Well that’s part of why I said “male sidekick,” and although she and Mako are obviously extremely close, I wouldn’t really call her Ryuko’s sidekick, Mako isn’t capable of fighting or dealing with the same situations as Ryuko, and sidekick implies they’d fight side by side. And Senketsu is like the Cortana to her Master Chief, sure he’s important, but he’s not a sidekick.