Questions Unanswered
About Seta Soujiro

'If you're strong, you live
If you're weak, you die'
Is this statement true?
Or is it a lie?

For years this rang true
I killed to be strong
To not become weak
My actions weren't wrong

Till Himura came
And said at great lengths
That I, Soujiro,
When gaining my strength

Had committed sins,
Murdered in cold-blood,
Watched the red trickle
Into a large flood

Slain innocent ones
With eyes cruel and blind
He told me to stop
To open my mind

Understand the truth
Behind all the lies
But I scorned his words
Till I broke inside

A rivet was torn
Deep within my soul
That I'd kept hidden
So I lost control

I fought Himura
To find out the truth
That had been stolen
From me in my youth

Why didn't he save
Me when I needed him?
If his words are true
Why did things turn grim?

Why did my family
Try to hurt me so?
Where were you? Where?!
I would like to know

You were never there
You never did show
There was only one,
Master Shishio

He did save my life
With his wise decrees
As well as a gift
A Wakizashi

A simple short sword
That saved my young life
By slaying my uncle,
His children and wife

So if your chatter
Of helping the weak
Really is the truth
Then why did I shriek?

Why wasn't I saved
All those years ago
By righteousness' hand
In the rain's nightglow?

If it's really true
Prove it to me now
I'm ready to fight
Nothing holds me down

So we battled hard
Till we couldn't see
I was defeated
By the ultimate attack of the Hiten Mitsurugi

I told him his words
Must have been from fact
Since victory was
In his favor stacked

'No,' he said to me,
'That is not the case
If there're only strong
There would be no trace

Of any honest
Brave, loyal, and true
That thrive day-to-day
And give all that's due

So, with that in mind
Decide for yourself
Which person speaks truth
Only you, yourself

Can find the real truth
That lies in your soul
And discover it
Seta Soujiro.'

Shishio-sama
Himura Kenshin
One, my enemy
The other, my kin

Two philosophies
Both contradicting
One, merciless, yet,
One, so restricting

Which one speaks the truth?
Which one tells a lie?
Which one should I trust?
Who should I despise?

To protect the weak
To live day-to-day
To become stronger
The humble man's way

To uphold the right
To denounce the bad
To condemn evil
To make the heart glad

To be kind to all
Never kill again
To see the goodness
Right down to the end

These words sounds superb
Yet more like a dream
Hopeless; a far cry
From reality

Yet 10 words are still
Present in my mind
The only truth I've
Been able to find

Those 10 simple words
That's helped me survive
'If you're strong, you live
If you're weak, you die.'

But....
Is being weak
Really that bad?