Stella Star Arc

The Stella Star Arc is the fifth story arc in SPY x FAMILY.

To become an Imperial Scholar, Anya Forger begins trying to get Stella Stars with the help of Loid Forger and Yor Forger.

Summary
Henry Henderson starts his early morning by taking a jog around Eden Academy. After completing his jog, he heads to Cecile Hall's dormitory to take a shower. Afterward, he dons his elegant attire and starts making some tea. The dorm tutor walks in and the two wish each other a good morning. Henry invites the tutor to have tea and the tutor gladly joins. Henry pours hot water into the kettle, puts his tea blend into their teacups, and then pours water from the kettle into the cups. The tutor comments how it has been a while since Henry was in charge of the grade school children and asks how they are, and Henry says they have promise. The tutor then mentions how Henry had to give Anya a Tonitrus Bolt on her first day. Henry admits that it was a rare occurrence for their school and only did what was necessary; good deeds shall be praised and misconduct will be met with punishment. The tutor says he has much to learn from Henry, while Henry says that as the elementary students continue to learn true elegance every day, the school traditions will live on.

In the dorm common room, Damian looks solemnly at the group photo taken during orientation, where he stands alone. Ewen Egeburg and Emile Elman run to him with a photo album. They show Damian a photo of his older brother and find more photos of him in the album, awed by his accomplishments and status as an Imperial Scholar while Damian wears a sad look. Ewen tells Damian that he is sure that Damian will become an Imperial Scholar even faster and be the first to get a Stella in their grade. Emile mentions that they still have a while until exams and says that his first opportunity will be in P.E. class next week, where there will be a dodgeball tournament with the other classes. Ewen then discloses that he heard from his friend who heard from their friend that the MVP of the game will be rewarded a Stella.

While waiting for classes to begin, Henry reads a book on the history of Eden while listening to music on his phonograph. He finishes reading and looks out the window, ready for another elegant day at Eden Academy. However, he is instead greeted by Damian, Emile, and Ewen fighting with Anya and Becky Blackbell. Henry gives a look of disappointment having to deal with this so early in the day.

Anya returns home to tell Loid a rumor she heard from Becky that she has a chance to earn a Stella Star in P.E. class. Loid doubts this, but determined to help Anya do well, Yor and an excited Anya train for the dodgeball game. Yor puts Anya through several training methods and teaches her a "killer move".

On the day of the game, Anya, Becky, and Damian's gang have a bit of an argument before they go line up on the court. Henderson announces that he will be overseeing the interclass dodgeball match between Cecile Hall and Wald Hall as Coach Bobby is out sick. Damian throws the first ball of the game, aiming for Bill Watkins, a large muscular student from Wald Hall, who easily catches it. Bill throws the ball back at Cecile's team, eliminating 4 of its members. Bill is confident in his victory and thinks back to his training for the game, remembering his father's words of encouragement. Becky attempts to take him out, but he eliminates her. Damian, Ewen, and Emile try to take out Bill together, but Ewen and Emile end up getting eliminated, leaving Damian, Anya, and another student left in the Cecile Hall team.

While Damian plans to survive and stand out, Bill decides to go after Anya next. He throws a low ball at her, but she reads his mind and jumps to avoid it. He throws 3 more shots, but they all miss her, with the final one hitting the unnamed student. Becky notices Anya nearing the out-of-bounds and yells at her to watch out for the people outside the line. Anya tries to step back but trips and falls. Bill sees his chance and hurls a ball toward Anya. Damian looks at her pitifully but ultimately jumps in the way of the ball and tries to catch it. He ends up failing to do so and eliminates himself. Anya acknowledges Damian's selfless act and announces that she will get revenge for Damian's "death." After thinking back to Yor's training, Anya uses her "killer move" and throws the ball at Bill. However, the ball hits the ground and bounces toward Bill, who throws the ball right back and hits her. Bill and his team are excited, thinking he was going to get a Stella Star. However, Henry informs them that they do not give out Stella Stars for a simple P.E. game, but he may need to give Bill a Tonitrus Bolt for his improper language when throwing the ball at Anya earlier. Damian rushes over to Anya and yells at her for wasting his sacrifice. As Ewen, Emile, and Becky join in and start to argue, Henry considered the children worthy of a Stella Star for their teamwork, but he changes his mind.

Later, Loid sees Anya's grades and sees that she failed all the tests. Loid calls out to Anya, who claims to be busy watching cartoons. He turns off the TV and carries her away so they can study as they promised, but Anya starts throwing a tantrum. They begin studying, and Loid scolds her for being unable to spell correctly. Yor joins them, takes a look at Anya's test, and compliments her for her score being not bad despite still being a failing grade. Anya only had difficulty with the idiom test because she read another student's mind who also failed. She plans in the future to learn who is the best at each subject so she can read their mind for tests. Loid considers having her grades changed in the school's records but realizes that would be suspicious if she did not also have some real improvement as well. He also believes that if her classmates might resent her for her unearned accomplishments. Anya reads his mind and contemplates whether it is a good idea or not for her to cheat by reading her classmates' minds. Loid decides maybe he s being too strict with studying and decides to instead see what other activities she excels at. Anya tries drawing, music, and sports but she fails horribly at all of them. Loid contemplates his mission and the hopes WISE has of her getting eight Stella Stars in four months. While he contemplates this, Anya gets herself tangled up in the jump rope. She tells him she will work really hard before asking him to untangle her. After helping her, Loid asks if she will go with somewhere tomorrow and she agrees.

The next day, they go to the hospital to do some community service in hopes to have her earn a Stella Star that way. Through his intel, Loid knows that outside of academic achievement, Stellas can be awarded for long-term community service and heroic acts like life-saving and police assistance. The nurses assign Loid and Anya to start by cleaning the locker room by the pool. Anya ends up breaking 2 flower pots while cleaning so the nurses decide to reassign her to tidying the books in the library. Instead of cleaning though, she ends up just reading manga. Anya says she is tired of cleaning and runs off to find a surgery room so she can assist a doctor by handing them tools, but ends up bumping into a nurse. The nurse yells at the two of them and excuses them from service. They dejectedly begin to leave the hospital with Loid realizing Anya will not be able to get a Stella Star this way. Ken, a patient at the hospital, passes by them in the hallway alongside his trainer and heads to the rehabilitation pool. When Ken's trainer leaves him near the pool while she goes to change, he reaches his hand in the pool to check the temperature but ends up falling in. Unable to swim, Ken begins to drown, and his thoughts cry out for help. Anya hears his cries through her telepathy and is about to tell Loid about it but fears exposing her abilities.

She tells Loid she will earn a Stella from swimming and runs off to practice at the pool. There, Anya frantically looks around for Ken before seeing his air bubbles and hears more of his cries for help. Anya dives into the pool after the boy, but is unable to swim and starts losing air. Luckily, Loid dives into the pool in time and saves the children. After Loid explains the situation to the adults, they praise Anya for her efforts, despite her recklessness. At the next day of school, Anya is awarded a Stella Star for saving Ken's life. Becky and Henderson congratulate her for getting the first Stella Star in their grade, while Damian scoffs at her for getting one before him. Back at home, Ken and his family thank Anya. Yor hugs Anya tightly, and Loid pats her head, proud of her achievement. Anya realizes she can use her powers to help people and gets very happy. Yor proclaims that she will make them a special dinner, but Anya rejects the idea, shocking her mother.

A disguised Handler and Twilight meet in a subway car and discuss Anya's recently earned Stella Star. Handler mentions that several businesses linked to Donovan have made suspicious financial transactions recently and tells Twilight to quickly find a way to get close to Desmond, as the signs do not look good. Anya arrives at school proudly wearing her Stella Star on her chest. Several students begin talking in awe about how she was apparently the fastest student to get a Stella Star. Becky greets Anya who instructs her to call her "Starlight Anya" from now on. Becky states that with this fame, Anya could probably make 100 friends just today. An image pops into Anya's mind of Damian asking her to be friends and Loid praising her for helping to complete his mission. However, Damian instead greets her by telling her to not get too full of herself before walking off which disappoints Anya.

Becky and Anya head to their class where the students immediately begin to badmouth Anya for wearing her Stella Star in class. Other students try to assert that the whole incident was faked and she does not deserve the Stella Star. Two girls looking for support in this ask Damian what he thinks. Instead of support though, he tells them that Eden Academy is not a third-rate school that would give out Stella Stars without merit. The girls worriedly try to take back their words before Damian cuts them off telling them to transfer if they have a problem with Eden. However, these words only hurt Damian because he knows that he has lost to Anya.

Becky and Anya head to lunch where Becky asks Anya what she got as a reward for earning a Stella Star. Anya thinks maybe she could get peanuts but Becky pushes her to think bigger like the gifts she has gotten, from dresses, tiaras, and a tank. Seeing all of Becky's gifts makes Anya frightened at the amount of money the Blackbell family has. Anya decides that she wants a castle but Becky tries to get her to lower her request size. Becky brings up the dog that she got which makes Anya curious. Anya sees Damian and his gang walking by so she asks Damian if he has a dog. Damian shrugs off the question but Anya reads his mind and sees him playing with his dog Max. Anya envisions a future where she tells Damian that she got a dog which makes Damian want to compare the cuteness of the dogs. Loid and Anya then head to Donovan and Damian's house where Loid asks Donovan to end this war.

When Anya arrives home, she tells Loid and Yor that she wants a dog as a reward for her Stella Star. Loid tells Anya that he will give the idea some thought. He then envisions a buff guard dog that can be used to protect Anya whereas Yor envisions a dog that would attack and kill her. After reading their minds, Anya tells the two of them that she wants a small cute dog which makes Yor envision a small dog slashing Anya's throat with a knife in its mouth. Loid decides that they should go to a pet shop over the weekend to see what's available.

Meanwhile, two men are discussing the sales of the dogs they have in holding. They plan on selling them to some revolutionaries who are going to use the dogs as bomb dogs. They look over the dogs and see that some of them are not doing well. One of the dogs sees an image of Loid, Anya, and Yor welcoming him, and this makes him stand up.

Story Impact

 * First appearance of Wald Hall.
 * Anya Forger earns her first Stella Star.
 * Keith Kepler and Bond appear at the end.

Characters Introduced

 * Bill Watkins
 * Ken