Kaito Takamiya

Kaito Takamiya (鹰宫海斗, Takamiya Kaito) is a young hunter and a teacher in training at Cross Academy. He is first introduced in the light novels and does not appear in the manga until 53rd Night.

Appearance
Kaito is a tall, lean young man with messy, ash brown hair and hazel eyes. It is hinted that the Day Class girls think he is attractive. He is shown to be taller than Zero and Kaname, but not as tall as Toga Yagari or Akatsuki Kain. Being a hunter, he is muscular and brawny.

Personality
Kaito is a gruff, sarcastic young man. He is implied to be rather unethical and somewhat ruthless, and seems to absolutely despise vampires, given his past.

Kaito was a bit of a bully as a teen, giving both Ichiru and Zero a hard time, and having a pessimistic attitude. His bad temper seems to come from living with a family that didn't care for each other and argued a lot. However, he tells Zero that living with his master is a lot better than living with his family and not to show sympathy for him.

As an adult however, he still retains the hatred for vampires and his blunt, straightforward way of talking, but he matures. Despite his detest for vampires though, he seems to be overprotective of Zero (even protecting him from an attack and in turn getting injured himself) and even soughts to point Yuki out on her actions without guilt or regret, showing his extreme dislike on her for choosing Zero's options for herself.

History
According to Kaien, Zero and Kaito both share Toga's attitude because they trained under him. He is a ruthless vampire hunter, hates Purebloods and vampires, and is wary of other people. His elder brother was bitten by a Pureblood and on his first mission with Yagari, he insisted on killing his brother himself. His family never cared much for him, so Kaito ran away from home to live with his teacher. He always thought his brother was murdered since he never came back from his mission. He actually cared very much for him, but he always covered that up, since he thought compassion was a weakness. When he and Zero went on their first mission to kill a Level E, it turned out that his brother was actually bitten by a Pureblood all this time, so Kaito had to kill his own brother. He'd rather wanted to kill his brother by himself then letting someone else do it, but it had deeply affected him.

Kaito trained under Yagari with Ichiru and Zero after his former teacher was wounded, this is prior to Yagari losing his eye. During that time, Kaito picked on Ichiru for his physical weakness and Zero for his softness. As time passes, Zero and Kaito become friends.

Plot
Kaito was invited to Cross Academy by Kaien at the insistence of Yagari under the guise of being a student teacher, however it is really because they are relying on his competence as a skilled hunter to assist the updated Hunters Association's organization. Kaito makes his own plans, he invites Yori to sneak into the party revealing to Zero that he intends to use her as bait to stir up the vampires, however he intended to protect her. Kaito later admits that he also was testing Zero. He also told Zero that if any of the vampires shows signs to harm Yori, Zero can go and kill that vampire.

Kaito reveals his purpose is to watch over Zero, to look for any failing that might render him as unsuitable for becoming president of the hunters association. He then finds a gun under Zero's pillow and questions its use, when Zero states he uses it as insurance after Yuki's departure, Kaito tells him that he is now Zero's insurance.

Kaito accompanies Zero to Dahlia Academy and notes after Zero's encounter with Sara that Zero looks too much like a vampire who lost its prey. He then forces Zero to take three days off and to visit his family's grave knowing that Zero would not have visited it since Ichiru was buried, he also reminds Zero to take the time to remind himself of the difference between being vampire and being a human, assuring Zero that some part of him must remain human.

Kaito berates Zero for returning early from his leave, but eagerly participates in the questioning of Hanabusa Aido, where he attempts to use a chainsaw on the vampire (whether or not he was serious is unknown, although it certainly seemed he was). He continues to attend Cross Academy and participate in their security.

In chapter 81, he, Aido and Maria stop Handagi's servant from lashing out at Sara. Kaito tells her that if her enemy is a pureblood, then she would die, but Handagi's servant answers that she doesn't care. He then brings her to the Hunter Association, who continues to beg him to let her attack Sara, but he reminds her that she's someone she can't defeat.

In chapter 86, he appears at the main gate of the academy, angry at Zero for choosing to leave to go after Kaname with Yuki. He strikes Zero with Kaien's sword, and tells Zero that there are only a few hunter's weapons left. He's also angry with Zero for leaving with Yuki because she is a pureblood vampire. Zero is kind to Kaito, though, replying that he understands how he feels about purebloods (as he had to end his brother with his own hands) while hugging him. Kaito decides to let them go, and sends them flying away with the sword (Kaien - who is watching through binoculars from a distance, is annoyed at his rough behaviour). He gazes up at the sky, and tells Zero to face the pain, and prove that he can overcome it.

Later in chapter 90, he reprimands Zero for being fooled around by Kaname and Yuki, telling him "Forgetting everything can be a solution, but were you the type that would be okay with this?" He then tells Zero to fight to get those memories back, and to prove him wrong. They were inturrupted before Zero could respond by the Hanadagi family's descendant/guardian, and Kaito gets his arm injured whilst protecting Zero from her attack.

Powers & Abilities
Like all hunters, Kaito has slight accelerated healing over humans and the ability to sense vampires.

Equipment
Kaito's hunting weapon is unknown. When he confronts Zero in chapter 86, he's wielding Kaien Cross's sword.

Zero Kiryu
Kaito used to be under the care and tutoring of Yagari along with Zero and Ichiru, and being years older than them, used to tease them at any chance due to Zero's softheartedness and Ichiru's lack of hunter skills and health; they both soon share similar situations when Zero takes Ichiru's life just as Kaito took his own brother's - all due to a pureblood. As they meet once again when they're older (Kaito enrolls at Cross Academy as a teacher), Kaito still upholds his extreme dislike towards vampires, especially purebloods, and doesn't seem to mind pointing out Yuki's actions towards Zero. It's definite that he cares a lot for Zero and his well-being.

Ichiru Kiryu
In the Vampire Knight light novel "Season of Transcience", Kaito seems to dislike Ichiru because he gets in their way because he is ill and sickly.

Yagari Toga
Kaito is a student of Yagari's, like Zero and Ichiru, he was training to become a Vampire Hunter. He seems to have the utmost respect for him and tends to follow anything Yagari tells him to do.

Quotes
''"You're radiating hostility." ''(To Zero)

''"That Kuran Princess. She reminds me of a lion cub, so I think she's a good girl." ''(To Yori on Yuki)

''"You look absolutely terrible." ''(To Zero)

''"You really are something. Even though we've all received orders not to go hunting alone, you ignore them. Some discretion would be nice, you know." ''(To Zero)

"If I told you, he'd beat me half to death. Sorry." (To Yuki on Zero)

''"I followed my orders, and I came to this academy . . . as your new insurance." ''(To Zero)

''"If you've found your resolve, then bravely face the pain, Zero. And prove that you can overcome it." ''(To Zero after he leaves)

Trivia

 * Kaito is not an original character by Matsuri Hino.
 * Matsuri Hino claimed that she imagined him with ash brown hair for some reason.
 * Matsuri Hino said that she was planning on introducing a hunter around Zero's age, but didn't go through with it, then added Kaito for the recent arc.