The girls all loved Mr. Moke, who taught the senior ethics seminar. His assignments were tough but fun. For example, he asked them to list all the considerations they could think of in making a choice between a Kleenex and a handkerchief. Naomi dared to ask what about if you just sneezed without using either, and the class laughed. Mr. Moke said, “So you’re saying ‘neither’ should be an option we consider? Okay, add to your list the ethics of that.” Fumiko raised her hand and said, “But what about both?” Mr. Moke stared at her, then grinned, then asked her if she wasn’t being greedy.

On Friday they talked about hate speech and whether it should be illegal, and as the class ended, Mr. Moke gave them the weekend assignment: immoral sounds that weren’t words.

That afternoon Fumiko and Naomi got together at Fumiko’s apartment to do their ethics homework. “I don’t get it,” Fumiko said as she pressed the button to start the Mister Coffee machine. “How can sounds be immoral?”

“You know a sound I really like?” Naomi asked. She chuckled.

“Laughter?” Fumiko guessed. Then she laughed. Then Naomi laughed. Then Fumiko said, “I’m going to tickle you till you pee.” Coffee cup in hand, Naomi fled to the bathroom and locked the door. “I was just teasing,” Fumiko said. Through the door she could hear the sound of Naomi’s pee. Then the flush of the toilet.

When Naomi came out, Fumiko said, “The locking of the door made me think of something.”

“What?”

“First tell me what sound you really like,” Fumiko said.

“The Mister Coffee pot being taken off the Mister Coffee machine, and then the sound of the coffee being poured into a cup.”

Fumiko nodded. “But how is that immoral?”

“It isn’t,” Naomi said. “Unless coffee is immoral. I just meant it was a sound I liked.”

“It someone hated coffee it would probably be a sound she hated,” Fumiko said. “A hate sound.”

Naomi grinned. “We’ll put that on the list and see what Mr. Moke says.” She set her empty coffee cup on the counter. “Now what was it you were thinking of?”

“The fire door,” Fumiko said. “The sound when it closes. I’ll show you.”

The girls went out to the hall and opened the fire door and stepped into the stairwell. The fire door whooshed then clunked closed.

“Ooh, that is a nice sound,” Naomi admitted. “So solid. Sort of final.”

“Yeah,” Fumiko agreed, “but the immoral part is this.” She locked the door.

The girls looked at each other. “Oh my god,” Naomi said. “Oh my god, I get it. The people locked out. The screams. The...”

“Hush,” said Fumiko, pressing a finger to Naomi’s lips. “Hush now.”

Next came the sounds of love. Naomi and Fumiko shared these with each other but not with Mr. Moke.