On Doubts.

There was no blood or violence when Ryuuzaki died. It was altogether such a simple matter that happened so quickly, almost effortlessly on Raito's part, that he sometimes wondered if Ryuuzaki was about to pop out of the ground, and Raito would awake to find the detective sitting in that strange way of his in Raito's kitchen, drinking a cup of too-sweet coffee.

When he wasn't thinking of how to thwart his new nemesis, L's successor (or so the white-haired boy called himself), Raito wondered what Ryuuzaki would say to him, if he should return and decide to pay his killer a visit.

"Hello, Kira." Or maybe something like, "Do you happen to have any more sugar, Raito-kun?"

Raito frowned when he felt he'd like the latter better, and quickly turned his mind to other, more pressing thoughts. Tch. What did Kira, the God of the new world care for a long dead detective?

Dead…

To that day he didn't like the subject of Ryuuzaki's death; it didn't unnerve him or cast a shadow of regret upon him, but it made him feel something akin to confusion. If there was one thing Raito hated, it was doubting himself. What good was there in second and third-guessing? All it did was run you around in a circle forever. It was pointless, and pointless things didn't deserve a place in the mind of a genius like Yagami Raito.

But on quiet days, Raito wondered if he hadn't killed Ryuuzaki if things could have been different.

Of course they would be different, his reason countered. You'd be on death row.

And that rebellious part of Raito wondered if it would have been worth it- to lose everything Kira had built up, if only to see Ryuuzaki again. Foolish, and completely out of the question, he knew, but that feeling was there. Now that was unnerving.

On nights when that rebellious little voice inside his head was particularly strong, Raito dreamt of Ryuuzaki.

Sometimes they would do nothing more than stare across nothingness at each other. Sometimes they would talk; about trivial things- Raito never remembered what.

Other times he would dream up an old memory, and though his conscious self would never admit it, they were frequently those from the time he spent handcuffed to the detective.

And other times, Raito would wake up sweating, fervently hoping he hadn't just dreamed what he thought he had.

Misa would always ask him if something was wrong, and he'd always give her the same curt response;

"I'm fine. There's nothing wrong at all."

How very untrue that was. Everything about those dreams was wrong. The fact that he was having them, not to mention what he was (Raito shuddered) doing in them…

And the fact that in the end, Ryuuzaki would always whisper: "I'm your biggest regret, aren't I, Raito-kun?" before the dream faded away and Raito awoke.

Tch. Regrets.

Kira didn't have any regrets.

(But maybe Raito did…?)