Chapter 8

Mission: 8 (: 8) is the eight chapter of the SPY x FAMILY manga, written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. It was released on July 1, 2019.

Synopsis
Loid has finally reached Eden Academy and can move forward with "Operation Strix". Anya has her first day at the institute and makes a new friend, and multiple enemies.

Plot
The Forgers, along with the families of the 208 students that passed and alumni of the school are at the first assembly at Eden Academy. The man presenting it congratulates and welcomes everyone to the Academy.

Loid recaps his plan. He was able to get into the Academy, but the challenges have only just begun. Looking to her parents, Anya points out that the kids are wearing the same thing that she is, Loid responds that is how uniforms work. He remembers Handler's plan about having her obtain enough Stella Stars to become an Imperial Scholar, but he concludes that he has abandoned that plan, as rising to the top of the school is a fool's errand according to him. Due to her telepathy, Anya looks in shock but does not say anything.

At the moment, the school is calling each other students to join their respective classes. Loid has made a change for the sake of the mission, and that was to put Anya in the class of Damian Desmond, the son of Donovan Desmond. The boy proudly walks forward, thinking that they should have called his family name first due to his importance. Loid has been keeping an eye on him since he saw his name on the list of students taking the entrance exam.

In case the original plan by Handler is too difficult, then they can move into Plan B, the "Friendship Scheme". If Damian and Anya get along well in class, Damian will invite her to play at his class which allows him to make contact with Donovan and fulfill the mission. It is now time for Anya to walk up to join her class, and she does it in quite a robotic manner. She has grown up with many kids in the orphanage, so Loid believes that her communication skills are quite advanced.

Anya sees Damian and nots that he is the son of the "the bad guy". Damian sees him looking at her and wonder what her deal, but he answers the question himself, believing that she is another person to fall for his charms. She hears his thoughts, and it annoys her greatly. Though she does not act on it, she turns away in dismissal but Damian simply interprets that as shyness. The next girl called up is Becky Blackbell, Loid recognizes her as the daughter of the CEO of a major military contractor and begins to realize more of the relation of the children to high-class families, the class is a treasure trove of intel for him. He tells Anya to make lots of friends, Yor giggles at his intensity when he looks out for his daughter, misinterpreting it as his protectiveness of Anya. Becky introduces herself and thinks that Anya is a baby and that she should show her how things work, Anya turns away from her too in annoyance.

The students in the Cecil Square will be taken care of by Mr. Henderson, who Loid notes has not been fired after the dilemma at the family interview. He thinks that it is odd that the housemaster was put in charge of first-year students, but he supposes that being demoed was the best he could hope for. Henderson thinks he has not forgotten how to discipline the students, Anya perks up, hearing his thoughts.

They will now be taken away, and Loid passes on the torch to Anya. who salutes at him, and gets told to stay in line by Henderson. When they go, Loid says he feels queasy, Yor says it can be hard to send them off into the world.

Later, they are shown around the school, and the last place they look at is the private dining hall which is only for Imperial Scholars, which Henry Henderson says they will be able to enter when they obtain eight Stella Stars with elegance. Those who fall behind will receive Tonitrus Bolts and punished or even expelled, and he glares at Anya, causing her to wonders why. The class continue on, and Damian's friends begin to brag as they bet Damian will be an Imperial Scholar in no time. He is absolutely confident he will, and brags that his father is the Chairman of the National Unity Party. The students all gather around him and want to be friends due to his position, flattering him. Becky angrily thinks they are all suck-ups and Anya just stares.

Then, she is approached by Damian, who asks her what her dad does, stating that depending on her answer, she could be friends with him too. Anya says he is a "feelings doctor", Damian concludes that he is a nobody so they cannot be friends. Anya says he wants to play at his house, but his friends insult her and say that she needs to learn her place, Anya immediately remembers her training but another lesson from Yor interrupts, Yor warning Anya that being emotional and flaunting power won't be truly strong.

Yor told her that someone who lets emotion guide their fist does not understand what true strength is, when someone is being mean, a cool girl laughs it off. A smile is the strongest weapon, and it stops a fight before it even starts. Becky tells her to say something back, but Anya does not care and gives an indifferent smile, not realizing her smile appears smug. This enrages Damian, thinking she is making fun of him, while Becky thinks she misjudged her. She calls Anya grown-up, Anya is touched by her compliment and looks back to Damian with the same smile, setting him off. He insults her, but shows extremely limited vocabulary. Henderson calls the two out, and tells them not to make him warn them again, or else they will receive a Tonitrus. Damian says she will pay for embarrassing him, Anya thinks Yor was lying as smiling did not help her at all.

The tour continues. Damian throws a crumpled ball of paper at her head, and pretends that he did not do it. Anya shrugs it off with a smile, but Becky says that she will tell them off. Damian simply asks if they have proof, elbowing Becky out of the way and he declares that he is going to bully Anya out of the school, and by then, she will never smile again. His friend tells her to cry to her father to make it all better. She smiles again, but she has decided she has had enough. She looks around before punching Damian in the face, sending him into flying into a rubbish bin.

Henderson rushes towards them, wondering what the noise was, and Damian's friend says she punched Damian. Anya lies, claiming she was stretching out her hand and he walked into it. The two do not think anyone would believe that as she checked that Henderson was not watching before she did it. Like Damian, Anya asks if they have proof.