WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Episode 10, "Multiplayer Games Have Their Own Special Appeal," now streaming on Funimation.
With the school term ending and summer vacation firmly underway, Tomozaki can finally have a break from his life training, right? With Hinami around, no chance. Episode 10 sees Tomozaki and the "normies" -- Hinami, Izumi, Mimimi, Takei, Nakamura and Mizusawa -- go on a beach and BBQ trip, where hijinks abound and romance begins to bloom.
Nakamura and Izumi have liked each other for a long time, but Izumi is too shy to admit her feelings while Nakamura remains stubborn and oblivious. So the rest of the group plots different ways to bring the two of them together. As the weekend goes along their plan seems to be working -- but Tomozaki gets quite a bit more than he bargained for.
Along with the group plan, Hinami has set some difficult new life goals for Tomozaki to reach: tease the gruff and quick-tempered Nakamura three times and become friends with Mizusawa. Though nervous and awkward, Tomozaki does indeed complete his personal tasks -- and inadvertently aids the group-wide goal. After a full day at the beach, the guys are back in their cabin talking about girls when Nakamura mentions an ex-girlfriend who keeps texting him. While Tomozaki is a quiet observer of the conversation, Nakamura suddenly demands his thoughts. In his usual simple but affectingly honest way, Tomozaki lays out the truth: his ex is stringing him along. The others burst out laughing, but Nakamura sees the sense and begins spending more time with Izumi in earnest.
For her part, Izumi likewise remains oblivious to her friends' efforts but is happy to be paired with Nakamura for everything they do. But with the two still unable -- or unwilling -- to admit their feelings to one another, the rest of the group reveals the final and most intense part of their plan: a walk through a supposedly haunted forest at night. They all pair off into groups: Izumi with Nakamura, Mimimi with Takei and Mizusawa, and Hinami with Tomozaki. The end result for the budding lovebirds remains to be seen, but it's actually the third pairing that brings the biggest surprise.
As Hinami and Tomozaki prepare to enter the forest, Hinami decides it's the perfect time for some extra life training. She pretends to be a frightened damsel in distress so Tomozaki can learn to be a confident and comforting partner. It's all fun and games until Tomozaki, tiring of the act, spots a cicada on the ground and gets it to fly directly at Hinami's face. She stumbles over and as he helps her back up, Hinami embraces Tomozaki's hold and leans forward as if to kiss him.
For all the world it seems to be a continuation of her damsel routine -- except, earlier in the episode Hinami told Tomozaki that she kept pairing herself with him for different tasks so she could be her true self for a bit. It's an important moment -- the first time Hinami admits her public personality is a mask -- and the fact that Tomozaki is the one person she feels comfortable opening up to is telling. Is the cliffhanger might-kiss just Hinami's revenge for the cicada, or is she getting lost in the moment? Could Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki be setting the stage for its protagonists to become more than mentor and mentee?
