-2 WEEKS AGO-

JAPAN, TOKYO – OURAN ACADEMY

“Eh? Exchange program? In 2 weeks?” A bespectacled raven haired female repeated in a questioning manner as her eyes widens “Yes, Ms. Hasegawa. The government has been requesting the school to send out a student for the exchange program for the longest of time and we suggested you, that is if you’re interested in this.” ‘Hasegawa’ only blinks as she stared at the blonde ‘hafu’, the school’s director “Why me, Suoh – sensei?” The blonde man smiled charmingly although it did no effect to the bespectacled female in front of him.

“Why wouldn't I choose you? Hasegawa Nanako, 17 years old excellent student who joined Mensa at the age of 2.5 years old, never been to elementary and middle school due to rejection for being to smart, finish undergraduate degree under 2 years and 3 months of applying at the age of 8 and finish master degree in a year at the age of 10, Finish doctorate degree at the age of 12 and applying another major, this time double degree and this time better than the first time. Undergraduate degree under 2 years, master degree in a year and currently defending her doctoral thesis while studying in Ouran Academy for full scholarship. How can we not recommend you?” Nanako just sighed as she nods “I am aware of my own achievement, but I don’t see the need for the program –“ “Ms. Hasegawa, I know that you already have your own business and is currently making a name for yourself in the medical scene, fashion and culinary, but outside Japan, out there is a world foreign to you. Many other competitors, many other people could either be your partner, connection or even your enemy. You may not think you need it, but take this as an experience. I heard you talk to the Hitachiin twins and Kasanoda Mei about considering expanding to other region due to your fluency in languages and this may be your chance on doing so.” Nanako bites her lower lips as she contemplates on what her school director said and as much as she hates it, she admits that he does have a point – no, actually all of his words hits home as homerun would. After a minute, Nanako sighed and nods.

“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll take the exchange student program, only for a year right?” Suoh nods with a smile “If you ever feel burdened and uncomfortable, although we hope you don’t, we’ll pull you out of the program right away.” “Thank you, uncle Tamaki.” Nanako smile widely as Tamaki nods “Make sure to tell the boys, they’ll riot if they don’t and your classmates and school mates too.” Nanako only nods and went out of the office.

-CURRENT TIME-

SOUTH KOREA, SEOUL – JEGUK HIGH

“Good morning everyone.” A slightly average height woman in her 40s with her black with slight grey streaked hair tied up in an up - do bun walks up to the front of the class. ‘The students here sure are different. None of them stand up when she walks in... and they’re not greeting their teacher’ Nanako raised an eyebrow as she watch the class through the horizontal window on the door from outside of the classroom. She was getting bored so she sticks to playing with her hair, twisting and twirling the hair as well as brushing the edge of her jet black hair against the tip of her fingers and palm when she saw the interest and curiosity shine in their eyes, she leaned further to the door to eaves drop.

 “Please be respectful as she is representing another school and will be reporting about our school. Don't do anything that will scar the image of our school, your behavior will be judged." The teacher was satisfied once she saw every students in the class nods "Please come in," Nanako stop playing with her hair once she heard the signal to come in and start straightening her uniform, which consisted of a white button up shirt tucked into a black mid thigh length skirt, black tie with red strip in the middle, above knee length socks and black shoes. Nanako re arrange her hair 'Why did I decided to play with my hair to begin with' as she cursed herself inwardly and set her circular black rimmed glasses before she stretched out her hand and grabbed the polished door handle and turn it open.

"You may introduce yourself to the class." The teacher said to Nanako and she nods before turning around to face the black board and grab a white chalk to scribble her name in both katakana (はせがわ ななこ) and hangul (하세가와 나나코) "Annyeonghaseyo. My name is Hasegawa Nanako, although I personally prefer to be called Hasegawa, I'm okay with you guys calling me Nanako. I'm seventeen years old and were born and raised in Japan. I'm the student for the student exchange program this year, representing the school, Ouran Gakuen." Nanako bowed to the students in the class before straightening once more. She stole a glance at the teacher who nods "Nice to meet you too, Ms. Hasegawa. My name is Choi Ji Hye and I will be your homeroom teacher for your stay the whole exchange program. I wish for you to have a good experience learning in Jeguk High, you may go to the vacant seat on the second row." Nanako nods and bowed to the teacher "Thank you Choi - Seonsaengnim." She adjust her bag strap before walking to the said seat.

The 1st period is English, taught by a female teacher in her late 40s, her hair is shorter than Choi Ji Hye with more curls and dyed in reddish brown color. Her choice of clothes, by the Gods it was awful. She wore long sleeved yellow blouse with flower pattern all over, tucked inside an equally ugly flowy blue skirt with light blue, dark blue and white triangular pattern and not only was she boring, her english was totally off by lots. She keeps stumbling over words and mumbles 'You would think an expensive school could at least hire an appropriate teacher with decent english or at least a native speaker, but no, they just stick to the incompetent know - it - all teacher' Nanako rolled her eyes as she take 'notes' of whatever the teacher writes and say.

"Ms. Hasegawa" The teacher's calling snapped her out of her own world filled with wonderful imagination of colorful clouds, sweet treats and ponies puking and peeing rainbows "Uh - Yes?" Nanako blinks as the teacher sighed "I know you're an exchange student, but that doesn't mean that you can slack around and not focusing on the lesson. Please recite and analyze a poem by Edgar Allan Poe 'The City in The Sea'.  I have the text on my desk, please go to the front an grab it." The teacher waved the paper and motioned her to grab the paper, but Nanako didn't move an inch "Ms. Hasegawa, did you -" "Can I recite it from here or do I have to go t the front, Lee - Seonsaengnim?" The teacher blinks before nodding "Are you not going to grab the paper?" A girl seating next to Nanako with long caramel colored hair blinks as Nanako shook her head "Don't worry, I don't need it." Nanako glance at the teacher "Do it start now?" The teacher nods 'Well, that's my que'.

"The City in The Sea by. Edgar Allan Poe

Lo! Death has reared himself a throne 
In a strange city lying alone 
Far down within the dim West, 
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best 
Have gone to their eternal rest. 
There shrines and palaces and towers 
(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!) 
Resemble nothing that is ours. 
Around, by lifting winds forgot, 
Resignedly beneath the sky 
The melancholy waters he. 

No rays from the holy heaven come down 
On the long night-time of that town; 
But light from out the lurid sea 
Streams up the turrets silently- 
Gleams up the pinnacles far and free- 
Up domes- up spires- up kingly halls- 
Up fanes- up Babylon-like walls- 
Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers 
Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers- 
Up many and many a marvellous shrine 
Whose wreathed friezes intertwine 
The viol, the violet, and the vine. 
Resignedly beneath the sky 
The melancholy waters lie. 
So blend the turrets and shadows there 
That all seem pendulous in air, 
While from a proud tower in the town 
Death looks gigantically down. 

There open fanes and gaping graves 
Yawn level with the luminous waves; 
But not the riches there that lie 
In each idol's diamond eye- 
Not the gaily-jewelled dead 
Tempt the waters from their bed; 
For no ripples curl, alas! 
Along that wilderness of glass- 
No swellings tell that winds may be 
Upon some far-off happier sea- 
No heavings hint that winds have been 
On seas less hideously serene. 

But lo, a stir is in the air! 
The wave- there is a movement there! 
As if the towers had aside, 
In slightly sinking, the dull tide- 
As if their tops had feebly given 
A void within the filmy Heaven. 
The waves have now a redder glow- 
The hours are breathing faint and low- 
And when, amid no earthly moans, 
Down, down that town shall settle hence, 
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, 
Shall do it reverence." 

Everyone was in awe by the end of recitation poem 'The City in The Sea'. Everything was perfect, from the dramatical way of reading, the act, her tone down to her perfect english with British lilt. Nanako looks around before she sat down on her chair, not one second later someone clapped followed by the rest of the class "That was great Ms. Hasegawa. Your recitation was perfect." The teacher applauded as she clapped "You may now analyze the poem." The teacher said with a smile on her face "Uh -" Nanako stands up "To start about the poem, By beginning with the personification of death, "The City in the Sea" quickly sets the tone for the remainder of the poem, which exemplifies the Gothic setting that Poe establishes in many of his works. The city does not have a realistic location and instead resides in a romantic, distant land that simultaneously promotes a feeling of mystery and apprehension. Poe's Gothicism deals intimately with atmosphere and mood, and the loneliness of the city and its close association with death help to convey the increasing horror of the poem's setting. "The City in the Sea" is a revision of Poe's earlier work, "The Doomed City," and this previous title hints at the sense of decay that is also typical in Poe's Gothic romances." Throughout her explanation her classmates could only look at her in awe and trying to understand all the vocabularies.

"About the poem," Nanako stare at the teacher and her classmates, glancing and staring at them straight in the eye "Like non of you and I couldn't deny, In "The City in the Sea," the setting lies at the center of the work, but the main motif deals with the influence of death." The students blinks uncomfortably, but let her continue "The personified Death rules the city, and from a tower, he "Looks gigantically down" upon his domain that includes "Gaping graves," emphasizing the huge scale of death in this city. To further cement the connection, the city is located "Far down within the dim West," indicating both descent from life and the direction of the setting sun, which has symbolized death since the time of the ancient Egyptians. The phrase "The dim West" also foreshadows the next stanza, which explains that light does not come from the sky, but rather from the sea, which reverses the usual characterizations and becomes sinister and "Hideous" in its serenity." By now the teacher furrows her eyebrows at the potential Nanako has, by far, non of her students able to speak such fluent english with 'big' and elaborated words.

"Poe adds to the ambiance of deathly peace by contrasting the crowded and elaborate buildings with the distinct absence of life within the city. The dead are "Gaily jewelled," which implies joviality and celebration, but they lie in open graves with no more energy than the "Resigned" and "Melancholy" waters." Whispers starts to erupt as Nanako continue to create her point while analysing the meaning and implication of the poem .

"Even the plants consist of "Sculptured ivy and stone flowers." Eventually, the first hint of movement fails to revive the city and instead causes it to sink weakly into the sea without resistance. By contrast, as Poe's short story "Ligeia" suggests, men only succumb to the end of their lives through a weakness of will, and Ligeia is the emblem of resistance to death. The city's lack of willpower positions it as predestined for catastrophe, and in the end, the city in the sea literally begins to fall into the sea. At the same time, because of the inevitability of its destruction, the city is less the tragic protagonist than a pitiful victim." Nanako ended with a smile as the class claps.

"Please do share how do you feel about the story and his writing style, Ms. Hasegawa? I heard that you're interested in classic literature." Nanako raised her eyebrow 'Either this teacher really like me speaking english or I did not talk enough', but Nanako nods anyway "If I have to be honest, this poem is a bit too depressing for me. Although Poe did not believe that allegory was useful in poetry or in other works, "The City in the Sea" can be interpreted as an allegory for the death of the human soul, which results from sin. The apparently exotic architecture and the riches of the dead hint at the sins that result from wealth, and although these evils are never precisely stated, the "open fanes," or churches, suggests corruption. The descent into the sea of the final stanza is clearly also portrayed as a descent into hell, which rises as the city and by extension the soul begin to fall. When viewed through this interpretation, the city invites comparisons to the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, which are destroyed by God for their citizens' sins, but it also can be viewed as the mirror image of the mythical Atlantis. Whereas Atlantis had a great civilization that ended abruptly upon its sinking into the sea, the city in the sea has a dead civilization whose sinking comes too late." Nanako sighed 'This is getting tiring' "For the writing style, the elevated diction Poe uses gave the poem an archaic feeling, which supplements the Gothic setting of age and decay. Although Poe does not use a regular meter or rhyme scheme in this work, he uses the internal rhyme of "down, down, that town shall settle hence" to emphasize the word "down," which is the directional focus of the poem. He also includes occasional alliteration, as in "gaping graves" and "slightly sinking," both of which contribute to the establishment of atmosphere. Most importantly, he uses sensual imagery to establish his meaning, as he explores the captivatingly visual domes, spires, and kingly halls while never mentioning any hint of sound. Because there is no sound and little movement, the city lacks the concreteness of a real setting, and we do not regret its final disappearance into the sea." The class stared at Nanako for couple of seconds, waiting for her to speak more, but she only seat down and class once again gave her an applause for her remarkable explanation.

The bell rings after english, the 2nd period signaling the recess time before going back to the 3rd period. Everyone is swirming out of the classroom, taking their phones out and talking or approaching their friends, while Nanako, oh poor, poor Nanako was left alone in the classroom not knowing what to do and having no one to talk to prove no help by this point, so she just take out her phone and grab her time table sheet Choi - seonsaengnim gave her this morning and took a picture of it to commemorate her first day of  exchange program - no, talk about total BS. Apparently not everyone is diligent enough to bring their time table sheet everywhere and risking losing it, therefore she'll be smart and take a picture just in case she lose it in the near future.

Nanako packed her belongings after she took a picture of her schedule and put back her time table inside a red maroon folder which she carries on one hand before she slings on her black leather backpack on one shoulder. 'I still have to go to the student counsellor to decide the elective courses.' Nanako sighed inwardly and took out the map she received from Jung Ji Sook, the chairwoman of Jeguk High for formality meeting for the school representative. Nanako sighed inwardly as she watched people, friends, walking together talking and laughing 'Great, now I'm depressed.' She shake off the thoughts as she remember that she was suppose to be searching for the Student Counsellor's office. Right, so according to the map, the student counsellor office's on the 3rd floor, room 3045, next to the 3rd floor's elevator. Nanako glance up and see that she was next to room 2041 'So, one floor up and we'll see from there.' After so much of walking, stairs and asking people who don't care, she finally found someone who's actually helpful, a senior who is also in social care program. She took Nanako to the student counsellor's office before waving off good bye to go to her Elective Course C subject.

"Really, that Choi Young Do, ever since senior year started, he never go to school! Only on the first day, which is Monday. It's been 3 days." Nanako stop her fist from rapping the door when she heard the gossiping teachers 'A trouble maker?' Nanako raised an eyebrow as waited to listen to the teacher "Song - Seonsaengnim, did you not hear what happened? Apparently he was suspended on the 2nd day of school for picking fights with students from other school. He's suspended till next week." Nanako rolled her eyes 'Suspension will not change someone to be a better person ya' know. Make him do community service for his graduation requirement or something,' "Really, then classes will be very peaceful for tomorrow too," Song - Seonsaengnim sounded very relief by that fact that this 'Choi Young Do' person will not comeback till next week, but Nanako couldn't care less and proceed to knock the door. She snickers as she could hear their flinches, I mean they are practically gossiping about their students who probably pays quite the ransom to the school for the to hate him, most families pays ransom to cover their past deeds or to cover their test 'Or he could just be a very problematic student' Nanako sighed.

"Yes?" The teachers answered from inside the room 'None of them even bother to actually open the door and greet the visitor and you call this an expensive school, uncle Tamaki would freak if he knows that this kind of school is considered to be on par with Ouran? Even Lobelia Girls Academy have more class than them.' Nanako grab the handle and turn it open. Both teacher's eyes widens at the sight of her "Is this the student counsellor?" Nanako asked for confirmation as one of the teachers with dyed dirty brown pixie hair cut nods her head and stand up, Nanako push down any desire to roll her eyes "Are you the exchange program's student?" 'Obviously' Nanako smiled "Yes, my name is Hasegawa Nanako." She bowed and the teacher gave her a smile "Nice to meet you, Nanako, or are you more comfortable with Ms. Hasegawa?" "Hasegawa, if you please." The teacher nods "Nice to meet you, Ms. Hasegawa. As you've known I'm the student counsellor, Song Na Yeon. The chairwoman told me that you'll be here to schedule your election courses?" Nanako nods as the other teacher stand up and get out of the room. 

"I have a set of courses with available quota, you can take a seat while I search for the document." Song - Seonsaengnim stretched a hand and her forefinger pointed at a steel black armless chair with cushion at the base of the seat, her maroon nail art glistening under the light of the lamp "Right," Nanako nods and go to seat on the chair. At first she was just watching Song - Seonsaengnim searching for the paper, but she soon got bored of watching her tripping around her heels as she search around the room and decided to pull out her phone 'Let's see what Buzzfeed is going on about' she clicked on the Buzzfeed icon, white square with red circle in the middle and white fluctuation arrow mark. She play couples of quizzes until Song - Seonsaengnim finally found the paper "Here you go, list of available courses. There's couple of language courses, Multimedia and Journalism, MUN was supposed to be an elective course, but we made it official this year, we also have Public Speaking and Creative Writing, Performing Arts, Small Business Management, Psychology, both AP and intro to Psychology, Social Science, Basic Engineering and Arts in general. You need 4 electives right?" Nanako nods and Song - Seonsaengnim pull out 3 rectangular form "Fill this up once you've decided and I'll take you to elective C" She set down the papers and gave her a pen to fill it in. 

'Multimedia and Jounalism, Public Speaking and Creative Writing and... Japanese or French...' Nanako make a face and scribble 'Japanese' on her paper 'And... Uh... Let's see... Performing Arts it is...' Nanako choose her last subject and write it on the paper "I'm done," Nanako gathered all the papers together and the pen before standing up, with her red maroon folder on one hand and her leather bag slinged across her right shoulder. Nanako approaches Song - Seonsaengnim and gave her the papers and pen. Song - Seonsaengnim inspect each papers for awhile before opening the drawer of her desk and grab a stamp to make it official.

"Congratulations on joining Jeguk High. You'll have a time limit of next week, till Friday, if you want to change your course." Nanako smiled a bit at this and Song - Seonsaengnim stand up from her leather chair "Let's go, i'll take you to your Elective Course C, Multimedia and Journalism." With that they leave the room.