Souma remained silent as Galina spoke.

She had sought him out, had returned to Japan for at least that one specific reason. Had the attack on his family not happened, had he not heard her candid admissions that night when they tried to kill each other, Daisuke would have never let her through the door.

But everything that night [i]had[/i] happened. Every last moment, every little detail. Galina Demidova was no longer someone Souma Takahiro could see as a rival, adversary or annoyance. He wasn't sure, entirely, [i]what[/i] to see her as. But at the very least, she was worth his full attention.

So he didn't speak, didn't interrupt, gaze watching her own features with steady interest, chopsticks laying across his plate. He nodded in unneeded allowance as she poured herself a cup of sake, his own features growing a shade darker as she recounted the devastation that had struck her own home. More than him or his clan, Galina and hers had been a target as well.

It fit together with much of what Souma had learned, shameful and humiliating as the knowledge was. Everything he had accomplished since leaving Japan could not possibly balance out what he had brought down upon his family. For it had been his fault -and Galina's as well- their first encounter making an enemy with the patience to stay hidden until the last moment... and the resources to make that last moment count.

But failure was only complete if there was no chance of retaliation. The fact that both he [i]and[/i] Galina had survived, and that their opponents likely did not know it, was a fatal mistake he was certain to exploit. 

He remained quiet for a moment after she finished, reaching out to retrieve the sake for himself. Refilling his cup, he eyed the swirling steam for a moment longer, before downing the contents in a single go. 

"Four days." He said finally, picking up his chopsticks as he met Galina's eyes once more. "We eat, rest, prepare. Boat leaves in four days...

...Then we hunt."