From his vantage point on one top of one of the mausoleums that happened to be in Restfield Cemetery, which was located in Sunnydale, California, Yami Yugi, once a Pharaoh named Atem only five thousand years ago (and that was his real age even though he looked like he was old enough to be either in high school or in college, as Buffy's friend Xander Harris explained it once), sat crouched in a catlike position, watching every move that Buffy made while she was fighting the vampire fledgling with those ruby eyes of his. He had to admit, she had skill and her martial arts weren't too bad, either. Actually, she had gotten stronger over the years since she had been called as the Slayer.

(DONNA LEWIS)
We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

(RICHARD MARX)
No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected,
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope,
You were there to remind me
This is the start

Smiling still, Yami then remembered the song At the Beginning by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx, which he had listened to just the previous evening. He thought it was a lovely song to listen to, as well as be inspired to write by.

Then, he looked to see that the vampire Buffy had been fighting was now dust in the wind. With that, he then made up his mind.

"Very impressive, Buffy," he called.

Buffy whirled around and her green eyes caught the sight of Yami jumping off the rooftop of the mausoleum and landing neatly on his feet. At first all she could do was blink in total shock as she wondered to herself, How is he able to do things like that, and so effortlessly as well?

However, she shook it off and then said, while smiling herself, "Yami? I didn't know you were there."

Yami, who was known for usually having a serious look on his visage (which Buffy had heard many girls — which not only included Xander's girlfriend Cordelia Chase, but also included her friend Willow Rosenberg for some odd but cool reason — refer to as "handsome", "hot" and "quite good-looking"), simply grinned to himself.

Then he replied, "I can sense these things. Call it ‛men's intuition', if you will."

"Oh," said Buffy as understanding dawned on her at his words.

Yami laughed a little. "It's OK, Buffy. We all get confused about things sometimes. It's just the way life is. After all, life is many things. Sometimes it can be cruel and mean, while other times it can be fun. That's how it is — very difficult to capture because it changes a lot.

"Now, as for high school," he went on, "it too is also very different. The people who were bullies usually look back and wish they had been different and had treated others very nicely. The girls who were popular but mean in high school soon become the kind of people that almost nobody likes. As for getting a job, forget it; nobody would hire them. And they would regret being flat-out catty and mean and wish they had instead stuck with being kind and sweet to others. The guys who were popular but mean in high school look back on how it was for them when they were teenagers, and wish they had been more nice and caring and less cruel and rude. And they also almost never get hired for a good job, either."

Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that Yami was really good at putting things into words — especially his deepest thoughts, too. But this? Well, this was definitely very different. She could tell.

How does he know all this? she wondered to herself. Her brow furrowed in bewilderment.

And

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

"Wow, Yami," said Buffy as she took a moment and processed all of what Yami had told her. "That's deep."

Yami shrugged in a nonchalant kind of way. "It is. Speaking my mind and having deep thoughts – I can't help it. That's the way I am, after all."

Buffy was quite puzzled about that, though. So were Willow and Xander when they told her all about it that night at the Bronze, where they met for hot chocolate (which Yami had taken a liking to quite a few months ago).

"Wow, Yami," said Xander when Yami had finished telling them his observations. "I got to say this. Maybe you are quiet sometimes, and you are known for looking serious most of the time, but you sure do know how to put things into words pretty well."

"Thanks, Alexander," Yami replied, smiling a little. "I think you have the same quality as well. Think about it."

When Xander did, he couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Yami had a point there. Plus, there was something about Yami that the Scooby Gang just couldn't put their finger on yet. What was it about Yami that drew people to him like a moth to a flame? Maybe it was charisma. Maybe it was his choosing to be himself while also following his own path and finding his own meaning of the word "cool" (which, they knew, had many meanings that were varied).

(DONNA LEWIS)
We were strangers
On a crazy adventure

(RICHARD MARX)
Never dreaming
How our dreams would come true

(BOTH)
Now here we stand
Unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you

And...
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

For example, while some of the "in-crowd" would drink alcohol at a party and get smashed as a result, Yami would simply grab a soda (such as Coca-Cola or a Pepsi) and drink it while heading to the top of the stairs and then watching the people on the dance floor, thus staying sober and level-headed the whole time. A few of the popular people liked him for that and even made it a point to tell him so.

But the others in the popular clique resented Yami for never getting drunk on alcohol. They believed that anything to do with alcohol, such as getting drunk or binge drinking (which Yami knew was highly dangerous), was kind of neat and thus solidified their status of being "cool". However, the popular people who never resented Yami for his wholesome demeanor would warn Yami beforehand about what his would-be popular tormentors were about to do (almost as though they had a sixth sense). Yami would head to a corner of the house that he considered to be safe and then hide in the shadows, where they knew he would be safe, and where he could also keep an eye on the current goings-on as well.

As Xander considered all this, he then looked at Yami and grinned. Yami smiled back.

"You see, Xander?" he said. "Me, not exactly popular? Well, you just wait and see. I am going to be right famous, especially at Sunnydale High."

I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart

And...

(RICHARD MARX)
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing

(BOTH)
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

It was then that Buffy, Xander and Willow exchanged looks that were half-surprise and half-shock. Yami, not exactly popular? They weren't exactly sure about that. On the contrary, they saw it a different way — namely, that there were so many girls there at Sunnydale High School, and they could imagine them lining up to be on Yami's arm. Of that they were definitely sure, and Xander even took the opportunity to tell Yami that as well.

Yami raised his eyebrows. "Really, Xander?" he queried. Xander nodded. Yami thought this over, and then grinned. "Cool. I guess maybe I will be popular at Sunnydale High. Who knew?"

Xander, Buffy and Willow then exchanged grins with each other. Who knew, indeed...

(RICHARD MARX)

(Hey ay ay)

(BOTH)
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river I wanna keep going on...

(DONNA LEWIS)
Starting out on a journey

(BOTH)
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is river I wanna keep flowing
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning

with you

(DONNA LEWIS)

Hmmmmm