The Japanese Task Force set to work immediately, each going about their given tasks with a startling intensity. It was hardly surprising, given the circumstances. Though cases changed, police work didn't, and they were all very much aware that this could have been their girlfriend or their wife. Light was considered one of their own now, and when one of their own was in trouble, the did not hesitate to work as quickly as possible to get them out of it.

With all of them working together, it only took two hours for them to pull everything together. It was all up to the kidnapper from that point on.

In an empty house at the edge of Tokyo, abandoned for years, one man sat rhythmically cleaning the same spot over and over again. He's been in this house before- grew up in it, actually, but because of what happened there, nobody has lived there since. He's cleaned this exact spot before, many years ago. The spot was once stained red with blood, as was the road outside. His father had died here all those years ago, the victim of mistaken identity with the drug dealer who previously owned it. His mother, fleeing for her life, had ran out into the road, only to be hit by a car. Had he not been at school that day, he likely would have died with them.

That was the moment where both his passion for Justice and his passion for cleaning began. He could still recall how it made him feel, sitting on his knees trying to clean the blood off of the road where his mother died. The gravel had hurt his knees, but after the blood was gone he'd felt an enormous relief. His parents' killer had never been caught, and he hadn't gotten the justice he'd so desperately wanted. That was why Kira was so important. Kira understood the families who had been wronged in that way, and were still suffering. That was why Kira was God.

He heard muffled squealing in the other room and it was irritating him. He put his sponge down, hands still smelling of soap, and walked to the next room. Lying on an old, stained mattress, with zip ties around her ankles and wrists and a piece of tape over her mouth, Misa Amane struggled, trying to get up.

"Stop struggling." He hissed. "Quiet down."

She tried to say something but all that came out were muffled noises. Irritated and grating, he looked over to the shelf, where a small telescope, dusty with age, still sat. He picked it up, thankful his hands were gloved and that the dust wouldn't get on him. "If you don't stop now, I'm going to hit you. Do you understand?"

"Mmmm!" It was defiant, even without a shout to match it.

"I warned you." He said, and brought it down upon her head. It wasn't hard enough to kill her, but it would definitely knock her out for a while and let him have some quiet. He was about to go back to cleaning when he noticed that it was time to watch Sakura TV. He got his pen and notepad, and flipped on the dusty old set with rabbit ears that had been left here all those years ago, but that he'd fixed for this very occasion.

As usual, Hitoshi Demegawa's face filled the screen for another episode of Kira's Kingdom. He looked incredibly excited today.

"Today we have a special announcement. Sakura TV is honored to be the first TV station in Kira's Kingdom to have received a message from Kira himself!"

His jaw dropped at the news, and his eyes began to glow with the strange, disconcerted zeal that came with news of Kira. He had his favorite black pen at the ready to take down the entire thing.

"Here we go!"

The screen flashed, and a large stylized K came on the screen. "This is Kira." The disguised voice spoke. "I have come to speak to the world for my followers, those who believe in the way of justice. To those of you watching this broadcast, who believe that crime and violence is wrong, I ask you why you are committing crimes on my behalf. I believe in a world without crime. To do crime because of me is to go against everything I stand for, everything I am. The news of Misa Amane's kidnapping has reached me today, and it sickened me. A bright young girl was taken on behalf of me, and I want no part of that. To whomever took her, if you are watching this, let her go. Drop her off at the abandoned Kamaboko warehouse near the wharf. To all of my followers, who believe in justice and a perfect world, I thank you. Thank you for walking in the way of the new world. But do not commit crimes on behalf of me in it, for it only makes you the criminals in it. Thank you."

Hitoshi Demegawa came back on screen, but he wasn't listening to him. He was instead trying to process what Kira had said. He had done wrong? He had not followed the way of Kira? But he only kidnapped the girl to bring Kira unquestioned leadership. Was he in the wrong for trying to glorify Kira's name? He began to rub his hands together, suddenly feeling unclean. He went to the old bathroom, and washed his hands in the sink to rid himself of that feeling. Once it was gone, his thoughts began to organize themselves again.

If God commanded he return the girl, then that was what he would do. Perhaps he could find some way to atone for his sins along the way. Perhaps, even, he would meet Kira himself. He went to get Misa, picked her up, and loaded her into the back of the white laundry van, and proceeded to drive off for the warehouse Kira had commanded him.