#atekai

I do actually hc Malik having a kind of a fanboy crush on Seto when he watches him from afar in battle city!🌝 

But once he gets to know him as a person I can see that slowly fading away (I'll explain later why). I hc him crushing on that “image of Kaiba” that he always projects on the outer side. Seto looks confident and powerful and always sure of himself, like, there is no flaw in his position on top of the world and he gets everything he wants. And Malik digs that ofc. Also - what I can gather from canon - Malik is impressed by Seto. (Not to mention how polite-friendly he greets him when he talks to him through one of the ghouls for the first time, like, he has been waiting to finally meet “Kaiba-kun”) Seto being an actual wielder of one of the God Monsters has Malik obsessing over him. There’s a part on the sub where he really questions it (still gotta do the reread of that part in the manga. I might know more once I get there):

Kaiba man....................

Also, Seto straight out yelling “Fuck destiny! I decide my own future!” How can Malik not crush on that??? This is exactly everything he dreamed about as a child (literally going from slave to king = fuck what destiny wrote down for you). Not to mention Seto’s constant desire to beat down Atem sdfghjklsdfj Malik definitely digs that.

Anyway we all know Kaiba is babey and he mostly builds that strong facade because of his insecurities and to cover up all the pain he’s been through (mmmm reminds me of smn🤔 Malik). This is why I imagine once Malik really gets to know Seto, he realises they have much more in common than he initially perceived. Like, I could see Malik feeling a bit “let down” once he realises ‘Kaiba man’ was all just a facade, BUT

if he‘d ever get a chance to venture into his actual backstory and see how that young boy changed an entire Military-based company belonging to his monstrous Stepdad into something that fits his own interests, and how after so much pain and trauma he still works on always being on top and get the best for Mokuba and himself ..... he would look up at him with admiration. This is where I imagine that fanboy crush would fade away, being replaced by a bigger sense of respect for the young CEO.