Yasutora Sado was a man of few words; at least that's what so many people believed, and he was content in letting them believe so, he liked to sit back and observe. There were many things he could see from his 'silent giant' stand point. When his best friend became a shinigami for example, some part of Sado had known, his sudden disappearances, or odd behavior were some key signs, but Ichigo's constant exhaustion and lack of retaliation to bullies was perhaps one of the biggest tells; it was like the boy had grown up seemingly overnight. Some part of Sado envied that sudden growth Ichigo had, but an even larger part of him was proud to have him as a friend, to perhaps grow with him, get stronger with him, and fight with him.

When he discovered his own power, he had been terrified and part of him was worried he'd misuse it and hurt someone. He cried when Urahara had explained that it wouldn't be a one time occurrence to him; he cried because he couldn't understand why he was repeatedly cursed with power and height and a body that stood out amongst everyone when all he wanted was to fit in!

Orihime had slipped into the room quietly, Urahara having slipped out seamlessly after informing the young man of what to expect. She was perhaps the only person who could get more than a handful of words out of Sado, and perhaps the only person to ever see him this vulnerable. She'd sat beside him with a sigh, resting a hand gently on his larger one and he realized just how small she was in comparison to him before turning to look at her.

"Do you want to talk about it." She said softly, a small smile so unlike her usual large ones gracing her lips. "I can only imagine how hard this must be for you." She added, pulling her hand away and worrying the hem of her skirt, and if anyone had ever told him he'd be sitting beside her having a normal conversation that didn't turn into nuclear robots with missiles he would've never believed them. In that moment she seemed like someone else, yet so familiar he couldn't stop himself from venting to her.

"I'm scared I'll hurt someone." He said frankly, and she tilted her head to the side, another smile on her lips as she listened. "What if I'm just fending off humans and I suddenly materialize this arm and seriously injure someone? What if in a fight with these Hollow things, I can't defend someone or even myself because I'm too scared to use my power? I don't understand why I have this. I have always been tall and strong and have been bullied because of it, and now that I had some type of normalcy, some type of understanding I get this thrown at me as well. I just don't understand what I did to deserve this!" He said, his hands coming to grip at the strands of his hair in frustration. Orihime who was sitting beside him in silence, simply nodded.

"I understand where you're coming from." She said softly. "I know it seems like the universe is throwing you another trial because of all you've gone through but maybe," She paused "Maybe this is a reward. You've always been strong Sado-kun, and despite misusing your height and strength as a child you realized that wasn't the way to do things and changed your ways. Since then you've only ever fought to protect someone you care about, to defend someone who is in trouble; so maybe this is a reward for all those good things you've done with your strength. Maybe having this power is what will help you defend more people in the future and continue to do good things with your strength." She said softly, looking over at him as she spoke and the young man's eyes widened.

"Urahara-san said we got these powers largely because of Kurosaki-kun, I've known for a while that he was different, any time we were in class he just didn't seem like himself." She whispered, looking down at her lap. "He's constantly in danger, he's out there fighting so that people can lead normal lives, wake up to go to work, go to school, and live in peace. He constantly gets beaten and hurt and continues to do it because that's just the type of person he is, he cares about people's well being. So if we can help him with these powers we have then shouldn't we do so? Shouldn't we get stronger so that we can fight with him, and protect him like he protects everyone else?" She said looking up at him with unshed tears in her eyes and Sado stared at her for a minute, his heart bursting for the young woman who sat in front of him, he knew then just how much she loved Ichigo. He had offered her a rare smile as she wiped her tears, Sado knew that day that she would be one of his closest friends, and he could only wonder if they would ever have serious talks like this again.

Since that day they'd been at Ichigo's side, fighting with him and even he was amazed at how much Orihime's powers had grown, but Sado could see, once more thanks to his special 'silent giant' stand point that something else had grown, but between his two friends. Or at least, within Ichigo. He could see every so often when his friend would look at Orihime, how his eyes would soften, his mouth which so often sat in a frown seemingly fighting to pull itself into a smile. He once caught the orange haired shinigami in a fit of rage as he destroyed hollows, mumbling under his breath about something Sado couldn't quite understand until he heard him say Orihime's name.

"Chad can I vent to you for a second?" Ichigo had said as he landed beside him finally, his brows set in a deep scowl. He looked over at him and Sado nodded, giving him a thumbs up.

"I hate being a fucking teenager! Why the hell do I have to deal with these fucking hormones as well as everything else being thrown at me! What having to defend the world isn't enough shit to do without having to deal with liking~ feelin- these fucking emotions!" he yelled tugging at his hair as he paced in from of his best friend.

"And then for it to be someone so, so out of my league so, so fucking nice~" He grunted hiding his face in his hands in frustration, and Sado could see the tips of his ears were red.

"Ichigo," He said softly, reaching over to rest a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"I can't like her Chad," He said softly, looking over at his giant friend. "You've known me for a while, you know my reputation, you know what people say about me, what the hell do I have to offer Inoue that will actually benefit her?" He said softly and Sado sighed, coming to stand before his best friend, his palm coming to his chest. Ichigo stared at him confused and Sado rolled his eyes.

"You're heart Ichigo." He said simply. "Just pay attention, she's not that out of your league." He added knowingly and the man before him frowned.

"Don't say that, there's no way she'd like someone like me." He said looking down at his hands, his mind was somewhere else and Sado let him go through his thoughts before speaking once more.

"How do you know Ichigo?" He said softly and the orange haired man before him frowned.

"Well, I mean-" He cut himself off and Sado nodded.

"You're just assuming things, because of what other people say. You should let actions speak for themselves, and her's all scream one thing." He said and Ichigo opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off by a Hollow's scream. Both men looked over and Ichigo shot off, Sado assumed he needed more time to think and slipped off quietly, leaving the man to his own thoughts.

There were down falls to being the silent friend, but as time had passed after that encounter Sado could only smile knowingly as Ichigo and Orihime seemed to grow closer and closer. Maybe being the silent giant friend wasn't so bad after all.

A/N: This is just a little interpretation of what I think Chad goes through, he seemes to be very observant and he is Ichigo's best friend so maybe Strawberry-kun goes to him to vent sometimes who knows. I hope it does him some justice. Leave me a nice review please!