'I—I can't look away,' Kaya thought.
At first, that was because she found Caius so pleasing to look at, and really, who wouldn't? But then, it went farther than that. She physically found it hard to look away.
She blinked a few times as a normal person would but those split-second breaks from staring into Caius' eyes didn't help her pull her attention away from them. Especially since he never looked away.
The longer she stared, the more she was convinced there was something in those violet orbs that she wasn't seeing well enough. Something mysterious. Some unnatural charm that just made her curious.
Caius stared too but as he did, he allowed his mind to wander just a bit.
Kaya was one of the major characters in the original story and, at least at the start, she had more agency in the story than Caius Von Helsing did.
Almost from the get-go she was on Aurelius' side and was part of his gang of friends who went on adventures together and/or dealt with the threats he faced as the Main Character.
Of course, while that was happening, Caius had been an outcast by choice and tried his best to relate less with people for fear of triggering his bloodsucking desires.
That was obviously going to change but certainly not in service of Aurelius and his 'Main Character' plots. Those meant little to Caius when he had the task of securing partners he could feed on for his Vampiric evolution to worry about.
The minutes ticked by and Professor Melvin kept going on and on about the Theory of Magic and talking about laying foundations for strong magic when everyone in the class already knew Third Circle spells. Even without the intense stare exchange he was having with Kaya, Caius wouldn't have paid attention to that anyway.
In contrast, Kaya thought,
'I really should be paying attention.'
But she didn't. Not really anyway. She heard bits and bits but her attention was already taken.
'Wait, what am I doing?' Kaya asked herself when her body began to lean toward Caius. Her eyes were still open and staring into his but her head was tilted up now and her pretty green painted lips pulled apart just a bit.
It felt and looked like she was going in for a kiss!
"What are you doing?" Kaya blurted out suddenly but still in a low enough voice that Professor Melvin's lecture wasn't interrupted.
"What?" Caius asked just as quietly and with an innocently confused expression on his face.
"What are you doing to me?" Kaya clarified her question but she was still leaning towards him. And the closer she got to doing something very weird and far too soon with a stranger, the more her slightly tipped ears twitched in anxiety. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest.
"I'm not doing anything," Caius said.
"You're lying!" Kaya said with certainty.
"I'm not," Caius said but he did look away and the 'spell' was broken.
Kaya pulled back into her original seating position but her face was even redder now partly in embarrassment and mostly because of how much blood her fast-beating heart was pumping through her veins.
Even after she was 'freed' and while she now tried to listen to Professor Melvin's droning lecture, Kaya found herself occasionally glancing to the side at Caius.
Caius was facing forward but he practically saw and heard nothing in his surroundings because his mind was wandering.
'Huh,' he thought while he tapped his fingers lightly on the top of his desk. He hadn't expected that strong of a reaction from them sharing a glance.
The original story describing Caius' charm as 'unnatural' suddenly didn't seem to have done it as much justice as it could. This went beyond unnatural. It was an otherworldly phenomenon.
When the Theory of Magic class ended, Professor Melvin turned toward the wall and opened a portal. He stepped into it to leave the classroom and enter his office directly.
Almost immediately, Caius stood up and Kaya stood with him. She was no longer stealing glances at him but staring at him full on now that there wasn't a lecture to pay attention to.
"What is it?" Caius asked her gently.
"You did something to me back then," Kaya said in a low voice, "What was it?"
Caius chuckled and leaned closer,
"Have you considered that maybe I did nothing to you? That maybe you just happened to want to stare at me? That maybe you liked it?"
"I'm not denying that. I'm saying there's something more to it," Kaya said.
"Oh? Then what?" Caius asked.
Kaya froze for a second and then she relaxed. Shrugging while still staring into his violet eyes,
"That's what I'd like to figure out."
"Figure it out while we walk?" Caius asked with a raised brow.
Kaya paused and then she smiled lightly as she nodded,
"… Sure."
Kaya led the way and Caius followed until they were walking side by side. They were garnering attention from other nearby students as probably the first lone pair of boy and girl to walk together. The others were pairs of boys/girls and groups.
Kaya noticed the attention and besides a reddening of her cheeks and putting one foot of distance between herself and Caius, she said nothing about it.
Caius noticed the attention too. Even shared glances with some of the girls, all of them pretty, but for now, he wanted his attention to be on Kaya. Speaking of which, he closed the foot of distance she put between them and besides blushing harder, Kaya didn't re-initiate the distance.
"So, your ears…" Caius started.
Kaya rolled her eyes gently,
"First time seeing a Half-elf?"
"Yes," Caius answered.
Kaya paused and then nodded,
"Fair, I suppose. There are not many Elves around to make Half-elves."
That was an understatement. There aren't any Elves around. Period. Lochxen is located at the capital City of Acheron; A human Empire.
Elves, as creatures close to nature, always make their homes away from Human Cities in thick Forests and only occasionally journey out of them for Adventure and/curiosity.
When this happens, there are times, slightly rare, that they strike up a relationship with a human, and the result of that union is a Half-elf who has shorter but still pointed ears to show the rest of humanity that they're different.
"My Father is human," Kaya said suddenly.
"Hmm?"
"I'm sure you were curious," Kaya said.
There was a pause before Caius then asked based on the tone she used when she just talked about her father,
"You don't get along?"
Kaya shrugged. She had her hands behind her back now as she answered,
"Not as well as we could."
"Why not?"
"Maybe because I'm not like the rest of his children. They're human and I'm not. Not really, anyway."
A few seconds passed and then she looked to the side at Caius,
"So what about you?" She asked.
"Me? Well, I'm human," Caius said easily with a smile even though the Moonstone ring on his finger would suggest otherwise.
Kaya rolled her eyes,
"I can see that," she said and chuckled, "I meant you and your father. Do you get along?"
Caius let out a sigh,
"We used to. Not anymore."
"Why not?" Kaya asked.
"We grew apart," Caius said, and was surprised at the bit of emotion that rushed through him. Consequences of his inherited memories.
The rest of their class turned a corner and went down a hall. With a glance at the Academy Map he had with him, Caius knew they were headed to the Cafeteria for the half-hour break before the next class. He could also tell that Kaya was not leading them there and she had to have known that because she was following her map.
"Ah," Kaya said suddenly and put her map away, "We're here."
They were at a large door and before Caius could ask where this was or look at his map to know, Kaya said,
"From what I've heard, this is built for this."
With that, Kaya pushed the classroom door open, looked briefly relieved that it wasn't locked, and walked in.
Caius followed and the moment he saw that the room behind the door was like an Arena complete with spectator chairs arranged in levels up to at least thirty rows, as well as stationary training dummies, he had a good idea of where they were.
Still, he looked at his map for confirmation and read out loud,
"Combat Magic Classroom."
Kaya stepped around him while he was still admiring the room and she closed the door with a thud.