It's best not to assume. There's an old saying: "Never assume because it can make an ass out of U and ME,"

Get it? ASS-U-ME.

No matter how true it is, I will forever hate that quote.

I once had a teacher who never stopped telling us that. Whenever we'd try to get the answer, and get it wrong, she'd pipe up from the corner, later scolding us for our stupidity.

We were eight.

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Something triggered me to open the window. I leaned out of it, taking in the fresh air. For a second I couldn't breathe, my throat felt tight and sore as if I had been screaming the night before. My eyes almost smiled at the sight before me. What a beautiful city. The sun was setting, Sunday was approaching now. I wonder what would happen if I jumped out of this window? All of the residents of this building would see. It sure as hell wouldn't kill me though. If Yumi didn't die from falling, I doubt that someone who was roughly 15% more muscle than her and a few centimeters taller.

A few centimeters isn't going to change anything though.

Wait... Yumi lives directly underneath me.

First off, when she fell, how the hell did I not see her? The scream. That was her, wasn't it?

Second off, does she have her window open? There's a bucket and a rope attached to our windows. When we couldn't talk, she'd open her window, and send me a message with the bucket. Where we lived, there wasn't much rain, so the bucket getting wet was never much of an issue. Worse comes to worse, a few people walking underneath us got splashed with some water when we emptied it out.

Thankfully for them, neither of us were complete assholes, so we'd wait for them to walk by before emptying anything out.

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I scribbled some words onto a piece of paper, later placing it in the bucket outside the window. My handwriting was a bit sloppy, but it was legible enough to read. I started pulling on the rope. "Let's hope her window opens' ' I thought, quickening my pace.

Now we wait. Waiting was the worst part of this since it took forever, and it was completely unpredictable. There was no telling whether she'd answer in minutes, or weeks. There must've been a way to get her attention though! Just... how? Let me think.

If I were Yumi Choi, what would I do? The bucket. But right now the bucket isn't working unless she knows I'm here right now. Can't she just text me? No, her phone is probably broken after falling. As if my answer had been right here all along, a sound came from underneath me.

I was paralyzed for a second. Was it coming from outside? I peered out the window. The sound got louder. I then crouched down, moving closer to the floor. Street Lights.

Underneath of me, Street Lights played softly as if not trying to wake anyone up. She's here. She's safe. I dashed over to the window in five swift steps, then I shook the rope. A smile emerged on my face from within me when the sound of the bucket clinging against the glass of her window rang out. That was loud. That means she heard it.

I was happy until my smile faded. A loud bang erupted from beneath my feet. The playlist was shut off milliseconds afterwards, the sound of shouting replacing it. Since they were downstairs, the voice was muffled, but I could still just barely make out what was going on.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" A man's voice yelled at her. "WHO SAID YOU WERE ALLOWED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC!? NOT IN MY HOUSE YOU MOTHERF**KER"

My muscles tensed up again. It's her father.

"Appa!" Her voice came off much quieter than his, which concerned me since it made her seem defenseless.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE YOU AS A DAUGHTER! YOU ACT JUST LIKE YOUR SLUTTY MOTHER!!"

My heart felt like it had been stabbed. I knew she went through a lot at home, I never knew that it was this much. As long as she doesn't get-

*SMASH*

The sound of glass breaking in her condo was loud, piercing a hole in the atmosphere. It shattered like my world when I heard what her father had said. A desperate cry left her mouth, sniffles coming in between her words.

"A-Appa... I-I d-didn't-t ... do any-y... thing-g wrong,"

That's it. I can't listen to her suffer like this. I needed a plan. Right now though, I had to leave this room. Sitting here listening to what was happening wasn't right, it made me hate myself for not standing up for her- for not being there right now when she needed me.

All I needed was to see her again. Imaging her running into my arms put a smile to my face, a smile that wasn't existent right now. At this rate, she wasn't going to be here to run into my arms.

I sprinted to the living room, grabbing a notepad and pen. My family who was sitting watching TV looked at me as if I were a nutcase.

"Who's dying!?" My dad joked, laughing. If only he knew who was actually dying. I think I might tell him. It's not like he's going to believe anything I saw.

"Yumi, our neighbor. I'm planning her father's death right now, I need silence," I bluntly told him, running back to my room. I left everyone in that room stunned, their jaws dropped almost literally.

Hunching over my desk, I began to jot down things I knew about him.

Alcoholic, hates his wife and daughter

Wait. I scratched out the wife part, correcting my mistake.

Alcoholic, hates his ex-wife and daughter

lives in this building right underneath me

Selfish and greedy

Hates spending money

That's when it hit me.

The perfect plan, laid out in front of me, right before my eyes.

I think I know how to kill Yumi's father now :D