Disclaimer: I own no Ruroken. Watsuki-sama does. I don't own Gozaemon or Yoshi (or the premise of this story, which is from the fanfics "A Good Deed" and "FearNo Evil" by sueb262) because, of course, sueb262 does. I don't own the quote at the beginning of this story. The people who wrote "Wicked: The Musical" do, and they can be credited for the title of this fic as well, since it came from the quote listed below it... And even the "OC Exchange" forum of White Rabbit Tale can be held accountable for me even writing this fic... Heck, I wasn't even the editor, as sueb262 beta-ed for me as well. So I'm not sure if I should honestly get credit for much of anything here except a few words written in an order that kind of makes sense... and you know what they say about that... An infinite number of monkeys put in a room for an infinite amount of time with an infinite number of typewriters will eventually pull out Shakespeare... So one human with one computer for one month, given lots of help is bound to pull out something...

Author's Note: Set in the universe of sueb262's "Fear No Evil" and "A Good Deed." This fic takes place an undisclosed amount of time after both of them... probably during or after the Kyoto arc in the manga... maybe not...

No Good Deed

One question haunts and hurts
Too much, too much to mention:
Was I really seeking good
Or just seeking attention?
Is that all good deeds are
When looked at with an ice-cold eye?
If that's all good deeds are
maybe that's the reason why…

("No Good Deed" from Wicked: The Musical)

It was the end. Plain and simple. He'd gone out to do his spring gardening… to see if the world would accept his yearly rite of passage, as it had for so many before.

This time, it hadn't.

It had started with a twinge in his chest, and had ended with a flood of nosy neighbors stifling him while trying to do their best to make him comfortable. He was lying on his bed now, although as the hazy state in his mind passed away, he realized that he mostly wasn't. That he was somehow both in that bed… and not. Part of him was watching himself.

He could see everything from here, and it was impressive. Past… future… and the entire world of the present. He could see it all, even if his mind were now a bit too hazy to recognize which was which.

His son and family, relaxing in the city, living out their days in peace. It would be almost a week before they received word of this. Probably for the best. This was planting time, and Gozaemon would have been furious if he'd interrupted his son's livelihood with something ridiculous like a worn out body.

Yoshi… on his way to visit. It would be a painful surprise when he came to discover no more than a deserted house, an overgrown garden, and some over talkative neighbors. He would grieve, and then would take out the small satchel from the chest in the back of the house. Gozaemon had shown it to him a few times in the past, more frequently of late, reminding his old friend that there were treasures within meant only for Yoshi's eyes, whenever the younger man was ready to look.

The old man sighed, feeling the pain in his chest gradually fade, and knowing that it would end soon now (had it really been only a few minutes since that first twinge?).

He would die with only one regret. One. A burning shadow in the back of his mind. The assassin he had tried to save.

He wished he had succeeded. That was all. He wished he had saved the man, not just his body. Helped and saved him, as he'd tried to save Kenshin.

A small smile quirked his lips in those last breaths. My good intentions… The road to hell is paved in good intentions, isn't it, old man?

He thought back to the small redhead, though… remembered a few bits and pieces of a story he'd managed to piece together after his burned friend had left. The first shadow… and he could have easily gone the same way. Only he hadn't.

Then again, some good deeds take us wandering down a different path, don't they, my friend?

His only response was a gentle closing of his eyes.

Author's Note 2: Thanks sueb262 for beta-ing the fic (and of course for creating Gozaemon and Yoshi in her wonderful fics "A Good Deed" and "Fear No Evil" so I could write about them!)

Now, if you haven't done so already, and you want this fic to make sense, go and read her fics!

Thanks for reading. Please review!

Dewa mata!

Sirius