いこうよ (English)
The end of August.
Summer was not supposed to be over yet, but as evening came, there was already a faint feeling of autumn in the air.
When they left the school building, the sun was slowly sinking toward the west, casting long shadows across the ground.
The path leading to the school gate was covered with hexagonal tiles. Some were red, some gray, while others looked almost golden beneath the evening sunlight. The shadows of the trees swayed gently across them.
Whenever the wind blew, the sunlight shining through the leaves changed its shape.
It felt almost as if time itself were flowing beneath their feet.
“...It’s already this late.”
The girl walking beside him spoke quietly.
“Yeah. I didn’t even notice.”
“I wonder how many hours we’ve been at school today.”
“Probably better not to think about it.”
She laughed softly.
“Yeah. Probably.”
They continued walking.
For a while, neither of them said anything.
It wasn’t awkward.
In fact, being able to stay together without having to say anything felt strangely comfortable.
From somewhere in the distance came the voices of students from the sports clubs.
The windows of the school reflected the evening sun, glowing orange against the fading sky.
The school, which was usually so noisy, became strangely quiet around this time of day.
As he looked ahead, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
How many more times will we walk this path?
He had always thought school life would continue forever.
Every morning, he would come to school.
He would attend classes, talk with his friends during breaks, and complain about homework.
Then, when the day was over, he would walk home along this very path.
He thought those ordinary days would simply continue.
But they wouldn’t.
Without realizing it, one day would become one week, one week would become one month, and one month would become another year.
And eventually, everything would come to an end.
“Hey.”
The girl suddenly spoke again.
“Yeah?”
“What are you going to do after we graduate?”
He thought for a moment.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I see.”
“What about you?”
She looked ahead.
At the end of the path, the school gate was already visible.
“I don’t know either.”
She smiled faintly.
“But...”
“But what?”
“I think it’s a little scary to have no idea what I’m going to do.”
He remained silent.
The word future was strange.
It didn’t even exist yet, and somehow it could still make people feel so uncertain.
What would they do?
Where would they go?
Who would they meet?
And most importantly—
Would the person walking beside them today still be there in the future?
No one knew the answer.
Maybe that was why the future was frightening.
But then—
He looked down at the ground.
Their shadows stretched toward the setting sun.
Sometimes they moved closer.
Sometimes they drifted apart.
But no matter what, they were moving in the same direction.
“...But you know.”
He finally spoke.
“Hmm?”
“If we don’t know yet, we can just figure it out while we walk.”
She looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.
“While we walk?”
“Yeah.”
He looked forward again.
“Sometimes you can stand still and think all you want, but the answer still won’t come.”
“...That’s true.”
“So maybe we should just keep moving forward, one step at a time, while we figure things out.”
She was silent for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“That sounds just like you.”
“Does it?”
“Yeah. It’s so simple.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“I meant it as a compliment.”
They both laughed again.
A gentle wind passed through the trees.
Several leaves fell onto the path in front of them.
The girl picked one up.
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“If we remember today someday in the future...”
She looked down at the leaf in her hand.
“How do you think we’ll remember it?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Today probably wasn’t anything special.
Nothing extraordinary had happened.
They hadn’t achieved anything incredible.
They had simply come to school, attended classes, waited for the day to end, and walked home together.
That was all.
But maybe those ordinary days were the ones that became precious memories someday.
“Probably...”
He finally answered.
“We’ll think it was nostalgic.”
“That’s all?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s kind of boring.”
“What about you?”
She thought for a moment.
“I think...”
Her footsteps became slightly slower.
“I want to remember it as a happy time.”
He looked at her.
She kept her eyes on the road ahead.
“Even if these days feel ordinary now, I want to look back someday and think, ‘Those were really happy days.’”
He didn’t know what to say.
The evening sunlight illuminated her face.
The wind gently moved her hair.
And in that moment, he realized something.
No one could know what the future held.
They couldn’t even know what tomorrow would bring.
Still, people had to keep moving forward.
Even when they were afraid.
Even when they were lost.
Even when they made mistakes.
One step at a time.
Little by little.
They had to keep walking with their own feet.
“Hey.”
She called him again.
“What is it this time?”
“Let’s walk home together tomorrow too.”
He smiled slightly.
“Sure.”
“And the day after that?”
“Probably.”
“Probably? What do you mean, probably?”
“You might have plans.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Then we’ll walk home together.”
She smiled.
“Promise?”
He thought for a moment before answering.
“Promise.”
Her smile grew a little brighter.
Then they continued walking.
The school gate was now right in front of them.
Beyond it were separate roads leading to their respective homes.
Today, they would part there.
Tomorrow, they would meet again at school.
And someday, graduation would come.
When that day arrived, they might walk along completely different paths.
They might not be in the same place anymore.
They might not be able to spend as much time together.
But today would never disappear.
The walk they shared.
The sunset they watched.
The meaningless conversations they had.
The future they were afraid of.
And the promise they made to walk home together again tomorrow.
All of it would remain somewhere inside them.
Just before leaving through the gate, she stopped and looked back.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“I used to think the future was really far away.”
She looked at the road glowing beneath the sunset.
“But maybe...”
She paused.
“Maybe every step we take is already part of the future.”
He listened to her words and looked up at the sky.
The sunset had slowly begun to fade into a pale violet.
“...Maybe you’re right.”
Neither of them said anything after that.
They simply started walking again.
One step.
Then another.
Slowly.
With steady footsteps.
Along a road whose destination they still didn’t know.
But they kept walking.
So that someday, when they looked back, they could say—
I’m glad I kept walking that day.
And no matter what kind of future was waiting for them...
One step at a time.
Together.
Toward the future.
