Ryou and Malik friendship sort of unexplored to me because it usually has Malik as the protective one and Ryou as the ditzy one but I think it’s kind of the opposite. Like Malik has never been anything but the ultimate spoiled (comparatively) little sibling that is being showered with attention and Ryou relatively recently lost a baby sister he is clearly not coping so well with so I think Ryou would actually be inclined to see himself as the older brother in any given scenario. Not necessarily good at it, but it is how he would see himself.
















