The next day, in assembly, Stacey sat with Ken, Endo and Flail as usual. Blaze had taken a seat behind them and kept a steady gaze on Stacey.
"He keeps staring at you," Endo whispered in Stacey's ear.
"Yeah. It's alright. We made an agreement to try and get into the same group today," Stacey said.
"I thought you didn't really know him?" Flail leaned over Endo.
"I didn't but we had a chat last night," Stacey said. "I think it's worth a try. He did rank higher than I did."
Ken glanced back at Blaze who glared at him. Ken patted Stacey's hand.
"Then be careful," he told her. "Blaze has a big temper."
"I know," Stacey said and felt an unpleasant heat behind her back at the rising of a certain someone's temper. Was he feeling jealous of someone else touching her already?
Who didn't know Blaze didn't have a big temper after he had frequently caused fights to break out during the week. His latest episode was in the dorms early this morning just because someone had accidentally tossed his socks on the wrong bed.
The girl's side of the building had been scared by the sound of breaking furniture. Rumours about how Blaze had yelled and beaten up some of his former group members had also been going around.
"But I'm sure he's doing his best to fit in here as well," she said. "He probably didn't get enough sleep last night because he was teaching me fighting skills."
The flaring, angry presence behind her died down at that and Stacey breathed a sigh of relief. She noticed that she wasn't the only one releasing a breath. It wouldn't be a surprise if Blaze was listening in on everything she was saying. Glancing back, Blaze nodded at her in a possessive manner and a warning in his eyes.
The first to fifth ranked people were given ten minutes to choose who they wanted in their groups. They spread out through the auditorium to try and convince the people they wanted to join their group. The third ranked boy, Derrick Faraway, was the most decisive.
He walked up to a girl with a freckle on one eyelid and who was wearing a fresh yellow tunic over white trousers.
"Imogen," Derrick said, "I saw that you can play traditional instruments and that you can dance in the traditional Tadpole style. I want you. Will you join my group?"
"Very well," Imogen only hesitated for a moment and then gave him a small closed lip smile with a graceful incline of her neck before she answered in Tadpole.
"Then, the next person I want is Blaze," Derrick said, striding across the stage floor toward where Blaze was sitting. "Blaze, you have a fierce and powerful singing and dance style. Will you join my group?"
"Only if you include her," Blaze rested an elbow on Stacey's head and Stacey tried to dodge her head away from him, but his weight followed her. She could only allow herself to be used as his support in the end. "I want her to come too."
"Uh," Derrick thought about it. "Ok. She can be my pianist and accompany Imogen."
"That's settled then," Blaze stood up and jumped down to Stacey's level, pulling her along. "Come on."
Stacey waved goodbye to Ken, Endo and Flail, while Blaze pulled and then pushed her ahead of him down to the stage where Imogen was patiently waiting. They presented themselves to the mentors.
"Interesting mix," Phineas said, tilting his head to one side. "It looks like you want a mix of the traditional and modern. You have an idea in mind already, Derrick?"
"Yes," Derrick said firmly.
"She hasn't agreed to join yet," Imogen indicated to Stacey with a languid hand. "I only saw Blaze drag her down."
"It's alright," Stacey gave a crooked smile. "Blaze and I agreed beforehand that we'd try to be in the same group."
"Even more interesting," Phineas looked between Blaze and Stacey with a raised eyebrow. "Alright," he clapped his hands. "Derrick, your group is Group Two. You have until eleven o'clock to arrange a performance. Since you finished choosing early, you will have more time. Make sure you all come back here on time."
"Alright," Derrick said, leading the group with hurried steps out of the auditorium. "Let's go guys."
They went to one of the larger practice rooms and sat in random places. Stacey sat on a seat beside a table, while Blaze sat on the table beside her with a possessive arm over her stiff shoulders. Stacey didn't want to make him look bad or reject him so obviously in front of the camera and so swallowed her protests to put up with him. Imogen arranged her long tunic skirt and sat demurely on a bar stool, while Derrick remained standing.
"We're doing 'Flight of the Evening Crane'," Derrick said in Tadpole. Then to Stacey in English, "Do you know it?"
"No," Stacey shook her head.
"It's one of the newer traditional songs that has become a classic," Blaze explained. "It has modern elements mixed into a more traditional background. The music and singing isn't easy."
"I don't like it," Imogen said in a calm voice in Tadpole. "I prefer the older style songs."
"I was thinking of giving it a martial arts flare," Derrick said, "which is why I want Blaze to be the main dancer together with you, Imogen."
"I don't do the martial arts style," Imogen turned her head to one side. "Besides, she would not be able to keep up."
"What was that?" Stacey asked, not quite catching everything Imogen said. Imogen was using more archaic phrasing that Stacey hadn't heard before.
"Nevermind," Derrick brushed Stacey off, concentrating on persuading Imogen. "I already have a plan for this song," he said to Imogen. "You can do a crane dance while Blaze does a sword dance and the two of you can intertwine..."
"Intertwine?" Blaze scoffed. "A sword and crane dance?"
"What are you all talking about?" Stacey asked. They were using vocabulary she hadn't heard before.
The other three ignored her and devolved into an argument that lasted half an hour. It resulted in Blaze flipping his chair and then the table, shouting something in Tadpole. He glanced at Stacey, visibly controlled himself from doing anything further and took a few deep breaths. Then he stormed out. Imogen sniffed and left the room too. Finally, Derrick, after staring stormily at his hands for a few moments, ran out of the room with tears dripping and red eyes.
"So are we still doing that whatever evening whatever song?" Stacey asked the empty air in the room. She was left alone with just the cameras staring at her. "If we are, someone needs to teach me. We only have forty minutes left."
She poked her head out of the door and didn't see any of her teammates.
"Do I go after them or wait for them to come back?" she asked herself. "They will come back, right? We don't have much time left."