Hey there, my fellow readers and writers. :) Here's a new Buffy/Yu-Gi-Oh ficlet that I cooked up one day. In this one (since I've been working on a second and new series of BtVS/Yu-Gi-Oh ficlets that are inspired by my first ficlet series, "Hell Fire", which did become quite a success, as it also got some great feedback), Yami meets with Robert Flutie, who was the sociable Principal of Sunnydale High. Plus, Principal Flutie happened to be a much better one than his successor, Principal Snyder (since Principal Flutie seemed to have the students' best interests at heart). Also, actor Ken Lerner did an awesome job with bringing him to life on the show.

This is set after "The Pack" in Season 1; however, as this is AU, Principal Flutie never gets eaten by the hyena-possessed students. This is because of the intervention of a certain 5,000-year-old Pharaoh who shows up and removes the spirits from them beforehand, and then transferring said spirits to Duel Monster cards, where they become hyena-themed Duel Monsters.

So with that in mind, I came up with this. Hope you like reading it as much as I did typing it up.

Disclaimer: Genius Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh. Joss Whedon (also a genius) owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I own the fanfics that I cook up from time to time.

Meeting with Robert Flutie

I really believe if we all reach out to one another we can beat this thing. I'm always here if you need a hug – but not a real hug; there's no touching in this school. We're sensitive to wrong touching. ~Robert Flutie (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1, Episode 4; Teacher's Pet

Principal Robert Flutie was sitting at his desk. Open in front of him was a copy of The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Harold Schechter and David Everitt.

He had been fascinated by that very book for a few good reasons. One was psychology. He had always wanted to be a psychologist when he was a kid. Also, sometimes he would remember spending summers during his school years poring over psychology books. In between the covers of those books were information about about how the mind would work, as well as why people would think the way they did.

Another reason was that he had been quite intrigued by one particular phrase he had heard one day, which happened to be "There is a darkness in humanity".

Even living in the town on top of a Hellmouth, Robert Flutie knew that those very words had a deep level of accuracy in them. For someone such as himself, some serial killers were the epitome of the darkness within any of them. Even H.H. Holmes was called ‛the devil incarnate', and he was actually quite handsome.

Flutie quickly pulled himself out of his thoughts and back to reality when he perked up his ears and heard the sound of someone heading down the hallway – not towards class, but to his office. For some reason, he felt that whoever it was wanted to seek his advice. He casually placed a bookmark in between the pages he had been reading and then closed the book; after all, bookmarks were good things to use, which was usually when one wanted to mark their place so they could return to where they left off later.

His timing was perfect, however, for when he looked up, there stood none other than Atem Moto, who preferred to be called Yami.

Having heard of Yami's rep as a model student, Flutie had made up his mind about one thing. Basically, Yami was definitely the kind of guy that could do anything great if he set his mind to it. The grades on Yami's report card were usually As and Bs, which was a result of his studying very hard (while taking occasional breaks every now and then). Although Yami did have a subject he wasn't good at – which happened to be math – he never had to worry, knowing that Willow Rosenberg, who was very smart, was able to help him when he asked for her assistance.

However, when it came to the bullies at Sunnydale High, there was no doubt that Yami had something intimidating about him. Even the worst kids in the school could testify to that.

But no matter how the bullies would try and try to take Yami down – be it a notch or just one peg – their schemes would usually backfire on them. And as for Yami, his popularity soared even higher. The reason why, Principal Flutie knew, was that Yami chose to stay true to himself and follow his own path, which the other students seemed to like (for some mysterious reason).

"Hello, Mr. Flutie," Yami said, a smile on his face. He always looked good no matter what he wore; even Cordelia Chase and her clique, the Cordettes, would agree with that. Sometimes, they would take one look at Yami before turning to each other and nodding as though in approval. To them, Yami had good taste in clothes, and today was not an exception either.

Today, Yami was wearing a black sleeveless shirt covered by a blue jacket, along with pants that matched the shirt. On his feet were black, bootlike shoes with what looked like silver buckles around the edges.

Flutie smiled at Yami's politeness. "Ah, hello, Yami. How have you been lately?"

"I've been doing great," said Yami as he casually stepped into the office and then sat down in the chair three feet away from the principal's desk.

Flutie nodded. "I see," he said. "Boy, where do the days go? It seemed like only yesterday that you were one of the new students here."

Now it was Yami's turn to nod. He remembered those days too. Being the new student wasn't fun sometimes, but it had been a triumph when he showed a few students that tried to bully him on his first day that he wasn't someone they could mess with. In the bullies' minds, it was a lesson well learned the hard way.

If you were a bully, never mess with Atem ‛Yami' Moto, because he wasn't the typical bullying victim that he seemed to be. But on the other hand, if you were the kind of student who politely asked him for help with something, especially if it was with a test on a subject that he would excel at (which happened to be a subject that you had trouble with), he would usually do his best to help out.

Back in the present, Yami then asked Flutie about how his day was going.

"It's going great, Yami," Flutie replied. "I've been doing some reading about serial killers, as well as how their minds work when compared to the mind of a normal person."

"Ah, so I see," Yami nodded in understanding, having read books that dealt with those very subjects himself.

Flutie nodded, but in agreement, though.

"By the way," Yami asked after a moment, "how are my grades? The last time I checked, you said that the report cards didn't come out just yet."

"Oh, that," replied Flutie while simultaneously snapping his fingers. "Silly me, I almost forgot about that." He gave Yami a sheepish smile. "Thanks for reminding me, Yami."

Yami nodded as though in understanding while simultaneously saying "You're welcome, Mr. Flutie".

"It's a good thing, too," said Flutie while handing a sheet of paper to Yami, "because it just so happens that your grades are as follows on that piece of paper."

Yami looked at the sheet; what he saw made him smile.

Atem ‛Yami' Moto:

Math – A.

Science – B.

Phys. Ed – A.

History – A.

Language Arts – A.

Health and Human Development – A.

When Yami got to the section of the report card where the teachers would write comments and observations, he felt even more proud of himself (only in a good way).

Comments/observations: Yami is an excellent student, and is usually very attentive and observant. He not only remembers homework, but will also turn it in a day early before the assignment is due. And he usually has something to say that's usually very neat, as well as very well-put. We enjoy having this student in our classes.

Yami looked at Flutie. "Thank you, Mr. Flutie," he said before getting up to go. "I better get to the cafeteria. It must be lunchtime already."

Flutie checked his watch, and noted that Yami was right. "Good idea, Yami," he noted. "After all, food is fuel that people, especially high school students, need to keep going for the rest of the day."

Yami nodded and then left the office, while Flutie pulled out a lunch of a tuna fish sandwich and potato chips, which he ate while picking up where he left off in the book he had been reading.

There was one thing Flutie had to say about Yami.

He was quite the student, as well as very scholarly.

And there wasn't another student quite like him at Sunnydale High – or anywhere in the world, either...

Well, that's the end of this ficlet. I hope you liked reading it as much as I did typing it up. And as for the new Buffy/Yu-Gi-Oh ficlet series I'm cooking up, I plan to give it the title of ‛At Sunnydale High', because Buffy spent her first three years there (before it was blown up in the Graduation Day battle against the Mayor).

Anyway, nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course. :)