Asian Beat  Here’s a short story collection from Hakase Mizuki. 
I had to read something else of hers after I liked Demon Ororon
so much, so I got both this and Baku.  This volume has four
short stories.  The first one… it wasn’t entirely clear what was
going on.  There’s a main male and female character who appear
to have a relationship of convenience.  They seem to comfort
each other since the boy is in a relationship with a married
woman and the girl doesn’t get along with her stepmother. 
Eventually I think the two work out their problems, or at least
one does, but I was pretty confused the whole way through.  The
next three stories are all about the same three characters. I
remember their names, too.  There’s a brother and sister named
Mushi and Jam, and their friend who lives with them named Yuki. 
Mushi and Jam live by themselves in their apartment because
their mom is dead and their father is an abusive alcoholic
painter who doesn’t show up very often, and Yuki stays with them
because his father is a