One day, Matsuri asked Ana, "Ana-chan, where do babies come from?"

Ana looked nervous. "Um... I dunno..." she said. "Uh, you'll find out when you're older, Matsuri-san."

"But I want to know now," said Matsuri.

"It's not important right now," said Ana. Her face turned a little red as she walked away.

So people don't find out until they're older? How old? I should ask someone older, thought Matsuri.

Matsuri approached Nobue, who was sitting in her room. "Onee-chan, where do babies come from?" she asked.

Nobue blushed. "Well, you see, babies come from... storks."

"Storks?" said Matsuri.

"Yeah. A stork is a type of bird. It brings babies to couples who want them," said Nobue.

"But then how does the baby get in the girl's belly?" Matsuri asked.

"Well... um... that's really hard to explain," said Nobue, who was beginning to sweat a bit. "You'll understand when you're older."

"How old will I be?"

"That depends. Now how about you go see what Miu and Chi are doing?" Nobue said, gently pushing Matsuri towards the door.

"Um... okay..." said Matsuri. Unsatisfied with her answer, she walked into the kitchen, where Chika was making cookies. Miu stood beside her, watching.

"Hey guys," said Matsuri. "I was wondering, where do babies come from?"

Chika flinched. Miu put her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Why do you want to know that, Matsuri-chan?" Chika asked, shaking a bit.

"Because my mom says she wants to have a baby soon."

"Then why don't you ask your mom?"

"I didn't think to ask until I left the house today."

Chika sighed. "Well, it's hard to explain. You see... when a man and a woman love each other very much..." Miu started giggling again. "Um, well, it's a complicated process. You should really just ask your mom, Matsuri-chan."

Matsuri frowned. "You can't explain it at all?" she said. Chika shrugged.

"Oh Matsuri-chan," said Miu. "Seriously, no one has talked to you about the birds and the bees yet?"

"Birds and bees?" said Matsuri. "I know what those are. Birds are these animals with beaks and wings that fly, and bees have yellow and black stripes and buzz around getting pollen."

Miu grinned. "Yes, Matsuri-chan, that's exactly right. Now let me explain this to you, since Chi-chan isn't skilled enough to do it." Chika glared at her.

"Um, okay," said Matsuri.

Then Miu went into a long explanation using a lot of words that Matsuri had never heard before. When she finished, she said, "Got it, Matsuri-chan?"

"Um... not really..." said Matsuri. "Can you repeat that first part... and that last part... and that middle part, please?"

Chika groaned. "Seriously?" she said. "There's no way Matsuri-chan would be able to understand that. You really couldn't make it simpler?"

"Simpler?" said Miu. "Okay. Matsuri-chan, babies come from sex."

Matsuri blinked. "What's sex?"

Chika put her head down on the kitchen counter and laughed.

"Well, it's so difficult to explain that I think it might be better I show you."

Chika put her head up and gasped. "What!? Show her what!?"

"I have some videos of it downloaded on my computer," Miu explained.

"Don't make Matsuri-chan watch porn!" Chika shrieked.

"Why? Is it scary?" Matsuri asked.

"No, it's actually pretty awesome, but I think it might be too intense for you," said Miu.

"Intense?"

"Don't you even think about it, Micchan!" said Chika. "If you show Matsuri-chan porn, I'm gonna slap you so hard you'll-!"

"Well," said Miu. "Another way you can get babies is ordering them off of eBay."

"Hey, don't tell Matsuri-chan lies like that!" said Chika.

"Don't they come from storks too?" said Matsuri.

"Sounds like something Onee-chan would tell you," said Chika.

Matsuri looked surprised. "Yeah, it was her."

"Did you ask Ana-chan too?" Chika asked.

"Yeah, but she said she didn't know."

Chika sighed. "Of course she did. Oh, whatever. Just ask your mom, Matsuri-chan. She'll be better at explaining it."

"Okay," said Matsuri.

Late in the afternoon, when Matsuri was eating dinner with her mom and dad, she asked her mom where babies come from.

"Oh, you don't know?" said Matsuri's mom. "Well... [insert very vague but understandable explanation here]."

"Does that make sense, Matsuri-chan?" Matsuri's mom asked.

Matsuri fell out of her chair. "Um, yeah," she said quickly. "Anyway, well, I think I lost my appetite, so I'm just gonna go to my room." She quickly ran upstairs.

The End