Mama, Papa, and Tata

Chichi to haha (ちちと母) is the 362nd chapter of the manga. It is also the third chapter of the Battle of the Busts Arc.

Synopsis
Nodoka catches Ranma's hair and begins poking around Akane's room with her sword. Ranma continues to try to avoid being seen by his mother.

Plot Overview
Nodoka Saotome has taken it upon herself to deal with who she assumes is a pervert in Akane's room. She jabs her katana through the door crack and begins swinging it around just below Ranma. He manages to catch the blade with his feet, leaving Akane to resolve the situation once more. First, she has to make sure Nodoka lets go of Ranma's hair, and she does this by opening her undergarment drawer and tossing her bras around while speaking loudly through a megaphone of the rampant pervert. Nodoka is shocked and lets go of the hair, but Ranma is not happy with how Akane handled the situation.

Nodoka bursts the door open to see Akane on her knees surrounded by her bras. She tells her that the pervert left. Unknown to her, Ranma was smashed by the door when she opened it. Ranma comes out as Ranko and bids farewell to her mother. Nodoka takes her leave with partial assurance that the pervert is unlikely to come back.

Ranma and Akane head back in and Ranma asks what her deal is, since Akane was still visibly upset. But Akane is unable to say exactly what it was that hurt her because she thinks by saying it Ranma will think she wants him to look at her breasts instead of apologizing. Akane hits her with a statue and enters the house alone. Nodoka is not far away when she stands behind a telephone pole. She worries that the pervert might still be lurking inside the Tendo Dojo.

That night, Nabiki and Kasumi are telling Ranma to apologize to his fiancée. Ranma stubbornly refuses and claims that he is the victim. He recalls what he said in the changing room and realizes that he might have said something wrong while watching T.V. Kasumi and Nabiki confront him about the statement and he rushes to find her so he can possibly mend the situation.

Akane meanwhile is in the bath reflecting on the day. She feels guilty about using Ranma's mother to get back at him, but feels that he deserved it nonetheless. Ranma is wrongly convinced that Akane wanted him to look at her breasts and asks Soun where she is. He tells him that Akane is in the laundry and he bursts through the room to make amends. He doesn't find anyone there, but sees that the bath is being used and assumes that it's her.

He becomes blushed as he tries to tell her that he's willing to look at her breasts, but before he can get the proper words out, his father bursts out of the bath posing for his son and telling him that he's more than welcome to look. (Breast and Father sounds similar in Japanese) Ranma is taken aback and hits Genma shouting he wants to see Akane's breasts, not him. He is crushed when a washing machine is thrown at him from behind. He turns around to see Akane with a bandage over her head and an imprint behind her. Ranma apparently rammed her with the door when he came to the laundry room. She calls him a pervert and beats him.

Beaten and confused, Ranma thinks that perhaps Akane doesn't want him to look after all. Akane carries her finished laundry when Happosai bounces to her. She kicks him away toward a nearby tree. Upon smashing into the tree, a pair of slippers drop down. Akane goes to examine the shoes when Happosai picks up her laundered bra. This time she kicks him much further. She recognizes the shoes as those belonging to Mrs. Saotome when she hears a noise inside. She walks in and finds a clean restaurant bowl on the counter. Kasumi has no idea where it came from. Then Nabiki shows up and takes a picture of her with her new polaroid camera. When the picture is resolved, she sees that Nodoka's sword cover was visible. Akane runs to find Ranma, knowing that Nodoka is still here and might see her son.

Ranma is in the dojo thinking about ways to make Akane feel better. He thinks of strange compliments about the downsides of having large breasts when he is kicked in the head by Akane. She drags him by his pig-tail into the guest room. She inspects the room to see if he's safe when she sees a kimono sleeve sticking out of the closet. She turns off the light and puts her hand over Ranma's mouth so he remains quiet. She looks at the closet door and sees that they weren't noticed. Unbeknownst to her, Nodoka fell asleep while reading by a flashlight in the closet.

Confused Ranma tries to piece things together, noting that they're quietly in a dark room alone. Akane assumes that Ranma knows what is happening and tells him to hurry, implying he should leave the room immediately. He takes this the wrong way and hugs her tight, erroneously assuming that Akane went through all this effort so they can make up. Akane is confused then disconcerted as Ranma moves his face very close to hers, but soon comes to her senses and yells at him for not understanding. Suddenly Ranma sees a sword over his shoulder. Nodoka tells him to turn around slowly.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Nodoka Saotome
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Akane Tendo
 * Ranma Saotome (female)
 * Kasumi Tendo
 * Nabiki Tendo
 * Soun Tendo
 * Genma Saotome (human)
 * Happosai

Quotes
To be added

Trivia

 * This chapter uses a pun that is lost in translation. The word for breasts and father sounds the same in Japanese (Chichi) so when Ranma was almost asking for Akane's breasts, Genma thought he was talking about him.
 * The same pun is present in the title.