The mundane echo of an explosion arrived precisely on schedule, reverberating across the surface of the floating planet. Whis and the Oracle Fish halted their game of chess at the familiar sound.

"My, is it really time already?", The angel inquired, rising from his seat ready to make his way towards the temple.

The Seer floated along with Whis, the water in his glass bowl sloshing around against the sides.

"I had a feeling it'd be today."

Whis strode effortlessly through the temple, he come to know it by every square inch. he could easily teleport if he so wished but doing so was simply unnecessary. A second explosion sounded as the angel made his way upstairs leaving the temple in tremors.

Whis nonchalantly threw open the doors, waltzing right in without a care. Dust clouded the air for a brief moment longer, the temple still quaking from the sheer force of the exploding hourglasses.

He could see the outline of the deity sitting upwards rubbing the sleep from his eyes. At least he was awake and there'd be no need to drag him out of bed by force, not that it happened often but it was always a possibility with Beerus.

Waking from such 'short' naps didn't normally result in unnecessarily aggressive behavior, but he was often groggy when waking up first no matter how good or long he'd slept. Perhaps it was just a personality trait of Beerus's to behave this way when he woke.

More so to make sure the destroyer wouldn't fall back asleep sitting up than to genuinely annoy him, Whis cleared his throat not hesitating to be louder than normal.

"Rise and shine, My Lord!"

Beerus jolted having dozed off just a moment before, he released an annoyed and groggy sounding grunt of acknowledgment. He rose from his bed and descended to the floor; scratching a spot behind his ear and cracking his back. As soon as his bare feet touched the ground he was already making his way to the bathroom and tossing a balled up nightgown in Whis's direction.

Whis caught it without even batting an eye, but he was still a bit put-off with the destroyer's dismissive behavior. Although he was more than used to Beerus acting this way when he woke up, he at the very least received a glance in his direction. Deciding to put such thoughts to the side, he equipped his staff and teleported the garment away to the laundry.

He casually strolled into the bathroom to inform the destroyer god of their scheduled plans for the day. Neither were phased by the fact that Beerus was bare and submerged in soapy water, the angel had been watching over him since the destroyer was only up to his waist. That and Beerus used to run around the temple naked to evade him when the time came for him to bathe, something he used to loathe with a passion.

Beerus poked his head out of the bath-water upon noticing Whis's intrusion of his privacy.

"What is it, Whis?" He asked insistently, causing Whis to frown.

"My Lord, I do hope you know you have a meeting today."

The deity scrunched up his nose in distaste, quite obviously not thrilled with the idea of attending a meeting so soon, especially those dreadfully long ones with the... wait, if it had been a century then that meant it was precisely the kind of meeting he wanted to go to the least.

"Oh, that's right. A coordination meeting with the Supreme Kais if I'm not mistaken?"

Whis nodded, looking almost sympathetic. Not really though, he knew Whis better than to think he wasn't overjoyed to get off this planet after so long.

"Indeed, It has been a century after all."

The destroyer god huffed, crossing his arms with a pout the sudden movement causing ripples in the cooling water.

"What a killjoy, I was almost in a good mood too."

One of the things Beerus enjoyed the least about his position was having to conversate about restrictions and lists with those higher-than-thou Supreme Kais he was unfortunately life-linked to. Of course, he had the power to destroy whatever he wished, whether it be necessary or simply out of boredom. In fact, he was entitled to his own methods and ideas beyond the lists he was given. He was normally cooperative when it came to sticking with the planets within the list when it came to their erasure, but there were times his temper got out-of-control.

Beerus remained lost in thought for a long moment before his attendant spoke up again.

"Please do bide your time, My Lord. We must leave very soon if we are to arrive when we should, I suggest you be in the dining hall in the next seven minutes if you intend on eating at all before we leave."

. . .

Beerus licked his lips gleefully after having received some of the most delicious food he'd had in a while, perhaps this could be an exaggeration caused by a century of slumber with nothing but sardines. Now that he thought about it, he never remembered being awake to eat them, a curious thought indeed...

"Say, Whis?" The destroyer asked out of the blue, hearing a shuffle and feeling a gust of air behind him.

"Yes, My Lord?", Whis's reply came almost immediately after despite having been in a completely different room just seconds ago.

"Did anything interesting happen while I was asleep?"

His attendant chuckled, summoning his staff in preparation for what he already predicted he'd be asked to do.

"If by interesting, you also mean detrimental to your health- then yes, indeed."

Beerus's ear twitched as he shifted his full attention away from grooming himself to the smug angel, now he was most definitely curious- and a little worried.

"What do you mean 'detrimental to my health'? has something happened?"

Whis simply smiled and nodded in confirmation, not missing Beerus's brief look of worry. The destroyer god clicked his tongue in annoyance in response to Whis's vagueness, not pleased with him beating around the bush about the matter.

"Alright cut the crap, Whis. What the hell happened?"

Whis smirked at his Lord's much-expected impatience, he did enjoy toying with him after all. How else was he to entertain himself? The deity slept for such long periods of time, and since angels didn't sleep he found himself at a loss of how to occupy himself for very long. That and his only other source of companionship was the Oracle Fish, whose company was appreciated but it easily got boring after so long.

"As you wish, My Lord. I should probably start out by saying that four of the Supreme Kais were killed, concluding that there will only be one from now on-"

Beerus spat out his drink and jumped from his seat, his eyes bugging out of his skull.

"What!? You mean to tell me I was one measly Kai away from death while I was asleep, and you didn't bother to intervene!?"

Whis frowned at the accusation, the outburst was expected as was the interruption but he didn't appreciate the blame being pinned on him because of the destroyer's miscomings.

"With all due respect, My Lord, It is my duty to watch over you, but it is not my responsibility to intervene with the Supreme Kais. At least not without direct orders from you to do so."

"That's a bunch of shit, Whis! You could have at least woke me up-!" Before Beerus could finish, Whis interjected.

"You gave me direct orders not to wake you." Whis's emotional detachment from the whole situation was more than frustrating to Beerus. He speaks as if he can't act for his own self!

"I did suggest to you to take care of Majin Buu beforehand, of course, you ignored my warning and now you are four Kais short. What did we learn?"

Beerus scowled, irritated beyond belief with his attendant. But he couldn't deny that he had a valid point against him, he'd brushed off Majin Buu thinking his destructive path would leave him less work to do and now he was being bitten in the ass for it. He hated when Whis was right.

"So that pink shit caused all this, huh?" Beerus questioned, already assuming the answer.

Whis nodded and used his staff to bring up and display the events including Majin Buu and the demise of the four Kaioshins, as expected they fought with all they had but they paled in comparison to the monstrosity Bibidi had created. Beerus was surprised to see that the smaller one, the one in charge of the eastern quadrant was the one that survived the fall. Of course, because of Daikaioh's intervention and sacrifice that the young one lived. He was shocked even more to see that the remaining shin-jin destroyed Bibidi, he didn't hold back and the wizard was quickly overwhelmed.

That had to be the first time he'd seen a kai kill, it was completely against their morals... and to be honest he was kind of impressed. He was such a small and meek fellow after all, who'd have thought he'd be capable? And good timing too, that pink piece of shit was sealed in a ball only the wizard knew how to open. His last remaining life-linked was obviously distraught and even after killing Bibidi the brat was still crying.

"Whis, how long ago was this?"

"About two decades ago, give or take a year."

"Well, then I suppose this visit will at least be interesting... Let's not waste any more time, let's go."

. . .

The tranquil atmosphere of The Sacred World of the Kais hadn't changed, everything was as peaceful and full of life as it had always been. And yet, it felt so much different to Shin, not the same at all.

He used to like the quiet, the times when he could lie in the shade with a book undisturbed and alone. Since he was always the timidest of the five-Supreme Kaioshins, he learned to cherish his solitude and free time but now it was… different.

As peaceful as it was, it was too peaceful. As quiet as it was, it was too quiet. Reading wasn't the same, relaxing with a cup of tea wasn't the same. He wasn't just alone now, he was lonely. He never used to feel that before. Maybe it was because back then, he could choose to be by himself. But now he would be alone full-time, left alone with nothing but to think about how he took the company of his friends for granted.

Shin stared blankly at the crystal ball before him, legs crossed and his hand folded in his lap. He could oversee other planets this way, or simply use his highly enhanced vision when keeping a close eye on the mortals inhabiting them. It had become easier to focus on his now much harder job, ever since his servant, Kibito had shown up out of the blue one day claiming he was sent by the Grand Kai to help share the weight of being the sole Supreme Kai. He knew he wouldn't have made so much progress without the stoic kai's help and emotional support. Granted he was a man of few words, but it was a significantly nice change from being entirely alone.

It had only been a decade ago when Bibidi's ruthless monster, Majin Buu had terrorized the universe leaving destruction and ruin in his wake. The reign of terror brought down upon the universe by Bibidi through Majin Buu's power overwhelmed them. A wizard alone would have been easier to manage, but a wizard elite with Majin Buu turned the tides against the Kais until they were drowning under the power held high above their heads.

One by one they fell, at the complete mercy of Majin Buu, absorbed, killed, it was all the same in the end. They were gone, and for some reason, he had survived.

Daikaioh's intervention had spared him, though only because of him being absorbed had given Buu his kind and carefree spirit. Much less like a ruthless monster, and more like an ignorant child.

For a long time, Shin grieved, cried, wished that it had been him instead. He knew these thoughts were beyond irrational, but he couldn't stop them from happening. He worked himself half-to-death for the next couple of years; using his duties to distract himself from his loneliness and guilt. Even when his resolve began to crumble under the pressure, he refused to shatter to the ground with it.

He started losing sleep, he became quite the insomniac he'd noticed. And even if he didn't need as much sleep as a mortal would, it was still detrimental to his performance. Whenever he finally did get himself to fall asleep he'd wake up a few hours later with extreme anxiety, he often had panic attacks just from waking up. His dreams were often poisoned by the trauma of watching his friends die, and the nauseating fear that Buu had embedded into him.

And then Kibito showed up one day, he'd almost thought he was an illusion at first, some hallucination conjured up by his sleep-depravity. Kibito told him that the Grand Kai had sent him to assist and serve him. Once they grew more comfortable with each other, progress began to simultaneously increase in speed. And good timing as well, there was so much he was responsible for doing now that it was such a relief to have the older Kai around.

Shin knew that the coordination meeting with the God of Destruction was fast approaching, and he'd have to make haste if he were to even make a third of the progress that had been accomplished in the past with multiple people sharing the workload. He'd also have to prepare himself for filling in the gaps of the old planets that were going to be destroyed with new ones. This is exceedingly difficult work without proper resting periods and prior experience with creation as a one-man job, both of which he had little of.

Kibito could only help him with lists and documents, normally only ones concerning the names and coordinates of planets to hand over to Lord Beerus. Only a Supreme Kai is permitted to participate in the creation of worlds, and not abiding by these rules are punishable by erasure and immediate replacement of a more 'formidable' kaioshin. Shin already had to discuss resignation and replacement matters with the Grand Minister after the death of his associates, as well as cooperation vows as a sole life-link to his destroyer god. Why Lord Beerus wasn't required to attend was beyond his comprehension.

Shin kept a close eye on the planet Earth, almost ready for Majin Buu to miraculously escape. This fear held onto him tightly and ironically fueled him to stay awake, something else that was becoming ever more difficult. As time passed and he became more accustomed to being... well, alone. A voice broke him away from his reverie and back to reality, he looked up to see Kibito standing there with a rather conflicted look.

"They have arrived."

. . .