WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Adachi & Shimamura Season 1, Episode 9, "Love That Embraces the Holy Mother: Marigold," now streaming on Funimation.
When Adachi woke up (or rather, stayed up all night) on Valentine's Day, she probably imagined it would be like the previous hangouts and holidays she and Shimamura have shared. Adachi awkwardly leading the way to different places, testing her intimacy boundaries, and getting just enough of the result she'd hoped for to feel satisfied. However, Shimamura flips the Valentine's script by surprising Adachi multiple times and even leaving her in tears by the end.
Shimamura is more cheerful and perky than usual throughout the day, the reason tying in with a trip she took to Nagoya the day before -- with Tarumi. Their get-together wasn't quite the joyful reconnection Tarumi had hoped for, but it caused both girls to reexamine their past and present selves and realize how much they've changed since their childhood. It's an important prelude to Shimamura's V-Day adventures and a strong sign of how she feels about Adachi.
After Adachi's many attempts at making or finding the perfect Valentine's chocolate for Shimamura, she finally decides to just buy some on the day. An abnormally upbeat Shimamura tells Adachi she's got her chocolate ready, but wants to wait until Adachi has hers so they can do a proper exchange. The girls board a train for Nagoya and pass the time with word games, thumb wars, and more. Shimamura keeps laughing with each successive decision Adachi makes. As it turns out, Shimamura made many of the exact same decisions the day before on a trip with Tarumi.
Since the surprise run-in with her childhood best friend, Tarumi has been wanting to spend time with Shimamura again. When the two meet up at the train station, Shimamura mentions she needs to go to Nagoya to buy some chocolate. Tarumi asks if she has a boyfriend, but Shimamura cryptically responds that it's for a friend. The two board the train and awkwardly reminisce on events and nicknames that Shimamura has forgotten. Once they arrive at a candy store and wait in line, Tarumi is staring at her phone while Shimamura focuses on her upcoming V-Day with Adachi.
The two girls learn firsthand that with the passing of time and new life experiences, people change as they grow up. Tarumi realizes her old friend is very different from the carefree, outgoing girl she once was. The chemistry isn't there because she doesn't know the present-day Shimamura. Shimamura's internal monologue suggests she doesn't like the person she was back then, perhaps leaning too heavily on Tarumi without forming an identity of her own. But now she stands on her own two feet, growing both individually and alongside Adachi. They balance each other out in ways that Shimamura and Tarumi seemingly did not.
They may have struggled to reconnect in their first proper reunion, but that doesn't mean Tarumi's friendship has to be consigned to the past. Shimamura's growth as a person shows when Tarumi, after a "see you later" that sounds more like a resigned "goodbye," is shocked to hear Shimamura suddenly call out her childhood nickname "Taru-chan." Tarumi made an honest effort, and although Shimamura was focused on Adachi and Valentine's Day, she knows she didn't reciprocate as strongly as she could have. Adachi may be Shimamura's best friend and primary focus, but there's still room for Tarumi too.
Back in the present, Adachi has Shimamura cracking up again when she picks out the exact same chocolate at the same store in Nagoya. They happily share some sweets before Shimamura suddenly says they need to go back to the train station. It turns out she has a huge surprise in store: the same TV program that Adachi used for fortune-telling advice was also accepting entries for Valentine's Day messages to display at the Nagoya train station. Shimamura sent in a message for Adachi, which they watch on the screen together. Adachi is overwhelmed and tearfully hugs her.
Usually it's Shimamura asking what Adachi's gestures mean, but this time Adachi needs to know exactly what Shimamura means by wanting to stay "close." Shimamura, not fully understanding the question's implication -- friendship or something more -- raises her arms in celebration, while Adachi responds by doing the same. The unspoken answer is that they're both happy in each other's company and their bond doesn't need to be specifically defined -- for now.
Adachi goes in for a second hug but trips and falls into Shimamura, who just stands there holding her. It's a perfectly quirky ending to a wholesome Valentine's Day that reveals much about Shimamura's compassion for Adachi while showing her increasing openness to keeping more people in her life. As for Adachi, she's thrilled that they've taken a significant step forward -- and most of all that it was initiated by Shimamura.
