Sorry for taking so long... And I'm sorry if this chapter bores you all as well, it's all part of a bigger thing for the Release saga. Trust me, you'll like it.
Chapter 4: Release Part 2
Shikai… Suzaku finally had it. He was truly amazed at what it could do. It made him a nearly invincible fighter… But, for some reason, he didn't feel like he could do much more with it…
Suzaku and Wakka had just finished killing their tenth Hollow of the day. This one had been particularly easy with the cool usage of Wakka's Kidou skills and Suzaku's Kairihou. They had just finished preforming Soul Burial on a nearby soul when the alert went off once again.
"All right!" Suzaku exclaimed, once again drawing his sword in its sealed form. Wakka merely looked at his over-excited friend and shook his head.
This Hollow had only been ten miles away, so it merely took a single Shunpo to make it. It was large, and resembled a squid in some fashion.
"You ready?" the long-haired Shinigami asked.
"As ready as I can get." Wakka replied.
"All right…" Suzaku said as he raised his Zanpakutoh. "Take to the skies! Kairihou!"
Suddenly, Suzaku found himself once again in the vast expanse of blue sky… Why he was there, he couldn't understand…
As he floated there, the temperature started to rise, and suddenly, Suzaku realized he wasn't alone.
Kairihou was there with him.
"I'm sorry…" the phoenix started. "But I was mistaken…"
"About what?" Suzaku questioned.
"About you… You're not ready for Shikai after all…"
Suzaku's eyes went wide. "But, I already know your name! There's nothing we can do about it now!"
Kairihou lowered his head. "That is not true… I choose to respond whenever I'm called out, but until you can prove yourself, I will not come to your aid…"
"Why not?" was all Suzaku could manage.
"Because you are only relying on the power that I give you… You fail to realize that I am a part of you! I can only achieve my true potential if you use your own power along with mine!" Kairihou stated.
"It would help if I had something to offer…" Suzaku said. Doubt had filled his mind ever since he went to the Shinigami Academy… He knew he had a lot of reiatsu, but he didn't think that meant anything… Not to mention the downfall his confidence took when he first tried Kidou...
(flashback)
It was the first time he would ever preform Kidou… Suzaku was rather excited. He had heard that someone in the Advanced Class was able to completely vaporize the target, so he wanted to show how good he was by doing the same…
"Group 3, come it is now your turn!" the instructor shouted. Suzaku and his classmates lined up behind the line.
As if by choreography, the students started the incantation. Suzaku raised his hands and did the same. As the incantations neared their ends for the other students, a red light began to form in front of their hands. Suzaku, however, was severely lacking in that department… Or so he thought…
"Hadou 31: SHAKKAHOU!" they all shouted. Nine shots of burning red energy flew towards their targets, striking them dead on. But there was one shot that didn't even show up…
"Hadou 31: SHAKKAHOU!" Suzaku cried as the red light forming around his rear end shot out at the students and building behind him… His body was scorched, and the Academy itself had taken serious damage…
This was embarrassing… Even Renji Abarai of the Advanced Class for the year just ahead of him had not preformed this miserably… At least his was showing up in the right place…
(fade back to now…)
"You have power of your own…" Kairihou continued. "But you need to learn how to bring that power out… When you can, I'll know, and you will see me again."
Suzaku faded back into the world, watching as Wakka finished slicing the mask of the squid-like Hollow.
"Where were you?" Wakka asked.
"Just a sec…" Suzaku replied. "I have to try something…" Suzaku raised his blade. "Take to the skies! Kairihou!"
Wakka shielded his eyes, expecting the usual flash of light… But nothing happened… Nothing at all…
"He really did it…" the Shinigami said. "He really did it…