WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 9 of Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro!, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro!'s Naoto just wants to make art in peace at school, but Hayase Nagatoro is determined to spend every spare minute in his company, toying with him until the cows come home. But she's no ordinary mean girl. Hayase is probably doing this to express her amorous feelings, and she's also developing a serious jealous streak -- which Sakura is about to provoke.
One of Hayase's three closest friends, Sakura has played a background role so far in Season 1 of Miss Nagatoro!. In Episode 9, however, she's taking center stage with Naoto, and Hayase burns with jealousy at the sight of it.
Sakura Gets In Over Her Head With Gamers
Hayase and her friends have a problem. A whole squad of gamers sets up shop in the school's dining hall, and they won't stop making a racket as they play. Gamo and the others try to make them hush up, but it doesn't work, so the girls retreat to the art room to pester Naoto instead. They're getting a taste of their own medicine, but they have a subtle plan to strike back. As they explain to Naoto, the girls will send Sakura to befriend the gamer boys and lure them out of the dining hall, then split them up while they're fighting over Sakura's (false) affection.
Sakura goes through with the plan off-screen, but it succeeds a little too well. While she does split up the gamer boys and draws them out of the dining hall as planned, one of the boys becomes obsessed with her. He begins following her around, quickly becoming her quiet but persistent stalker. When Sakura and the girls meet Naoto at a diner, they explain the perilous situation, and sure enough, the stalker is watching them too. Can Naoto help out a little? He's the right man for the job, after all.
Sakura & Naoto's Fake Date Provokes Hayase's Wrath
Naoto has already been on a few outings with Hayase's squad, such as Miss Nagatoro!'s beach episode and the summer festival. Now it's time for something even more intimate: a fake date between Sakura and Naoto, who will present themselves to the world as an adoring couple. Hayase, Gamo and Yoshi will follow them and capture Sakura's stalker when he inevitably shows up to spy on them. The date begins, and while Gamo and Yoshi think it's all kind of funny, Hayase is furious -- especially since she's aware that even false dates can lead to some very real feelings. What if Sakura is so grateful to Naoto, she develops a crush on him to compete with Hayase's? She simply can't ignore this possibility.
Just as the false date gets interesting, Hayase pounces on Sakura's stalker and brings him out into the open, while Gamo and Yoshi are actually disappointed the fun is over so soon. Hayase insists she's doing this to get the problem over with ASAP, and while she certainly did Sakura a favor (the stalker promised to leave her alone), she was really acting for herself.
Despite all her teasing, it's clear that Hayase has very real feelings for Naoto and is getting highly territorial. So Gamo, Yoshi and Sakura go on their merry way, and Hayase finally gets her alone time with Naoto, teasing him about whether he would sincerely date her. Naoto actually seems intrigued by the idea but says "no thanks" for now, and Hayase is okay with that answer. Still, one might wonder if Naoto has another date in his near future -- a far more genuine one.
