Hayato Ichinose

Hayato Ichinose is a transfer student at Saotome Gakuen and is Ichinose Tokiya's identical twin brother. It is later revealed that Hayato had become ill at some unknown point in time and he and Tokiya had to start trading places in order to keep it a secret. He is the primary reason Nanami Haruka enters Saotome Gakuen who hopes to make a song for the person who saved her. He is voiced by Mamoru Miyano.

Appearance
His overall appearance is identical to Tokiya's - dark blue hair and blue eyes. The notable differences are Hayato's spikier hairstyle, and the fact that Hayato almost always has a smile on his face. His casual clothes as seen in the anime are the same style as Tokiya's, but his stage performance clothes are frilly and flashy. According to Otoya, Hayato's outfits are "frilly and bright" with "sequins that burn the eyes," and "definitely don't fit Tokiya's image".

Personality
His personality is the complete opposite of Tokiya's - he is outgoing, happy-go-lucky, bright, and cheerful. According to Tokiya, HAYATO's positive personality is similar to Otoya. He likes adding "~nya" to the end of his sentences and makes random phrases such as the famous "OHA♪YAHHO~!!" Some people think his personality is cute, while others think that he is suited to be a comedy artist.

Anime
It is said that Hayato enjoys singing, but didn't get a true passion for it until after his leg was injured in an accident. While he was in the hospital, he heard a boy from the hospital sing Amazing Grace, which he sang along with. The children came to idolize their "Onii-chan," which touched his heart.

His agency was pushing him towards dramas instead of allowing him to sing. His agency even made promises to him to let him and his brother sing, but later broke them and made him do autograph signings, commercials, TV dramas or whatever else they had instead and constantly told him that he wasn't going to be able to sing. The pressure he was feeling from his agency made him lose his "heart" in the way he sang, which is pointed out by his Ryuya when he pretends to be Tokiya, and also by Haruka and Satsuki at Hayato's live concert. At the concert, Haruka notices Hayato's bandaged foot and realizes that he was Tokiya at the time, and that they were trading places.

The next day, Ryuya expels Tokiya from S Class on Saotome's orders, and Tokiya is transferred to A Class. Feeling frustrated after Saotome telling him that his brother's debut as Tokiya might be cancelled, Hayato goes out to sing Nanairo no Compass at the place he and Haruka first met. There he sees Haruka, who was listening to his song. Haruka tells Hayato that his song was great, but Hayato says that it's because he was singing as "HAYATO", and if that he tried to sing it as Ichinose Hayato, he would feel as though he failed.

At the beach gathering, Haruka confronts Tokiya, saying she likes the songs of Tokiya's and Hayato's "true selves," and because of that, Tokiya and Hayato manage to bring out their hearts in their songs.

Later on in the series, when the time comes to choose a partner, the seven main boys choose Haruka. She decides to make them a group so she doesn't have to choose and can be with them all. Once a few obstacles are cleared, they work together, but Tokiya is always late for rehearsal due to his brother's work. He leaves Haruka worried about him because Hayato almost passed out and he was burning up at the end of the day.

The next day, Tokiya doesn't come to practice at all because Hayato passed out and didn't wake up until the next day. He talks to his company president who is angry at him since he and his brother joined Saotome, leading to a heart attack. Hayato calls an ambulance for him. Once he's at the hospital, he tries to contact Otoya but he doesn't answer his phone because he is practicing his dance routine for the debut.

Hayato talks to the company president, who says he considers Hayato as his son. He apologizes for ignoring his feelings and asks if he is tired. Hayato replies a no and leaves, as he leaves he sees his manager who also apologizes for not letting him and his brother sing like he wanted.

He then goes in a taxi and once again tries to contact Otoya. This time, Otoya answers the phone, however, Tokiya's battery dies in the middle of the conversation, leaving Otoya worried. To make matters worse, his manager goes on air and tells everyone that HAYATO and Ichinose Tokiya have been switching places, and that they moved agencies.

The future members of ST☆RISH are mad at the Ichinose brothers for keeping a secret from them, but as they explain why they did what they did and express their love for singing and they forgive them and let them join the group. He is later paired up as Satsuki's dance partner in their debut performance, allowing him to sing as Ichinose Hayato.

Game
In the game, he is still the same HAYATO that Haruka likes, and we first see him when Haruka watches "OHAYAHHO News."

He is mentioned next when Haruka bumps into Tokiya and mistakes him for HAYATO, and apparently a lot of other students also mistake him for HAYATO, despite telling them that they're twins. In the game, Tokiya is constantly compared to HAYATO, which makes him uncomfortable.

Hayato later appears in June, when OHA♪YAHHO News came to Saotome Gakuen. Tokiya was chosen to be the reporter alongside Hayato. Haruka met Hayato on the roof and was interviewed there. He also asked her not to hate Tokiya since he’s actually relying on her, despite his harsh words.

In August, Haruka wrote a song for Tokiya, but he thinks that the song is actually for HAYATO, but Haruka replied that she wrote the song only for him, but the perfection he’s seeking probably lies in himself. After dozing off, Haruka wakes up to see Hayato in front of her. According to him, he came to school looking for Tokiya, but he wasn’t around. He asked Haruka to play her song, and was impressed. Hayato asked her if she can give the song to him instead of Tokiya, but Haruka apologized and said that the song is only for Tokiya. Hayato said that Tokiya is a really lucky guy for having her as a partner.

In February, Tokiya took Haruka to his room and showed her a file containing detailed plans of a project involving HAYATO. At first he only acted out the plan because he loves singing and acting, but then he realized that the world only knows him as HAYATO — not as his real self. His agency also forced him to act as HAYATO even when the cameras aren’t rolling. He eventually got tired of all this, but he can’t quit so easily after they forced him to sing in a unit. This was the reason Tokiya lost his ‘heart’ when singing. He got so sick of it up to the point of wanting to die.

It was then when Shining Saotome appeared and gave him the chance to debut as Ichinose Tokiya, by enrolling into his school and winning the graduation audition. Tokiya noticed that he’s been trapping himself inside a frame all this time, and the reason he was so jealous of Otoya is because he doesn’t have any restrictions. Tokiya wants to reform himself from now on and asked for Haruka’s help.

March came. Hayato soon told Ryuya and Saotome that he wants to put and end to "HAYATO", then start from scratch with his brother after the audition. He’s also willing to wait if he can’t debut right now, and he will take care of his remaining jobs. Haruka felt lonely because watching Hayato is her morning routine, so Hayato himself offered to wake her up every morning.

The graduation audition finally came. Before his performance, Hayato told him that he doesn’t want to lie anymore and finally said that he is happy.

Nanami Haruka
At first, Haruka idolizes him because his song, Nanairo no COMPASS, saved her and motivated her to become a composer. Haruka convinces herself that Tokiya is HAYATO when they first met each other, but her belief is crushed when she heard that Tokiya is not HAYATO, but his younger twin brother. Even though his brother treats her coldly, Hayato has paid a lot of attention to Haruka ever since they first met, wondering why Haruka always tried her best. After Haruka knew about their switching places scheme, Hayato distances himself from her, but his heart is softened by Haruka's kindness when she states that she wants to hear both of their songs. Hayato, surprised, finally realizes that he can start from the beginning again and that he will try singing. Ever since then, he saw Haruka differently, like a younger sister.

As the series progresses, he becomes more tender with Haruka, trying to make up for his distant treatment of her early on, and also becomes more attuned to her feelings. After it was decided that STARISH would face HEAVENS in an all or nothing battle, Haruka becomes extremely worried at the prospect of STARISH disbanding, and succumbs to the pressure, which Hayato notices. He becomes concerned for her, and takes her to a festival to remind her that it was important to have fun as well. When he finally gets her to realize that she'd forgotten that the most important thing was to make people happy, he comforted her as she broke down in tears at her failure. He then pulls her into a tender embrace, which surprises her, and he tells her never to take so much on by herself again, proceeding to ask her to share her pain with him whenever she needed to, implying that he would always be there for her.

In season 3, after QUARTET NIGHT proclaims that they intend to fight to keep Haruka as their composer, Hayato becomes shocked along with the rest of STARISH. Later, as they all reminisce about how wonderful and pure she is, he says that "before he knew it, being apart from her became unthinkable."

In Season 4 Episode 1, after STARISH pull her away from QUARTET NIGHT, Hayato holds her and says that "he knows how she feels...he feels the say way she does."

Tokiya Ichinose
Hayato has a younger identical twin brother named Ichinose Tokiya. Tokiya dislikes Hayato and his happy-go-lucky Otoya-like personality, even calling Hayato's movie "trash". According to him, they look at things differently, and Tokiya cannot keep up with his brother's senses. He also says that Hayato is very busy, so he is rarely at home, lessening their interactions. In the game, Hayato is seen to care for Tokiya, worrying about him being misunderstood by others due to his harsh personality.

Ren Jinguji
Hayato's classmate in the S class and fellow member of ST☆RISH. Ren loves teasing Hayato whenever he gets the chance. Ren is also one of the two people that Hayato calls by first name (the other being Otoya), while Ren calls him "Haya". In the game Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ SHINING LIVE, Ren stated Hayato is a deredere. Like all the other members of ST☆RISH both Ren and Hayato strongly care about each other and would do anything for each other.

Otoya Ittoki
Tokiya's brother's roommate and fellow member of ST☆RISH. On few occasions in their room, Otoya would always start the conversation, having to deal with Hayato's odd answers, saying he's not obliged or being left confused by his complicated and long explanations. Over the course of the show their relationship starts to loosen up as they get closer. It's shown that when Hayato was late for rehearsal he tried to call Otoya, and Otoya showed concern for Hayato because his part time job would keep him out until night, sometimes until morning. He is also one of the people that Hayato calls by first name (the other being Ren).

Masato Hijirikawa
Hayato's fellow member of ST☆RISH. Due to similarities in personality, Hayato and Masato have a good relationship, and they are often seen together or talking to each other. It is shown that both care for each other a lot, and Hayato has helped Masato on some occasions. Hayato usually listens to Masato's advice.

Syo Kurusu
Hayato's classmate in the S class and fellow member of ST☆RISH. Like the other members of ST☆RISH, Hayato and Syo have a close friendship and deeply care about each other.

Natsuki Shinomiya
Hayato's fellow member of ST☆RISH. Hayato and Natsuki aren't shown to talk to each other much, but it is mentioned in the drama CD that they cook together. Hayato states that if Natsuki is cooking alone, it will become a huge disaster, so in order to prevent that, he has to carefully watch over Natsuki. Natsuki also idolizes Hayato because of his talent in singing and how cute he can be.

Satsuki Shinomiya
Hayato's fellow member of ST☆RISH and possibly Hayato's love interest. They meet officially in Episode 6 of the first season during his concert at the carnival. When Satsuki sings Orion de SHOUT OUT, it is possible that was when Hayato first fell in love with him. Their relationship becomes more intimate when they both join ST☆RISH and become roommates. Overall, they seem to get along very well and understand what it is like to feel as though they are shadows to their brothers.

Trivia

 * Haruka notes that Tokiya and Hayato's singing styles are identical even though their personalities are completely different.
 * Tokiya says that acting like Hayato is a real pain for him because he has a hard time keeping up his brother's personality.
 * Most fans say that Hayato has the same personality as his voice actor, Miyano Mamoru.
 * It is possible that Hayato is homosexual due to having both a romantic and sexual attraction to Satsuki.