The wording suggest the opposite. Something that is one of a kind is but one of a category of many, if you look at each word non-idiomatically. Why, then, does "one of a kind" mean "unique?"
Answer
"One of a kind" does mean one of a category, as you say. However, it is one of a category of one, meaning the category only has one thing in it: that thing being referred to.
You also have to appreciate that this phrase is idiomatic. Taking it literally means that the person is one of however many that make up the "kind." It does not expressly say that the "kind" only has one member. Were the phrase more literal, or at least more exact, it might say, "the single of a singleness." Idioms do not make literal sense, though. That's what makes them idioms.
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