For those of you who stuck by me through the full story, thank you for your patience as I post this deleted scene to my fanfic. It takes place between chapters one and two and I left it out because I didn't think it contributed a lot to the overall plot of the story. Nevertheless, I posted it anyway. Disclaimer's on the first page and I hope you enjoy this deleted scene.

It was nighttime, and Yuma was on his way home after he and Astral secured a number in a duel. His friends all departed for home so it was just him and Astral. While walking, he couldn't shake off what happened immediately following the duel.

After talking a little with Astral about the duel, he was just about to take a step, only to be jumped on by Tori, Cathy and Anna. Next thing he knew, the three of them were hugging him. He felt a little uneasy, but he wasn't sure if it was because this was the first time a girl, or in this case girls, besides his mom, grandma or sister were hugging him, or the fact that they were holding him so tightly around the neck that he could barely breathe.

Tori, Cathy and Anna began to praise Yuma on how well he dueled and that they never doubted him for a second. Yuma tried to convince them that all he did was win one duel, but to no avail. What happened next caught Yuma by surprise. The three girls started kissing him. Not on the lips, just the cheeks, but all three of them doing it at the same time was all it took for him to blush redder than an apple. The girls were wearing a bit of lipstick which left behind marks on Yuma's cheeks.

While he tried to squirm free, he could've sworn he saw Rei grinning at him and giving him a thumbs-up while Bronk, Caswell and Flip were all staring in utter shock. Astral however, didn't seem to react, but could've sworn he saw a scene very similar to this one before. On top of that, as the gang split up to go home, the three girls appeared to kiss their hands and blow them towards Yuma as he left.

Yuma was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Astral trying to get his attention.

"YUMA?!"

"AUGH!" exclaimed Yuma immediately facing the spirit, "Oh. Sorry, Astral. I was daydreaming sort of."

"I see," said Astral, "Anyway, about what happened after the duel."

"Oh. What about it?"

"When Tori, Cathy and Anna were hugging you, it reminded me of something I've seen on your magic box," said Astral, referring to the TV, "A male appeared to help out a female somehow, and after the female said she was very grateful, she hugged the male. The only difference between that event and the one that happened with you was that only one girl hugged the man while three girls hugged you."

"Yeah," said a confused Yuma, "what exactly are you getting at?"

"Well, since I assumed that the female did what she did because she was grateful for the male, did Tori, Cathy and Anna hug you for the same reason, because they were grateful that you won the duel?"

"Um…," began Yuma, unsure of why the girls did what they did, "I'm not exactly 100% sure if that's the reason they hugged me. And if that isn't the reason, I have no clue what is. Sorry, Astral," Astral nodded in understanding.

"I guess that wouldn't be the only reason why a girl would do that to a guy," said Astral, "But there's another thing. I heard Caswell and Rei say something about you becoming popular with the ladies."

"They did?" questioned Yuma, followed by a nod by Astral, "They must've thought of that because they saw the girls hugging me."

"I think you're right. They did bring up that topic after the duel," agreed Astral, "then again, your friends have stated before that Shark, Kite, Quattro and The Sparrow are also popular with the ladies, but I've never seen any girls hugging them. Could it be that your popularity with the ladies is different from the popularity they have?"

"I don't know," answered Yuma, "I'm not exactly an expert on popularity, so I have no idea what kind of popularity I have."

"Well then," said Astral, believing this would be as deep as the conversation would get, decided to stop where they were right now as the two of them were nearing Yuma's house, and was certain that Yuma's family seeing him talk to himself wouldn't be a good idea at this time. Yuma was still unaware of the lipstick that was left on his face by the three girls.

Meanwhile, inside Yuma's house

Kari just finished up a news article and was relaxing in the living room along with Haru and Lilly the litter bot. They were wondering when Yuma would be back since it was getting late.

"When will Yuma return?" asked Lilly.

"He usually enters through the front door right about…," began Kari. As if on cue, Yuma opened the door and went in, "…now. Hi, Yuma. How was your day tod-," but then she stopped as she noticed the lipstick marks that were on Yuma's face. Haru and Lilly noticed what Kari was doing and followed suit.

"Oh hi, sis," said Yuma, "long story short, I dueled someone and won by 50 life points," he then noticed that Kari, Lilly and Haru were giving him an unusual stare, "What? Was it something I said?"

"Um…no," said Kari, "it's just…have you been making out with a girl or something?"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed a shocked Yuma, "Of course not!"

"Don't lie, dear," said Haru, "It's alright if you are, but you need to be-"

"I wasn't making out with someone," said Yuma, sounding a little more sincere.

"Really?" asked Kari, "Then how come there are some lipstick marks on your face that looked like a girl kissed you?"

"Say what?!" Lilly then appeared in front of Yuma, took a mirror out of her compartment and held it in front of Yuma's face. Sure enough, there were kiss marks on his cheeks and even a couple on his forehead. Then he remembered the aftermath of his duel "Those must've been from when they kissed me."

"I thought you said you weren't making out with her," said Haru.

"I wasn't," responded Yuma, "They were kissing me, I wasn't kissing back. Honest!"

"Really?" asked a confused Kari, "Is there a specific reason why she kissed you?" Yuma thought for a second.

"Maybe it was because I won the duel."

"How could one duel make her want to kiss you?"

"I don't know. I just assumed it was because I won the duel because they ran up to me and kissed me immediately after I did just that."

"Oh," said Kari, beginning to understand along with Haru and Lilly, "Well if that's the case then- wait a minute…," she, Lilly and Haru just realized that they were both using the singular term when talking about who kissed Yuma, while Yuma himself was using the plural, "…how come you keep on saying 'they', not 'her'?" Yuma knew there was no way out, so he spoke right away.

"Because there were three girls kissing me at the same time," he confessed.

"Oh," said Kari and Haru, who were just about to shrug it off, but then they turned towards Yuma looking more shocked than the time Yuma refused seconds at dinner.* All Lilly could do was open her mouth.

"EH?!" they exclaimed.

"Did you just say 'three girls'?" asked a surprised Kari.

"Uh…yes, I did," answered Yuma starting to feel a little afraid. Kari and Haru let the information sink in before forming small grins, while Lilly's face became one with a smile.

"Wow. This is quite surprising," said Kari, ruffling Yuma's hair, "My little brother's becoming popular with the ladies."

"Hey! Kari!" said Yuma attempting to hide a blush.

"How's that possible? How's that possible?" asked Lilly.

"Lilly!"

"Just curious, Yuma, but which three girls are they?" asked Haru.

"Tori, Cathy and Anna."

"I see," began Haru, "We know Tori all too well. Is Cathy that girl with glasses and cat ears in her hair?"

"Yep," answered Yuma, feeling a little embarrassed at this point.

"But who's Anna?" asked Kari, "I've never heard of her before."

"Well," began Yuma, trying to think of some details, "she has red hair and…we apparently went to the same school back in elementary, but I don't remember talking to her face to face," he also remembered the time when Anna chased him to get her revenge when she really wanted revenge of someone with a similar name,** but he decided to leave that detail out because it involved a flying cannon and Anna throwing a punch so hard that she made a hole in a building.

"Well then," said Kari still smiling, "I think it's time for bed, little brother. It sounds like you've had a long day," Yuma, feeling a little too tired to argue, decided to second the motion.

"Alright," he said, "Goodnight, sis. Goodnight, grandma. Goodnight, Lilly," and he headed for his room without another word. Kari and Haru looked at each other and laughed a little while Lilly and a repetitive 'HA' noise. Astral, who saw the whole scene unfold, made an observation.

"Observation #41: Yuma, the most unlikely of all people, is indeed popular with the female species."

"Goodnight, Astral," said Yuma with a stern look.

Next Morning

Yuma was up and running and getting prepared to go to school.

"You better hurry up, Yuma or you'll be a couple of minutes late for school!" Kari called out from her work space.

"I'm almost ready!" answered Yuma, "I'll just grab my book bag," he quickly swung the bag onto his shoulder.

"Duel Fuel, Yuma," said Lilly as she tossed a wrapped up riceball to Yuma.

"Thanks, Lilly. And away I go! I'm feeling the flow!" he headed for the door and was just about to open it when-

"DING DONG!"

The doorbell rang, stopping Yuma in his tracks.

"Who's at the door, Yuma?" asked Kari, looking up from the article she was working on.

"Just a second," answered Yuma, as he opened the door to reveal Tori, Cathy and Anna ready for school.

"Hi, Yuma," the three of them said sweetly while giggling.

"YIPE!" exclaimed Yuma as he jumped back surprised.

Kari, who was watching, saw Yuma, Tori, Cathy and another girl in the doorway. Remembering Yuma's description from last night, she assumed the third girl was Anna. An evil smirk came onto her face as she came up with an idea, "Oh…good morning Tori, Cathy, Anna. What brings you three here?"

"We came to make sure that Yuma hadn't overslept again," responded Tori who began to chuckle a little along with Cathy and Anna.

"Well believe it or not, Yuma's all ready to go to school," said Kari, "Bye, Yuma. Have fun at school with your girlfriends," she ended with a bit of laughter.

"K-K-K-K-Kari!" moaned Yuma.

"Yuma has girlfriends. Yuma has girlfriends," teased Lilly.

"Lilly! Cut it out!" This made Kari burst out laughing while Tori, Cathy and Anna silently giggled while blushing a little.

"Let's go, Yuma," said the three girls as they grabbed Yuma by the shirt collar and headed off to school. Haru, who saw the scene unfold while she was sweeping the front stoop, looked towards the group of teens as they walked to school and saw Yuma mouthed the words 'Help me.'

"Do you think he'll reel one of them in?" Haru asked Kari who recovered from her laughter.

"We'll just have to wait and see," answered Kari as she along with Haru and Lilly continued to laugh.

*Episode 82

**Episode 29