Midterm Exams Arc

Note that the arc title and following sub-headings are fan-made and used to better organize the story.

The Midterm Exams Arc is the seventh story arc in SPY x FAMILY.

The students at Eden Academy take their midterm exams. Great success will lead to Stella Stars, but great failure will lead to Tonitrus Bolts.

Yor's Kitchen
Loid is concerned that Yor has been coming home late, and the fact that she comes home with a grim look and cuts on her fingers does not quell his suspicions. Anya reads Bond's mind and is confused to see Yor crying in the future. The next day, Yor visits Camilla's place after work for cooking lessons, worried that her inability to will endanger her marriage and secret job. Yuri comes over to help taste-test, and Yor begins to practice cooking, to disastrous results.

While initially antagonistic toward Yor, Camilla realizes that since being orphaned, Yor had to cook for herself and Yuri since they were kids, which probably warped their palates. Camilla asks Yor if she remembers any dishes their parents used to make, and Yuri remembers a stew their mother made. Camilla guesses it was a southern stew with a simple base and helps Yor recreate it by walking her through the steps. While they cook, Camilla notices that Yor has been more lively lately. After some finishing touches, Yor successfully recreates her mother's stew.

Yor returns home and proclaims that she will be making dinner tonight, to Loid and Anya's shock. Yor explains herself while preparing the stew and apologizes for hiding it. Loid and Anya take a cautious spoonful and are surprised it is good. Yor begins to cry out of happiness, realizing that she genuinely likes making her new family happy. After Loid says he is looking forward to her next meal, Yor happily presents her "Yor Forger original" dish, which Loid and Anya excitedly take a bite out of before collapsing to the ground.

THE INFORMANT'S GREAT ROMANCE PLAN
Franky calls Loid to tell him that he has fallen in love with someone and asks for help on a successful date. While uninterested, Loid decides to help Franky out, giving him advice and practicing with talking sessions.

Franky thanks Loid for the help and heads out to go ask out the woman but is rejected. The Forgers later encounter Franky on their outing, where he claims to Loid that he managed to get a date. Loid consoles Franky at the bar with some drinks, reminding him that their jobs prevent them from having relationships anyway.

The Griffin Plan
Anya tries to impress Damian with her family photo featuring Bond, which fails. However, Becky sees it and is immediately smitten with Loid and keeps the photo for herself. In art class, the students make animal models as part of an art contest. Anya attempts to impress Damian with her paper model of Bond, which he quickly dismisses. Damian tries making a griffin to impress his father, and Anya decides to help him to gain his favor. Damian accepts her help, a decision he quickly regrets when Anya starts adding her own touches to the model. Damian antagonizes her and his seatmates and is quickly scolded by Henry Henderson, who oversees their projects.

As an apology, Anya gives Damian her paper model to add to his. The students' art projects are displayed in the hallway, which a group of Eden higher-ups pass by. They are moved at the sight of Damian and Anya's work and give Damian first prize. Afterward, Damian resolves to work harder and become an Imperial Scholar to earn his father's attention and respect.

FULLMETAL LADY
Sylvia Sherwood is the Handler at Westalis Intelligence Services' Eastern-Focused Division, aka WISE. Officially, she acts as an attaché at the Westalis' Embassy in Ostania but commands a corps of intelligence agents, even under strict surveillance by the secret police. She is dubbed the "Fullmetal Lady" by her agents due to her flawless performance under such harsh conditions.

Sylvia walks down the street as two SSS agents begin to tail her, and she identifies other people following her in the crowd. She heads for the public pool every Wednesday, maintaining the same clothes, errands, and route to lull the men into a false sense of security. The men tailing her are bored and decide to get something to eat while waiting for her to leave the pool. Sylvia quickly changes into a new set of clothes and a short black wig, leaving the pool without alerting the men. In her disguise, she meets with Twilight and briefs him on what they learned from the financial records of Donovan Desmond's partners. As she talks, Loid notices that Sylvia forgot to cut the price tag off her new coat but refuses to point it out to her out of fear.

At another time, Loid attempts to meet up with Sylvia and needs to help lose her pursuers. Sylvia looks into a nearby shop window, reflecting Loid, who signals the location of her pursuers. Loid asks if they should cancel through secret communication. Sylvia refuses and tells him to meet at Point C. At the meeting point, Loid reports that Anya can now jump over two vaulting horses stacked and jump rope five times in a row. Sylvia looks at him as she tells herself that he must be joking.

OMELET RICE ♡
Going back to the past, Yor feeds Yuri omelet rice, which he happily eats up while vomiting it out. Yor also serves him pasta and cake, both ending in the same result. After eating, Yuri compliments his sister's cooking, saying she will land a husband in no time. Embarrassed, Yor slaps Yuri, inadvertently throwing him across the room. All this helped Yuri develop a strong body. In the present, the SSS Lieutenant remarks how Yuri had been hit by a truck the other day when he was light-headed after pulling four all-nighters in a row. He warns Yuri to be careful, but Yuri assures him that he is fine.

The Midterm Exams
Henry announces to the students that their midterm exams will be in two weeks, adding that the top two students in each subject will receive a Stella Star, while students who fail an exam will receive a Tonitrus Bolt for each failed one.

Returning home from remedial classes, Anya notices the full moon and starts panicking. Rushing home, Anya asks Loid what phase the moon will be in two weeks, to which he replies the new moon. Anya begins to panic, as she will be unable to use her powers on the day of a new moon due to her weakness known as "Eclipsing," meaning she cannot cheat during the exam. The next day, Loid attempts to help her study for the midterms but ultimately makes no progress. Yor then remembers that Yuri offered to help Anya with her studies and invites him over. Upon meeting him, Anya is immediately taken aback by his thoughts about Yor. Loid and Yuri chat for a bit before Loid leaves to run some errands, leaving the others to study.

Yuri starts by giving her difficult problems to solve, which Anya does by reading his mind and surprising him and Yor. Anya remembers that she will not be able to do this during the test and tells Yuri it was dumb luck, which he hesitantly accepts. As they study, Yuri gets upset after realizing she is not that bright. However, when Yor asks Yuri for help, and Anya exaggerates her love for Yor, Yuri begins being kinder with his critiquing. After hitting some roadblocks, Yuri asks Anya if she likes studying. Anya says she hates it and asks him the same, to which he replies that he studied hard so that he could help and take care of Yor. Yuri teaches Anya that "knowledge is power" and she can be or do anything she wants if she studies hard. Although she mishears him, Anya becomes very motivated to study.

After an exhausting study session, Yuri storms off after realizing that no progress has been made. However, he and Anya each realize they need more "power" to protect the people they care about. When Loid returns home, he discovers that Anya has been studying a subject that is not even on the midterm exams. Dumbfounded, Loid chuckles to himself and thinks that Operation Strix may very well be doomed. On the day of the midterms, Anya and her friends prepare to take their exams.

DAYBREAK
Once the exams finish, Loid infiltrates Eden Academy, worried that Anya failed her exams and will get a Tonitrus. Hoping to alter Anya's answers before they start grading the tests, Loid disguises himself as a professor and heads to the vault containing the exams. On the way, he encounters an amateur spy called "Daybreak," a self-proclaimed rival of Twilight that also shares the same goal as him.

Daybreak baffles Loid with his unorthodox methods, forcing the master spy to cover up his tracks to avoid suspicion. Upon making direct contact with Daybreak, Loid learns that his orders are to change the Desmond brothers' test answers and suspects that Donovan could be behind this. In the vault, Daybreak seemingly gets the jump on Loid and alters Damian and Demetrius Desmond's test scores. He then tries to gain exposure by signing his name on the tests, shocking Loid. When Daybreak notices him, he urges Loid to spread his name before making his grand exit. Loid checks the tampered tests, discovering that Daybreak changed the answers to failing scores, and deduces that he was likely hired by a rival of the Desmonds. Needing their success for his mission to continue, Loid reverts the changes. Afterward, he checks Anya's tests and is surprised by what he sees.

Five days later, the midterm scores are posted in the Quad. Damian is ecstatic to learn that he placed in the top 2 for History with a score of 94, earning him a Stella Star. On the contrary, Anya placed 213th out of 228 students, barely managing to pass on her own. While Anya is proud of this achievement, Loid decides to be stricter with her studies. Meanwhile, Daybreak gets a call saying that he failed his mission and is consequently fired.

After the Midterms
One month before the midterm exams, George Glooman overhears his father, the president of Glooman Pharmaceuticals, saying that the company has gone bankrupt and will cease to exist in a month, mentioning the Desmond Group.

In the present day, the students of Cecile Hall are cleaning the school grounds, with things calmed down now that the midterms are over. Damian is showered with praise by most of his peers for his Stella Star, and they propose having a study group with him before the next exam. Anya overhears the thoughts of her classmate George plotting his revenge on Damian. Reading his thoughts, Anya is shocked to learn that George was the one who hired Daybreak in his attempt to make Damian fail. George tries to get Damian expelled, accusing Damian of smoking with a cigarette butt he planted, and punches himself to the ground to make it look like Damian attacked him when the teacher is called.

The teacher demands an explanation from Damian, but Anya comes to his defense, wanting to ensure the mission's success. Damian confronts George, who explains that his family company is bankrupt and blames the Desmond Group for driving it out of business. George now believes that he will have to leave school as a result of this. His classmates pity his situation and decide to fulfill his requests before he leaves, getting him food and drinks, letting him wear a Stella Star, singing the school chorus together, and gifting him mementos to remember them by. However, when he returns home, George learns from his father that the Desmond Company actually bought out their family company and that he will continue to attend Eden. George arrives at school the next day, humiliated and even more of a pariah than before.

MAMA BECOMES THE WIND
In the anime, Anya oversleeps and hurries to get ready for school. Loid warns her that if she is late or forgets something, she will get punished, which will lead to getting Tontirus Bolts and expulsion. Anya makes it in time for her bus, while Loid leaves for work and Yor stays home to do housework. She passes by Anya's room and sees her P.E. uniform still on her desk, assuming that Anya forgot to bring it. Fearing that Anya might get expelled because of this, Yor decides to bring the P.E. clothes to her, putting them in a small bag. Wanting to get to school as soon as possible, Yor dashes through Berlint with parkour to get to Eden Academy.

Upon arriving at Eden, Yor decides to look for Anya in secret. She scales the walls to avoid students and look for Anya through the windows, but after frightening a student, realizes it is not a good idea to stand out. While pacing around, Yor wonders what she could do to find Anya. She proposes disguising herself as a teacher, but she changes her mind after imagining herself getting overrun by students asking for help with homework. Yor then sees the school farm and the animals from the entrance exam. The head cow recognizes Yor and bows, but accidentally steps on a pig's tail while doing so, causing a chain reaction of chaos within the animals.

Yor runs away from the scene, and Loid, who was monitoring the area, spots her from the school rooftops. He initially suspects that she knew he was lying about going to work and had followed him, but then notices the bag she is carrying. Yor eventually finds Anya and gives her the P.E. uniform, but, to her shock, Anya does not have P.E. today. As Yor leaves the school, Loid catches up with her. Yor is surprised to see Loid, who, after making an excuse, asks what Yor is doing here. Yor tells Loid her intentions and laments not being of any help to Anya and not checking her schedule, calling herself a failure as a mother. Loid denies this, worried that this will jeopardize his mission, and invites Yor for lunch before returning to work, which she happily accepts.

Story Impact

 * Yor learns to cook her late mother's southern stew with the help of Camilla.
 * Becky sees a family photo of the Forgers and becomes infatuated with Loid.
 * Anya and Yuri meet for the first time.
 * The name of Damian's older brother, Demetrius, is first mentioned.
 * Damian earns his first Stella Star.
 * Handler's full alias is revealed to be Sylvia Sherwood.