Huh? Yoshiko's not here. Where'd she go?

You're right. She left right in the middle of eating her cheesecake.

She mentioned going to check on the heat of the hotpot. Now that I think about it, she was mulling over something in front of the hotpot just a moment ago.

Maybe she's worried about something?

She did not give me her usual comeback when I called her “Yoshiko,” so something serious must be on her mind.

I want to help her if I can. Let's go find Yoshiko.

[Fade in/out.]

Yoshiko!

Eep! Ack! Why are you all here?! Go and eat your cheesecake!

Oh? Is there something wrong with us all being here?

Yoshiko. Were you hiding something from us just now?

Ah! Stop! Don't come over here! I'm not hiding anything! Go away! Ack, no!

Whaaaaa?!

Y-Yoshiko… It looked to me as though some form of red powder was dropped into the hotpot.

Well, uh, that's… Uhh… Um… An accident! It was an accident! I didn't mean to put it all in!

Wh-What did you put into it?!

I added in a devilish seasoning used in black magic! Something good for beauty and for health! But I wasn't planning on emptying the whole bottle out into it!

I've never heard of black magic seasoning before. I'm surprised by what you did, but it should be fine if it's good for our beauty and health.

There is nothing fine about this! Suspicious does not even begin to describe what you have just said! For goodness' sake, what did you put into the hotpot?!

Well, it's supposed to have really good effects!

The bubbling of the hotpot looks really scary…

There's a redness to it that isn't from the tomatoes or beets…

I-It's fine! The seasoning has deep and honorable roots in black magic, after all! There's no way it'll taste bad! Nope!

What deep and honorable roots?! I could not be more concerned right now! Goodness me, you have made a mess of our delicious hotpot…

I don't think you can call it a mess just yet. I mean, the hotpot tasted good when you tried it after I added the beets, right?

You're so positive, Emma. Okay, I'm gonna follow your example! I'll give it a taste! Here I go!

Is it okay? Rina-chan Board says, “Nervous!”

Ooh! It's surprisingly good! Kinda like a slightly spicy tomato hotpot. You were right, Emma.

[Fade in/out.]

Phew, I'm stuffed! We went through a lot, but the hotpot filled with demonic seasonings, beets, mushrooms, and the veggies I got was so delicious!

A new hotpot not bound by any one type of cuisine. Sounds like the perfect dish made by school idols, right? All's well that ends well, I guess.

That is quite right. For all the unique ingredients to come together and create something delicious is much like a school idol group. Thankfully it turned out all right.

Then let's call this hotpot the “School Idol Hotpot!” I'll tell Honoka and the others later.

I've still got plenty of devilish seasonings around! There's a blue powder, a yellow powder and… Should I just put them all in?

Yoshiko!

I-I'm just kidding… And it's Yohane, all right?