X NO SEI TO SHI: STEP 2
1. Chisana Kamen Ridaa
[Little Masked Rider]

I used to think that stories of my childhood weren't worth much. Just a short time ago, I would think, isn't it enough that I show you "the me of the present"? But now, it's different.

The me of the present is made up of all of those things. I have come to believe that the nature that I was born with and the experiences that I have absorbed and rejected over time have made me who I am today.

It was July 12, 1966, a hot summer day. It was the birthday of the second son of the Sawada family, Taiji.

My birthplace was Ichigawa City, in Chiba prefecture. Of course, though I don't have any memories of me as a baby, as far as I've seen from pictures, I was born in quite a regular family, and seem to have been generally happy.

A fragment of memory that is left behind is from when I was in kindergarten. I wonder if it is a special characteristic of second sons that they grow to be naughty boys.

At any rate, I liked to play outside a lot of the time, and if my friends were there, I would be very happy. I never lost to any of my friends, but at the same time, that meant that we had huge fights.

From that time on, I was the leader, a boy who never lost. For example, I would say "We're going to play tag now," and without saying a word, everyone would do as I said.

In my case, I didn't just fight, but I had a strong sense of justice, and at that time, I was the same as the hero "Kamen Rider" [trans note: Kamen Rider means "Masked Rider." It was a famous anime series back in the day.] Though I had some meaningless fights, I was not a coward who picked fights and damaged things. Wasn't that why everyone instinctively said, "We will definitely call you 'Kamen Rider,' the defender of justice"?

Surrounded by friends who called out, "Tai-chan! Tai-chan!" more and more, I simply took on the manner of a child leader. I truly passed the days of my kindergarten years with a sense of brilliance. However, because this "sense of justice" that was born at that time would later cause my life to go crazy, life is a very cynical thing.