Zenyuki

Zenyuki is the het ship between Shirayuki and Zen Wistaria from the Snow White with the Red Hair fandom.

Canon
Shirayuki is introduced as a young, hardworking herbalist in her own shop in the country of Tanbarun, however, she ends up attracting more attention for her hair which is a rare bright red. The first prince of Tanbarun, Prince Raji Shenazard, hears the word about her being the most beautiful girl and sends his messenger to her shop, who informs Shirayuki the prince wants her to be his concubine. Without any other choice, she mixes a bunch of medicine for her customers and cuts her long hair, leaving it as a parting gift, and leaves Tanbarun.

After being dropped off, Shirayuki falls asleep outside a stone house in the forest. The next morning, she sees a white-haired boy run up the wall before tripping and falling at the sight of her. At first, he doesn't trust her when she tries to heal the injury to his arm but proves herself when she uses it on her arm instead, by hitting it against his sword. He introduces himself as Zen and the two start on more friendly terms. Zen introduces her to his friends, Mitsuhide and Kiki.

After Shirayuki explains her profession, Zen asks why she would leave home with her talent and Shirayuki somberly tells him it's not important, before letting herself outside. He decides to go with her, not wanting to leave her alone by herself. Shirayuki talks about how comfortable she had become in the forests and mountains while studying to be an herbalist until a strand of her hair gets caught on a splinter of a tree. She asks Zen if he could cut it for her, to which he says he will if she answers if her cutting her hair had something to do with her running away. Shirayuki remarks that he's a terrible person, and he smiles and shrugs.

Zen responds with shock when she reveals she had run away from a "famous boy" who wanted her as his concubine because of her hair, seeing that if she obeyed it would be like he was buying her off like an apple at the market. Shirayuki remarks she did give him partially what he wanted and left her hair behind, which causes Zen to burst in laughter and calls her idea ingenious. He then compliments her for getting away, saying it's her lucky red after all. She asks him what he means and he tells her, "Color has meaning. And red is supposed to represent fate. You may not like it much now, but your red might lead to something good when you least expect it."

In amazement, Shirayuki tells him he has an amazing outlook and he teases her about getting her respect. Mitsuhide and Kiki watch them from afar in the forest, Kiki mentioning that Zen has taken a shine to her. The two head back but Zen notices a basket on the front step, then Shirayuki realizes the hair ribbon she left is tied to the basket.

Zen reads the note from the basket of apples, finally seeing Shirayuki is from Tanbarun and mentions that someone must've traveled all the way to the border to find her. He then asks how bad was it that she had to flee the kingdom, to which she tells him it's because of who it is and tells him it's the first prince. Zen slams his injured hand in frustration recognizing whom she's talking about, before settling down and mentioning that Raji has had people tearing up the border crossing roads, saying that he will expect that something he wants already belongs to him.

Shirayuki picks an apple from the basket, her thumb brushing over the bruise on it and sadly murmuring it's red is no good anymore. She then says she was kidding until Zen walks up to her, taking a bite from the apple much to her surprise. Mitsuhide lightly scolds Zen for eating her apple, which Zen tells him to stay out of it. Shirayuki apologizes and Zen warns her to put the apple down, before collapsing to the floor. Shirayuki realizes the apple was poisoned and rushes to her bag to help him, worried she doesn't have an antidote until the same messenger from Tanbarun walks in and sees Shirayuki didn't eat the apple. He then tells her there is a cure but will only be given if she comes with him quietly.

Shirayuki finally confronts Raji, who talks more about his image being tainted when she ran away rather than curing Zen from the poison. She begs him to give the antidote and he says he will, if she agrees to be his concubine or if she'd rather have him send another apple. Remembering the words Zen said to her, Shirayuki decides to let Raji take her as his concubine only if he knows what he's getting. Suddenly, the door bursts open, and Zen objects to this, revealing Raji's guards defeated by him and Mitushide, and Kiki. Shirayuki runs to him, asking if he's alright and he mentions that he's grown a poison immunity over the years, just in case.

Raji reveals he intended for Shirayuki to bite the apple and to be taken back to Tanbarun while in her immobilized state, Zen remarks he wasn't surprised he'd be the one behind a bad apple. He gets the panicked prince to swear he won't come near Shirayuki again and gives the antidote, before being taken back home by carriage. After Zen is cured, Shirayuki apologizes as she feels responsible for him being poisoned. He reassures her before lending his hand out for her to take, wanting her to come to Clarines. In the narration, Shirayuki mentions this as her path to destiny.

Season 1

 * Shirayuki and Zen staring in awe at each other the first time they met.
 * Zen takes notice of Shirayuki’s hair after pulling her hood down, noting its uniqueness.
 * Shirayuki reaches to heal Zen’s arm, but he isn’t so trusting as she could secretly have poison. So to gain his trust, she cleverly uses it on herself.
 * Zen remarks at how impressive Shirayuki’s skills are.
 * Shirayuki decides to walk through the forest, asking why Zen came with her. He tells her he wanted to be sure she was safe while walking by herself.
 * Zen reacts in shock at the idea of Shirayuki needing to flee her home because a prince tried to force her to be his concubine. Becoming more frustrated when he recognizes it’s Prince Raji.
 * Shirayuki picks up a bruised apple, remarking it’s red is no good anymore. It’s more of a reflection on herself, how her red hair has caused trouble. Zen walks up to Shirayuki, taking a bite of the apple himself.
 * After Shirayuki is brought to Clarines and trying to find work there, Zen ends up working even harder on his paperwork because of her. Even Mitsuhide refers to it as “The Shirayuki Effect.”
 * Zen would be outed for writing Shirayuki's name on his work sometimes. He blushes and mutters he just likes her name.
 * Zen accompanies Shirayuki to the port. On their way, she notices a little boy staring at her hair who then starts pestering his mother for an apple. This moment makes Zen chuckle.
 * Shirayuki heads off, saying she’ll be back soon. Zen overhears two men discussing Shirayuki’s hair, and how much they could profit from it. He gives them a cold stare as he grasps his sword.
 * Zen comes to Shirayuki's rescue from Mihaya, who was trying to use Shirayuki to gain money after losing his status and inheritance. He becomes agitated when he's teased about acting like her dad.
 * Shirayuki later finds out about all the injuries Zen has sustained in his upbringing. He comes to the office through the window, wanting to check on her. She turns to him with tears in her eyes, which he gently pulls her into a hug to comfort her.
 * Shirayuki's presence is seen as a distraction to the prince, by Lord Haruka. He hires the assassin, Obi, to try to drive her away. Even an arrow is shot in front of her or when Lord Haruka pulls out his sword, it doesn't deter Shirayuki with wanting to stand by Zen's side.
 * Shirayuki convinces Zen to try to help Kihal prevent the extinction of her island's native birds by testing out their abilities to see if they could be use to Clarines. The viscount Blaker, tries to sabotage the experiment by throwing away the bell to signal Popo and locking Shirayuki in a room in the tower. She then jumps out of the window and into the water to retrieve the bell.
 * Before time runs out, Popo returns with the bell and the note. Zen then reads the note further, realizing Shirayuki was hurt and rides back. He looks at her bandaged arm and Shirayuki tells him she had no intention of hiding this from him, which he smiles softly and playfully calls her an idiot. Shirayuki smiles back at him, overcome by his feelings Zen ends up kissing her.
 * Shirayuki is surprised by the kiss and Zen apologizes, but lets her know to be honest of how she feels about him when she's ready.
 * Afterward, Shirayuki becomes flustered every time she's around Zen and she can't figure out why. The two end up running through the forest together, after Shirayuki was advised by Obi to run away. They sit together until they emotionally profess their feelings for each other, making a promise to do their best to stay together. The two lean in for another kiss.
 * The whole group go into Clarines to see the festivities with Zen sneaking out dressed as a guard. An actress for a play has hurt her ankle which Shirayuki tries to tend to. She begs Shirayuki to take her place in the show, which she agrees to. Zen and Shirayuki blush at each other when she comes out in a dress before going on stage. It's revealed the actor on stage was told to take off her headdress to show her hair to gain more attention to their show. Zen then swoops in, dressed as one of the characters in the play and distracts them to let Shirayuki go backstage. Obi remarks that Zen had become jealous, leading to him jumping in.
 * Afterwards, Zen scoops up a surprised Shirayuki in his arms as he asks her if she had fun. She blushed in awe before smiling happily at him.

Season 2

 * Shirayuki is sent to Tanbarun to meet with Prince Raji, which leads her to be put in a temporary room. Zen sneaks in to see her to talk. Before she goes, Zen embraces her from behind. Shirayuki contently closing her eyes, the two of them embracing and smiling together before departing for the night.
 * Shirayuki asks Zen for an object to take with her, just in case she starts to miss him while she’s gone. The item he gives her is his pocket-watch which she cherishes, having it tied around her neck. When she’s kidnapped, the watch slips from her neck and cracks on the ground.
 * During her abduction by The Sea Talon, Shirayuki tries her best to be resourceful and try to escape but it’s clear she is terrified of never seeing Zen or her friends again.
 * When The Sea Talon is surrounded, Zen and Shirayuki share a moment reunited. Shirayuki breaks down, clinging to Zen. As he tearfully holds her, Zen tells her, “I’m sorry it took me this long to get to you..”
 * Before he has to return to the fight and ensure she’s safe, Zen tenderly strokes her cheek which was cut during her captivity.
 * Mukaze is revealed to be Shirayuki’s father and Zen has a talk with him. When he asks if Shirayuki is in love with him, Zen becomes flustered. He admits to it, gets startled by Mukaze pretending to scold him for it until he realizes Shirayuki was listening the whole time. This leaves the both of them blushing intensely.
 * As Shirayuki falls asleep after they talk for a while, Zen helps her into bed and kisses her goodnight.

Fanon
Zenyuki is the second popular ship in the fandom, but is the primary ship of the series. Shirayuki and Zen's relationship is played into the storyline and their characters, working hard to stay together, which draws in fans of the ship. Fans also come to love the fairytale subverting with their romance while still using some of the elements, although attributes of the story's premise is inspired by fairy tales Shirayuki and Zen acknowledge each other as their equal and can also be hilariously flustered with each other sometimes.

It rivals the ship Obiyuki, and there is an OT3 called ObiZenYuki or also referred as ZenObiYuki, a poly ship of the two along with Obi.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Shirayuki/Zen on Fanfiction.Net
 * Shirayuki/Zen on Fanfiction.Net

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