So here's chapter two. This one isn't about Naru and Mai, not really. But I got this idea when I was reading another fic today and I had been thinking of it for a while, but I thought I should write a little something from the perspective of one of the other characters. This is a little sad, so I apologize. Also if you haven't read my other Ghost Hunt fic, please do, this fic is in the same "world". Enjoy!

2-Never Had A Chance

She knew she never had a chance. She knew it from the moment he would only call her by her first name. Still she had something that this nobody didn't. Information. She knew things. But somehow that advantage became a curse.

Sure, she knew the reason why Takigawa Houshou was no longer on Mt Koya before anyone else on the team did. She also knew that Matsuzaki Ayako was only a self-proclaimed priestess with virtually no training. She knew that John Brown's ability to perform exorcisms at such a young age and without Vatican approval was an anomaly. She knew that their newest recruit had been in love with a former classmate even before she met her. She also knew Mai's family life was strange to be able to have a job hunting ghosts and be away for days at a time. She may not have realized that she was an orphan until she said it, but it wasn't a surprise. It made complete and utter sense.

All of that information she had gained from intuition or the spirits around her would tell her. However, the reason she knew who Shibuya Kazuya really was, wasn't because of a spirit. No, she had seen one of his demonstrations. She was the only one on the team to know that they were working with the real live Oliver Davis. He was even more handsome up close. And so stoic and mysterious, it was hard not to be infatuated with the young man.

She confronted him in private about his identity, hoping to find out a reason for his charade. When he did not answer her questions to her liking and told her to keep the conversation between them, she was devastated. What she did next was devious and childish, but at the moment she didn't care. She didn't care because there was a sense of hope.

She hoped that maybe, just maybe, he just needed some time with her. Time to see who she really was. Time for them to get to know each other and fall for each other. He would come around. He had to. There was no way he could ever hate her. She just had a secret of his to keep and in return they got to spend quite a few evenings together for dinner and movies and the like.

It took almost a year for her to realize that her plan had backfired. She was blackmailing him, plain and simple. He had absolutely every reason to hate her. She wished she never had seen that damn demonstration!

But he still risked himself and the team to find her in the prime minister's mansion. He even carried her comb. He had to be worried, right?

Turned out that he was using psychometry to help find her. Perhaps that why she saw him in Urado's lair. Maybe he was really trying to comfort her because he cared about her. Or maybe she was just seeing Gene's spirit. The man was smiling. The only time Oliver Davis seemed to smile was to Mai.

Then Mai got a boyfriend several months later. It was her chance! Naru seemed to be fine with his assistant having a boyfriend, he must not have cared about her like she had thought. She tried inviting him to go ice skating with the rest of the crew, but he declined. She sat in the food court more than a bit bitter about it. Ayako tried to make her feel better, but she couldn't seem to find it in herself to be happy about anything. It was then that she realized that Naru felt nothing for her. That he still had some sort of fondness of Mai.

She hated her for it. Damn, did she hate her. She was so stupid and naïve and apparently had psychic abilities, too? How did she manage to get a job working alongside one of the most gorgeous men in the world? Even after working for him for over a year, she was still just as stupid as she was when she started. Yet he fell for her? Naru could do so much better!

If only she actually believed any of it.

Truth was, Masako never hated Mai. She was jealous of her, that's for sure. Yet she never hated the girl. Sure, she was naïve, and stupid about the paranormal compared to the medium, but Mai had never dealt with a ghost more than telling a story about one. And she did have psychic abilities, several types to be exact. For a time, she seemed to grow stronger and stronger with them, while Masako seemed to just grow weaker.

But Masako wasn't growing weaker, she was just staying the same. She didn't like that outcome either, to be honest.

Mai was also very smart. She ended up graduating at almost top of her class. Masako could say she hated the girl because she was annoying. But that wasn't it.

The point was, she never hated her. In fact, she hated herself for trying to hate her. Aside from teasing and joking around and maybe a jab here or there about the manager of SPR, Mai had been nothing but kind to her. Even told her the truth about her being possessed when Ayako and Monk were trying to trick her.

She realized that Naru deserved the best. And the best was Mai. It hurt. It hurt so much, but she was willing to try to move on.

Sure enough, years went by and Naru and Mai finally got together. Masako had even found a boyfriend. But it still hurt to see the two together. She was ashamed of herself for feeling that way.

It wasn't that she didn't like her boyfriend, quite the opposite. He was studying to be a lawyer, so he didn't really know or understand too much about the paranormal. Which was just fine, Masako was happy to have a normal conversation once in a while. The problem was, even after a few years of accepting that Naru wanted nothing to do with her, it still hurt to see that she had lost.

She lost the boy. That wasn't how it went in the movies. Not for the lead, anyway. That was the problem with movies and books and shows. They only show the winning side. Because of this, Masako felt that she wasn't the hero of her story, but the antagonist of Mai's.

It was true, she realized. She never stood a chance.

She might have known more about the man, than this high schooler did, but she could never get under his skin. Not in the way Mai did that always seemed to amuse him.

She never had a chance. And for that, she hated herself.

Poor Masako. I hated her in the beginning, but I am honestly starting to adore her. I hope this isn't too Ooc for anyone. But this fic does take place primarily when SPR is in their 20s so a lot has changed. I have some of the change happen in Dangerous Souls so check that out. Hope you enjoyed! Please review!