Curse Carrier Book 1 Of The Curse Carriers Series

Chapter 18: Combat Knife

Utau POV

"Everyone line up in numerical order!" The teacher yells. Utau stands in the front of the line. The other two instructors put down two big heavy looking boxes. The tape is ripped off the first one and it's opened to reveal black holders. Each one has a silver handle with a black rubber grip sticking out of it. "Today we have decided you kids are ready for the real deal." Mr. Brune announces and picks one of the things in the box up. It's a sheathed knife. One side is sharp and the back side is jagged with little teeth. "You will each be getting only one. Do not lose it! You will not get another for the next six months. Now Mrs. Hye-Jin and Mr. Pajari will hand you your knife. Once you have it stand over in the training area and partner up. We will be showing you the basics today."

After his brief explanation Mrs. Hye-Jin hands Utau one of the sheathed blades. It's heavier than it looks. She walks over to the training area and waits for her usual training partners to join her. She holds the dagger away from her body with a nervous expression and a sense of foreboding. Why are they teaching us to fight with these. It can't be for anything good. She thinks.

It's been four months since this ridiculous training has started. In that time they had become proficient in basic hand to hand combat. That must be why they've decided to change things up a little by throwing weapons into the mix.

She looks back to the line to see Kami is accepting his weapon. He's smiling excitedly like he's been handed the toy of his dreams. He skips over to the training area hugging the knife to his chest. He looks around and walks right up to her.

"Want to practice with me today?" He asks with a big smile.

Utau looks at him surprised. They hadn't spoken since that incident nearly a two months  ago. Kami didn't go out of his way to avoid her but more like he viewed her like the background. Even Shin as far as she knew didn't talk to him anymore.

"Okay." Utau agrees a little reluctantly. Kami wasn't known for having a steady training partner. He joined two months late and spent his first week getting his ass beat. He bounced back rapidly though and has caught up quickly. He doesn't show any of the same hesitance anyone else did and was instead eager to learn. He takes this class seriously and won't show mercy on any of his training partners. Which has lead people to try and avoid having to team up with him. He must have finally run out of people.

"Thank you. I can't wait. I have a feeling you will be a decent challenge." He says cheerfully. "Finally we get to move on to using real weapons. Class E moved onto this stage forever ago!" He's smiling like it's Christmas, "Maybe in combat training I can challenge Kiri! I'm so excited!" He bounces up and down.

"Maybe." Utau says uncertainly. "What do you mean by a challenge?" She questions him.

"Oh," he looks her dead in the eyes and his expression turns calculating, "you won't chicken out like the rest of these precious flowers. I know you won't leave me hanging." He says simply. "Your pride simply won't let you. Not after this." His tone gives Utau a sense of foreboding.

"Wait. What?" Utau asks nervously.

Before he can say anything the teacher announces the start of the class. "Okay, everyone team up and spread out. Follow Mr. Pajari's and my lead. We will be showing you how to defend yourself from basic knife attacks as well and offensive attacks. Everyone with a small number will be attackers. Everyone with a higher number will be defensive. We will be moving slowly at first. Then you will copy us. Then we'll do it faster and so will you." Mrs. Hye-Jin tells the class.

Kami gets in a defensive position and Utau gets in an offensive one. Kami and Utau stand facing each other with about two feet of space between them. He stares at her levelly with a neutral expression. Up front the instructors show a simple attack and block combination. They all follow their example and slowly add on steps as the class progresses. Mr. Brune walks around correcting people's stances and grips. He stops to watch Utau and Kami for a moment.