I don't own Tenipuri!

Thunk, thunk. The sound of ball hitting racket was all that could be heard as Kenya and I rallied. We had been going at it for a while, and practice was almost over. I always had the most fun playing with my best friend, and this was the longest I had ever played a match. Laughing, I returned the ball yet again to his court, as adrenaline pumped through my veins. But suddenly, everything went very wrong.

I could feel my trance-like state deepening, and it began to get hard to breath. My limbs were numb, and my vision started to spin. Dropping the racket, I felt my knees hit the court, and I gasped desperately for air. Pain racked my body from nonexistent injuries. The world rapidly span away and the last thing I remember was my teammates running towards me, screaming my name.

Waking up, the first thing I saw was Kenya staring at me. "Shiraishi, you okay?" He looked at me worriedly. I just smiled calmly at him and nodded. The rest of the team, also gathered around, all breathed a collective sigh of relief as I made this motion.

The doctor then came in, and waved his hand at the other members. "I would like to talk with Shiraishi alone, if you don't mind." They nodded, and left the room. The doctor looked at me, before looking down at the paperwork he was holding. "Shiraishi-kun, have you been… taking anything?"

I rolled my eyes, knowing what this was about. "No, sir, I don't take drugs, and neither does anybody on my team." He nodded.

"Alright, that just makes this more complicated." I looked at him curiously. "It seems that some kind of chemical was found in your bloodwork. After finding out what you were doing earlier, and your medical history, I can think of only one explanation, but it is rather far-fetched."

I just laughed. Since when was I normal anyway? Sensing my preparation, the doctor looked back at me. "It seems that you have a very unique condition where the 'release trigger' for your adrenaline is directly linked to that of your endorphins. Not only that, but the endorphins released are in such a great quantity that to keep from overloading, your body releases them through your saliva and sweat. This is why, after playing for so long, you collapsed in pain. Your endorphins had gotten too low. This can be a dangerous condition, but if you moderate your activities, it shouldn't prove to be fatal."

I stared in shock even as he left the room. It was hard to believe, but it would certainly explain what happened when he and Kenya kissed sometimes, as the other boy stumbled around in a daze for several minutes. I was beginning to be glad we had yet to progress our relationship further than that, as my body was more accustomed to the effects than his, as an overload of endorphins would likely have been more dangerous for him.

In the midst of my confusion, an idea came to me. If I could learn to control my heart rate perfectly, and my stress level, I would be able to control this power, like a self-defense mechanism. Something like that was much needed by me, as many people seemed to want me, no matter how many times a declined. My vice-captain, in particular, seemed determined to get in my pants before the year was out, and had attempted several times. I smiled as I thought of my new shield. Now I truly would be like one of those flowers I was so fond of, that held danger within their beauty.

Looking outside at the waiting team, my eyes fixed on Kenya. If I was the beautiful and deadly flower, he was the golden sun that brought me to life, and brought warmth and light to the world