GakuRiku

GakuRiku is the slash ship between Yaotome Gaku and Nanase Riku from the IDOLiSH7 fandom.

Canon
NOTE: This section contains spoilers almost immediately if you aren't past the first few episodes/chapters of the series.

Before Meeting
Because Gaku was in the same idol group as Riku's brother, Riku did know of him before they met. However, since the two brothers were not in contact, Riku worried that Gaku was mean and bullied his brother, based off his tendency to wear black, seemingly arrogant personality, and his "evil-looking face."

Later on, when Riku has joined IDOLiSH7 but before the two have properly met, Gaku is shown to hold Riku's singing ability in high regard.

Meeting
The first true meeting between Gaku and Riku happens when IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER stay at the same hotel by chance. Riku mixed up the rooms and instead of going to his brothers door, he ended up outside Gaku's and began to speak to him. Riku became flustered after the door opened to Gaku instead of his brother, and said Gaku's name with no honorifics. Gaku scolds him lightly for this, but is curious about the situation between the brothers and invites Riku into his room to talk.

They mostly talk about the situation between Riku and his brother, Tenn, during the time Riku is there. They do argue for a bit, but it's clear neither is too hung up on it as Gaku offers water to Riku when he begins coughing. In the end, it becomes more banter than true arguing, with Riku stating, "Yaotome-san. You look like a delinquent but you’re very nice……"



Part 1
After their first meeting, Gaku and Riku cross paths again fairly often due to their groups working the same events. Several times they are shown speaking to each other as friendly rivals. For example, Gaku at one of these meetings asks Riku, "Why do you stand right in the middle? It’s to take them all to an even higher place, right?" In response, at their next meeting, Riku states, "I’ll stand right in the middle, and pull them forward!"

Part 2
In Part 2 of the main story, the majority of interactions between Gaku and Riku involve Gaku defending him from Riku's brother.

Rabbit Chats and Rabbit TVs
Many of the interactions between Gaku and Riku in canon take place during Rabbit Chats and Rabbit TVs. Some have smaller moments, while others are entirely just Gaku and Riku interacting. Most of the time they get along well, though they do have some very short and minor arguments from time to time, usually if Riku accidentally says something rude without meaning to.

ShuffleTalk 2018: Riku & Gaku Rabbit TV
In the 2018 series of ShuffleTalk, Gaku and Riku are paired together. In their Rabbit TV, they get sent to an island country located in Europe together, with the task of finding a location based on a picture they're given. During the Rabbit TV, the two of them have fun together and enjoy each others company. Throughout their time together, they compliment each other back and forth many times, such as when Gaku told Riku, "You're the type that's liked wherever you go, Nanase," and Riku replied, "It's because you're here too, Yaotome-san!"

Hoshimeguri
Hoshimeguri is an in-universe story where Gaku and Riku play the characters Orion and Erin. Hoshimeguri has never been spoken about by the characters in the IDOLiSH7 story, so while it's true that technically it is Gaku and Riku, most fans have Hoshimeguri characters separate from the IDOLiSH7 characters that play them. Orion is the stern King of the Star of Steel, Lama, and Erin is his playful and mischievous ex-assassin attendant and bodyguard. They first met when Erin was attempting an assassination on Orion due to the ongoing civil war, but Orion was easily convinced to go against the king, his father, when he saw the suffering the citizens were going through because of Erin.

Fanon
GakuRiku isn't extremely popular, but there are a decent number of fans that ship them. OriEri, the ship of Orion and Erin from Hoshimeguri, seems to be more popular than GakuRiku itself, but it may also have contributed towards more fans beginning to ship GakuRiku, as more people considered the possibility of the two together because of it. There are, however, some fans who ship OriEri but not GakuRiku.

Fandom
Gaku/Riku tag on AO3

Orion/Erin tag on AO3

GakuRiku and OriEri Discord Server

Trivia

 * Gaku and Riku are both often associated with strawberries.
 * Riku calls Gaku cool very frequently, and sometimes several times in a row. He's even called the soba delivery man (who he isn't aware is actually Gaku) cool before.
 * Gaku tried to ask Riku to have soba with him sometime, but Riku turned him down and said he'd "rather do something else." Gaku's next suggestion was to visit a dam.
 * Gaku has attempted to do a handstand in Riku's room before, but accidentally hit the wall.
 * Riku's asked Gaku how much he likes him before, and Gaku's reply was that he likes him a lot.
 * Gaku thinks Riku suits the image of flowers.
 * During the VAE, there was a cops and robbers type game the two were suddenly put into. Gaku was supposed to catch Riku, but instead he defended him from the virtual police and let him win.
 * Gaku and Riku sang 'Silent Night' together, along with Sougo.

Quotes

 * "Seeing you have fun puts me in a smiley mood, too." Gaku to Riku
 * "Nanase, huh. That guy's cute for sure." Gaku
 * "When I was depressed Yaotome-san encouraged me. Because I’m the center, I was motivated to do my best! Yaotome-san, thank you very much!" Riku
 * "You sure like strawberries, Yaotome-san! We’ve still got some left over from my shoot, would you like to come over and eat them?"