A strange awakening

Pain. So much pain. Oh god it hurt. He tried to move, tried to sit up, but immediately regretted the action as every muscle in his body protested. What the hell was happening? Where the hell was he? Why did his muscles fell like they had been ripped through a meat grinder? So many questions. None of which he had the answers to.

Lee Shioon tried sitting up a second time, his back raising above the ground a few centimeters this time before he slumped back. Then he tried again. And again. And again. It took three more tries, each one presenting new levels of pain before finally, he was sitting up strait.

Craning his neck, Shioon surveyed his surroundings. He wasn't met with anything unusual. Unless you didn't count waking up without any memory of where you were or how you had gotten there as unusual.

As far as Shioon could tell, he was in the middle of a park. Green, neatly cut shrubbery, stretching in every direction around him. A few benches situated nearby, along with the occasional tree.

There were no people around. Which wasn't that odd considering the darkness that was enveloping the area. It was nighttime. After midnight if the position of the moon was anything to go by. The peaceful atmosphere in the park a relaxing contrast to his panicked mind.

It wasn't until Shioon reached down with the goal to push himself of the ground that a realization came to him. Namely, that he was sitting in a crater. Yup, a crater, with a diameter of about two meters. He didn't know why. This was definitely not the location he had fought her…? And then it all came back to him. His lost memories pushing their way back into his mind, the force of an angry rhino.

Accompanying the memories was a sort of sensation. The sensation of guilt, of failure and remorse. The feeling of being utterly and completely crushed.

To think she had turned in to that. To think she would change so much he no longer recognized her. He had lost her, failed her. Just as he had his former master. He was sick and tired of it. Sick and tired of letting people down.

Grunting in irritation and a bit of shame, Shioon pushed himself into a standing position, the motion sending small shivers of pain throughout his body. The pain was no were near as bad as it had been when he had woken up, which meant his abnormal healing ability had already started working it's magic.

Anyhow, his memories were back, but the two most important questions still remained. Where was he? And how had he gotten there?

Well, he wasn't going to get the answers to those questions if he remained here. Perhaps he'd even have to wait until daytime if he wanted to ask someone.

Every muscle in Shioon's body stiffened as he picked up a presence, just a few meters to his right. The presence was small, almost nonexistent, but it was definitely there. Was someone trying to ambush him? He couldn't sense any ki, but whomever the presence belonged to, could be suppressing it. Still, you would have to be at least grandmaster level to be able to hide your ki from someone of Shioon's caliber.

Forcing himself to relax, Shioon turned his head in the direction of the small presence and was greeted by a pair of staring eyes along with a wide gaping mouth.

"Wh… What? What was that? You just appeared out of nowhere. And what was that light?" Asked a rough-looking man, his expression confused and utterly bewildered. He was homeless if his clothes was anything to go by, the sake-bottle and the fact that he was laying down on a bench only strengthening his hobo-like aura.

"Light? What light?" Shioon asked as an answer, his previous caution seeping into his voice.

"What light? What do you mean, what light?" The poor man nearly growls, now seeming to be close to hysteria. "You were in the middle of it!"

"…light?" Shioon repeats, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! A freaking light!" The homeless man was now practically screaming at the top of his lungs, forcing Shioon to subconsciously raise his hands in a defensive manner, as if trying to physically shield himself from the strangers yells. Deciding it might be a good idea to calm the man before continuing to question him, Shioon lowers his voice before cautioning.

"Hey just calm down. You're not going to get any more answers by yelling. And before that, I have a few questions for you." Shioon's head was literally swimming with questions, and while a homeless drunk might not be the best or most trustworthy source of information, it would have to do for now. The drunk opened his mouth, probably in an attempt to protest but was immediately silenced as Shioon's eyes hardened. "Where am I?" The demand in Shioon's voice must have caught the homeless man of guard as he obediently answered.

"You… you're in Shinto Teito." Shinto Teito? Shioon had never heard of the place before. Well… he did understand the language, which meant he was still somewhere in Japan. If he just found the place on a map he'd be able to backtrack home. If he didn't make it home in one day he might have to check in to a hotel.

Of course he could just call Jinnie and have the Sun-Woo Clan itself come pick him up. But considering the clan's bad economy and its unstable position in the Murim, it'd probably be better if he didn't move the clan unless it was absolutely necessary.

"What day is it?" Shioon continued. He could milk the man on the smaller details later. Right now he needed to have a look at the bigger picture, to ask the questions that mattered. So far, his body had never needed more than a day to recover after being injured, but considering the damage she had dealt put a whole new meaning to the phrase 'beaten to a pulp', it was completely possible it had taken longer than normal for his body to heal. He simply couldn't be sure of how long he had been unconscious.

"The day? It's Saturday." The man answered with a confused and slightly distraught expression. Saturday? The last time Shioon checked, it had been Monday. Had he really been asleep for five days? He voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Did it really take five days for my body to recover?" Shioon reached up to scratch his head before continuing. "And why was I recovering in the middle of a park?" A lot of things didn't make any sense. If he had actually been immobile for five days, sleeping in a park of all places, someone would have found him and brought him to a hospital, which meant he must have been moved to this new location not too long ago - Shioon's eyes once again tracked the crater he was standing in - and… you know, been implanted into the ground for some reason.

The homeless man, seemingly reclaiming his bearings, started bombarding Shioon with angry and slightly panicked shouts once again.

"What do you mean five days!? You appeared, just now, out of nowhere in a white blinding light!" It seemed like the homeless man had momentarily forgotten to breath, in favor of shouting at Shioon since he had to take five deep breaths before continuing."I say, ever since the start of the 22nd century the strangest things have been happening." Then adding as an afterthought. "And it all started when that large company made itself known…" Shioon didn't hear that last part though. In fact, he didn't hear the last 17 words the man said. 'Since the start of the 22nd century?' He repeated in his head. What had the man meant by that? Shioon's head had begun to spin and he was feeling more than a little nauseous. "What year is it?" He urgently asked.

"Wha… what?" The drunk answered confused. This time it was Shioon's turn to yell.

"I said! What year is it!?"

"It… It's the year 2108" The homeless man answered quickly. Shioon visibly paled as his eyes widened in horror. He didn't want to believe the man. Wanted to believe the man was lying. But a whole year of negotiations with other clans had thought him to read people. Hence he knew the homeless drunk was not lying. Or at least the man believed he was telling the truth.

Shioon's mind was dragged against its will in the direction of another memory. One containing a feminine hand grabbing him by the hair before slamming him head first into the ground. He had taken one hell of a beating hadn't he? But he still somehow doubted she would be capable of such feats. Sure, it's said that curing the Nine Yin Body Type would yield the person afflicted, incredible, god like abilities. But surely, sending someone through time was a bit farfetched. Then again, he had experienced her power first hand, and therefore knew better than anyone just what she was capable of. Saying her powers resembled that of a god's wasn't actually that much of an exaggeration.

The homeless man seemed to get impatient as he started waving his hand in front of Shioon's face. "Hey! I answered your questions so now you answer mine. What was that light, god damnit?"

The year 2108. Shioon still didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to accept the possibility. But he knew he had to. Knew not to would be foolish. Deciding he needed information from other sources in order to be sure of the fact that he really was in the future, Shioon stood and prepared to leave but wasn't able to as an arm wrapped around his neck before pulling him back.

The homeless man seemingly running out of patience, let one of his hands grab Shioon by the shirt while the other wrapped around his throat, before growling. "You listen here you little shit. If you did all this just to mess with me I swear I'm gonna… Agh!"

The drunk didn't get any further as Shioon knocked him out with a flick of his wrist. Using that kind of force against a non murimin might have been unnecessary. Most would even consider it a waste of effort, but Shioon could see a glint of fear in the man's eyes, and frightened people had a tendency to get violent.

Considering the drunk's toxicity level, courtesy of the many beer and sake bottles scattered all around him, chances were he would simply think the whole interaction was all a dream. And even if he didn't, and decided to share his experience surrounding a bright, shining light, most would just consider it the inconsistent rambling of a crazy drunk.

Picking a direction, Shioon started walking. He didn't know where he was going, just that he needed to move forward.

(2 days later)

Mid Bio Informatics or, MBI for short was a large Pharmaceutical Company that had made itself known exactly nine years ago. It had risen with speed and ferocity, completely crushing all other competition, establishing itself at the top of the food chain in the large City known as Shinto Teito. There was a logical reason for its sudden rise in power however. The (at the time) new technology they brought to the table was simply unlike anything the world had ever seen before, almost alien. The large company now owned over 50 percent of Shinto Teito, and its influence showed no signs of decreasing. And as expected of the most influential company in Japan, its headquarters was of course located in the middle of the large city.

Shioon was currently standing in front of said headquarters, the large building stretching far higher up into the sky than any other building in its vicinity.

Shioon had more or less acquired the information he was looking for, through history books, lexicons and sometimes, though it might seem inefficient, simply by asking random people on the street. Shioon wasn't one to beat around the bush after all.

The simple conclusion he had come to was that he know found himself in an era, 92 years ahead of his own. Most people had probably panicked at this realization, but not Shioon. No… Panicking wouldn't do him any good. He would keep his head down, his wits about, hoping he would one day be able to return to his own time.

There was one thing that really worried him though. He couldn't find any traces of his own clan, or any of the many other organizations in the Murim. It was like the entire Murim society had just vanished of the face of the earth. This realization actually had Shioon panicking for just a few seconds before he ruthlessly pushed his worries to the back of his head. 'Panicking has never helped anyone,' he reminded himself. Plus, currently he had more urgent business. Problems he needed to solve. Well… only two problems really. He needed a source of income, along with a place to stay.

He'd found a temporary solution to the first problem. His first thought had of course been to get a job. This proved easier said than done. After about two hours of looking and asking around, Shioon finely found a small bread baking store that were willing to hire him. The pay was awful, barely enough to get by, but Shioon couldn't really afford to be picky which was why he graciously accepted the offer. Before he could start he was of course asked for an ID, which he offered without realizing the dilemma the action would put him in. The dilemma being that according to that same ID, he was an incredibly young looking, 110 year old.

The store owner probably thought he was some kind of identity thief since just a few minutes later, police sirens could be heard in the distance.

Wanting to avoid all manners of conflict, Shioon had grabbed his ID before rushing out the bread store, a security guard high on his heel. He had lost the man easily enough. Not many, even in the martial arts world, could outrun him after all.

Still, this posed a problem since he wouldn't be able to get a job unless he could somehow create a false ID. Which he didn't have any idea how to do.

He had more or less resigned himself to the life as a drifter when a sudden thought popped into his head. Maybe he still had access to his clan's bank account. It was a longshot, the chances slim, but nonetheless it was worth checking. And what do you know. The account still existed. And even better, it contained millions of Japanese yen.

The money hadn't been touched for over 50 years though, which was a little disheartening, but the amount a blessing nonetheless. Shioon still didn't like having to once again depend on his clan to survive. Of course eventually he'd find a new source of income, but until then he didn't have much of a choice unless he wanted to sleep on the streets.

So… with the money problem out of the way, all he needed to find was a place to sleep. Unfortunately, his lack of an ID still posed the problem that most housings required an identification to allow anyone to stay there.

Still… he knew for a fact that some places didn't. The owner of the apartment he lived in (in his own time) for example didn't ask for any ID. It might have been because the slightly groggy man was an old friend of his mother, but he still thought he'd be able to find a similar place in this new era he found himself in.

He was probably looking in the wrong part of the city though. If he wanted to find a more traditionally styled home, which didn't rely on today's technology as much, he should probably move away from the center of the city. Maybe look in the southern parts of Shinto Teito. No, not southern... maybe north? Yeah, something in the back of his head told him north was the right direction.

So, turning away from the large building containing MBI's headquarters, Shioon once again, renewed his walk.

It would be many hours later before Shioon arrived at Izumo House. Having been rejected from more than 11 housings before finally, an exhausted and slightly depressed Shioon finally laid eyes on the entrance of the large inn.

There he would form his first unbreakable bond. There he would meet so many important people. There he would be almost burned to death, grope his first pair of female breasts, get violently beaten by an enraged landlady and kiss members of the fairer sex more times than he could count. There he would truly find a place to call home.

He wasn't aware of any of this yet, though. He was blissfully unaware of the sea of trouble that would wash over him the second he stepped foot inside that inn's perimeter. But then again, if he had known, it wouldn't have mattered, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

A kinda boring first chapter, I know, but things will heat up once he wings his first Sekirei.

Those of you familiar with the breaker and its two seasons probably know who the female Shioon keeps mentioning is. Then again, maybe you don't. What do I know? Oh, and if you haven't read the breaker, you really should. It's brilliant. Easily amongst my top three favorite manga/manhwa.

READ THE BREAKER! DAMN IT!

If someone could also check for spelling and grammatical errors and send them to me it would be greatly appreciated. I have dyslexia so chances are there are quite a few.