Ari was in for a surprise when she was visiting SFIT one day, she saw Sara and Mikan hanging streamers in the hallway.
"Umm…what are you doing?" Ari walked up to them.
Sara turned to her, "didn't Hiro tell you what today is?"
"It's Hiro's first year at SFIT, he might not know," Mikan shrugged.
"Still! You'd think Tadashi would've mentioned to him about the coolest week at school!"
"Oh I'm sure he mentioned it, back when Hiro was a cocky teenager and ignored it."
"Cocky teen? You sure you're not projecting?"
"Hey!"
"In your defence, Hiro is still a bit cocky, but at least he's toned down."
"Toned down?"
"Little bit.."
"Guys!" They both turned to Ari, "what's going on?"
"Rivalry Week!" Sara and Mikan exclaimed, she raised an eyebrow.
"Is that like some...team spirit pep rally for college students?" Ari crossed her arms.
"It's the week we battle our rivals, San Fransokyo Institute of Art, aka the snobbiest school ever!" Mikan exclaimed.
"Yeah, our superior school SFIT crushes those inferior SFAI students," Sara chuckled. "They will rue the day they painted our dining hall a zombie clown circus last year! That was low, even for them."
"Wha?" now Ari was even more puzzled, "I think you've been drinking too many sports drinks Sara."
"What are you talking about?" Sara giggled, "I feel fine! Team spirit!" and she ran off to hang more streamers.
Mikan chuckled, "okay so every year we play pranks, they paint our dining hall and we steal the Shimamoto statue that's outside on their campus. Last year back when Sara joined the school, we stole it with a flock of genetically engineered pigeons." She gestured to herself, "with a helping hand from yours truly."
"Ooh that sounds fun," Ari smirked, "where's your brother? I don't see him hanging streamers."
"First of all, David doesn't hang streamers," Mikan pointed out. "Second, I honestly have no idea, I checked the labs but it was just Hiro and his friends, except for Honey Lemon."
Ari shrugged, that was strange. "Maybe they're hanging out?"
Where Honey Lemon and David were, was not a place to hang out. Honey Lemon was painting a picture of her and her friends, and David was sitting next to her listening to the sounds of the paint moving across the canvas.
"Excellent work Honey Lemon!" Next to her was an art teacher, "I truly think you're SFAI's most gifted new student."
Honey Lemon gave a nervous chuckle, "thanks.."
"Way to be discreet," David snickered, he had only been here to keep Honey Lemon company for another one of her secret art classes. That and… They both had secrets at SFAI, he was just lucky he could tell Honey Lemon his secret, his siblings wouldn't understand if he told them.
After the class, the art teacher was escorting Honey Lemon off of campus, David had run off somewhere. "Are you sure I can't convince you to become a full-time student here?"
"I'd love to, but I can't." Honey Lemon shook her head, "art is just a secret hobby for me. I-I mean a secret, I-I mean a hobby."
"Well hobby or not Miss Lemon, your work is going up in the Fine Arts department gallery." The art teacher told her.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so honored!" Behind them, a tour guide was leading a group of visitors into a house.
"And now we step into the private residence of renowned artist and SFAI founder, Lenore Shimamoto!"
"The restoration is finished?" Honey Lemon questioned.
"Today's the grand opening!"
"But that's 27 days early!"
"I know! I was so moved that I wept! Then I mixed my tears with ink and wrote a poem about my feelings," the teacher handed her the poem, read it later."
"Okay," Honey Lemon took the poem, as she walked past campus a hooded figure bumped past the art teacher and joined the tour group.
"Remember folks, no touching and absolutely no flash photography." The tour guide told the group as they entered the house, the hooded figure removed his hood to reveal he was Obake wearing glasses. The glasses were designed to look for..something.
"Where are you hiding?" Obake scanned the room, inspecting every object. But his search was stopped by a small boy who knocked his glasses over and crushed them. The boy looked up at him, feeling guilty, Obake just glared down with the left side of his face glowing to scare the kid off. He'll have to try again.
"And we're moving," the tour guide herded the group to the next room.
"Hey guys!" Ari greeted Hiro and the others as she entered the lab.
"Hey Ari," Hiro waved, he gestured for her to come over, "come look at this." Ari followed, and saw that there was a small hologram model of a school campus, but it wasn't SFIT's campus.
"Is this a holographic model of your rival school's campus?" She pointed to the hologram.
"Yep," she turned around and saw Sara and Mikan were also in the lab, it was the former who spoke. "We're planning our statue grab."
Mikan flashed a grin, "it's going to be awesome! Wasabi came up with this neat idea!"
"Thanks!" Wasabi smiled.
"Here, this is how it'll go," Hiro pressed a button on the model, which showed tiny, holographic versions of everyone sneaking onto campus. The hologram Baymax picked up the statue and they booked it.
"Cool," Ari hummed, "I think it'll work," she chuckled seeing the hologram version of her friends jump for joy.
"Great, so we'll hit SFAI tonight," Hiro grinned.
"Tonight?!" They turned around to see Honey Lemon and David had entered the lab.
"You're taking the Shimamoto statue 'tonight' tonight?!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.
"Isn't that jumping the gun?" David quipped, "It's Monday!"
"We get them before they get us," Gogo explained.
"But do we really need to steal the statue?" Honey Lemon looked nervous for some reason, "I mean it's been done right?"
"Well yeah, but it's tradition," Hiro pointed out, "who are we to mess with tradition."
Sara nodded, "a fun tradition!"
Hiro turned to Baymax, "back me up here Baymax."
The robot chipped in, "Rivalry Week began in 1916, students used a catapult and-" he stops talking and Wasabi turns the hologram off when Granville walks into the lab.
"And that is why covalent bonds share electron pairs! Super interesting!" Hiro exclaimed, attempting to provide a cover. Ari pretended to look fascinated with what Hiro said.
"Let me guess, instead of studying, you're planning the statue grab," Granville pressed the hologram button. "Well it's not going to happen."
"Aw man," Sara grumbled, she gave Honey Lemon a funny look when hearing her sigh of relief.
"Without my approval, which now you have!" Granville told them, "tonight, art will feel the wrath of science!"
"Yay!" Mikan cheered, "and their annoying art students too!"
"Professor Granville," Hiro raised his hand, "can my sister go on the statue grab heist too?" Ari whipped her head around to gawk at Hiro, he wants me on the statue grab team?
Granville raised an eyebrow, "your sister?"
"Ari," Hiro pointed to her, "I want to bring my sister along too, it would make the statue grab more fun."
"Of course," Granville had a warm smile on her face, for about two seconds, then it turned back to her usual stone cold appearance. She turned to Wasabi, Mikan, and Fred, "you three. Meet me at the dining hall in one hour! You're going to help me guard it!"
"Yessir!" Mikan saluted.
Granville glared at her, "I-I mean ma'am."
"Good." And Granville exited the lab, Mikan and the boys stared at each other.
"So I guess we're not going on the statue grab team," Wasabi glanced at the door.
"That's fine," Sara patted him on the shoulder, "David and I are going."
David looked like he did not want to be on the statue grab team from Ari's observation, "wait, what?!"
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
Sara Ferns: SFAI WILL RUE TONIGHT! MUAHAHAHAHA
Rachel Rosemary: uh….
Hiro Hamada: It's Rivalry Week
Rachel Rosemary: Understandable, have a nice day
Sara Ferns: I am going to crush those art students!
Mikan Ferns: I'm stuck on guard duty : (
Rachel Rosemary: Is your brother hyped as well?
Sara Ferns: "Peachy" -David
TheLittleMermaid: I think he just wants to get some sleep
Sara Ferns: We'll be in-and-out! Easy peasy!
Fredilicous24: And Sabbatini will rue the day!
TheLittleMermaid: Whom?
Fredilicous24: Sabbatini the Sea Snail, mascot of SFAI and he's a terrible mascot!
Mikan Ferns: Agreed, the person underneath that suit isn't pleasant either, real snob
Sara Ferns: "Yep" -David and I
Night had fallen over the campus, the team that was responsible for the statue grab had snuck around the outskirts of SFAI. Ari noted that David was rather jumpy, so was Honey Lemon. But she was more focused on sticking close to her brother. Hiro was on high alert as he snuck around campus.
"We'll have to get over the walls," Hiro pointed, he turned to Baymax, "I'm gonna use you as a boost, okay?"
"Yes," Baymax nodded. Hiro started to climb on top of the robot to get over the wall.
"Be careful!" Ari whispered to him.
"I'm always careful."
"Guys, we can just use the door since it's open!" They turned around to see the Honey Lemon pointing to the door, "which is how I found it! So lucky, right?" Weird..Ari frowned, but she didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and went inside, the others following her.
"This route will be easier," Baymax tries to go through the door but he's too large to fit, "I am stuck." Honey Lemon manages to shove him inside, "thank you." She closes the door so the incoming security guard doesn't detect something is amiss.
"That was close," Sara mumbled, "good thing that door was open or we'd be busted."
Honey Lemon gave a nervous chuckle, the door was only open because she used her SFAI ID to open it when seeing the security guard, "yeah... yay for us?"
Meanwhile on SFIT's campus..
"I have mixed feelings right now," Fred stated as him, Wasabi, and Mikan walked around campus, "guarding the dining hall is important, but I was lookin' forward to that heist."
"Same," Mikan sighed, "I haven't done any heists in awhile so it would be a nice warmup.." she mumbled, both Wasabi and Fred gave her strange looks.
"What did you just say?" the latter raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, just grumbling."
"Well, I just have one feeling," Wasabi glanced left and right, "fear, Granville scares me."
"Good."
Both of the guys scream as Granville emerges from the bushes, wearing a stealth suit and accompanied by a woman wearing one as well, "fear keeps you sharp, suit up!" Her companion tosses the trio camouflage outfits, "we've got work to do."
"Wait a second," Mikan narrowed her eyes at Granville's company, "is that you Mom?" the woman removed her goggles to reveal a familiar pair of amber eyes, she nodded.
"Why are you here Professor Ferns?" Wasabi raised a hand.
"I've always participated in Rivalry Week, since my student days," Sally smirked, "prepare yourselves children, SFAI's bunch are more unpredictable than you think." She and Granville vanished back into the bushes, leaving the trio alone.
"Oh yes! We're gonna be camo triplets!" Fred exclaimed.
"That's not how it works," Mikan sighed.
Wasabi was just staring at the bushes, "this is a whole new side of Granville, a very disturbing side."
Mikan chuckled at him, "if you think that's bad...clearly you haven't known Sally long enough."
Back on SFAI's campus, the group was hiding in a corner of a building as a security guard walked past. Hiro was holding a map of the campus on a tablet, and glancing at his surroundings.
"Um, do we have to go through the Fine Arts building?" Honey Lemon questioned, clutching her chem purse, she was lucky that Sara and Ari had awful night vision so they thought she just bought a normal purse.
"This is the best route to take if we want to avoid campus security," Hiro pointed towards the map.
"Or the trees," David lifted a finger, they all glanced at him, "what?"
Sara stared at the trees and hummed, "you know what? David and I could go the scenic route, more fun for me."
"You're gonna get us caught," Gogo grumbled at the two, "don't-"
"Well we can also serve as bait, godspeed my fellow students!" Sara grabbed her brother and bolted from the hiding spot, the movement in the dark alerted a security guard away from their hiding spot. But the two weren't spotted, their shadows could be seen moving as they scrawled into the bushes on campus.
"-split up.." she rolled her eyes, "and we've already lost two of the group."
"I'm still here," Ari spoke up, "I think I'd wanna go to the Fine Arts building, it sounds fun!"
"Also, you can enjoy the student art exhibits on display," Baymax pointed out.
"Student...exhibits?" Honey Lemon's green eyes widened, flashing back to what the art teacher said this morning.
"Your work is going up in the Fine Arts department gallery...Ms. Lemon."
She gasped, Gogo turned to her. "Look if you'd rather wait here…"
"No! I mean...I'm here to help! I love being helpful!" Baymax leaned in to scan Honey Lemon's strained smile.
"The shift in both cadence and pitch of your speech indicate-"
"How excited I am about helping!"
Hiro gave her puzzled look, "uh sure." Ari raised an eyebrow, puzzled as well at her friend's behavior.
The group sneaked into the Fine Arts department, there was a scare when Baymax was having trouble waddling up the steps and Honey Lemon had to drag him inside before the security guards spotted him. But the group managed to enter undetected, Honey Lemon was panicking as they went through the department because her artwork was everywhere! She had to do stretches to hide the pictures, even use her chem balls to cover a painting before the rest of the group walked in.
"Is it just me, or is Honey Lemon acting weird?" Ari whispered to her brother.
"Mhmm," Hiro nodded, "I think it's just nerves."
"If you say so…"
Back at SFIT, the adults were giving orders to the trio who were in their camo outfits. Granville paced back and forth. "You three will be guarding the north side of the dining hall," she hands each of them a whistle.
Fred gasped, "whistles?" He takes his with glee and chuckles. "Nobody's trusted me with a whistle in years!" The moment he got his whistle was when he started blowing into it, Mikan and Wasabi covered their ears from the high pitched whistling. Granville and Sally gave him glares and he stopped, but as he tried whistling again the former yanked the whistle out of his mouth.
"No whistle for you," Sally glared, Fred just gave her a cheeky grin.
Granville then started to explain what the whistle was for, "one toot means 'I need assistance,' two toots mean 'I've apprehended an intruder,' three means 'I've been captured,' four means-"
"How many signals are there?" Wasabi questioned.
"Twenty-two,"
"Yeah, I'm gonna need to take notes," Wasabi pulls out a notebook and pencil and begins writing down but Granville leaning in causes him to yelp and drop his items.
"You won't have time to consult notes in the heat of battle!"
"Don't worry," Mikan told her, "I have a photographic memory."
Fred shook his head, "I'm pretty sure that's not what the saying is."
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yuh-huh!"
Wasabi felt his shirt being grabbed by Granville who was looking him in the eye, "I'm counting on you Wasabi," he felt his anxiety skyrocket at that moment.
He gulped for air as he gave his response, "got it," his voice squeaked.
Back at SFAI, the group had snuck out of the Fine Arts department, poking behind the statue as another security guard walked by. Hiro popped out of their hiding spot first, and gestured for them to follow when the coast was clear.
"Keep watch," he told them, "we should be able to tunnel the statue out in no time." Honey Lemon and Gogo nodded, heading to the pathway to guard the area as Hiro pulled out a laser to cut the statue base.
"You can do it Hiro," Ari cheered for her brother.
He smiled at her verbal support, "thanks."
"So this is your first time on SFAI's campus too, right?" Honey Lemon asked Gogo as they walked around the campus keeping guard. "Because it's definitely mine."
Gogo raised an eyebrow, "are you acting weird tonight because you don't want anyone to know you take classes here?" Honey Lemon's eyes widened, then narrowed.
"Wait? You knew? How?"
"You sleep talk," Gogo shrugged, "don't worry though, I'm not going to tell."
"You're not going to judge me?" Honey Lemon questioned, Gogo shook her head.
"No, I wouldn't judge you," she told her, "I respect you and your hobbies." Honey Lemon gave her a sheepish smile, but the moment was ruined soon enough.
"Hey! Who's there?" A security guard had spotted them. The flashlight had caught their feet, they bolted back to the statue, where Hiro and Baymax were trying to lift it up.
"We gotta go," Gogo told them.
"We're not done yet!" Hiro exclaimed.
"I heard something over there!"
"Ohh that's why," Ari realized, hearing the sound of the security guards.
"We'll finish later," Hiro pushed the robot as the group attempted to go for the bushes, but a security guard was around that corner, and the next corner.
"Yikes! We're surrounded," Ari shivered, hiding behind Baymax.
Honey Lemon glanced at the flashlights looming over them, "what do we do now?" Hiro looked around for any place to hide, and his eyes landed on the house in front of them.
As the security guards looked around the campus, the group hid within the house crouched under the furniture.
"I'm hiding in Lenore Shimamoto's house. This is so exciting!" Honey Lemon squealed.
"David and Sara would've liked this," Ari giggled, "I hope they weren't caught."
Gogo shushed them, "shh! Be excited, quieter!"
"David? Daviiiid? Ohhh why did you wander on your own?" Sara mumbled, "SFAI has different foliage than our campus, you're gonna trip on something." Somehow, somewhere, she had lost her brother in the bushes, and with the security guards getting more active she was getting worried.
"Oh I hope they didn't find him...I don't think the security is nicer than the students," she growled, the school mascot and his posse were most likely going to try painting the dining hall like they did last year. She felt bad for her sister and the guys.
Rustle rustle
"Shh, I heard something, it might be one of the guards," that was David's voice!
"They don't check this area much, don't be a worry wart," ...that was not David or any of the other's voices. Hmm, Sara concentrated on the noise, and crept through the bushes trying to find the source.
"That was a close one," Hiro whispered when the flashlights of the security guards moved away from the house.
"Yeah," Honey Lemon stood up to get out of her hiding position but she bumped into the clock on the table, the gears spun and whirred. "Oops! I didn't mean to-"
Clank-clank-clank the house rumbled.
"Uhh, what's going on?" Gogo leapt into a chair as the chunk of the living room surrounding the coffee table began to lower down.
"Oh no," Baymax stated as they got further and further away from the surface.
Ari clung onto Hiro like a lifeboat, "I'm scared, help," she squeaked.
He held her close, "I got you sis, you're safe." Ari closed her eyes, and didn't open them until the rumbling stopped, "you can open your eyes now," Hiro told her. She peered them open and saw a sepia lit room, Honey Lemon gasped as the lights went on. Revealed a dusty, cobwebbed covered area filled with several science related things.
"What is this place?"
"You mean besides creepy?" Gogo raised an eyebrow as the group began poking around.
Baymax scanned the room, "it appears to be a science lab."
"A really old science lab," Ari mumbled, sticking close to Hiro and looking at the bookshelves.
Honey Lemon looked at the vials on a table, her eyes met a picture signed on the wall and she had an exciting realization, "you guys! I think this lab belonged to Lenore Shimamoto!"
"No way!" Ari exclaimed.
"I thought she was an artist," Hiro saw a zoetrope and looked through it, seeing a flower blossom and turn into a bud, "cool."
"She was an artist," Honey Lemon tapped him on the shoulder, "with a secret lab."
"Someone who was good at art..and science?" Gogo glanced at her friend, "what are the odds?"
Ari also glanced at the chemist who was by the bookshelves, she noticed her chem purse, "hey Honey Lemon! Nice purse!" Everyone in the room jolted, it was light enough for the girl to get a clear view of the purse, no excuse could save them now.
"Oh um.." Honey Lemon clutched the strap, "thanks?"
"It kind of looks like the purse the pink lady from Big Hero 6 has!" Ari pointed out, "I didn't know they made superhero merchandise, I'm kind of jealous!" behind her, the others gave sighs of relief.
"Anyways," she walked up to her, "what's in the books?"
"These books are all elements," Honey Lemon explained, "and they're all placed in order of the Periodic Table from 1906." She frowned, noticing an error, "but Gallium is supposed to go before Germanium."
"Germ-what?" Ari was puzzled as Honey Lemon grabbed one of the books to place it in the right order.
Click
She gasped, as a spotlight appeared on the table behind her, Honey Lemon walked up to it. She clicked the button on the table and it flipped over, revealing a journal. She glanced at the others to see if they were paying attention.
"It was an accident," Baymax was telling Hiro what happened to the paper blimp he broke, Ari decided to join them. While they weren't looking, Honey Lemon picked up the journal and opened a page.
"This is Lenore Shimamoto's secret journal!" she held it to her chest, and placed it in her jacket when a flashlight went over the group.
"What are you doin' down there?" a security guard demanded, flanked by other guards.
Baymax stepped into the light, "we are exploring a secret lab."
Soon enough, the news had somehow gotten hold of what they found out and as they were escorted out of the house Bluff Dunder was standing in front reporting the scene.
"Breaking… trespassing SFIT pranksters discover Lenore Shimamoto's secret lab. An artist with a lab, what's that about?"
The report was paused, then zoomed on the exiting SFIT students, one of them was hiding something in their jacket...it was scanned and revealed to be the journal he was looking for.
Obake smiled as it was a 100% match, guess he didn't have to go looking back at the house again.
Sara crept through the bushes, trying to find where her brother's voice was coming from. What was most annoying is she kept hearing that strange feminine voice that was unknown to her, who was it?
"So David, why are you here in the first place?" oh..now she recognized the voice, her brother was not as slick as he thinks he is.
"Umm, my sister and her classmates dragged me for the..y'know."
"Statue grab? Well glad you're not guarding, because my cousin and his pals are going to paint the dining hall."
"Balthaser? Man, your cousin is a jerk sometimes, but why are you here?"
"Well I was guarding the statue from some prankster SFIT students, and I've caught one.."
"Oh Sienna you're such a tease," there was giggling between the two voices. Sara poked her head through a bush and saw David, but he wasn't alone. In the moonlight that illuminated the small clearing, her brother was next to a beautiful woman with dark curly hair and warm brown eyes. They were inches close, their noses touching and their lips placed against each other-whaaat?
"David!" the two yelped and jumped away from each other, both of them realizing she was there, "you've got some explaining to do!"
Her brother's yellow eyes widened and were shocked, "...Sara?"
Well that's an awkward way of being busted :))) hmmmm David?! Hmmmm?!
Also thanks for your kind words last chapter! Some of these days I'm like "well I'm putting this in the story since it's not THAT bad, I mean [redacted] happened in canon so why not?!" and other times I'm like "omg why did I put [redacted] in this I'm gonna get [insert character here] called a mary-sue"
Let me tell you the amount of times I have googled the definition of a mary-sue. I have a little checklist in my brain like "is this character overtaking the episode plot, do they upstage the main character, are they too OP?" You guys sure love my OCs so I doubt the mary-sue alarm is gonna blare.
"Can you stop ranting about this fic being too mary-sueish for one AN" -probably y'all, I'll try to stop lol. But unfortunately I suffer from this thing called anxiety which is constantly doing "press x to doubt"
Question of the week: Your theory on whom David was caught with? It's pretty obvious but I'd like to see some theories, and how do you think Sara is gonna react?
I had way too much fun having the Fern kids and Sally in this, and can't forget Ari! She's the cute little tag-a-long for this chapter and I love her.