Ichiru Kiryu

Ichiru Kiryu (錐生 壱縷, Kiryū Ichiru) is Zero's younger twin brother. When they were younger, they were both taught by Toga Yagari to become vampire hunters. Ichiru, however did not seem to have the same talent as Zero's natural ability, and was often ill. The character appears both in the manga and anime, but is given a different appearance in the anime in the second season, which does not occur in the manga.

Name

 * Ichi is the old-fashioned way of writing "one," and ru means "thread."

Appearance
Ichiru has silver hair identical to his brother Zero, except slightly longer. He has pale lavender coloured eyes in the anime and pale grey coloured eyes in the manga. Again like his brother, he is seemingly very tall and slim in build. In the first season of the anime, he wears his hair down but in the second, he wears his hair in a small ponytail held back with a little pink string with a bell attached to it, which is a belonging of Shizuka Hio given to him by her.

Upon meeting his twin brother for the first time in five years (series one), Ichiru wears a plain white mask covering his eyes, though discards the disguise when Zero recognises his own brother.

Personality
Ichiru is a complicated person marked by many conflicting emotions and actions. Very close to Zero as a child, he nevertheless struggled with the inevitability of being left behind by his brother and the strain of not being able to make it in the hunter world. He was jealous that how Zero can be healthy and normal but he couldn't. He was complicit in Shizuka’s murder of his parents, but requested that Zero be left alive, but turned. Professing to both love and hate Zero at different times, Ichiru does not always appear to know his own mind on the subject, but his actions indicate that in whatever way, Zero was incredibly important to him. The only other person as important in his life was Shizuka Hio and he was heartbroken when she died.

Background
Ichiru is one of the twins born into the Kiryu hunter family. Due to the Hunter's curse, most if not all of his hunter powers were absorbed by his brother, Zero, which subsequently gave the latter increased power. His parents were highly skilled Vampire Hunters.

Plot Summary
Shizuka Hio let Ichiru drink her blood to strengthen him and cure his chronic ill health, although she did not turn him into a vampire and he remains a human. He now attends Cross Academy as a Day Class student by the orders of Shiki's father, Rido Kuran (and by Zero's permission). It appears Rido has promised Ichiru that he will kill those who killed Shizuka, which is probably the main reason why Ichiru is working for Rido Kuran.

When Zero was locked up by the Vampire Hunters Association, Ichiru visits him and appears to have shot him due to hatred. However, it is revealed that Ichiru was terribly wounded because he tried to kill Rido, the person he was truly after him because of his role in Shizuka's death. After he shot his brother, he convinces Zero to drink his blood so they could finally become one as they were originally supposed to be. Ichiru stated that he was happy that he wasn't dead in Zero's heart. When they hugged, he says that he feels comfortable to be in his arms, recalling a time when the brothers slept in the same bed often and were loved equally by their mother. After Ichiru's death, Zero appeared to grow vines, most likely from all of Shizuka Hio's blood that Ichiru has ingested to prevent his chronic illness. Zero buries him alongside their parents grave.

Ichiru appears to have romantic feelings for Shizuka Hio, even though she was the one that had massacred his family and turned Zero into a vampire. In a bonus chapter, while standing over Rido's coffin, he said, "Shizuka-sama was beautiful even when she fell"... He'd always begged her to turn him into a vampire but she always refused. Shizuka did not feel the same way, perhaps only because she was too heartbroken over her dead lover, but it can be seen that she deeply cared for him.

Zero Kiryu
Zero is Ichiru's older identical twin brother whom he shared a close relationship when younger but hated him when he became older for the simple fact that Zero became a vampire and he didn't. The younger Ichiru was more cheerful, unlike Zero who doesn't talk much.

Shizuka Hio
The person he betrayed his parents and Zero for. She told him that if he lets her take revenge on his parents for her lover she will make his body become stronger. He agreed but it is later found out that he asked her to keep Zero alive. Ichiru served her as her butler and at some point it is pointed out that he loved her, despite the fact that she killed his parents and turned his brother into a vampire. Upon her death, she gives him a bell on a ribbon to which Ichiru proceeds to tie his hair up. Shizuka allowed Ichiru to drink his blood but refused to turn him into a vampire, much to Ichiru's dismay.

Maria Kurenai
Maria has a strong attachment to Ichiru and is quite fond of him, to the point where she persists in searching for him long after she has left the academy. It is not known whether Ichiru had any affection for Maria, he did however express concerns over her well being and chides her silly behaviour standing out in the sun.

Powers
Though Ichiru was born to an elite vampire hunter, Ichiru was a sickly child who was not strong enough to become a vampire hunter and possessed no talents.

Trivia
He still loves his brother he even tells the headmaster zero favorite food is vegetable soup (stated in episode seven of Vampire Knight Guilty, when Headmaster Cross asked ichiru what food he should make for dinner when the headmaster has all three join together to eat.)