. Her Dad always said that she and Tay would become very close as they grew older, but she wasn't so sure. It felt like they were night and day sometimes. Tay had to stop taking things for granted if that was ever to happen but right now, she was just happy that her dad had come home early from work just for her. "Sorry for running out Dad…I think I'm okay to go home now."

Tai beamed at her, squeezing her hand gently with the hand that wasn't holding onto the umbrella. "Let's go then."

Kaito Ishida stacked his revision notes in a neat pile, bookmarking the important notes. He was the only son of Matt and Sora as well as Hana's best friend and the as their friends liked to call it the calm to her storm. They had a test tomorrow and he wanted to be prepared no matter what Hana and Tay said about him being a genius. He just put in the effort. Tay complimented everyone and Hana was his best friend. He was sitting in his bedroom, three different books splattered out in front of him as the door opened and his mother brought in sandwiches. He had post-it notes stuck on the cover of the textbooks and pages bookmarked, the pen behind his ear as he highlighted a piece of text in his book, moving back as his mom set down the plate of sandwiches.

"Sweetheart, here," Sora said kindly. "You've been studying since you got home from school. I'm making some tea; do you want some with the sandwiches?"

"No thanks Mom," Kaito said, his blue eyes focused on the revision notes, a one-sheet paper in his hand. "I really just want to do well in this test since it's a mid-term exam and half of our grades count towards this."

"I understand sweetie," Sora said, running a hand through her son's blond waves gently. "But you skipped lunch so at least have these sandwiches. Everyone needs energy to stay focused."

Kaito looked up, seeing the worry in his mother's eyes, knowing her and Dad were always a little too overprotective since he was their only child and sighed. "Alright, Mom. I'll have some tea and sandwiches." It'd be a quick tea obviously but hopefully, it would be more than enough to get his mother to stop fretting because he didn't like making her worry.

Yukine Motomiya, known to her friends and loved ones as Yuki sighed as she realized her brother Dai still hadn't come into the room to study from when he had said over an hour ago that he would. Mom would be home at any time and then he'd get into trouble. Putting aside her books, she stood up and left her room to find Dai in the living room still playing video games. Her lips pursed into a frown, and she put her hands to her hips, levelling him with a glare.

"Daichi Motomiya," The brown-haired girl said to her brother sternly. "Do you want to be grounded from ever playing soccer or video games again? Mom is about to come home, you know." She grabbed the remote, shutting off the TV screen.

Dai groaned, dropping the controller as the tv shut off. "Geez, Mom always has to come home and ruin my fun."

"You have a test to prepare for," Yuki sighed, shaking her head. "Dai, you're one of the smartest people I know but tests need revision. I don't want you to fail. Now come on. I'll help you with the formulas." Her chocolate brown eyes were amused as she extended her hand towards her brother who huffed but took it and stood up.

"Oh fine," Dai said, a childish pout on his face. Dai and Yuki looked a lot like each other, both having chocolate brown hair and eyes, except Dai's hair was spiky, held together by a round of blue goggles, given to him by his father while Yuki's hair was straight much like Kari's. The two of them headed to their shared bedroom where a bunk bed was present as well as two study desks. Yuki's study desk was neat and tidy while Dai's desk had papers scattered everywhere. Yuki cleaned up Dai's pile to get out her brother's notebook and handed it to him.

"So have you tried practising some of the formulas?" Yuki asked kindly.

"I did try," Dai admitted. "But those darn formulas are so long that I kept on getting the wrong answers! I'm not as smart as you are, Yuki." He huffed.

Yuki flushed a bit at that but smiled. "You're smarter than me, Niichan. You just need to focus and not play video games all the time. Here, why don't you try breaking it into three smaller parts?" She took out her pen, writing down an example equation and writing down the first part of the formula. "Here, try solving this first part of the formula first." She handed her pen over since Dai didn't have his.

Dai nodded, taking the pen from his sister, and looking at the equation and the first part of the formula carefully and slowly solved the first part. "Look! I did it!" He looked like a small child who had just found his favourite toy causing Yuki to laugh and took the pen back from him, making to write the second part of the formula, knowing Dai would understand better than he had before.

Having prepared for her test, the daughter of T.K. and Noriko, Misaki Jun Takaishi more simply known as MJ by her friends had gone to sleep early so, she would be fresh and prepared for the test. She was now sitting in the living room, finishing up her glass of milk as she played with her 1-year-old baby brother Shiro who was giggling and laughing happily. The blonde girl was waiting for her dad to finish up the draft of his novel, so he could take care of Shiro while she went and made sure Kei hadn't overworked himself again. The last time he had done that was when he had gone to school early and instead of studying, fallen asleep in an empty classroom.

"Hey there you," MJ poked Shiro's nose playfully. "You're becoming a big boy now, aren't you?" She kissed his forehead just as TK came in.

"Don't spoil the little guy or your mom will have my head," TK said coming inside. "Ok I'm done with the draft sweetie." He kissed MJ's cheek and took Shiro from her, spinning him around causing the baby to laugh happily. "You better head to school now, right?"

"Yeah," MJ agreed. "Kei's probably already at school and knowing him, he skipped breakfast again. I'm going to grab some egg sandwiches on the way, so Aunt Touko doesn't fret too much about him. No one else notices these things I swear." She sighed a little before hugging her father, kissing her baby brother's cheeks, and heading out. The school was only a few minutes away, so she could walk there and stop by the café that was on the way. She stopped there, got two sandwiches, and went on her way towards the school, which was eerily quiet because it was still far too early for classes. She sighed a little, seeing him through the glass of one of the empty classrooms, opening the door and heading inside.

"Kei," MJ said exasperated. "Honestly…why do you get so obsessed with studying?"

"Oh MJ, hello, hi what's up?" Kei said, yawning a little. His red hair was all over his face and it was clear he hadn't even had the time to brush it or go freshen up. He had rags under his eyes and MJ had to wonder if he had slept at all the last night. Honestly, he was so smart, he didn't even need to study this much.

"I brought some sandwiches for you," MJ said frowning and placing the bags on the table. "After that, you need to go wash your face and freshen up. Once the test is over, take the rest of the day off and go home and sleep. Kei, you're going to fall asleep during the test and then what would be the point of all this? Hana's right, you do miss what's in front of you sometimes." It wasn't like her to call someone out like this but it was so obvious that to do a test you needed a fresh mind and a good night of sleep. Seriously, Dai was supposed to be the one who made dumb decisions, not Kei.

"But…" Kei began to protest but MJ cut him off.

"No buts," MJ said handing him a sandwich. "Now come on, eat up."

Kei sighed and took the sandwich. "Thanks, MJ. I appreciate it."

MJ smiled softly. "You're welcome."