Shizune
        Misha glanced at the list in her hand.  “That’s everything, Shicchan~!”  The ingredients lay on the counter.  Shicchan is brandishing a large chef’s knife, ready to get to work.  She puts it down and signs to Misha,
[I’ll slice up the vegetables and the meat.  You take care of the sauce and the rice.  Our dish will be better than anyone else’s!]
Picking up the knife once more, she makes short work of onions, peppers, broccoli, and garlic.  She beams as she expertly cuts each ingredient into bite sized items.  The dull sound of knife hitting board gradually gets faster and faster.  None can withstand her onslaught.  Meanwhile, Misha heats the stove and checks the progress of the rice. She prepares the sauce, adding a few bits of her own secret spices to give it a punch.  Misha exclaims,
“I’m ready Shizune, WAHAHAH~!”  Shizune scrapes the ingredients off the cutting board and into the pan Misha is holding.
        Shizune narrowed her eyes and stared intently as Misha worked the pan.  She leaned in closer and could feel heat creeping up her arms.  The aromas followed in tandem; different spices touched off different scents that tickled her nose in pleasant of ways.  Her mouth instinctively watered in anticipation.  Misha was almost finished with her pan frying and Shizune handed her plates of rice and backed out of the way.  Misha heaped the stir fry onto each plate and tossed the pan back onto the stove.  She grabbed a fork and was about to dig in.  
*SNAP
  An ear-splitting sound brings her attention to the person standing behind her.  Shizune stood with an unsatisfied look, pointing towards the stovetop.  
        [We must take care of our dishes before we enjoy the food] she signed and folded her arms across her chest.  
        “Awww, Shizune, do we have too?”    Misha pouted, “The food will get cold if we wait!”
        [We better hurry up, then] Shizune signs back. She grabbed the soiled pan, cutting board, and utensils and placed them under the running water.  
……
[See? that took just a few moments.]  Shizune had a triumphant look on her face as she placed the last dish away in the cupboard.  Nobody else in the cooking class was finished with their meals, and certainly nobody else had done such a good job cleaning up.  [Now, let’s eat!]  
 
Suzu
Hisao is startled when he walks into class.  He is distracted by the large cage in the back of the room.  His classmates are gathered around and everybody seems quite excited. Mutou sat at his desk, looking pleased with himself.  Hisao stood on his tiptoes at the back of the crowd to get a good look.  He saw lots of newspaper shreddings, woodchips, a toilet paper tube, a tissue box, and a tennis ball.  Sitting in front of the cage, staring back at the eager classmates, was a hedgehog!  Hisao saw Suzu directly in front of the cage, looking back just as intently at the small animal.  She was so close, he noticed wisps of her breath on the glass cage.  
“Okay, class, it’s time to start”, Mutou stood up and addressed the mass of people at the back.  
“I thought it would be good for us to try out a small experiment.  I decided to bring in a class pet.  It will be our responsibility to take care of the animal.  Duties will be split up between the weeks and it will be a good opportunity to illustrate ideas and concepts as we work through our biology chapter. …”  Mutou trailed off as people filtered to their seats.  Hisao stole a glance back at the hedgehog and was surprised to see Suzu still in front of the cage.  Mutou strolls to the back of the class.  
“It’s time for class to start, Ms. Suzuki”  Hisao was startled to find that she had fallen asleep kneeling in front of the cage.  Mutou gently shook her until she opened her eyes.  The entire class was focused on her as they walked back to her seat.  Suzu lay her head on her desk, but her eyes managed to stay open.  
Mutou continued what he was saying, “Okay, like I said, it will be the responsibility of the class to take care of the hedgehog, so are there any volunteers for the first week?  You will have to take some time every day to make sure the cage is cleaned, there is water, food and new bedding every couple days for the hedgehog.”  
One hand shot up faster than any of the rest.  Suzu sat upright and alert, her hand a straight line waving in the air.  
“All right, Ms. Suzuki, you will take care of the hedgehog for the first week.  Please see me after class so that I can tell you how to care for it.  Continuing on with the endocrine system….”
Hisao watched Suzu place her head back onto her desk.  He could tell the corners of her mouth were turned up in a smile.  Class went by quicker than normal and, in no time, the final bell was ringing.  Hisao walked back to his room and get a start on his homework.  Mutou enjoyed assigning a lot of work for class discussion the next day.  When he got back, he reached into his bag to pull out today’s notes, but they weren’t there.  “I must have left them in the classroom,” he thought.  He grabbed his bag and trudged back to class.  He passed the runners doing warm-ups on the track field.  Emi was blazing around the trail, as usual.  He watched her bounce up and down as the coach told her the time before taking off once more.  Hisao laughed a little and continued back to class 3-3.
He entered the classroom and moved toward his seat.  His notebook lay on the floor right next to his desk.  It must have fallen off without him noticing.  He stooped and placed it in the bag.  He turned to leave, but stopped dead in his tracks.  Sitting underneath the hedgehog cage, leaning against the wall, was Suzu.  She was fast asleep.  The hedgehog was watching her from the corner of the cage.  Hisao paused.  He wasn’t quite sure what to do.  He watched as she rose softly with her breathing before slowly letting it back out.  She hadn’t woken up, so he decided he probably shouldn’t just leave her there.  He crossed the room and knelt down beside her.  He placed a hand on her shoulder and eased her awake.  
“W-what time is it?” Suzu questioned with heavy eyelids.
“It’s about 3pm” Hisao responded.  
“Oh, good.  That means I wasn’t here for long.  Thanks for waking me up, Hisao.”  She mumbled the last part, looking down embarrassedly.  “I was just taking care of the hedgehog and I must have nodded off.”  
Hisao shifted a little uncomfortably before standing up and offering his hand to her.  She took it and she stretched against the wall.  Hisao quickly focused his attention to the hedgehog.  
“Umm…I think this hedgehog is really neat.  Our family never had a pet.” Suzu suddenly offered.  “I just don’t know if I’m going to be reliable enough if I keep falling asleep.”
“Well…..maybe I could help you take care of it this week.  Just to make sure you don’t fall asleep in the middle of things, y’know?” Hisao wasn’t looking at Suzu when he said this.  He was too scared to.  Hisao held his breath and stared at the hedgehog while waiting for the response.  
“I’d like that a lot.” She responded with a smile, “You could help make sure I remember everything too.  Animals take a lot of work.”  
Hisao looked up at Suzu with a wide smile across her face.  The same smile he saw earlier that day in class.  Maybe Hisao could make her smile a bit more in the future.