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?”