Story: Groundhog's Day Alarm Clock

Have a weird setup for something! And also fun. Please, have fun.


Akane Tendo was a nice girl. Really. A very nice girl with a cute smile, a healthy body and a pleasant outlook. Unless she was pissed off, but isn’t that true of everyone? Well, yes, of course it is, though some might say that Akane had a bit less of a temper to her than other people. Short fuse, big explosion. But she was nice! Really, she was. If someone needed help, she’d more often than not put herself out there to offer assistance, which her considerable martial arts skill allowed her to do, quite often. Sure, she was a little bit on the clumsy side, but her heart was in the right place and she could certainly handle anything related to overpowering brute force with no trouble at all!

She was popular at school, she worked out frequently, her grades were a little above average. It seemed like she should be happy. Right? She could have her pick of any boy at school. All she had to do was flash a smile in their direction and their knees would turn to jelly. And yet… She wasn’t happy.

Call it the intuition of a big sister. Kasumi watched as Akane seemed to skip on air as she bounded out the front gate, clad in her jogging gear and engaging in the first part of her morning ritual. A simple piece of exercise. Rather small compared to what she would do on returning home, but that just indicated good practice. A warmup to ensure her muscles were awake enough to take on the rest of the day. There was a bit of a smile on her face, but something about her body language felt a little off. Like there was a missing piece somewhere in her life. Kasumi yearned to help her, but recently it was like she was closing off. It didn’t feel very good to her. She wanted to help, but felt rather powerless. Because, in the end, Kasumi was like Akane in a way, but worse for it: She couldn’t leave someone alone when they needed help. The difference here was that Kasumi, though she might ache to try, could not bring herself to force a confrontation. Which was necessary to compel Akane to admit to what was bothering her. Kasumi sighed wearily, and resumed breakfast preparations, desperate to do something but not knowing what on Earth she could possibly do.

So her thoughts went to another place instead. The dream she had last night. Oh, it was rather an odd one. Very lucid. In a way it was a little bit funny as well. On consideration it was probably a reflection of her concerns about Akane. The day had begun with the mail arriving, and it included a package for her - a brand new alarm clock - and a postcard that sent her father into one of his more manic reactions. It turned out to be a postcard from -

“Kasumi!”

No, not from her. It was an old training friend of - Wait, that wasn’t her internal monologue… That was -

“Yes, Father?” she asked, turning around to see him wielding what looked suspiciously like a postcard, primarily because it was indeed guilty of, in point of fact, being a postcard. The smile on his face was a trifle more concerning, and come to think of it this was all rather familiar to what she’d dreamed about last night. What he had to say next didn’t diminish the powerful sensation of deja vu a single solitary iota.

On the subject of deja vu. Kasumi had borrowed a lot of books from that nice, charming Doctor Tofu over the years. He was more than willing to let her have them, and he was so silly and funny that she couldn’t resist going back to ask for more. One topic she had read up on in one book or other was the subject of deja vu. There are numerous explanations given for the peculiar sensation, having seen or experienced something before when it is in fact impossible to have done so. Namely, the brain sort of skips a beat for a moment. One possibility occurs when the brain creates a partial impression of something it has seen, fills in the blank and then leaves the person with the impression they have seen the completed image before, or heard the thought expressed, when the truth is that they never have.

It all boiled down to a matter of memory issues no matter how it was sliced. An overlap between the short- and long-term memory. Issues with sensory input. Usually fleeting things. So, as the day wore on Kasumi was growing increasingly worried that something might well be wrong in her brain. How else could she explain the impossible knowledge that a panda and a girl were about to arrive at the front gate before they actually had?

She stayed quiet, certain that the knowledge of a transformative curse was a symptom of her malady. She watched as Nabiki repeatedly - angrily - groped the girl (“Does this look like a boy to you?”) then felt a twinge of sadness at the possibility of a friendship forming, lost because of matters beyond either of their control (“Hi, I’m Akane. Want to be friends?”).

So Kasumi forced herself to do something she didn’t do yesterday. She followed the pair of them to the dojo to watch them spar. Her “memories” of these events did not involve the outcome of the spar. Therefore, she grabbed a small slip of paper typically left by the phone for the express purpose of writing down phone numbers, grabbed the pen left there for the same reason and wrote “Did not see spar” on it to make certain that her memories remained consistent on that point. That done, she hurried along towards the training hall area, and -

And saw her little sister being absolutely humiliated by a clearly superior adversary. It was almost beautiful in a way. Before having to adopt the role of housewife, Kasumi had done a little martial arts training and so from an outside perspective she could certainly recognise the level of skill for what it was. But no, it was more than that. Ranma Saotome was just showing off, and it was… Beautiful. She soared over Akane and poked her gently in the back of her head, clearly marking an end to the spar. In a real fight, a blow there would have ended the fight. Possibly even hospitalised Akane, or anyone else in the same position. The skill difference was clear. Yet… Somehow, Akane found it in herself to smile, the most genuine and warm smile Kasumi had seen in far, far too long.

“You’re pretty good,” Akane said while Ranma nervously laughed. “I’m just glad I didn’t lose to a boy.”

“Y-yeah,” Ranma stammered, nervously looking to the ground as Akane walked out of the room. For a fleeting moment, her eyes seemed to linger on Akane as she walked out of the training hall wiping sweat from her brow.

“Is the bath ready, Kasumi?” Akane asked.

“In a few minutes,” Kasumi absently replied. That reaction before… When Akane had said she was glad not to lose to a boy… That curse nonsense couldn’t have been real, could it? “I’d like to speak to Ranma for a moment. Would that be alright?”

Akane shrugged and walked off, probably up towards her room to wait for the water to finish heating up. Alright. This was the perfect opportunity to talk with Ranma. The girl was rather an adorable little fidget, wasn’t she?

“Now, now, there’s nothing to be worried about,” Kasumi said. “I just wanted to talk for a moment about Akane.” Interesting little blush there, avoiding eye contact… “She hasn’t said anything to me, but… I get the feeling she’s been a little bit under the weather recently. I think what she needs right now is a good friend to help her lighten up. Do you think you can be that friend, Ranma?”

An enthusiastic nod. Very encouraging. “Sure thing!” Ranma said. “Akane’s really nice. I think we can be great friends! Um… Do you know what she has against boys?”

“I’m afraid not,” Kasumi replied. “She’s not telling me anything, and I’m afraid Nabiki would probably charge me for the information.” She sniffed, and stepped away. “My goodness! Please, I beg your forgiveness, but I must insist you bathe at once!”

“Uh… I don’t think that’s such a good -”

“Now, please!” Kasumi said, quickly marching Ranma right on out of the training hall at arm’s length. “I really must insist.”

Not least of all because she had to confirm - to herself at the very least - If there really was such a ridiculous thing as a curse. Though she would need to try to keep watch on the bathroom to make sure Akane didn’t walk in, like she remembered happening last time (assuming her memory really wasn’t playing tricks on her). No sooner had Kasumi bundled Ranma into the bathroom and written down “Jusenkyo curse” on the paper right beneath “Did not see spar” (which was a good sign, probably?) and then -

“Ah, Kasumi! There you are!” her father said, wiping a tear from his eye. “Sorry to be a bother, but could you please prepare some tea for my friend and I? He’s had quite a long journey.”

“Oh, dear!” Kasumi gasped, her previous concerns forgotten for a moment. “I’ll be right there, Father!”

And as she scurried away to make that tea, Kasumi completely missed Akane walking around the corner just behind her off towards the bathroom.

<hr>
While it must be known to all reading this that Kasumi is, indeed, looping through this same day over and over again she has yet to notice this particular fact. Though she is on the verge of discovering it, everyone else remains blissfully ignorant. For a time she shall assume that’s all there is to it, as the minor variations she experiences will be credited to the different things she does each time. Therefore, she was at present unaware of little things like the still very small alterations to bodies, thoughts, clothing and other small details. They were at present still far too similar to what she was expecting to see for the difference to become apparent. But she would notice it. In time. In a few instances passing by.

For now, Akane was thinking about her new friend. It was such a dodged bullet. The last thing Akane needed was another boy chasing after her. There were enough of those at school, thank you very much! If only she could get that kind of attention from Doctor Tofu, she’d be a little bit happier.

The girls at school didn’t really help much. None of them really shared her deeper passions, only the more superficial stuff. So, even though she had friends, there was nobody she could really - You know - <i>talk</i> to at school. So! Having a new friend that was <i>that</i> good a martial artist, not to mention <i>that</i> adorable was just what she needed right about then. Yep, things were definitely looking up for once, and it was difficult to imagine how things could go -

- Naked boy. Akane blinked in a little bit of shock at the sight in front of her. Naked boy still there. That failing, she stared in disbelief. As if somehow she could will him (and more crucially <i>it</i> out of existence by blinking and staring. Still got muscles you could grate cheese on. Still got that great big thing between his legs. Still naked. Still a boy. Still a handsome, naked boy.

That thought process burned through, Akane turned around and closed the separating door. Okay then. Maybe she should take just another quick look to make sure she hadn’t hallucinated that? You know. Not because she wanted to see him or anything like that. Just because - You know - That couldn’t be right. Right? No, probably best to assume that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. So Akane did the only reasonable thing she could do in the situation. She screamed. Though… If anyone were to compare it to how loud she had screamed the previous day, Akane’s heart wasn’t quite in it nearly so much.

One degree of perversion higher. What might two degrees look like?

<hr>
“Hey! What did you do that for?!”

So, this wasn’t deja vu. No question of that anymore. Kasumi looked down at the paper in her hands, then back up to the boy. She could almost recite it word for word. The insults thrown between father and son - Er, make that daughter at the moment. It was all leaving Kasumi’s head completely reeling. What should she make of it all?

“Well, this isn’t a problem at all!” her father said, turning Ranma around to face the three of them. Kasumi put her mind back to the present, and remembered this part rather too well. It had been rather cruel to force Akane into this, but she really did think it would help at the time. In fact, it still seemed like it might be a good idea. The two of them were obviously a little upset by the bathroom incident. Without that they’d probably get on alright, all they had to do was get past it. Right?

“Kasumi, who is nineteen. Nabiki, seventeen. Akane, sixteen. Pick one, and she’ll be your bride.”

And it played out just as she remembered. Nabiki behaved for rather more selfish reasons than Kasumi, but they both pushed the engagement onto Akane. Then they had swapped insults, Akane had flattened her new fiance with the table, and then the two of them had tried to avoid each other for the rest of the day.

It was the same. Exactly the same. Either Kasumi was having a psychotic break - Which may make sense given the Jusenkyo curse part of what was going on - Or she had somehow lived the same insane day twice in a row. Whichever it was, she excused herself and withdrew to her room. Anything to give herself a little bit of peace to think about this.

Which is when she saw something lying on her bed. A package addressed to her. Kasumi frowned, and suddenly remembered. Yes, this was the alarm clock she had ordered. Well. If nothing else, setting this up might help her get her mind off this, and she certainly could do with it being somewhere else right about now! It was novelty alarm clock in the shape of a cartoon groundhog. She’d have to set it to the correct time, and then -

Except that she didn’t. By her watch, it was already showing the correct time. Which didn’t make sense. The batteries weren’t included, so there was no way for it to keep the correct time unless - Sure enough, there they were. Already included. Kasumi repeated her sister’s attempt to blink the inexplicable impossibility out of existence. She failed completely in this task. Was this another symptom of whatever was wrong with her? Or…

She speed read the manual, something she hadn’t done yesterday and was now sorely regretting. Oh dear. Oh <i>dear</i> oh <b>dear</b>! So… She wasn’t losing her mind at all? It took a lot to make Kasumi nervous, but this rather did the job. How many more times would she have to repeat this same day? Would she actually go insane by the end of it?  And why - Oh why - Did she have this terrible suspicion that there was more to it than she was first expecting?

1. How does the next day play out?
2. Kasumi notices the gradually increased sexuality, and tries desperately to keep Ranma, Akane and Nabiki from doing anything “inappropriate”. Let’s not even think about the fathers for our own mental health.
3. What’s Nabiki up to over the course of the day?
4. Kasumi tells her family what is going on, and asks them for help.
5. Something else