A/N : First off - I'd like to thank everyone for all of the constructive criticism, reviews and generally wonderful comments you've given me on this story so far. Lost Guy, Ognik, and GuiltyKingOumaShu stand out the most. However, everyone who has commented, PM'ed me or otherwise provided feedback, thank you. It's truly humbling that you've taken the time and I'm glad that you're enjoying it. If you're not enjoying the story but still made it this far - thanks for trying to stick with it. I'm always open to suggestions, though they may not make it into this fic, I have several other ideas for GC fics that I am exploring currently. So don't feel afraid to throw out comments and questions etc...

That being said, the time is here - enough of the build up. The best way I can explain is by using a common Internet catch phrase. "Shit is about to get real." Still rated T, but for the upcoming chapters younger audiences may want to run for the hills - you've been warned. Enjoy!

Disclaimer : I still don't own it... Wish I did. But I don't.

Breaking Point

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."

~Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Ouma Family Residence: 1000 hours Saturday November 7 2042

Shu stood on the expansive wooden deck that overlooked the cliff where his late step mother Haruka was buried. Beyond the makeshift grave marker he could see the ocean, a gray brooding miasma, made so by the thick dark clouds overhead that threatened snow at any moment. A biting wind whipped through the semi enclosed porch leaving Shu's long brown hair in disarray. Winter had come to the countryside sanctuary where Shu, Inori and their two companions had fled. Though it was a rash choice, it seemed at the time like the logical decision. Following the intense battle they had unanimously decided, as all creatures who survive being hunted do, that there was safety in numbers. So they took refuge in the place where it had all begun.

For the most part they had spent the week taking something of a mental holiday. After all, the events that had transpired had come to pass so quickly no one had time to react. Shu had been in an almost constant state of conflict since Inori had returned. So much so that the massive impact of her return as well as the return of his sight had taken a backseat to the battles that ensued. The impact was equally severe on Tsugumi and Ayase who had lost their home as a result of being targeted by GHQ Anti-Bodies, and that was discounting the incredible return of Inori and Shu's surprising development. Inori had remained seemingly unaffected throughout the ordeal save that she kept herself closer to Shu than ever. This particular moment however was different. Shu had managed to make his way outside without drawing Inori's attention. She as well as his other two house mates were still asleep in their warm beds away from the unforgiving elements that surrounded the boy.

It wasn't so much that he was purposefully avoiding her as it was his attempt at seeking a sanctuary of his own. Inori had hardly let him out of her sight since the incident at the train station. Shu couldn't blame her, it was a natural reaction, but it still gave him the sense of unease as if she didn't trust him when he was alone. Then there was the look. She had, on numerous occasions, worn an expression that Shu could not place. Almost as if she was holding something back. Inori was normally withdrawn, but this was something more, as if she was trying to say something but couldn't find the right words to express it. Shu was curious, moreover he couldn't help but fight the urge to believe that it was because of his actions that she had become more withdrawn and odd than usual.

Sighing heavily, he leaned against the wall of the home as the buttoned his coat so as to maintain more of its valuable warmth. It was then that he heard the storm door on the porch open. He didn't bother to look , he already knew it was Inori. She stood at the threshold between the deck and the much warmer living room observing the situation in silence. Her eyes eventually fell on Shu who was still leaning against the wall.

"Good morning." She offered as she pulled the wool blanket that was wrapped around shoulders tightly around her.

"Hey." Shu replied weakly.

Inori slowly made her way toward the wall where the boy was resting and leaned next to him. "Did you have trouble sleeping again?"

"Yeah." Shu looked away, hiding his eyes as he replied to her. He had been having nightmares for the last week. These however, were not run of the mill nightmares, they were terrifying visions that haunted him leaving him sleepless and distraught. So much so that they usually resulted in him stalking off to some darkened corner of the house where he felt he wouldn't be heard. He didn't want anyone, especially Inori, to hear what he said in the clutches of the terror that pervaded his sleeping world.

Inori didn't offer a response at first. Instead, she shifted slowly along the wall until she was directly along side of him. Pushing the blanket out of the way of her arm she reached for his hand.. "You don't have to be ashamed." She whispered softly. She had known about the nightmares. In fact she had listened to his heartbroken pleas wondering what, if anything, she could do to ease the pain.

Shu turned further away from the woman beside him, he was not interested in confronting his demons in the light of day anymore than he was at night. Sensing that he wanted to change the subject, Inori kindly obliged. "We should do something." She said cheerily.

"Do something... Like what?" Shu asked, confused by the sudden distraction.

"You grew up here didn't you?" She asked with something of a playful look in her eyes.

Shu nodded , acknowledging the fact. Still he didn't have many memories of the place, at least not ones he chose to hang on to.

"Show me what it's like." Inori added rather insistently.

Shu wasn't particularly in the mood for an adventure but it did seem like a good diversion, and maybe it would help him forget about the night terrors that had been plaguing him. "Okay." He agreed

.

Ouma Family Residence: 1115 hours Saturday November 7 2042

"Where are the love birds?" Tsugumi yawned grouchily as she made her way to the kitchen table where her friend Ayase was already seated.

"Not sure." Ayase replied, glancing up from the book in front of her. "I think they went out this morning." She continued.

"Oh.. And you're okay with that?" Tsugumi joked. She had long suspected Ayase of having a crush of sorts on Shu and frequently mocked her for the supposition.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ayase sneered as she took a sip of the now cold coffee that had been sitting beside her notebook.

"You see... It's my experience that Ayane tends to develop feelings for all the boys she can't have." Tsugumi sing-songed to emphasize the taunt. Upon seeing that the wheelchair bound girl was becoming aggravated with the sarcasm Tsugumi quickly changed the subject. "So what's that?" She pointed at the notebook in front of Ayase.

"Nothing." Ayase replied as she quickly closed the book.

"It doesn't look like nothing. What is it?" Tsugumi prodded harder.

"You know. You would think you'd learn that your curiosity gets you in trouble more often than not." Ayase scolded, reminding Tsugumi of the reason that they were forced to flee their home. "...But if you must know... It's a diary." She continued, lowering her voice slightly as if the fact that she kept a journal was a secret from the world at large.

Tsugumi paused briefly, she had never known Ayase to keep a diary and she found it odd that suddenly she had started doing so. "When did you start doing that?" The younger girl continued probing..

"I used to keep one back when we were in Funeral Parlor, and I just thought I would do it again." Ayase answered as she wheeled herself to the counter and refreshed her coffee. "I guess I feel like, in case we don't make it... If someone finds this, they'll know what we did." She added morosely.

"Wow. That's kind of sad Ayane..." Tsugumi was caught off guard by the seemingly macabre answer. "Hey is there any more of that?" She was referring to the coffee, which also provided an escape route from the conversation that was quickly becoming uncomfortable for the flighty girl. She hated emotional subjects, it wasn't her strong suit. Despite her sex she much preferred cut and dry technical matters.

"No... That's all there is." Ayase smiled. She took small pleasure in knowing that she stood between Tsugumi and her caffeine fix, after all it was well deserved after she had made fun of her various infatuations.

"No problem." Tsugumi snickered and clapped her hands. "Funell coffee!" She ordered as the small robot came whizzing happily around the corner. Once Tsugumi had placed the creature on top of the counter beside the coffee pot it dutifully secured the proper ingredients and began preparing the pot. "Upgrades. See!" The girl declared triumphantly as she smiled at her handiwork.

Ayase simply rolled her eyes at the irony in the fact that Tsugumi had likely spent hours writing a program for the robot to make coffee when it would have taken only a few minutes for her to have done it herself.

"I know what you're thinking Ayane. But if you're going to do it more than once, you should script it. It saves time in the end." Tsugumi tried to rationalize with her counterpart as she picked up on the slight disdain for her methods.

Kamagura, Kanagaway Prefecture: 1201 hours Saturday November 7 2042

"Shu." Inori said quietly as she stopped in her tracks.

"Yeah?" Shu asked, curious as to why she had stopped.

"Is this not fun for you?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips. Her bright red sweater and dark colored jeans contrasted starkly with the gray cobblestone paved streets of the run down shopping district in one of the oldest parts of the small city. Everything else was bathed in a dreary shade on account of the weather, thus giving the illusion that she was the only thing alive in the nearly deserted part of town.

"No... It's okay." The boy protested as he noticed the visible change in her demeanor. Normally she was content to simply follow along with whatever he was doing. However in this case it seemed like she wanted him to be more animated, a feat that wasn't easy considering the heavy burden he carried combined with a painful lack of sleep.

"We can go back home if you want." She offered sympathetically as she wrapped her arm through his.

'Home.' Shu's mind played the word back again and again. It didn't fit, he never felt this place was his home. Not that he felt any more comfortable in Tokyo, in fact, he'd never really thought of anything as home. "Inori." He tried to say something but he couldn't quite put the words together.

She looked at him quizzically for a moment wondering if he was okay or not. She was studying his eyes, looking for some hint of what he was trying to say.

"You're acting different lately." The sentence he had imagined much more eloquently in his mind fell flat in the cold air. "Not that it's bad...It's just different." He attempted to dress it up, but the truth was , that was exactly how he felt.

"I don't know how to act around you sometimes." Inori replied bluntly. "I wanted to make you feel better. That's what a normal girlfriend would do right?"

There was that word again, it had an awkward ring to it the way she used it. "I don't know... I've never really had one before." Shu attempted to laugh away the awkward conversation. Suddenly, he began regretting even questioning it. He had always been happy with their quite, needy, and somewhat codependent relationship. He was unsure of what Inori's endeavors would yield, but they were bound to be awkward. After all, it wasn't even two weeks prior that he had attempted to explain the finer points of intimacy to the girl. 'Talk about the blind leading the blind.' He berated himself mentally at the thought.

"When we were shopping, Ayase told me I should be more aggressive." Inori blushed slightly as she explained the discussion they had regarding the 'stalking' of the male species.

'Talk about the blind leading the blind.' Shu's mind made a recursive jump back to the previous thought. "Why?" He asked of the nervous girl beside him.

"I don't know. She never got to explain." Inori shrugged as she continued walking, nearly dragging him with her.

"Sounds about right. Where are we going?" Shu chuckled at the irony that neither Inori nor Ayase were particularly aggressive.

"Food... But." Inori slowed their pace once again, trailing behind him now. Her footsteps fell heavily on the damp pavement below as she eventually came to a halt. "Do you think it's stupid?" A slight hurt tone overtook her voice as she asked.

"Not really. It's just different, not what I'm used to." He was shaking his head. He could clearly see that he had upset her, unintentional as it may have been. Shu sighed in frustration seeing that he was not making his point. "Nevermind. I'm just messing things up."

An expression of confusion passed over her soft features as she looked intently toward the boy for exposition on how exactly he was "messing things up". Shu noted her almost piercing gaze that clearly signaled she would demand an explanation. "You don't understand what I'm saying do you?" He asked plainly.

Inori shook her head and softly said. "No." It was simple, but it spoke volumes.

Shu had taken their relationship for granted and he knew it. In the past a lot of things had gone unspoken and he had just assumed they had been understood. Now the very real possibility that they were in fact misunderstood was beginning to dawn on him. "You were gone for more than three years..." He began slowly. "...I used to tell myself every day, if I saw you again, there were so many things I would tell you. Things I didn't have the courage to say back then, things I thought were you knew. Things you probably needed to hear." Shu pushed through the words despite the knot forming in his throat. "Even with everything that's happened. I'm still a coward. I can't even look you in the eye and tell you how much I missed you. I let you follow me around just like you used to, people died, I killed them and still I can't even say that I love you. Not without being prompted. I've faced death and I've faced life alone in the darkness, but I can't face you for long enough to say three simple words. I'm disgusting Inori, and I have no idea why you even care about me."

Inori stood in silence, intent on hearing his words. Finally, after what felt like an eternity Shu spoke and for the first time it was the truth.

"The worst part of it is that I was angry. When I was alone all I did was hate, I needed you. I was jealous that I couldn't have just died... I was scared I didn't know what to do without you.." As Shu's confession came quicker his voice cracked from the stress of letting out the hateful emotion that had been bottled up for so long. "That's who I am Inori. I'm not the hero that Ayase seems to think I am. I'm certainly not the sympathetic and humane person you think I am."

"Stop Shu." Inori held up her hand as if to hush the harsh words.

"No. You say you love me, so you need to know. This is who I am." Shu's voice had turned bitter and each word dripped with toxic venom.

"That's not true." She fought back against the onslaught.

"Did you see what I did to those GHQ soldiers? What about Daryl? They all deserved it. I judged them all, I wanted them to suffer so I made it happen." His gaze turned steely as he focused his thoughts. "The more I think about it, I just want to punish them all. They couldn't stop me. I could kill them all." He hissed.

"Enough Shu... You need to rest. Let's just go home." Inori had heard enough. She wasn't going to watch him tear himself down in the middle of a shopping strip.

"No – Shu started to protest, but the sentence was cut short. Suddenly his eyes rolled back in his head and his knees gave way. His body made a heavy but muffled thud as it collapsed to the ground.

"Shu!" Inori's momentary frustration had turned instantaneously to concern as she found herself running to protect the boy who had collapsed for no apparent reason That's when she felt it. An impact then a sharp sting in her shoulder, followed by an intense burning that spread through her shoulders and into her spine. Had she been shot?

Inori spun around, hovering over Shu protectively while searching hysterically for her opponent.

"Now now precious... Don't get yourself worked up. We just want to borrow him for a while." The snakelike voice came from behind her, dripping with a familiarity that terrified her.

"How?" She asked weakly as she felt herself becoming drowsy. She fought, making every effort to lash out at him but found herself inexplicably weak.

"Miss Yuriziha, you of all people should be aware of the miracles that Sephirah is capable of performing. After all you're one of our most beautiful accomplishments." The wild eyed man scoffed. "Also, please don't try to struggle. That dart contained a low grade neuro toxin designed to suppress the use of some of your more unique abilities while we take care of this incredible young man."

"Shu..." Inori grappled to hang on to him, grasping at his coat, as he was dragged toward a plain white panel truck, that had been parked on the nearby street corner, by three GHQ anti-bodies.

"There's no need for all of that. We're not going to hurt Shu-kun. Much." He sneered, turning a cold eye to the crippled girl. "Try not to worry – you two have amazing things ahead of you, we'll have him back home before you even know it."

She felt the world fading into a warm fuzziness as she slowly lost consciousness. "Shu... I...Sorry..."

"Hey you two – drop the lady back off at the beach house, leave the other two. We don't want anything bad happening to her. She will be instrumental in all of this." The man barked the instructions to his subordinates.

"Yes major!" The two large men echoed in unison.