Synopsis: The prince takes the apothecary for a night out on the royal gardens

Medieval AU

Giyu Tomioka, crowned prince and heir to the throne of the Tomioka Kingdom. Known far and wide for his cold personality and irresistible looks. Ladies want to be with him and men want to be him with fierce envy. Little do they know, that he's already been taken by a certain someone.

Enter Shinobu Kocho, the royal apothecary. Solely responsible for creating the greatest medicine in the kingdom, as well as the deadliest of poisons. Her beauty and delightful demeanor bring many men to their knees, and women sighing with admiration or huffing in sheer bitter jealousy. Unfortunately for some of them, she's the one who stole the prince's heart and intends to keep it for herself. Of course, the prince has hers as well, such is how their love works.

Sadly for our beloved duo, their love is considered absurd and forbidden for a prince of such high nobility should not be romantically involved with someone under the castle's rule. (For those who are confused, think of it as an earl dating his maid. That's what I'm trying to get at)  So the two wait in agony until the prince's crowning ceremony, when he'll be able to make their love official to the world without fear of judgement or being held back.

Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't enjoy the moments they share together now. In fact, Shinobu enjoys the secrecy very much, as it often brings out her more mischievous self and lets her see her dear prince's blushing face that she loves oh so much.

One night, while working on an interesting poison, the apothecary heard a light tap-tap-tap on her window. She opened the window to find Kanzanburo, Giyu's old crow who often worried him, standing on the window sill. She let the crow come inside to rest when she found a note attached to his leg. She opened the note and it read,

To my dear Shinobu,

If you find this letter brought to you on the night of the full moon, I hope to find you in the castle gardens. I'll be waiting for you, Sugarplum.💙  (Just imagine that he drew a little heart there)
Sincerely, Salmon

Shinobu couldn't help but giggle slightly at the signature on the bottom. 'Honestly' she thought to herself, 'Out of all the things he could have named himself, he chose his favorite food.' 

Still, her smile softened with her nickname written with his elegant handwriting and lightly traced it with her finger. She looked out to find the full moon looking down upon her with the stars twinkling, almost as if they were saying "Go on, go be with your love".

She gave a gentle pat to Kanzaburo's head and gave him some crow feed for a job well done, and went off to the castle gardens, eagerly awaiting for her prince.

Shinobu arrived at the gardens, taking in its beauty and lovely aroma. Suddenly, she felt two strong arms wrapped around her waist and gently pulled her towards someone.

"My, my," she said with a playful tone, "Is this the ever mysterious Salmon? I'm sorry to say, but I already have my heart devoted to someone else."

"Oh really?" The voice replied with the same playfulness as her, "And just who could it be hmm?"

"Weeellll," she started, "He has these lovely ocean blue eyes. So deep that I often find myself completely lost in them. His body is perfect for holding me tight whenever we cuddle, and he has a very nice laugh."

"Is that all you have to say about him or is there more?" He replied once more, eagerly awaiting her answer.

Shinobu merely chuckled and continued, "I suppose I do have a bit more to say about him, let's see, oh! He gives me all the love I could ever need, is a good kisser, bit of an airhead, but I like that about him, and he has the strangest obsession with salmon daikon."

"Really now?" The voice said somewhat tiredly, "I don't think it's that bad of an obsession."

"Giyu, honey," Shinobu said with a playful smile, "You decided your code name is Salmon. It's a little on the nose if you ask me."

Giyu couldn't help but laugh softly at Shinobu's teasing and gently pulled her into his chest. "Okay," he admitted between laughs "You got me. You win."

Shinobu lifted her head to see her lover's laughing face, she couldn't help but fall even deeper in love with him every time she saw him happy. The fact that she was the one who was making him laugh made her heart flutter around even more.

"So," she started after Giyu stopped laughing, "Why did you call me over today, did you really miss my teasing that much?"

"As much as I love your teasing, I wanted to show you something special." He held her hand and led her into a reserved part of the royal gardens. He opened the gates and kept walking until he stopped at a little spot that had a bench facing a koi pond. Bushes of closed off flowers surrounded the area with weeping willow trees peeking through even now and again.

"Wow, this is beautiful, thank you Giyu." Shinobu looked around the area with absolute awe and admiration and it made Giyu's heart skip a beat at her happiness.

"If you think this is beautiful, just wait a little longer," Giyu said while taking out a pocket watch from his waistcoat, checking the time. "In fact, the surprise will be shown in three, two, one."

The moon shined brightly in the sky, illuminating the ground below. The flower bushes bathed in the light and slowly opened the petals to catch the gleaming rays of moonlight. The flowers gave off the sweetest scent that Shinobu ever knew, the scent was not too sweet and had a very calming presence about it.

"Do you like them?" Giyu asked, "They're called moonflowers and are known for their lovely aroma."

"Of course I love them," she said with a smile, "They're from you so of course I would love them. Although, why are you showing me this now?"

Giyu simply chuckled, "Well, I knew that you had a lot of work lately and thought that you deserved a good break, to stop and smell the roses, or moonflowers in this case."

Shinobu smiled at him with loving eyes "Thank you Giyu, for everything. I'm glad that you're in my life."

"I'm happy that you're in my life too Sugarplum." He then kissed her forehead in appreciation.

"You're such a sweet talker Giyu," she said with a blush covering her face.

The two sat on the bench for the remainder of the night, holding hands watching the stars pass by, and fell asleep without a care in the world.

A/N I swear, if these two get any fluffier, I'm getting diabetes. Anyways, I hope that you all like this oneshot. Also, I have a special announcement. I released a new book on Wattpad! It's called 'Rui and Enmu's Life With the Upper Moons (but mostly Rui's)'. It's basically about if Muzan took Enmu and Rui to live with the Upper Moons and chaos & shenanigans happen with Rui writing it all down the in a journal. The story is pretty much Rui takes part of the Found Family trope but instead of a loving human family, it's the chaotic bunch of the Upper Moons and Enmu being thrown into the mix. The first chapter is already out so if you want to check it out, you're more than welcome too. Also, I'd like to thank you all for the votes, reads, and comments, I really appreciate it, y'all are amazing. ♥️💕