Next day, Willow rides her bike up to school. Percy spots her and hurries after. He shares the fact that he got a B- on his history exam, and thanks her for tutoring him and not "kicking [his] ass like [she] did in the Bronze." Willow is about to confess she didn't actually kick his ass, but then just tells him it was for his own good. Oz comes up, and Percy morons away. As usual, Oz quips, but this time Willow chides him for joking at such a serious time.

Xander creeps into class late. The teacher insists that, despite the impending graduation, "This is still a class and everyone will participate." He writes on the board and calls on Xander, who says, "E." The teacher gloats that there is no E, and the camera pulls back to show he's making the class play Hangman. It's a hard joke to explain but it did amuse me on first airing. As the class continues playing, Anya leans over and basically asks Xander out. He sours that he has no interest in listening to her stories of demon vengeance. Scanning her mental collection of Cosmo, Anya suggests that they could "watch sports of some kind." Xander gripes about this stereotyping and says that Anya should have learned more about men in the past thousand years. He then tells her he's stressed about the upcoming Ascension. Anya looks totally freaked out.

Saying, "Faith," Buffy holds up a newspaper, the headline of which reads "Professor Found Murdered." Giles manages to both read the article and, without looking, fend off Wesley's fencing feints. I love Giles. Not in a sexy way, though. Oh, I can't explain it. Not so sure why Wes and Giles are brushing up on their fencing skills, though. I don't think fencing at one-quarter speed is going to provide an adequate defense against the Mayor. The article reveals that Dr. Worth was professor of geology, which makes me have an extra sneer for Faith, because messing with geologists is not a way to get on my good side. Buffy (who is wearing a sheer gray hoodie that I'm coveting) and Giles decide that the Mayor must have had a good reason to have Dr. Worth killed, and they need to find out why. "Ah. By attempting to keep a valuable clue from us, the Mayor may have inadvertently led us right to it," smugs Wesley with a self-satisfied slash of his sword. "What page are you on, Wes? 'Cause we already got there," teases Buffy, with a cute smile in her voice. Wes attempts to save face by commanding Buffy to go to Dr. Worth's apartment and look for clues. Since that's exactly what she was already planning to do, she agrees, telling him, "I just love it when you take charge, you man, you." Too much levity in the library for Giles, who gently urges Buffy to be careful and reminds her that "Faith has [her] at a disadvantage." "Why? 'Cause I'm not crazy or 'cause I don't kill people?" snarks Buffy. Giles and me: "Both, actually." Buffy agrees that she couldn't kill Faith, but says that she plans to beat the crap out of her. Wesley admonishes that Buffy shouldn't let her feelings for Faith get in the way, and that their priority must be foiling the Mayor's Ascension. Not so coincidentally, this is Xander's clue to bring Anya into the library and explain that she's "the only living person who's ever been to one."