WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Don't Toy With Me, Ms. Nagatoro! Episode 10, "You Seem Pretty Stiff, Senpai," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Hayase Nagatoro has been pestering Naoto Hachioji all semester to get a rise out of him in Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro!, but she's not a true bully after all. She's just doing this to work through her amorous feelings toward her artistic senpai. By now, she has proven to be a trustworthy teammate when it counts -- and not a moment too soon.
Hayase isn't much of an artist herself, but she's impressed with Naoto's artistic talents and dedication to his craft. Now though, in Episode 10, they have a common foe: the art club president. Hayase has never faced a challenge quite like this before.
Hayase Nagatoro, The Dedicated Art Model
Hayase and her three friends have all but invited themselves into the art club, hanging out in the art room uninvited every day after school. Naoto is simply used to it and doesn't bother complaining -- in fact, Hayase is an eager sketch subject on most days. He is quietly having fun drawing her, even sketching Hayase and the others at the beach and during other outings. Now the subject of the school festival comes up, and Naoto explains that his art club will, naturally, host an art exhibit like they did last year. He is sure his stern but well-meaning club president will put on a good show, but Hayase wants to play a part too. She insists that Naoto draw her for the festival and no one else.
Naoto is up to the job, but by this point in Miss Nagatoro!, he's learning how to toy with Hayase in return and jokingly demands that she wear the cat-girl outfit from those video games. Hayase is taken aback but agrees, and to Naoto's shock, she shows up the next day in an outfit that the needle and sewing club made for her on request. He gets to work, but that's when the art club president shows up, and she would not approve of Hayase and her friends hanging out in there. At Naoto's urging, Hayase, Gamo, Yoshi and Sakura all hide in the storage room and listen as Naoto greets the president. And they don't like what they hear.
Hayase Nagatoro Vs. The Art Club President
The art club president has no time for fun and games, however, and scorns Naoto's goofy drawing of Hayase in her cat-girl outfit. This isn't some manga club, the president argues, and she will shut the entire thing down if Naoto doesn't shape up pronto. Her senpai isn't gaining any ground, so a frustrated Hayase bursts out of the storage room and confronts the president head-on, despite not being a club member and not being invited to be here. Hayase insists the president is a hypocrite -- since she herself is rarely at the club and has largely left it in Naoto's hands -- and that she shouldn't shut down Naoto's projects like that.
So the art club president decides to settle things with a challenge. Naoto won't add his art to the club's main exhibit. Instead, he will make a side exhibit of his own, and festival attendees can vote on which gallery they like better. The winner gets their way, and Hayase is 100% ready to protect Naoto's artistic vision. The thing is, she doesn't necessarily have any experience with curating an art gallery. Hayase's role thus far has been to pose for drawings. That's fine and dandy, but it may not be enough to beat the club president's expertise in Miss Nagotoro!'s biggest confrontation yet.
