A/N: I wrote this simply because Chad doesn't get enough love and appreciation.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters. KT and some large companies do.
Tales of the Giant
1. Chad wasn't sure what it was that made people feel safe around him. He was certain it wasn't his size that caused normally stoic friends to enter his room in the middle of the night, either crying or raging at the world. Inoue had knocked on his door to sob to him about his orange-haired best friend; Kuchiki had done the same except without the knocking or crying. Keigo had slipped in through his window one night, head in his hands, muttering about being in over his head. Ichigo would often walk in at two in the morning to just sit at his table for a few minutes before leaving as silently as he had come in. Even Abarai had taken advantage of the quiet teenager's listening abilities.
2. Chad was finally forced to lock the door to his apartment after Mizuiro had thrown a chair out of his only window while livid at his mother one night. Chad hadn't minded it. Unfortunately, his neighbors and the police had.
3. He now only unlocks it for Ichigo's little sister (the black-haired one). He cannot refuse the one person who feels as alone as he does.
4. Girls started out liking Chad because he was the strong, silent, and dark type. They wound up loving him for everything else.
5. Chad didn't especially like wearing flashy Hawaiian shirts. It was just that Ichigo would come over, the shirts in his hand and a scowl on his face, groaning about how his father didn't fit in them anymore and would he please take them so he didn't have to see the old man's stomach anymore? Chad never could say no to a friend.
6. It's not until his freshman year of high school that he finally meets Kurosaki Isshin and learns that the grown man has been smaller than him the whole time.
7. Chad says nothing to Ichigo about it.
8. Kurosaki Isshin's first thought upon seeing Chad was, "I feel bad for that kid's mother. Can you imagine how torn up her va-" Unfortunately for him (but luckily for everyone else in the room), he had spoken his thoughts out loud in front of Ichigo, who proceeded to kick the crap out of his father before he could finish talking.
9. Chad had his first kiss with a girl whose name he didn't know while he was still living in Mexico. She was the only girl his age living near him who didn't run away when she saw him.
10. Chad sees Ichigo's black-haired younger sister (he tells himself he should ask for her name one day) for the first time in many years at her graduation party. She snorts as she takes another sip of her beer and confides, "I thought you were pretty good-looking."
11. Chad is not jealous of Ichigo having spent time with Yoruichi-san or Ishida having spent time with Inoue while in Soul Society. He had only one thing on his mind at that point: helping Ichigo succeed in saving Kuchiki.
12. While he is not as hormonal as some of his friends (re: Keigo), Chad can't deny that he thinks Inoue is really good-looking.
13. Chad isn't sure of what he wants to do when he finishes college, but he knows he wants a job where he can help people.
14. Nobody had ever seen Chad blush until Matsumoto-fukutaichõ had asked the teenager whether all of his parts were in proportion while winking.
15. Inoue had cheerfully responded with, "Of course, Rangiku-san! He'd look kind of silly with short arms and legs, wouldn't he?"
16. Ichigo would have laughed out loud at the comments if he wasn't horrified that Rangiku-san would hear his laughter and turn her attention to him.
17. Ichigo promises to stand next to his best friend through thick and thin. Except for when Chad's wearing his marching band uniform. Chad's all on his own then.
18. Chad becomes a social worker. It's not his physical strength that winds up helping people in the end.
19. In death, Chad eventually becomes the Third Seat of the Eighth Division of the Gotei 13. He is actually powerful enough to be ranked higher, but he respects Ise-fukutaichõ too much to attempt to do so.
20. Chad has few regrets about either his life or afterlife. He just wishes that he had lent a hand to more people.