Am I a Kamen Rider or the real young master who was switched at birth?

It was 9:40 p.m., on the second floor of the orphanage, in the children's large dormitory.

Ye Yang fluffed up the last pillow and stuffed it under Dou Dou's head.

DouDou rolled over, her little hand unconsciously grabbing the corner of the blanket and rubbing it against her face. She mumbled something indistinctly, probably arguing with someone in her dream.

Ye Yang bent over and carefully retreated from the small patch of space where he could step out from beside the bed.

He walked around the overturned toy truck on the ground, then carefully dodged Baozi's half-leg that had kicked out of the bed rail, and gently tucked Baozi's leg back into the blanket.

Baozi was sleeping soundly; he didn't wake up even when someone moved his legs. He just smacked his lips a couple of times, probably dreaming about something delicious.

Each child has a paper crane hanging above their bed.

These origami cranes were folded by Ye Yang and the others today, and now they are strung together with thin thread and hung at the head of each bed.

Moonlight filtering through the curtains shone on the colored paper, making the origami cranes sway gently like wind chimes.

Ye Yang stood in the middle of the dormitory and said in a low voice, "Alright, time to sleep. Don't we have school tomorrow?"

A few children who weren't quite asleep mumbled a response.

Little Stone poked half his head out from under the covers and said in a muffled voice, "Then Brother Ye Yang—you must come to see us often."

Ye Yang turned to look at him and said in a very soft voice, "Okay."

He reached out and pressed down the tuft of hair that was sticking up on Xiaoshi's head, then walked to the door.

He gently placed his hand on the doorknob and looked back at the dormitory one last time.

The moonlight cast the shadows of the curtains onto the floor, like a still pool of water.

He turned off the light and then gently closed the door.

The corridor was much quieter than usual.

The children's watercolor paintings on the wall were reduced to blurry patches of color in the dim light.

Ye Yang's shoes made a slight creaking sound as they stepped on the floor. The third room on the left at the end of the corridor was the room where he had lived for nearly eighteen years.

He pushed open the door and pressed the switch on the wall. The old chandelier above his head, which had been used for who knows how many years, flickered twice before turning on completely, casting a dim yellow light that made the room half bright and half dark.

The room was small, less than half the size of the room he had seen at the Lin family's house that afternoon.

There was a single bed in the room, the sheets were washed white but made neatly.

There was an old desk in the corner, with "I was here" engraved on the tabletop by some unknown resident.

Next to the single bed was a wardrobe with one door missing.

Several cardboard boxes were piled up in the corner, filled with all sorts of odds and ends.

Several yellowed posters were pasted on the wall, including movie posters, landscape photos torn from some magazine, and a painting he had done himself.

The image shows a person wearing magenta armor standing in the sunset, with a person in red armor next to them giving a thumbs up.

Ye Yang stood in the center of the room, turned around once, and then muttered to himself in a low voice, "I've lived here for more than ten years, and it's really hard to leave."

He bent down and pulled a dark blue old suitcase out from under the bed.

He opened the box and laid it flat on the bed, then walked to the desk and pulled open the bottom drawer.

Inside the drawer was a thick photo album that he had made himself.

The cover features a row of crooked, hand-drawn patterns in colored pencils.

The leftmost drawing depicts a red armored warrior giving a thumbs-up. The rightmost drawing depicts a magenta armored warrior.

A small smiley face was drawn between the two patterns.

Ye Yang sat down on the edge of the bed, gently touched the magenta armored warrior on the cover with his fingers, and then touched the red armored warrior with a thumbs up.

In his past life, when he was an ordinary person in another world, it was these two people who saved him from that disaster.

Later, everyone forgot about it, but he still remembered.

He remembered the magenta figure standing between him and the monster, and he also remembered the person in red armor crouching down and telling him, "It's alright now."

He drew these two people countless times throughout his life, in notebooks, on walls, on the cover of this photo album, every stroke saying, "I still remember you."

He took the Decade Driver out of the cloth bag in his arms and placed it on his lap.

The crystal core emitted a faint green glow under the dim light, like some kind of silent response.

He touched the crystal in the center of his belt with his finger and said softly, "As long as someone remembers you, you won't disappear."

The driver did not respond. But the green light from the crystal core seemed to flash for a moment.

Ye Yang sat for a while, then took a deep breath and turned to the first page of the photo album.

The first photo was sandwiched in plastic wrap, and the edges were already a little curled.

The photo shows a group photo of all the members of the orphanage. He stands in the center of the last row, smiling and showing all his teeth, his hair blown about by the wind.

Aunt Zhang, wearing a floral shirt, stood next to him, smiling gently.

The children crowded in front. Baozi was making a peace sign, Doudou was smiling, and Xiaoshitou was trying to look cool but his lips were turned up. Xiaole had only been there for a few days and didn't know how to smile yet. He stood at the very edge and looked timidly at the camera.

The sun was shining brightly, and the leaves of the sycamore tree at the entrance of the orphanage were a vibrant green, causing everyone's eyes to squint.

Ye Yang pulled the photos out of the plastic wrap and looked at the smiling faces in the photos with a complicated expression.

He stared at the photo for a long time, then sighed softly, "Time flies."

Just then, the photograph in his hand began to glow.

A very thin, magenta ray of light seeped out from the edge of the photograph, flowing slowly along its contours like water.

The light grew brighter and brighter, and the halo of light throughout the photograph made the outline of his fingers appear as a translucent magenta.

At the same time, the crystal core of the Decade Driver on his knee also lit up.

Ye Yang looked down at the photo in his hand and the driver on his knee, then carefully placed the photo on the bedside and reached for the card case hanging on the left side of his belt.

The card box popped open automatically in his hand, revealing a neat row of knight cards inside.

The top card radiated a calm and powerful light. He pulled it out and held it up to the light.

The card features a knight's head image that he is all too familiar with.

He has his signature golden horns and red compound eyes.

There is a line of small print at the top of the card: Kamen Rider Kuuga.

"Kuuga?" Ye Yang murmured.

He looked down at the driver on his knee, then at the card in his hand, a childlike smile playing on his lips.

"So, I can transform into other Kamen Riders like Xiaoming?"

He turned the card over; on the back was the emblem of Kuuga, which glowed with a faint red light under the lamp.

He carefully inserted the card back into the card holder, which made a crisp click as it closed.

Then he put the still glowing photo back into the plastic film of the album. The light on the photo gradually dimmed, and finally it returned to being an ordinary photo.

He closed the photo album, then hugged it to his chest and sat on the edge of the bed for a while.

Finally, he slowly stood up and placed the photo album on the top shelf of his suitcase.

Below are a few changes of clothes, a pair of spare sneakers, several books with frayed edges, and an old mud doll that has been glued back together countless times.

The little doll is giving a thumbs up, just like the Kuuga figure drawn on the album cover.

He dragged his suitcase to the door and glanced back at the room.

On that old desk, there's a small smiley face he carved with a pencil sharpener when he was ten years old.

He smiled back at the crooked, smiling face, then gently turned off the light.

The door clicked shut, and a short echo reverberated down the corridor.

At the entrance of the orphanage, the streetlights illuminated the concrete ground in front of the gate with an orange-yellow glow.

Lin Xingran's red supercar was parked on the side of the road, and Aunt Zhang was standing next to the car chatting with Lin Xingran and Lin Ying.

She changed into a clean, dark blue coat, and her hair was combed again, looking much neater than when Ye Yang had seen her when she returned.

As she spoke, she crossed her hands in front of her body and gestured from time to time.

Lin Xingran crossed her arms, unusually refraining from her arrogant expression, and listened attentively to Aunt Zhang, nodding occasionally.

Lin Ying stood quietly beside her, her back straight, and she chuckled softly as she spoke.

Ye Yang dragged his suitcase out of the orphanage, the broken wheels of the suitcase clattering on the cement ground.

Aunt Zhang was the first to turn around and look. When she saw Ye Yang dragging his suitcase, her smile paused slightly before returning.

"Is everything ready?" she asked gently.

Ye Yang put his suitcase down beside him and said calmly, "Ready."

Aunt Zhang looked him up and down, nodded slightly, and said in a light tone, "It's good that you're leaving. You've been following me for over ten years, always tagging along. I was so tired of you."

Ye Yang smiled. He knew Aunt Zhang's personality; the more she cared about something, the more nonchalant she would say it.

When he was a child, he had a fever, and Aunt Zhang stayed up with him all night. The next morning, she stubbornly said, "I just couldn't sleep."

When he came back with first place, Aunt Zhang said, "He was just lucky," and then posted his report card on the cafeteria bulletin board for a whole month.

Ye Yang's smile faded, and he said earnestly, "Thank you for taking care of me all these years." He then bowed slightly.

Aunt Zhang looked at him and remained silent for a while. The light from the streetlamp shone on her face, making the white hair at her temples appear even whiter.

She reached out and straightened Ye Yang's T-shirt collar, gently smoothing out the rolled-up edges.

Aunt Zhang lowered her voice and said, "Now that we've found your parents and sister, you have to behave yourself there, understand? Don't cause any trouble."

Ye Yang nodded.

Lin Xingran leaned against the car door, raised her chin, and pointed her index finger at Ye Yang from a distance: "Did you hear me? Be good."

After she finished speaking, the corners of her mouth curled up, clearly feeling a little guilty about saying that given her usual behavior; she was probably the most disobedient one in the Lin family.

Lin Ying stood to the side and smiled gently when she saw her second sister's guilty expression.

Aunt Zhang's gaze lingered on Ye Yang's face for several seconds. Then she reached out, put one arm around his back and the other on the back of his head, and gently hugged Ye Yang, as if she wanted to hide him completely.

"The Lin family is a martial arts family, so be careful there. Whatever you do, remember who you are and what your goal is. Don't forget who you were just because you've gained great power or experienced some hardships."

Ye Yang raised his hand and gently patted her back, replying softly, "I know. Why are you so sad? Don't you know my personality?"

Aunt Zhang let go of him, then slapped him on the shoulder. "It's all because you're such a busybody! Always causing trouble! You think I don't know? You got into a fight for the kids from the next street again last month."

"They had five people and you only had one. Do you know how scared I was when I got the call in the dean's office? And the month before last, you said you were going to deliver food to earn some pocket money, but instead of delivering the food, you spent two hours fixing an old lady's wheelchair on the street. What was I saying again?"

Ye Yang spread his hands, looking innocent, and said, "That's because I'm happy to help others."

Aunt Zhang looked at him, chuckled softly, and shook her head. Then, in a solemn tone, she said, "Take care."

Ye Yang also bowed slightly, then looked up at her with bright eyes and said, "You too."

Aunt Zhang took a step back and gestured with her chin toward the car door: "Hurry up and get in the car, it's getting late. It's already past nine o'clock, and you have a lot to do tomorrow. You still need to get familiar with the Lin family's place, right? And you still need to tidy up the new room, right? Don't dawdle."

Ye Yang dragged the suitcase to the back of the car, then opened the trunk and stuffed it inside. Lin Xingran was already seated in the driver's seat, watching him say goodbye to Aunt Zhang through the rearview mirror.

Ye Yang opened the back door of the car, but did not get in immediately. Instead, he stood next to the car and looked at Aunt Zhang one last time.

Aunt Zhang stood under the streetlight, her dark blue coat swaying gently in the night breeze. Behind her were the rusty iron gate of the orphanage and the sycamore tree at the entrance.

He leaned into the car window and waved vigorously at Aunt Zhang.

Aunt Zhang also raised her hand and waved, just like when she usually stood at the gate of the orphanage watching him go to school.

The car started.

The red supercar slowly drove out of the alley in the night.

The taillights left two red streaks on the asphalt road. As Ye Yang turned the first street corner, he saw through the rear window that Aunt Zhang was standing under the streetlight until the car turned the corner. She then slowly lowered her hand, turned around, and walked back to the orphanage.