Disclaimer: I own no Ruroken, that is Watsuki-sama's. Also, I don't own the song, "American Pie" (which this song is based on), that is Don McLean's. This is not a songfic, but a song rewrite, so please, , don't stress out over this... it isn't against your rules!!


A Meiji Pie

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how the country cried in bloody tears
I knew nothing could save the mass
Even if it came to pass
Some savior tried to wipe out all their fears
But with my whole foundation shaken
I found this boy who was forsaken
Survivor of a bloodbath
Even in the aftermath
He buried bodies one by one
'Til all his gruesome work was done
Crosses in the setting sun
The day that Shinta died

So bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could help him survive
He leaves me now with a scowl and a sigh
Out to save a world that's destined to die
Out to save a world that's destined to die

Did you know the man they call
A "demon's," just a child, that's all?
The baka deshi I had trained.
And now I've heard of his secret part
And I know he's at odds with his heart
Every time the paper calls for bloody rain.
But still he kills with deadly ease
Spreading death just like disease
Each time a man is run through
The blade backs into him, too
Darkened is his simple soul
Once so bright, now black as coal
He cut down what had still been whole
The day that Shinta died

So bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could help him survive
He left me then with a scowl and a sigh
Out to save a world that might as well die
Out to save a world that might as well die

For ten years now, he's been on his own
He wanders, trying to atone
As payment for the lives he stole
But even when he saves a life
His thoughts turn to his silenced wife
And he wanders, torn to pieces, never whole
Even her forgiving smile
Won't free him from this endless trial
Her memory, it haunts him
Just as his "freedom" taunts him
For never will this boy be free
Unable to come back to me
He's now as much a ghost as she
The way that Shinta died.

So bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could help him survive
He avoids me now with a scowl and a sigh
Trying save a world he should have let die
Trying save a world he should have let die

Helter Skelter, without shelter,
The baka wanders here and there
Finally he makes his way
To Tokyo one fateful day
As though his time had come to meet his match
The girl was nothing at first sight
A little thing, but full of fight
She didn't care of his past
And so the baka stopped at last
Her dojo was his resting place
And now he finally slowed his pace
Tho still his false smile stayed in place
Just as when Shinta died

So bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could help him survive
He forgets me now with a scowl and a sigh
While he saves the world one life at a time
While he saves the world one life at a time

So now with him stopped in once place
Drawn to this fiesty, pretty face
He met his motly group of friends:
A kid who fought with all his might
A baka who was paid to fight
And the doctor whose skill nearly was her end
But still he faced foes old and new
Who brought out what he thought he'd slew
Still housing the Battousai
He didn't understand why
Then Saito showed what was inside
Suddenly Kenshin couldn't hide
The violence he personified
Since the boy, Shinta, died

So bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could hellp him survive
He comes to me now with a scowl and a sigh
Trying to make the darkness in his soul die
Trying to make the darkness in his soul die

I met the boy again today
He's still almost the boy I trained
Though time has left its mark on him
He wants me to destroy his past
I need him to accept at last
That this power was his own from the first day
So finally my gentle boy
Must kill me with his silly toy
The only way to be free
Is in the death of me
Come sunrise I will leave this place,
Drop my cloak and match his pace.
Become a killer in this race
To not let Shinta die.

So bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could help him survive
I face him now with a scowl and a sigh
Hoping that it will be me who will die
Hoping that it will be me who will die

Bye-bye to the innocent child
Though I thought what I had taught him
It could help him survive
We face off now with a scowl and a sigh
No one knows who will live and who will die
God knows I hope it will be me who will die...


Author's Note: Another idea I had when I wrote "He Didn't Start the Fire." What can I say? I'm obsessed with ballad ideas. Let me know what you think please! R&R!

Dewa mata!

Siri