Friendship Schemes Arc

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This article may contain major plot details for the SPY x FAMILY manga.
This article may contain unmarked spoilers.

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“	Forger... Forger...! Oh my gosh. How crazy that we'd meet like this! Forgive me, I never properly introduced myself, did I? I'm Melinda... Melinda Desmond!	”
— Melinda Desmond to Yor Forger^[1]

Friendship Schemes Arc

Manga

Volume(s)

10 - 11

Chapters

64 - 68

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← WISE Arc	Red Circus Arc →

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

The Friendship Schemes Arc is the twelfth story arc in SPY x FAMILY.

Anya continues to do her best to strike up a friendship with Damian for the sake of the mission. On the other hand, Yor begins a peculiar friendship with a certain woman that could give Loid enough advantage to continue with Operation Strix.

Summary[]

Teacher and Student[]

After classes end at Eden Academy, the bus is announced to arrive extremely late, leaving Anya to wait at the bus stop alone with nothing to do. Henry Henderson sees her and asks for help carrying supplies to his office, promising to reward her with tea cakes. Henry checks to see how Anya's emotional state after receiving a Tonitrus Bolt from Donna Schlag for not having a handkerchief and attempts to teach her the lesson of being the reason behind the punishment, which Anya fails to understand.

Upon learning about Anya's goal of becoming an Imperial Scholar, Henry asks for her reason why. Omitting Loid's mission, Anya responds with shallow answers that upset Henry. The housemaster shows Anya a hallway filled with portraits of all of Eden's Imperial Scholars, telling her not to disrespect their title and the Stella Stars they worked hard to earn. Anya realizes that, just like with Loid's mission, she must work hard one day at a time. They arrive at Henry's office, and as promised, he gives Anya the tea cakes. Henry attempts to help Anya review her studies, but she quickly leaves after eating to watch TV at home. Anya arrives home and greets her parents, who are worn out from their secret jobs. Reading their minds, she grows a newfound resolve after recognizing how hard they work and asks Loid to study with her. The sudden motivation makes Loid assume she got another Tonitrus and makes him faint.^[2]

Meeting Melinda Desmond[]

Yor saves Melinda from falling — Yor saving Melinda

Yor heads out to go shopping and asks Anya if there is anything she wants. Anya asks for the tea cakes Henry gave her but cannot remember the name. Yor promises to find them, along with an "amazing cake" that Damian supposedly owes Anya. Outside their home, Yor attempts to ask the neighborhood ladies where to find the best bakeries in the city but out of fear that it would make her suspicious, runs away before she can ask. Yor gets discouraged at being unable to act normal but motivates herself to keep working for the sake of her job. She decides to go to a department store, believing they would have the best cakes. At the store, Yor encounters a woman holding a large number of boxes and saves her from falling down the stairs. Amazed by her skills, the woman asks Yor to join her for something, offering her the cakes in the boxes as a token of her gratitude. At the woman's insistence, Yor is taken to a sports hall and dressed in a gym uniform as the woman, Melinda, reveals that she brought her in as a ringer for her women's volleyball team.

Yor and Lady Patriots Society Volleyball — Yor playing volleyball with Melinda and the Lady Patriots Society

The ladies are part of an organization called the Lady Patriots Society, where they partake in all sorts of community activities, including this all-mothers volleyball game. Yor agrees to help Melinda's team after hearing that playing volleyball is normal. However, due to Yor's lack of experience playing with a team, she tries to do things herself and breaks several rules. Melinda teaches Yor to relax and enjoy herself, and the ladies enjoy playing the rest of the game as a team. After the game, the mothers have tea and cakes together. Melinda hopes Yor will return to join them for other activities, which she promises to do. Yor then learns that some mothers have children attending Eden Academy and reveals that her daughter also attends there. Melinda realizes who Yor is and formally introduces herself as Melinda Desmond.^[1]

Plan C[]

Yor returns home and tells Loid about how she met Melinda. She is surprised to learn that Melinda is actually the wife of the country's former prime minister, Donovan Desmond, and recounts their meeting to Loid:

Melinda tells Yor she hopes they can be friends — Melinda expresses her desire to be friends with Yor

Upon learning that Melinda is Damian's mother, Yor frantically apologizes for Anya's actions toward Damian at orientation, but Melinda surprisingly brushes it off. The mothers explain to Yor that the Desmond family has a 'hands-off' parenting philosophy concerning their sons. They also say Yor is lucky to be invited to a get-together by Melinda, as most of them were already friends with her before she became the First Lady. While Yor does not fully understand the title, Melinda explains that she thought they could become friends without preconceptions about her political position. She hopes Yor will, if possible, visit them again and become friends with her. While driving Yor home, Melinda mentions overhearing that Damian is enjoying his time at Eden Academy and suggests it may be him and Anya getting along. Yor agrees while Melinda makes a strange face and mutters that she hopes they can get along.

In the present, Loid becomes suspicious of the encounter due to Melinda's connection, or rather lack thereof, with the rest of the Desmond family, but Anya helps clear his doubts. Yor asks Loid for permission to continue attending the Lady Patriots Society's meetings, and he allows her, saying it can help with their cover and give Yor the friends she needs. At the same time, Loid plans to see if Melinda is planning anything, and wants to use her and Yor's friendship to get closer to Donovan. As such, Loid creates Plan C: The Mommy-Friends Scheme. Reading his mind, Anya is shocked and sees this as a battle of friendship schemes. Fearing she will get abandoned, Anya runs off to study and tries to think of ways to become better friends with Damian. In the end, she is unable to think of anything and asks Becky for advice. Becky teaches Anya a romance trope to use on Damian, but it fails in the worst way possible as she ends up upsetting Damian.^[3]

The Good Doctor[]

The next day, Anya tries to impress Damian and her classmates by revealing that their mothers have become friends. Damian asks if Melinda said anything about him and is disappointed when she says no.

At Berlint General Hospital, Twilight continues to reinforce his cover as "Loid Forger" as he is showered with praise and adoration by the patients and staff. However, he has also earned the spite of their hospital director, Gerald Gorey, due to his rising popularity and closeness with Fiona. In order to gain access to patients connected to Melinda, Loid must get through Gerald first. Loid puts up with Gerald's schemes to make him a pariah in the hospital, but it only results in Loid receiving more affection from the people. As a last resort, Gerald calls the SSS and reports Loid as a spy. However, Loid had planned ahead, using Franky to intercept his phone call. Franky and Fiona help with Loid's plan as they arrive at the hospital disguised as SSS agents to arrest him. Together, the three expose Gerald's accusation and his own misdeeds, and the faux Secret Police agents pretend to take him away. Loid makes an impassioned speech to convince them not to arrest Gerald, moving the director and making him indebted to Loid.^[4]

Loid vs. Yuri: The Ultimate Housekeeping Duel[]

Yuri isn’t able to beat Loid — Yuri fails to beat Loid at housekeeping

Yor injures her hands during an assassin job and decides to rest them the next day. While rest does not come, Yuri does, eager to hang out with Yor on his day off work. Seeing her injuries, Yuri gets upset with Loid and orders him to cook in her stead. While preparing the food, Yor compliments Loid, and Yuri, wanting her praise, takes over the cooking. After Yor picks Loid's cooking over his, Yuri begins to get competitive with Loid, initiating bouts to see who is the better housekeeper. Loid beats him every time, wanting his persistent brother-in-law to go home already.

When Yor mentions that they have run out of some household essentials, Yuri holds one last bout to see who can buy the best stuff the fastest and for the least money. As they begin, Yuri hurries over to a shady informant to find the items, using his authority as an SSS agent. After buying everything, a confident Yuri returns home, only to see that Loid has already beaten him. As Yuri begins to admit defeat, Yor notices that he got a snack from their childhood and thanks him for finding it after so many years. Loid props up for knowing Yor better than him, after which Yuri happily declares victory. After Yuri leaves, Yor apologizes to Loid, embarrassed by her brother's antics.^[5]